I Chose Me Over My Marriage novel Chapter 40

Staring into her fiercely determined eyes, Julian froze.

A long moment passed before he let out a hollow, self-deprecating laugh.

"Fine. Have it your way."

Tossing those final words into the dead air, he spun around and walked out.

The door slammed shut with a definitive thud, sounding like a physical barrier separating their two worlds forever.

When Lyra turned back, Chloe had completely collapsed into a chair, her face ashen and drained of all life.

Feeling a pang of deep sympathy, Lyra walked over and sat down beside her.

"You clearly still love him. Are you truly okay with letting go like this?"

"What choice do I have?"

Chloe shrugged, putting on a heartbreakingly brave face.

"Unless his parents magically change overnight, I refuse to force myself to play the happy wife anymore. I'm human. When his family threw all that baseless, toxic hate at me, it destroyed me. And where was he when I needed him?"

"He just played the peacekeeper, desperately trying to balance both sides without ever addressing the root cause—that his mother despised me. And what would happen if we actually had a baby? The nightmare would only get worse."

Lyra couldn't help but compare their situations.

Maxwell had never loved her, but his mother was entirely different.

Mrs. Sterling Sr. had genuinely loved Lyra like her own flesh and blood.

Whenever Lyra and Maxwell fought, or when a crisis hit the family, the older woman had stood fiercely and unconditionally by Lyra's side.

If there was a single thread tethering Lyra to the Sterling family, it was undeniably Mrs. Sterling Sr.

"Let it go. After that display, I'm pretty sure he's finally conceded. Call me tomorrow when you're ready to pack your things, and I'll go with you to bring Snowy home."

Hearing Lyra's gentle reassurance, the last of Chloe's emotional barricades crumbled.

She threw herself into Lyra's arms, her tears falling in heavy, unstoppable drops.

"I finally get it now... I finally understand why so many people who love each other can't stay together. Reality is just too brutal."

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