Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 617

Without turning his head, Wesley declined. “I don’t have a habit of using hot springs. If he has something to say, it can wait until tomorrow.”

“A good soak can help you relax. You’ve been too tense these past few days. Mr. Shane is just being considerate.”

Wesley caught the underlying meaning in the steward’s words and stood up. “It seems I don’t have a choice. Fine, I’m curious to see what he’s planning.”

The steward simply smiled, stepped out of the room, and waited for Wesley to follow before leading the way.

Wesley followed him to the outdoor hot spring in the backyard, but there was no one around. The steward bowed slightly from behind him. “Enjoy yourself, Mr. Rayburn. I won’t disturb you.”

Wesley frowned, but before he could say anything, the steward was gone.

He had no interest in the hot spring and didn't plan on getting in. He suspected Shane had called him here for a reason, yet Shane himself was nowhere to be seen.

As he stood there thinking, a figure slowly approached from behind.

Wesley heard the movement and turned. For a split second, he didn’t recognize the beautiful, robe-clad woman before him.

A woman, here in the villa, at this time of night, dressed like that… he barely dared to look at her, feeling he had intruded. “My apologies,” he said, turning to leave in a hurry.

“You don’t recognize me?”

The familiar voice stopped Wesley in his tracks. He turned back, his expression one of pure astonishment.

Shane slowly faced him, a smug look on her face. She had put on makeup tonight, so it was understandable he didn’t recognize her. “Surprised? This is the first time I’ve ever dressed like this in front of anyone.”

Wesley’s gaze inadvertently flickered to the V-neck of her robe before he quickly looked away, his face a mask of disbelief. “You… you’re a woman?!”

The person he had respectfully called “Uncle Shane” was a woman. It was beyond absurd.

“You know that murder is a crime,” Wesley said, his voice turning cold. “Shane, you resent Hulda for destroying you, but are you going to destroy yourself, too?”

“I was destroyed a long time ago!”

Shane’s eyes reddened as she laughed. “From the moment I started taking those damn hormones, I was already ruined! Do you know why I suddenly started avoiding you back then? Because I hit puberty, and Hulda was afraid the Rayburns would discover my secret. She forced me to take hormones that made me unable to even look at myself! I started having episodes of gender confusion, not even knowing if I was a man or a woman anymore!”

“Wesley, you’ve always been the most understanding person I know. So you can understand me, can’t you…?”

She reached out, wanting to grab his hand, wanting to believe that in the end, he would choose to stand by her side.

But he took a step back, avoiding her touch.

Shane’s hand froze in mid-air. After a long moment, she let out a self-deprecating laugh. “So you despise me too? You think I’m disgusting?”