Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Cossio hadn't even shown his face yet, and Felicity's condition had already taken

a sharp turn for the worse. Before, it was only mood swings-now, it had

escalated to memory loss.

"What did the doctor say?" Mila asked anxiously.

Conrad replied, "They've changed her medication, but all it can do is slow down the memory decline a little. There's no real cure, and..." He hesitated for a moment, his expression troubled. "For her, forgetting doesn't seem to be entirely a bad thing..."

"No!" Mila cut him off, her tone steely. "This is a clinical issue. We have no idea what might happen if her memory loss continues. We have to treat it, whatever it takes."

Of course, there was a certain appeal to her forgetting anything related to Cossio, but no one could say where this path of forgetting would end. Mila had done enough research to know that next, Felicity might start losing more than just memories—her cognition, even her sense of self, could start to fade.

It wasn't impossible that she'd forget she was even a person.

And there was something else Mila couldn't shake. Felicity had already forgotten enough that she no longer feared being abroad. That meant she had no recollection of Cossio at all.

Was that a good thing?

Yes and no.

"In any case, we need to keep trying to treat her," Mila insisted. "I'll come by as often as I can to help keep her spirits up. She..."

She was about to continue when her phone buzzed. Seeing that it was Conrad's phone, she started to leave the room, but then noticed his face suddenly go cold. Without bothering to step outside, he just picked up the call right there.

Mila took a seat and waited.

She couldn't hear the conversation, but after a few minutes, Conrad's voice turned sharp: "No. Absolutely not."

He hung up immediately.

The tension in the study was palpable. Mila was about to return to their previous topic when Conrad suddenly said, "That was Eugene. He says he wants to study abroad."

"...What?" Mila was speechless.

What was going on? First Felicity, now Eugene-did everyone suddenly want to leave the country?

From her perspective, with the whole Cossio situation unresolved, anyone in the Montgomery family-especially those closest to the family-should stay put. Wasn't that obvious?

Hadn't they learned their lesson already?

"What's got him wanting to go abroad all of a sudden?" Mila asked, frowning. "Where does he want to go?"

"England," Conrad answered flatly.

Mila fell silent.

Conrad turned to her with a sigh. "Can't you just stay here a while longer? If you're in the country, Xinxin won't want to run off to find you overseas."

As for Eugene, he didn't say another word. He'd grown used to the odd, distant relationships in the Montgomery family, and Mila was no stranger to it either. She just shook her head. "Aunt Jade needs me too. Besides, she doesn't like me spending too much time here."

-She doesn't like you being with the Montgomery family, Conrad thought, but said nothing. The rift between the Montgomerys and Jade had lasted for years— seven, eight, maybe more.

That rebellious son of his-always finding new ways to stir up trouble, even from afar.

After leaving the study, Mila thought about what Conrad had said and decided to call Eugene. He picked up right away.

"Hey, sis?"

She got straight to the point. "You want to study abroad?"

"...Are you at the old house?"

"Mhm."

"... Yeah, I do."

Eugene spoke softly. "Sis, we agreed, didn't we? That when you went to England,

I'd come find you. Studying abroad is the easiest way."noveldrama

His voice grew heavier. "And I didn't

even know everything that happened to you-l was buried in math research with my mentor. I almost lost you. I just can't stand the idea of you being alone over there... You're the only family I have left, Mila.”

That wasn't true.

Mila opened her mouth, but remembering Conrad's reaction and Felicity's fading memory, she swallowed her words.

After a pause, she finally said, "I support you studying abroad, but not right now. Just wait a little longer, okay?"

"...How much longer?"

Mila couldn't promise anything, but she managed, "It won't be too long.

I'll be staying here in the country for

a while, and if you miss me, you can

always come find me."

There was a long silence, and then, unexpectedly, Eugene asked, "If you're at the

old house... how's mom been lately?"

"She's... holding on."

"...Alright."

Suddenly, he chuckled—a quiet, gentle sound. "Whatever you say, sis. I'll just

wait. Goodnight, Mila."

"Goodnight."

After hanging up, the strikingly handsome young man sat alone in the darkened foyer of the villa. The phone in his hand went dark, but another phone on the table in front of him remained lit. A strange

contact name flashed on the screen: "Someone."

Right after the call ended, a voice sounded from that phone-a man's voice, tinged with laughter. "Do you believe me now? Your mother's getting worse."

"Who are you?" Eugene's voice was icy. Without the mask of politeness, his green eyes glittered coldly in the dim light.

The man on the phone chuckled. "You're so clever-how could you not guess?" "Eugene," he drawled softly, "I'm your father. Cossio."