apter 87


    Xylia bluntly revealed what was on Orion’s mind, catching himpletely off guard.


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    Orion’s face wrinkled, and a rare flicker of panic appeared in his eyes. But he quicklyposed himself and looked at Xylia with great tenderness.


    “Xylia, the Ford Group is something I worked so hard to build. Please don’t me me,” he said.


    Xylia sneered, “Orion, I’m not a Ford. It’s understandable that you treat me this way, but I won’t forgive you.”


    Orion looked at her, his voice full of sincerity. “But my kindness toward you is genuine.”


    “Even if it is, so what? You treat me well only because I’m an orphan, someone you can use when it suits you,” Xylia’s voice was cold.


    Orion suddenly began to cough violently; his face flushed a deep red from coughing, and he appeared on the verge of losing consciousness.


    The butler rushed over to help him catch his breath, offer him water, and give him his medication. After a long while, Orion finally calmed down.


    Xylia’s brows were tightly furrowed as she watched, feeling some sympathy despite herself.


    “Mrs. Ford, please don’t anger Mr. Ford. His health is not well. You used to make him soup, buttely, you haven’t even done that,” the butler said.


    Xylia felt a heaviness in her chest and stood up without hesitation. “I’ll go back to my room,” she said. Without another nce at Orion, she walked upstairs.


    The butler, looking at Xylia’s retreating back, spoke with indignation.


    “Mrs. Ford is really something. You let her be a Garcia, which was helping her. Why is she dissatisfied? Today, she insisted on making such a fuss that she ended up divorcing Mr. Connor Ford,” the butler added.


    Orion said calmly, “Let her go. She no longer serves any purpose.”


    *****


    Xylia returned to her bedroom to pack her things. There wasn’t much to pack–just a few clothes and her art supplies. When she finished, she only had onerge suitcase,


    Since she had already finished packing and it was still light out, she decided to leave the Ford Mansion today.


    She sent Joshua a message to ask whether the password for the apartment’s main entrance had been changed. After receiving Joshua’s reply, she carried her suitcase downstairs.


    Downstairs, several unexpected guests were waiting. Xylia’s parents, along with Tessa, were there, and even


    Connor had returned.


    As Xylia came down the stairs, a group of people all turned to look at her in unison.


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    Gia ran over angrily and scolded her, “How dare you divorce without consulting the family first? You’re getting bold, huh?”


    Yves sat on the sofa, motionless, but his re could almost pierce Xylia. “Connor has treated you so well these years, and you force him to divorce at your son’s school anniversary.”


    Tessa sat nearby, casting a mocking look at Xylia. Connor leaned back on the sofa, lookingpletely indifferent, as though he were waiting for Xylia to apologize on her own.


    Xylia ced her hand on her suitcase and replied calmly, “I brought up the divorce long ago. Today is just the result. What’s so surprising about it?”


    “How dare you talk back!” Gia shouted, livid, and pped Xylia.


    Xylia sidestepped to avoid the p. “Do you really think I’ll stand here and let you hit me?”


    Gia, enraged, was breathless with fury. She never expected Xylia, who had always been so easy to control, to defy her like this.


    “Xylia! Is this how you speak to Mom?” Ziggy’s voice came from the doorway. With a dark expression, he walked over, grabbed Xylia’s wrist, and pulled her toward the living room.


    Xylia struggled, but couldn’t break free from his grip. “Let go of me!”


    “Get down on your knees and apologize to Connor. Tell him the divorce doesn’t count,” Ziggy ordered. He dragged Xylia in front of Connor and, with a quick motion, Xylia staggered and almost fell.


    Connor Ford, noticing she was about to fall, instinctively reached out to catch her, but he held back.


    Xylia steadied herself and looked down to meet Connor’s cold gaze. With determination in her voice, she said, “This divorce is final.”


    Connor’s face darkened instantly. “Fine,” he spat out.


    Before Connor could say more, Ziggy lifted his foot and kicked Xylia in the back of the knee.


    Xylia cried out in pain, stumbled, and fell to her knees in front of Connor. Her knees mmed into the floor, pain shooting through her, causing sweat to bead on her skin.


    “Xylia, you are still a daughter of the Schultz family. Whether you get divorced or not is not up to you. Hurry up and apologize <i>to </i>Connor.” Ziggy’s voice was filled with fury, directing all his anger at Xylia.


    Tessa stepped forward <i>to </i>help Xylia up, giving Ziggy an angry look. “Ziggy, what are you doing? Even if Xylia made a mistake, you shouldn’t hit her.”


    “Tessa, are you defending her? She’s embarrassed our family,” Ziggy snapped.


    Tessa, however, didn’t care about defending Xylia; she just didn’t want the Schultz family to make a scene now


    that the divorce was almost finalized.


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    Xylia pulled her hand away from Tessa and, still clutching her knee, slowly stood. She turned to Ziggy and, with all her strength, pped him across the face.


    Caughtpletely off guard, Ziggy staggered from the force of the p. “Xylia, what are you doing? How dare you?” he yelled.


    Ziggy’s eyes widened as he raised his hand to return the p, but Connor stood up, his cold gaze shifting to the Schultz family. “What are you going to do?”


    Ziggy did not deliver the p.


    Xylia looked coldly at Ziggy. “In the past, I obeyed because I considered you my family, but not anymore.”


    Xylia pushed Ziggy aside and walked toward her suitcase. She endured the pain in her knee and walked out.


    Yves, realizing he could not control Xylia, could only turn to Connor. “Connor, you should understand that in families like ours, divorce is definitely not just a matter between the two of you.”


    Connor moved his eyes away from the doorway and replied in a cold tone. “She covets the wealth and status of the Ford family, she would never truly divorce me.”


    He still believed that Xylia was just acting out of spite.


    Upon hearing this, Tessa suppressed her anger, but she truly couldn’t understand why, even now, Connor Ford still seemed to have expectations for his marriage to Xylia.


    She decided it was time to take more drastic action–she had to make sure they got divorced.


    The Schultz family, upon hearing Connor’s words, felt some relief. They didn’t care whether Xylia’s marriage was happy or not.


    What mattered to them was that if Xylia and Connor really divorced, the benefits the Schultz family had gained from the Ford family would be lost. For that reason alone, they couldn’t say that Xylia had been raised in vain.


    AD