Chapter 2 If Only You Were My Mom

The words made the entire living room fall silent in an instant. Everyone in their circle knew how crazy Seraphina was about Michael - how could she possibly want a divorce?

A flicker of emotion finally appeared in Michael's cold eyes.

Susan pretended to comfort her from the side: "Seraphina, don't say things you don't mean. What can't a married couple talk through? Today is my fault. I shouldn't have had my birthday here. I'll leave right now..."

With tears in her eyes, she started walking toward the door.

Michael grabbed her and looked at Seraphina with some displeasure: "Seraphina, haven't you made enough of a scene?"

"I'm not making a scene." Seraphina stared at him. "I'm serious, Michael. I want a divorce."

Michael's eyes darkened. Just as he was about to say something, there was a sudden noise behind him.

Everyone looked over to see Janna collapsed straight on the floor.

"Janna!"

Seraphina's face changed. Without thinking, she rushed over and knelt beside Janna.

Janna's face was already turning red, her breathing rapid, her lips purple.

Seraphina suddenly looked up at Michael: "What did you just give her to eat?"

Michael also looked tense: "Just some nuts..."

"Michael, don't you know Janna is severely allergic to nuts!"

Seraphina frantically searched through her bag, her whole body shaking.

Michael's expression changed slightly as he looked at Susan beside him.

Susan's face went pale: "I didn't know Janna couldn't eat nuts..."

Seraphina had no time to deal with her. She pulled out the allergy medicine she always carried from her bag.

All these years, she'd kept it with her because Janna had a special condition - you never knew when something might happen.

She skillfully broke open the pill, fed it into Janna's mouth, and loosened her collar to help her breathe easier.

Michael quickly called an ambulance.

After Janna was rushed into the emergency room, Seraphina leaned against the wall, her fingertips still trembling.

Fortunately, they got there in time. Janna was temporarily out of danger.

Michael went to pay the fees, with Susan following beside him, looking worried.

"Family member, please pick up the medicine."

After settling Janna in, a nurse handed over a prescription.

Seraphina took it and headed to the pharmacy. Halfway there, she suddenly remembered her medical insurance card was still in her bag back there, so she turned back.

Just as she reached the children's ward, she heard Janna's voice inside.

"Susan, I'm fine now. Don't cry."

Through the gap, Seraphina saw Janna lying in the hospital bed, her little face pale, but still holding Susan's hand.

Susan sat by the bed wiping tears: "It's all my fault. I didn't know you couldn't eat nuts..."

"It's not your fault." Janna shook her hand. "I wanted to eat them myself. Mom usually won't let me touch these things, but today I finally got to try them. Even though I had an allergic reaction, they were really good!"

She suddenly thought of something: "Where's my mom?"

"Getting medicine." Susan wiped her tears. "Janna, don't blame your mom for being strict with you in the future. She's doing it for your own good."

Janna pouted: "She's not doing it for my good. She just likes controlling me. I wish you were my mom instead."

The prescription in Seraphina's hand crumpled into a ball.

"And you know what?" Janna giggled. "She's so dumb. Last time I delivered flowers to you, I gave her the ugliest one from the bunch, and she was actually happy about it for days."

Seraphina stood there, feeling all the blood in her body turn cold.

Ever since Susan appeared, her daughter, who used to love clinging to her, had become especially cold toward her.

A few days ago, Janna had suddenly given her a flower. She thought their relationship was improving.

She never imagined it was the most insignificant one from Susan's bouquet...

The last thread in Seraphina's heart finally snapped completely.

She smiled silently, slowly released her grip, placed the prescription on a nearby chair, and turned to leave.

Back home, Seraphina went upstairs to pack. Before leaving, she placed the divorce papers on the table.

When she left with her suitcase, it was already dark.

With nowhere to go, Seraphina temporarily went to her best friend Wendy's place.

Seeing her pale face and suitcase, Wendy was startled and pulled her into the room.

"What happened? What's going on?"

Seraphina told her everything that happened today.

After hearing it all, Wendy slammed the table and stood up: "What the hell is Susan? And Michael - is he blind? Janna's an ungrateful brat too!"

"All these years, how much have you sacrificed for them? You even gave up your job for this family! And what did you get? Where are their consciences?"

Seraphina smiled bitterly: "Do they even have consciences?"

Wendy looked at her like this, heartbroken: "But Seraphina, if you get divorced, what about Janna?"

"She likes Susan better."

Seraphina thought of what she heard at the hospital today.

"If that's the case, might as well let them have what they want. Besides, I can't win custody against the Talbot Family anyway."

Wendy nodded in agreement and held her hand: "So what are your plans now?"

Seraphina was silent for a moment, then said: "I want to go back to painting."

Wendy's eyes lit up: "Really? You've thought it through?"

Seraphina nodded.

She studied art, specializing in oil painting. In her junior year, her oil painting "Twilight" was selected for the National Youth Art Exhibition and won the gold prize. On the day of the award ceremony, several gallery owners blocked the exhibition hall entrance, chasing after her to sign.

The highest offer was ten million to buy all her works for the next three years.

She was only twenty-one then, full of spirit and ambition.

But what happened after that?

She married Michael, had Janna. Michael said the family didn't need her little bit of money and told her to stay home and take care of the child.

So she put away her brushes. And once she did, seven years passed.

Seven years of marriage brought her nothing but endless cooking and dishes to wash. The spirited Seraphina of the past seemed so distant, as if she could never see her again.

Seraphina's eyes stung.

"Great!"

Wendy clapped her hands: "There's actually a charity art exhibition tomorrow. Quite a few collectors from the circle will be there. You should go and network with them."

Seraphina also thought this was an opportunity and agreed.

The next day, the two of them went to the charity art exhibition.

The exhibition hall was bustling with important collectors and auctioneers from the circle.

Seraphina wore a black dress, her hair pinned up high, exposing her slender neck. She looked like an elegant black swan.

As she walked through the gallery, suddenly, a painting caught her eye.

The painting showed a misty seaside town in the rain, wet cobblestone streets, small fishing boats docked at the pier, and a woman standing in the rain with an umbrella. The unique brushwork, the delicate handling of light and shadow... This was her mother's last painting before she passed away.

She had searched for it for so long. She never expected to find it here.

Seraphina immediately turned to the staff member beside her.

"What's the starting price for this painting?"

"Five hundred thousand."

Seraphina didn't hesitate.

"I'll offer six hundred thousand."

As soon as she finished speaking, another voice rang out.

"One million."

Seraphina turned around to see Michael striding over.

Susan held his arm, smiling gently.

"Seraphina, you like this painting too?" She blinked. "What a coincidence - I like it too. How about you let me have it?"