Year Five The Perfect Goodbye Plan novel Chapter 138

A sudden sting pricked Silvia’s nose. She quickly lowered her head, pretending to examine the contents of Lola’s shopping bag.

After a moment, Silvia managed a smile and answered, “Oh, I was just bored. Thought I’d come home for a bit.”

“Bored...?”

Lola sensed something was off. She eyed Silvia with suspicion, about to ask if something had happened, but Silvia slipped her arm through Lola’s, her voice gentle. “Let’s go inside, Mom.”

Lola had no choice but to nod and follow.

Inside the living room, Silvia sat beside her mother, immediately reaching for the shopping bag and heading off to change clothes.

One outfit after another, she kept herself busy, as if the act alone could drown out any questions Lola might have wanted to ask. In the end, Lola simply watched in silence.

“Silvia.”

Noticing Silvia looked worn out from all the changing, Lola reached over, took her hand, and gently pulled her to sit down. Her gaze softened as she studied Silvia’s face. “Tell me honestly—did something happen? Are you upset about something?”

Lola didn’t claim to fully understand her daughter, but it only took one look to tell that something was very wrong with Silvia today.

She sighed quietly, rubbing Silvia’s hand, trying to coax her daughter to open up. “Is it about Kent?”

“...No.”

After a brief hesitation, Silvia shook her head and denied it.

She forced a smile and met Lola’s gaze. “Mom, who could possibly upset me? Don’t overthink it. I just wanted to come home for a visit. I guess I’m still not used to living on my own.”

“Not used to it? Then how come you spent three years away in Luminova City and barely called us once?”

Lola shot her an exasperated look.

She kept smiling, curling up in her mother’s embrace. With her eyes closed, she hid the sorrow she couldn’t say aloud.

Lola wrapped her arms around Silvia, gently patting her daughter’s back. In a soft, earnest voice, she murmured, “Silvia, every marriage has its problems. But if you want it to last, you have to put in the effort, keep working at it.”

Silvia didn’t reply.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t help but find it all a little ironic.

She hadn’t said a word, but her mother still knew everything.

But she was done trying.

She’d poured her heart into her relationship with Shipley for years, only to be left with nothing.

Now, with her marriage to Kent, she’d given up on careful planning and expectations. If it worked, it worked; if it didn’t, she’d walk away.