His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 261: Resignation and Farewell

Iris was drafting her letter of resignation. She had no real interest in Celeste's situation, so she asked offhandedly, "I haven't kept up with the gossip. What's the short version—what happened to her?"

"She went viral—can you believe it? Because she hired a male escort, shorted him two hundred bucks, and he brought reporters to her door to get paid. It actually made the news."

"Two hundred dollars? Seriously?" Iris found the whole thing hard to believe.

"Yeah!" Zoe burst out laughing. "Two hundred. The guy showed up with cameras and everything. Caused a huge scene. Absolutely insane."

"It doesn't make sense—burning someone like that over two hundred dollars? She'd end up hurting herself way more." Iris wasn't buying it.

"Exactly. That's why I think she must've pissed off someone powerful. No escort goes public like that unless there's something bigger going on."

Iris fell quiet for a moment. She remembered two days earlier, when Celeste had shoved her and she'd almost lost her balance.

Julian had been furious. He'd dragged Celeste somewhere out of sight and confronted her—roughly, from what Iris could tell.

She'd thought that was the end of it.

But now it looked like Julian was just getting started.

Was he going to ruin Celeste's reputation for good?

Zoe went on, "And it gets worse. After the story broke, people online dug up all sorts of dirt on Celeste. Turns out in college she was seeing some much older wealthy guy. And back in high school, she used to bully other girls. Just a bunch of messy stuff—all out in the open now.

"Iris, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Honestly, I see now you've got good instincts. You cut her off over what seemed like a small thing, but you were right all along." Zoe sounded genuinely impressed. "I used to think you were overreacting, but now I get it."

"What goes around comes around," Iris replied calmly. "Listen, Zoe, I'm in the middle of something—can I call you back a little later?"

"Sure, talk soon." Zoe hung up.

Iris set her phone aside and finished her report.

She took the resignation letter to the office and handed it to Nolan.

Nolan looked it over, his expression growing serious—surprised and uneasy. He really didn't want her to leave. "Iris, why resign? You're one of our most promising researchers. Is it the salary? Problems with a colleague? Or—"

"It's not that, Nolan," Iris cut in gently. "It's personal."

"Can you tell me why? What's going on?"

"I'm planning to move abroad."

Nolan was taken aback. He tried hard to change her mind, making his case passionately.

Iris sat in his office and listened patiently for half an hour.

In the end, he couldn't sway her, so he reluctantly approved it.

Her last day would be at the end of the month.

Iris wrapped up her handover tasks and began arranging her visa.

With her qualifications, she was a desirable candidate for skilled migration, so the process was straightforward and moved quickly.

She gave her landlord notice that she'd be moving out at month's end.

She also got her passport and flight tickets sorted well in advance.

She kept it all to herself—not even Zoe knew. She planned to tell her best friend the day before leaving, to avoid any complications or difficult goodbyes.

Before leaving the country, though, she wanted to see Beatrice one more time.

After all, Beatrice had always been genuinely kind to her.

Figuring it might be their last visit, Iris didn't overthink the family dynamics. She just went straight to their home.

May answered the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Iris standing there with a large gift box. She welcomed her inside warmly.

Beatrice came out to greet her, smiling affectionately as she took Iris' hands. "Iris, dear! You came to see Grandma. You've made my day."

"Grandma, I brought you some pastries from that bakery you like. I hope you enjoy them."

Beatrice accepted the box happily. "Of course I will. Come in, sit down."

Iris stepped into the living room.

Frederick was seated on the sofa, scrolling through his phone. No one else was around.

He glanced up at Iris, his expression cool and measured, giving nothing away.

Iris nodded politely but didn't speak to him. She followed Beatrice into her room.

Once they were seated, Beatrice held her hand and asked how she'd been.

Iris reminded her to take good care of herself and to stay happy.

Both being perceptive and well-spoken, Beatrice gradually picked up on something unusual in Iris' tone. "Iris, you seem different today. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Iris offered a faint smile and shook her head. "No, I just really missed you, so I wanted to visit."

Beatrice studied her closely, her wise eyes narrowing slightly. "You've told me to take care of myself three times now."

Iris felt a pang of guilt and glanced away briefly, trying to mask it with a soft smile.

After a quiet moment, Beatrice asked carefully, "Are you leaving again? Like last time—going away on your own for half a year or more?"

Iris gave a small, resigned smile and shook her head again.

Beatrice let out a long, weary sigh. "Iris, do you have any idea how much it hurt Julian when you filed for divorce? Do you know how much he suffered?"

Iris lowered her head, her chest tightening.

She'd finally made her decision to leave. She didn't want to know—not really.

"One of his close friends told me he drank himself into the hospital twice—stomach bleeding—because of you." Beatrice's face was shadowed with sorrow. She added quietly, painfully, "He was trying to numb the hurt, but at the same time, he fought to pull himself together—to do whatever he could to win you back. Did none of that reach you?"