Chapter 120 Blackmail
Never did Erin imagine that she and Morgan would divorce. However, he was standing in front of her and telling her in no ambiguous words that he wanted a divorce.
She was stumped. There was no way she would allow this divorce to go through; if she did, she would be left with nothing! The most unbearable consequence of all, virtual poverty aside, was that she would become a divorcée. No longer would she walk around being known as Morgan’s wife and the third madam of the Wendel Family.
She could turn from a woman envied by men to a woman scorned and laughed at by others overnight. The drastic change was one she could neither accept nor cope with.
Ashen-faced and incredulous, she eyed Morgan with an almost maniacal gleam in her eyes as she seethed, “I gave birth to our sons, Morgan. You cannot do this to me! If you insist on going through with the divorce, I swear I’ll go up to the rooftop of Wendel Corporation and leap to my death!”
Morgan stared at her and said unaffectedly, “If all you care about is yourself and you have no consideration of our boys whatsoever, you may leap to your death from whichever rooftop you like. I’ve already made up my mind and I want a divorce. I can’t spend another day with you, not if it means a lifetime of all this nonsense. If you won’t sign the paperwork, I’ll just have to file a suit and take it up to court. Either way, the divorce will go through.”
“Why? Why?!” Erin’s eyes were bloodshot as tears spilled down her cheeks, and her voice was trembling as she roared, “What did I ever do to make you want to divorce me? Is there someone else, Morgan?”
“No,” he answered with a frown. “Your biggest mistake to date is to insist boldly that you have done nothing wrong! Erin, if you have the time, why don’t you look into a mirror and take a good look at yourself? When I first married you, you were pure and compassionate without a single evil thought. Now, you’re selfish, greedy, and full of schemes!”
He was growing angrier as he spoke, and tried as he did to keep his voice level, it was getting loud. “At first, I turned a blind eye to your scheming. I tried to talk some sense into you, but it didn’t work, and when you chose to turn to such savage, underhanded ways, I still said nothing. However, you decided to go after my own brother! What did my brother and my sister-in-law ever do to you? Why did you so viciously want to try to use Angie to aggravate them? They’re my family. Are you so intent on seeing them suffer that you would go to such lengths to hurt them? Does that give you joy?”
“I didn’t do anything… I didn’t… I didn’t…” Erin shook her head vehemently, looking as white as a sheet.
“You know as well as I do that you had a role to play in all this!” Morgan pointed out tiredly. “Stop lying to yourself and others, Erin. I didn’t see the vicious side of you because I saw you as my wife, and I didn’t think anything bad of what you did. However, when Alina opened up the floodgates by calling you on your bluff in front of everyone, we could all see your cruel and despicable plans laid bare under the sun. Deny it all you want, but no one will ever believe you!”
“No, I really didn’t do anything, Morgan! I didn’t! You have to believe me!” She sobbed and said urgently, “I didn’t know Angie was so wicked that she would set my son up even after I took her in as one of my own. I really did take pity on her, and I wanted to help her in any way I could.”
“Took pity on her? Wanted to help her in any way you could?” Morgan snorted. “Erin, do you even hear yourself? Are you convinced by your own lies? There is nothing special between you and Angie. You weren’t all that close to her back in the day either. I don’t see Benjamin and Diana wanting to take her in, but you stepped up and insisted on bringing Angie home. Why did you do that?”
“I really did feel sorry for her, and besides, it’s not as if we can’t afford another mouth to feed. I brought her home on a whim,” she explained tearfully as she rushed up to Morgan and clutched his arm. “Morgan, you have to believe me. I’m not as cruel or complex as you make me out to be; I only felt sorry for Angie and wanted to help her. I didn’t plan on aggravating Michael or Crystal at all! Please believe me, you have to!”
“If I don’t believe you, neither would Michael, Crystal, Jonathan, and the rest of them.” He pulled away from her and warned icily, “If you don’t want Jack and Nicholas to become strangers to the main family, I suggest you agree to the divorce. Our family and theirs could still get along without you, but that won’t be the case if you were to stay. You know Jack and Nicholas aren’t capable enough to make it on their own; you know what kind of future awaits them if they don’t get the main family’s help and connections. If you still want your sons to be on friendly terms with their cousins, I suggest you sign your name on the divorce paperwork, leave the Wendels, and stay the hell away from my brother, my sister-in-law, and my nephews!”
“No! No!” Erin wailed hysterically. “You’re being ridiculous, Morgan! Do you really think everything will work out well for Jack and Nicholas if we divorce? They will have a divorcée for a mother! If you go ahead and get married to a younger woman and have a child with her, what place will our sons have in this home? Your new child and your younger new wife will have all the privileges!”
She was sobbing as she rushed over to Jack’s side. She clutched his arm and swayed it to show she was desperate. “Jack, talk some sense into your father. You have to stop him from divorcing me. You and Nicholas are old enough to settle down and start your own families; if your father and I go through with the divorce now, who knows what others might think of us? Who knows what they might think of you? I won’t sign the papers. I do not agree to go through with this!”
Jack frowned, and he turned to look at Morgan imploringly. “Dad…”
Never in his dreams did he think his father would bring up divorce. He knew that his parents’ relationship had been rocky for a while now, and there was hardly any sentiment left between them. Erin was always up to no good and she was growing more unreasonable by the day; Morgan couldn’t stand the way she treated others and how she managed the family affairs, and he often regarded her antics with a critical and disdainful eye. Jack could tell that his father was growing tired of having to put up with his mother, and the love they once shared was now chipped away by unilateral contempt on his end.
Even so, Jack never thought that his father would ask for a divorce.
After all, they weren’t young anymore, and at their age, most couples were set to put up with one another until the end of time. It was hard to come by a couple in their midlife who could still love each other as much as Michael and Crystal did.
Divorce was rarely ever contemplated by anyone who was Morgan and Erin’s age. Shouldn’t they put up with each other and just let the days go by?
Jack wanted to dissuade his father from going through with the divorce, but he had only just called out for him when Morgan cut him off. “Don’t bother. I’ve made up my mind after careful consideration, and I’ve wanted a divorce for a long time now. The only reason I didn’t bring it up was because you and Nicholas were so young back then, so I chose to put up with her for your sake. However, I can no longer tolerate her antics today. I can choose to ignore her picking on others and mocking them, but I will not stand for her to humiliate, aggravate and hurt my brother! How despicable must she be to want to hurt my brother and my sister-in-law like this? Just thinking about sharing a bed with a woman like her makes me feel sick, and I’m through spending every day like this!”
Upon hearing this, Erin was at a complete loss. This was the first time she heard how Morgan really felt about her, and she didn’t expect her husband to think of her as such a monster.
