The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 254

Aline sat on the couch, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Gone was the gentle, accommodating woman Sawyer once knew; now her eyes were cold, her words sharper than ever—so cutting they could draw blood.

Sawyer stared at his wife of over a decade, his face shadowed with disbelief. After a long, heavy pause, he finally nodded, defeated. “Alright.”

After all these years together, Aline was asking for a divorce, and yet, besides a flicker of surprise, Sawyer felt nothing. No anger, no heartbreak—just resignation.

Aline hadn’t expected him to yield so easily. She let out a quiet sigh of relief and pressed on. “Since you’ve agreed, you can keep one of the houses. The rest—the properties and the savings—they’re all mine.”

“That’s fine.” Sawyer barely hesitated. Then he turned his gaze to Jeanette. “Just one condition. Jeanette stays with me.”

Jeanette was Sawyer’s only daughter. There was no way he’d give her up.

No sooner had he spoken than both Aline and Jeanette spoke up, panic in their voices.

“No.” The word rang out from mother and daughter at once.

Aline glared at Sawyer, her tone unyielding. “Sawyer, your life is a mess right now. You want our daughter to suffer alongside you? What kind of father are you? I’m her mother—she stays with me.”

Ignoring her, Sawyer looked past Aline to Jeanette. His voice was almost pleading. “Jeanette, would you come with me? Please?”

Even Clifford, who usually took Jeanette’s side, stood with Sawyer this time. “Jeanette, Dad’s always loved you most. He’s taken care of you and Aunt Aline, given you everything he could. Now that the Iverson family’s fallen on hard times, is this really how you treat him? Isn’t that just cruel?”

He turned to Aline. “Aline, Dad’s been nothing but good to you all these years. Now that he’s lost his fortune, you’re leaving him? How can you be so heartless?”

Aline rolled her eyes and snapped, “Oh, please. The only reason I married Sawyer was because he was loaded. And let’s not forget, he already had you kids when I met him. Now he’s broke, and you still expect me to stick around and suffer? Why should I? I just want a good life.”

“You—” Clifford was at a loss for words.

He turned back to Jeanette, voice soft with desperation. “Jeanette, please… don’t go.”