"Have you eaten yet?" the man's deep voice floated through the receiver.
"I have," Felicia answered.
Max grunted softly in acknowledgment before pressing further. "What did you eat?"
Felicia paused for a second, letting out a quiet, internal sigh before listing off two of the dishes she had just ordered.
"How was it?"
"It was decent."
"I will have to go try it myself next time I have the chance."
"That is up to you."
Silence stretched between them. Felicia honestly thought he had hung up, but a quick glance at the screen confirmed the call was still connected. "Is there anything else?"
"Are you not going to ask what I am doing?"
Felicia's grip on her phone tightened. She stayed quiet for a moment before finally relenting. "What are you doing?"
"I just finished a meeting," Max replied.
For a moment, Savannah did not know what to say. Anne was such a remarkably sweet child. Any mother would find it impossible to abandon her. Even if she could not live for herself, she had to endure everything for the sake of her daughter, swallowing the agony of everything she had previously suffered.
The living room was quiet, filled only by the low murmur of the television.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Felicia finally looked at Savannah. "You do not need to worry about me. I wanted to divorce Max to sever ties with the pathetic, unbearable version of myself I used to be. But in the face of Anne's physical and mental well-being, none of that seems important anymore. At the very least, Max truly loves her, and I love her more than anything. I do not want Max to have other children in the future who might steal away everything that rightfully belongs to Anne. He was right. This is my fate. No matter how violently I struggle, destiny will always drag me back and bind me to where I am supposed to be. The harder I fight, the more I get hurt. Perhaps accepting this reality will make life slightly easier for everyone around me."
Listening to Felicia's raw confession, Savannah could only sigh in deep lamentation. With a family as powerful as the Hawthornes, and a man possessing Max's top-tier wealth, status, and looks, there was an endless line of elite women desperate to bear his children. If he truly wanted to, he would never be short of heirs. Yet, it was painfully clear that his entire heart was currently devoted solely to Anne. If it were not for his daughter, he probably would have finalized the divorce papers with Felicia ages ago. While Savannah refused to judge the rest of his questionable behavior, his dedication to his child was genuinely flawless. Men willing to endure an unhappy marriage entirely for the sake of their children were incredibly rare. Usually, the mother was the one expected to suffer in silence.
She leaned closer to Felicia and reached out to grasp her hand tightly. "As an outsider, I will never be able to fully empathize with your pain. I just feel that you deserve to live for yourself. But the brutal reality of life is that living entirely for oneself is incredibly difficult. If there really is no other way out, then just let nature take its course. Leave it all up to fate."

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