Being Pursued By Ex-husband

Twelve years had passed, yet Spencer still could not forget that very day. At that time, he had just finished enrolling in senior high. On his way home, he passed by the junior high he had previously attended. When his former homeroom teacher spotted him, she asked him if he was interested in earning some pocket money in his free time.

The teacher had started a daycare center near the school. Given that Spencer was famous for topping his class, parents would be reassured by the fact that someone like him was monitoring the students at the center.

The teacher offered to pay him fifty a night. He would only need to work for two hours a day on weekdays, while the wage on weekends would be twenty an hour.

Back then, Spencer was in dire need of money.

Even though he did not need to pay any school fees and had received a handsome scholarship in senior high, he was still desperate enough to accept the job without hesitation.

After informing him of the daycare center's location and giving him a spare key, the teacher discussed all the details with him, and the duo parted ways.

By then, it was slightly past six in the evening, and Spencer planned to head home to cook for his grandmother.

The moment he turned around, he was greeted by the sight of Charlize in her new school uniform. He had no idea why his gaze was drawn toward her.

Wearing a pure and beautiful smile, she was seemingly saying something to Charles as the two of them walked side by side.

Their surroundings were filled with many other new students leaving with their parents. It was a Friday, after all, so the semester had not officially started.

Nonetheless, she—with her long hair neatly draped over her back—was the only one in a freshly-washed new uniform, in contrast to the other girls in casual clothing.

As she and Charles walked past him, Spencer heard her pleading softly with her brother to allow her to stay in the school's dorm.

Evidently, Charles was not keen on letting her do so.

Later on, Spencer would always see Charlize stand at the school entrance, waiting for Charles to pick her up every time he came to work at the daycare center after class.

She was a really obedient girl.

Girls at that age, who had just entered puberty, would be dying to alter their loose and dull uniforms to look more attractive. Such alterations included shortening the hems of their pants, tapering their tops at the waist, and leaving their collars unbuttoned.

As if that was not enough, they would try their best to tie their hair in all sorts of creative styles. It was an effort to circumvent the school rules that forbade them from dyeing or straightening their hair.

However, Charlize was unlike them. Despite her distinguished family background and extraordinary looks, she had no problems with her loose school uniform and would always wear her hair neatly at shoulder length. Her fingernails would be clear of the colorful nail polishes worn by her peers, while her choice of shoes would always be simple white flats.

Every day, she would quietly wait by the school's security post for Charles to pick her up.

Sometimes, Spencer would see her chatting with her classmates, but more often than not, she would be waiting alone while listening to music on a pair of earphones.

There were even times that he saw boys confessing their feelings for her. However, she would flee into the security post, her face blushing intensely.

Over time, watching her allowed her to grow on him subconsciously.

When Spencer was in eleventh grade, the daycare center was forced to close down after someone reported his former junior high homeroom teacher for it. With that, he lost his monthly salary of two thousand.

During the same period, his disease-stricken grandmother was flooded by a stream of bad luck. After having a fall, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Over the years, he and his grandmother relied on each other for their livelihood. When he was little, she had raised him by working as a scavenger for recyclable items.

Once he started school, he would desperately win all the competitions and scholarships available in an effort to reduce his grandmother's burden.

The cumulative prize money of a few thousand a year became crucial for the duo's living expenses. Although it was not a huge sum, their days took a turn for the better compared to the past. Thereafter, their lives further improved once he won a scholarship of thirty thousand and got a job at the daycare center.

Just as they were making good progress, Spencer saw everything suddenly fall apart in eleventh grade.

His grandmother was diagnosed with a debilitating disease, he was wrongly accused of cheating in exams, and the wage he earned from his part-time job was targeted by hooligans from a technical high school.

On the day he passed out, he had just received his wage of three thousand, which he had earned from working part-time for a semester. He was planning to head to the hospital and pay for his grandmother's chemotherapy with that money.

However, on his way there, he was stopped by a group of hooligans from a technical high school. Despite fighting tooth and nail with them, he still ended up being robbed of the money.

That incident left him feeling as if his entire world had collapsed.

While trudging groggily in the snow, he could sense that someone was looking at him.

They must be laughing at how pathetic I am.

Well, it was not the first time he was ridiculed. When he was little, people would laugh at the fact that his grandmother was a scavenger. It did not stop when he grew up, as he was disparaged for being a wild child without parents. Later on, he would be sneered at for being a miser who was calculative over every penny.

They can laugh at me all they want. I've long gotten used to it.

To Spencer, that was how the world worked. One would be viewed with disdain every time one showed their weakness.

The moment he collapsed, he felt as if that was for the best.

Compared to helplessly watching his grandmother, who had been by his side for almost seventeen years, die, the outcome of him freezing to death in the snow seemed great.