Cold War between Mr. and Mrs Vaughn: He Regretted when Divorce-Chapter 127: Starting Anew

Victoria Sinclair took a deep breath, the biting cold wind slashed across her face like a knife, as if it wanted to freeze her heart.

She understood that at this moment, she absolutely could not hesitate nor turn back.

Eugene Vaughn’s car was still parked by the roadside, his silhouette appeared so lonely in the night, as if forgotten by the world.

Victoria Sinclair’s fingers tightly clutched the tree trunk, her nails almost embedded in the rough bark.

"Victoria Sinclair, you can’t be soft-hearted anymore." She repeatedly admonished herself in her heart.

She had already made her choice, secured the two-hundred-million check, and agreed with Harold Vaughn that she would no longer be involved with the Vaughn brothers.

This was the last shred of dignity and freedom she had fought for herself.

She slowly released her hand, as if letting go of a heavy past, turned around, and walked toward the other side of the street, with her back to Eugene Vaughn’s car.

Every step felt like treading on knife edges, the piercing pain spreading from her soles to her entire body.

The street was empty, only the cold wind howling past, her tears swirled in her eyes, stubbornly refusing to fall.

She looked up at the pitch-black sky, sparse and dim stars, and the moon obscured by heavy clouds.

She was never that Victoria Sinclair who needed to rely on family or men to survive; her fate should be dictated by herself, "From now on, I will live for myself."

She meticulously selected some gifts at the supermarket, then took the subway to visit an old professor from her university days, the one Sarah Lowell had mentioned as having an inappropriate relationship with her, a single male professor.

When Professor Mo opened the door and saw Victoria Sinclair, the man in his sixties was pleasantly surprised and blurted out, "Victoria Sinclair?"

Victoria Sinclair politely smiled and greeted, "Happy New Year, Professor Mo."

"Happy New Year, please come in and have a seat." Professor Mo beamed, warmly taking the New Year’s gift from her hands, "Just in time, old Chen is here to celebrate New Year with me too."

Victoria Sinclair entered the room and saw Professor Chen sitting in the living room, courteously greeting, "Happy New Year, Professor Chen."

Professor Chen, with a kindly smile, stood up, "Ah, isn’t this Victoria Sinclair? Our pharmacology department’s prodigy."

Professor Mo closed the door and led Victoria Sinclair in, "Absolutely, I still remember her marriage, which you and I orchestrated."

"That’s right, what was the name again? It seems to be Vaughn..." Professor Chen scratched his already graying short hair, trying hard to recall.

Victoria Sinclair sat down somewhat awkwardly, wrestling with whether to inform them she was already divorced, ultimately masking her inner bitterness with a smile.

"Eugene Vaughn," Professor Mo reminded, while pouring a steaming cup of tea for Victoria Sinclair, and giving a furrowed glance at Professor Chen, "You introduced them, how could you forget?"

"Thank you." Victoria Sinclair accepted the cup of tea from the professor, softly expressing her gratitude.

After the two professors sat down, they talked incessantly.

Professor Chen said, "Eugene Vaughn wasn’t my student; he was Old Zhou’s student."

Professor Mo replied, "Even so, you dared to introduce him to my student without knowing him well, weren’t you afraid of his character?"

Professor Chen sighed deeply, "I was moved by his sincerity. He had a crush on your student since middle school and transformed himself from an underachiever to a top student just to keep up with her, even getting admitted to Sterling. For years, he never disturbed her to not affect her studies. When he heard Victoria Sinclair was looking for a partner, he immediately returned from abroad, sought me out first thing, literally begging me to help him, how could I refuse such a sincere man?"

Victoria Sinclair slowly sipped the warm tea from the cup, her hand subtly trembling uncontrollably, her heart gripped by an invisible force, waves of dull ache attacking, and her eyes gradually moistening.

She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

He had a crush on her since middle school?

It turned out, the girl Eugene Vaughn had a crush on for twelve years was, indeed, her.

The first love he mentioned was also her.

However, Eugene Vaughn knew her for over a decade, while she only knew Eugene Vaughn for a little more than two years.

Victoria Sinclair clutched the cup tightly, trying to derive some comfort from its warmth, but her hands still trembled incessantly.

At this moment, she finally understood why Eugene Vaughn insisted on marrying her despite suspecting her of infidelity.

She also understood why Eugene Vaughn was adamant about not getting a divorce.

Twelve years of infatuation cannot be easily let go of overnight.

In contrast, her affection for Eugene Vaughn seemed so insignificant compared to his love for her, like the glow of a firefly competing against the brightness of the moon.

"Why didn’t you come with your husband?" Professor Mo curiously asked.

Victoria Sinclair snapped back to reality, forcing a stiff smile, feigning calmness, "He’s spending New Year with his family, I’m here for business."

Professor Mo looked surprised, "Business?"

Victoria Sinclair spoke with serenity, "Professor, the project you invited me to research two years ago, I’d like to join."

Professor Mo and Professor Chen were astonished and delighted, exchanging glances, unbelieving of their ears, gradually revealing joy in their eyes. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Besides the expertise, I’ve also brought two hundred million in funding." Victoria Sinclair’s resolute eyes glimmered with confidence, reflecting expectations for the future and a farewell to the past.

Professor Mo, excitedly stepping forward, tightly grasped Victoria Sinclair’s hand as if holding onto long-held dreams and hopes.

Victoria Sinclair stood up, seeing tears glisten in Professor Mo’s eyes, his hand trembled, his voice quivering with emotion, "Oh, Victoria, you’re not joking just to make me happy, are you? This is truly the best gift I’ve received this year. Our team desperately needs you."

"The addition of Victoria in the field of rare children’s diseases is truly like adding wings to a tiger!" Professor Chen exclaimed.

"Indeed!" Professor Mo was so moved that tears shone in his eyes, "Victoria is the most talented and proudest student I’ve ever had throughout my teaching career."

Looking at the tears in the professors’ eyes, Victoria Sinclair felt an unprecedented sense of mission rising in her heart.

She finally understood that her value and mission were not about creating wealth for her family nor pursuing those illusory fame and titles.

What she wanted was actually very simple, that is for all the children in the world to grow up healthy and happy.

On the day of the Spring Festival, Professor Mo enthusiastically invited her to stay for a night.

The next day, she went to the mall to buy a new phone and replaced it with an entirely new SIM card, as if she was saying a complete farewell to her past self.

On the first day of the New Year, she rented a small apartment very close to the lab, which would be her haven for a fresh start.

On the second day, she filled her refrigerator with all kinds of groceries and locked herself in the apartment, engrossed in studying the project material given by Professor Mo.

It was a major study on pharmaceuticals for rare childhood diseases, with every page bearing the hopes of countless children.

Only by immersing herself in work could she temporarily forget those painful memories and reach a state of self-forgetfulness.

Except for occasionally going out to throw away garbage, she rarely stepped outside, as if isolating herself from the world.

In her busy work, time flew by like a fleeting white horse, and she even forgot what day it was or how long time had passed.

It wasn’t until Professor Mo called her to come to the research institute for work that she realized it was already the fifteenth of the first lunar month.

Just like that, half a month had passed in isolation.

This institute was a joint venture project between the state and private enterprises, a collaboration between several renowned pharmacological universities and top-tier hospitals.

Victoria Sinclair invested 200 million, directly becoming a minor shareholder.

Day after day, she spent each day absorbed in busy and fulfilling work.

In March in the south, the drizzle was continuous, and the air was filled with a damp atmosphere.

As dusk settled, the fine raindrops wove into a boundless net, enshrouding the world in a haze.

Victoria Sinclair finished a busy day at the research institute and hurriedly walked towards her apartment with an umbrella in hand.

Raindrops splashed on the ground, creating layers of water splashes.

Just as she reached the apartment building, Victoria Sinclair’s steps suddenly froze, as if she had been hit by a petrification spell.

Eugene Vaughn?

At this moment, he was quietly standing in front of the apartment entrance.

His tall and straight figure was wrapped in a dark long trench coat, his broad shoulders and neat short hair drenched by rain, clinging wetly to his skin. In this cold and damp rain scene, he seemed especially lonely, like an abandoned statue.

His gaze was profound and fierce, like two dark abysses or an eagle sharply locking onto Victoria Sinclair, staring at her fixedly in an instant, filled with longing, pain, and reluctance, as if wanting to see through her.

Instinctively, Victoria Sinclair stepped back, her heart pounding uncontrollably in her chest, as if trying to escape that piercing gaze.

How did he find this place?

Victoria Sinclair’s mind went blank in an instant, her thoughts a tangled mess, too chaotic to make sense of.

Though only separated by a few steps, it now seemed like an insurmountable galaxy lay between them, separating them into two worlds.

Victoria Sinclair took a deep breath, striving to calm the turmoil inside, feigning composure, as she walked step by step towards the entrance.

Her hand tightly gripped the umbrella handle, turning pale from the force, her knuckles slightly trembling.

As she reached the entrance and ascended the two steps, she slowly folded the wet umbrella, looked up at Eugene Vaughn, and spoke in a tone devoid of any warmth, "How did you find this place?"

Upon hearing this, Eugene Vaughn’s thin lips curved into a bitter arc, softly exhaling a breath that dissipated instantly in the cold air.

His hands slowly went into his coat pockets, a seemingly leisurely act that couldn’t hide the loneliness in his eyes. He spoke slowly, his voice deep and hoarse, "I thought there would be a new beginning between us, but I didn’t expect you to end it unilaterally. Without a single word of explanation, you stood me up and avoided me for half a month."

"I’m sorry." Victoria Sinclair lowered her eyes, her voice as light as a mosquito’s buzz, filled with endless guilt and helplessness.

"You know, the last thing I want to hear is the words ’I’m sorry.’" Eugene Vaughn’s voice suddenly rose, carrying a trace of suppressed pain and anger, "Give me an explanation."

"Since the day I divorced you, my attitude has been unmistakably clear." Victoria Sinclair turned her head away, not daring to meet his eyes, her eyes slightly reddening, and her voice unconsciously trembling.

"Then what does that make us?" Eugene Vaughn laughed bitterly, his laughter full of self-mockery and desolation, his eyes reddening, a trapped beast’s gaze revealing endless hurt, "Was it just a fleeting night of indulgence between adults, no responsibilities?"

Victoria Sinclair lowered her head, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

"I used all my connections, spent half a month looking for you." Eugene Vaughn’s voice, with each word, seemed squeezed from between his teeth, his heart aching persistently, yet he forced himself to stay composed, "If I hadn’t come looking for you, would you have never seen me again for the rest of your life?"

Victoria Sinclair, holding back her tears, resolutely said, "Yes."

Eugene Vaughn looked up towards the side, the veins on his neck slightly bulging, desperately suppressing the tumultuous, uncontrollable emotions inside, his chest felt heavily compressed by a boulder, painfully congested, every breath like tearing at his heart and lungs, feeling suffocated.

"Victoria Sinclair, what mistake did I make that made you so heartless, unwilling to give me even one chance?" Eugene Vaughn’s voice trembled slightly, filled with endless grievances and unwillingness, like a sharp knife, piercing straight into Victoria Sinclair’s heart.

"I don’t need marriage, nor do I need a man." Victoria Sinclair bit her lower lip, striving not to let her tears fall, her voice contained a hint of finality, yet the trembling undertone betrayed her inner vulnerability.

"I just want to be by your side, silently treating you well. I won’t interfere with your work, nor hinder your career. If you don’t need marriage, then we won’t remarry. My request is very simple, really very simple, I just want to be with you, be there for you, is that wrong?" Eugene Vaughn took a step forward, his eyes filled with pleading, his voice almost choked with emotion.

"It’s wrong." Victoria Sinclair’s tears welled up in her eyes, her heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife, each word bleeding, "The wrong part is that you love a woman who doesn’t love you."

"I don’t need you to love me, as long as we can return to how things were before. We can live under the same roof, you can sleep in a separate room, you can ignore me, even pretend I don’t exist, let’s go back to how it was, shall we?" Eugene Vaughn’s voice carried a hint of desperate plea.

Victoria Sinclair was speechless, her throat felt as if it was blocked by a wad of cotton, dry and sore, burning painfully, one more word and the tears would break through.

She didn’t want to continue this heartbreaking argument any longer, gritting her teeth, she brushed past him, eager to escape quickly.

Seeing this, Eugene Vaughn instinctively reached out, grabbing her arm tightly.

His voice was hoarse and choked, filled with endless longing and reluctance, "Victoria Sinclair... I beg you..."

Victoria Sinclair’s body stiffened, the strength applied to the arm he grasped made her heart tremble violently.

She closed her eyes, the tears finally burst out, rolling down her cheeks, her voice hoarse and muffled, "Eugene Vaughn, let go."