Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 303 There's an old saying: When life closes a door on you, it always opens a window.

Watching Miranda grin and giggle in front of her, Mila couldn't help but think- maybe, in her case, all the doors had been bolted shut. But fate hadn't given up on her; it had offered her a window instead.

A huge window, so big it stretched across the entire wall.

Sunlight spilled in, unimpeded.

And just like that, Mila found herself smiling like a fool as well.

To pay off her debts-and maybe save up a little extra-Mila threw herself into the simplest work she could find. Tutoring was out of the question, and most of her options had dried up, so she settled for a job at a bustling bubble tea shop in a lively part of town.

It wasn't glamorous, but it was honest work.

She was pretty, with a gentle voice and easy manners, and customers flocked to the shop, most of them more interested in chatting with her or admiring her face than the drinks themselves. The bolder ones would even ask for her number. Mila always turned them down, but that didn't seem to stop them from trying.

She didn't mind, though.

As long as business was good, the boss was happy-and he'd even slip her a bit of extra cash as a bonus.

It wasn't long before Leonard showed up.

Back when he was just a teenager, Leonard had always seemed a little awkward, but there was an unmistakable coolness about him-aloof, distant, and impossible to approach. When he walked into the shop, the whole place seemed to fall silent, as if the air itself had frozen.

Mila recognized him instantly. She'd seen him before with Lysander-she wasn't exactly sure what their relationship was, but Leonard always seemed to follow Lysander's lead. Wherever Lysander went, Leonard was never far behind, lurking quietly in the background but still impossible to ignore.

She was on edge the moment she saw him, half-afraid Lysander had sent him to make trouble. But to her surprise, Leonard just wanted to order bubble tea.

At least he wasn't here to cause a scene.

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, the boy's icy voice rang out: "I'll take everything on the menu. Twenty cups of each." Mila just stared. Their menu had over thirty varieties-twenty cups of each was more than six hundred drinks. Enough to wear anyone out.

Her boss, on the other hand, was over the moon. He immediately told the staff to get moving.

But Leonard shook his head and pointed at Mila. "I want her to make every single one. I'll wait." So he was here to make her suffer, after all.

Mila was furious, but there was nothing she could do her boss was too busy counting his future profits to care about fairness. He just told her to get to work.

Six hundred cups later, Mila's hands were numb, her arms aching and trembling. When the orders were finally done, Leonard didn't even bother taking them with him. Instead, he asked the boss for a marker and a piece of cardboard, scrawled out "Free Bubble Tea-Help Yourself" in big letters, and set it on the counter.

Within minutes, the drinks had disappeared in a feeding frenzy.

Mila stood behind the counter, her hands still shaking as she watched Leonard walk away. A wave of helpless frustration washed over her.

At the end of her shift, her boss handed her an extra bonus and told her to keep up the good work.

When she checked her bank account and saw the balance had grown, she forced herself to accept it. If this was what it took to earn a little more, so be it-she could handle six hundred cups if she had to.

But it didn't end there. It quickly becclear that Lysander wasn't about to let up. He was determined to make her life miserable, no matter what it took.

Leonard cby every day.

Six hundred cups beceight hundred. Then more than a thousand. Eventually, Mila broke down in tears behind the counter, overwhelmed by the endless orders.

One day, her hands shaking, she wrapped up the last drink and thought seriously about quitting.

She didn't get the chance. Before she could decide, her boss let her go-no explanation, just a curt goodbye.

After that, she tried every odd job she could find. Nothing worked out. Eventually, no one would even hire her.

She'd hit another dead end.

Mila had reached her limit.

She couldn't understand what on earth Lysander was thinking. Was he really willing to go this far just to get her into his bed? Did he want to drive her insane? There were plenty of gorgeous women who would've loved to be with him-why was he so obsessed with her? And yet, all the rumors she'd heard about Lysander being immune to romance, a "love repellent"-had turned out to be complete nonsense.

So much for believing gossip.

Still, she refused to give in. It wasn't in her nature to surrender-not inm principle, and not but of pride. So, instead, she went to Miranda, hoping for sadvice.

She told Miranda a story-just a story, of course-about a man who refused to let go of a woman. She wanted to know, from an outsider's perspective, what Lysander's motives might be.

After all, Miranda was a law student-she'd heard every kind of Gevery relationship under the sun.

Mila figured she might have sinsight.