The Ex-Wife's Ascent

When Sophia Brown woke up, her forehead was burning hot.

"Harry..." she called out hoarsely, "Could you get mommy a glass of water?"

Harry White didn't respond.

Sophia waited for a while, but there was still no movement.

She threw off the blanket, and the moment her feet touched the floor, a wave of dizziness hit her hard.

She grabbed onto the nearby table and forced herself to push open the bedroom door.

The door to the children's room was slightly ajar, and Harry's excited voice came through.

"Aunt Alice, do you like the gift I gave you? Dad and I worked on it for so long."

Sophia stopped in her tracks at the doorway. Through the crack in the door, she saw Harry talking to his phone watch.

"Aunt Alice, can you come with me to the parent-child sports day in a few days?"

"I don't want Mom to go. Last time she came to school, she dressed so outdated and insisted on wiping my sweat. All my classmates laughed at me..."

"It would be so great if you could come. You're so pretty, and you can speak so many languages!"

Sophia felt the dryness in her throat spread to her eyes.

She stood there, her fingertips trembling badly.

If she hadn't heard it with her own ears, she wouldn't have known this was how she looked in Harry's eyes.

She dressed in outdated...

But before, she used to shine on stage too. It was only because she married Benjamin White that she became like this.

Not caring about her appearance, her skin aging and haggard...

She looked at Harry. Despite his young age, his features looked so much like both her and Benjamin.

But ever since Alice came back, Harry, who used to love hugging her and calling "mommy," hadn't talked to her properly in a long time.

Her throat tightened. She was about to leave when Harry saw her.

The smile on Harry's face instantly froze, and the next second, he became angry.

"Mom, why are you eavesdropping on me!" Harry's little hand quickly ended the call, his face flushing red. "The teacher said eavesdropping on others is rude!"

Sophia looked at the resistance and wariness in his eyes and opened her mouth. "I'm sick, I wanted to ask you to get me a glass of water..."

"Can't you get it yourself?" Harry said huffily, then lowered his head to continue fiddling with his watch.

Sophia's chest ached badly.

She held back her tears, holding them in again and again, then asked unwillingly, "Harry, the parent-child sports day at school, can mommy go with you?"

Harry's little face scrunched up, somewhat resistant. "But I don't want you to go. I already told Aunt Alice. I want Aunt Alice to go with me."

"But I'm your mother."

"Who says only mothers can go?" Harry complained. "Mom, can you please stop being so petty?"

Sophia's body swayed. She felt a chill seeping out from her bones.

She nodded, unable to say another word, and turned around.

Her gaze paused when it swept across the desk.

On the desk was a half-eaten cream cake.

"Harry," she instinctively spoke up, "your stomach isn't good, you can't eat so many sweets. At night you'll..."

"You're so annoying!"

Harry completely lost his patience, looking at her with reddening eyes.

"Don't you have anything of your own to do? Are Dad and I your prisoners? Why do you have to put all your attention on Dad and me?"

He was only 4 years old, but every word stabbed at Sophia's heart like a knife.

"No wonder Dad likes Aunt Alice too, because Aunt Alice never controls us like this."

Sophia stared at him blankly.

In a daze, she remembered Harry at three years old.

Back then, he would wobble into her arms, calling "mommy, hug me" in a sweet childlike voice. He would hold his little pillow and stubbornly wait for her to come home before going to sleep when she worked late.

But now...

Sophia suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe.

Harry was frailer than other children when he was born, and they had to go to the hospital almost every month before he turned three.

So from childhood until now, she personally took care of his diet and everything in his daily life.

But she never expected that all this protection would eventually turn into blades stabbing back at her.

Her lips trembling, unable to say another word, she turned and left the children's room.

Supporting herself against the wall, she slowly walked back to the living room, picked up the cold water left from last night, and drank it all in one gulp.

Back in the bedroom, she sat alone for a long time before picking up her phone to call Benjamin.

Three calls, all went unanswered.

She gripped her phone tightly and didn't call again. Unconsciously, she opened Instagram.

The first post was Alice's update.

[Received the most thoughtful gift in the world. It feels so good to be loved.]

The photo showed a handmade card with blue cardstock covered in glitter stars, with writing that said:

[To my most beloved Aunt Alice!]

In the comments section, the usually cold Benjamin was also sending his wishes.

[Happy birthday!]

Sophia's eyes stung at Benjamin's comment. With trembling fingers, she scrolled down.

But below his comment were teasing remarks from mutual friends piling up.

"First love hits different."

"No matter how hard some people scheme, when Alice comes back, they still have to step aside."

"Harry's got skills, comparable to that bracelet his dad made for you back then."

"If you ask me, if someone hadn't butted in back then, Harry would be Alice's child now."

"Support Mr. White in winning back his true love!"

Sophia masochistically read through the comments one by one.

That year, the Brown family went bankrupt, and her father used the marriage agreement made with the White family years ago to force Benjamin to marry her.

Later, she learned that Benjamin had a girlfriend at that time.

On their wedding day, Benjamin got drunk and said to her, "Sophia, I can give you the title of Mrs. White. Don't expect anything else."

Thinking of this, Sophia suddenly laughed, tears dropping onto the screen one by one.

Five years.

A whole five years.

All she had received from Benjamin was coldness and distance.

Turns out he wasn't naturally cold; he just didn't want to be warm to her. Now that Alice was back, she naturally became the extra person.

Did she feel wronged?

Of course she did.

But in these five years, she had long become numb.

Her husband's indifference, her son's disgust—that was all she had gained in these 5 years.

The high fever made her think a bit slow, but that thought in her heart was unusually clear.

She opened her chat with Benjamin.

The last time they messaged was three days ago, when she asked if he was coming home for dinner on the weekend. He replied with "Not coming back."

They hadn't been in touch since.

Sophia closed her eyes hard, then typed.

"Benjamin, let's get a divorce."

Send.

She put down her phone and got up to pack her things.

Over the years, Benjamin hadn't treated her poorly materially, but Sophia had spent all the money on Harry and Benjamin.

So after 5 years, the things that belonged to her were very few.

She only had a few clothes she wore regularly, her documents, and daily necessities.

When her gaze fell on the nightstand, she saw that family photo.

In the photo, Harry was still small, held in her arms, with Benjamin standing beside her. They actually looked like a real family.

Sophia smiled bitterly and dragged her suitcase away.

Harry's laughter could faintly be heard from the children's room.

He was probably video chatting with Alice again.

Vaguely, she seemed to hear a sentence: "Aunt Alice, I wish you were my mom."

Sophia gripped the handle of her suitcase tightly.

She thought that soon Harry's wish would come true. Soon they would be a happy family.

Sophia took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, and walked away without looking back.