7
I trembled as I held the divorce agreement I had drafted myself, putting
itinto
my handbag.
Then I put on the shortest skirt and high heels, did my makeup, sprayed perfume, and opened the door.
“I’m going out for a bit.”
Adrian silently looked at me.
This seemed to be the first time in days that we had looked at each other so long and carefully.
The living room lights cast shadows on his cheekbones.
He seemed to have lost weight, with bloodshot eyes.
His whole person looked like he had put his life on a candle and held it over a flame, both energetic and alert, yet pale and coldly beautiful.
How long had he been sitting in the living room?
Where are you going?” he asked flatly.
“A friend’s house.”
“Which friend.” Adrian’s gaze lingered on my too–short skirt hem, his expression growing darker.
“You don’t know them.”
He smiled, laughing silently until the corners of his eyes wrinkled, then shook his head, “Tell me, and I’ll know them.”
“Mr. Shaw, our marriage is just a transaction. When we got married, you promised we wouldn’t interfere in each other’s private lives-”
12:51 PM
<
“Mr. Shaw, our marriage is just a transaction. When we got married, you promised we wouldn’t interfere in each other’s private lives-”
He slowly stood up, his 6’2” frame with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, a natural clothes hanger.
I only then realized that he wasn’t wearing a suit today, but an extremely fitted black sweater.
The fabric clung to him, tightly stretched across his chest.
He looked down at me, slowly removing the blue light blocking glasses from the bridge of his nose, tossing them onto the sofa.
“Go on, Aria. Let me count how many more hurtful words you have left for me.”
I trembled as I stepped back, but stubbornly continued, “Also, I don’t owe you anything. My sister is back in the country. If she knew how you were treating me, she’d like you even less.”
This sentence seemed to have an effect.
Adrian frowned very slightly and quickly, “What?”
I swallowed, “I’m leaving now. I’m not just leaving, I’m divorcing you!”
I threw down the divorce agreement and quickly ran towards the door, not caring about anything else.
These words were finally said out loud.
Ending all my days of trepidation.
I instantly felt a sense of relief and exhilaration, feeling like I had finally gotten on the roller coaster I had been longing for after waiting in a long line.
After the relief came confused nervousness and fear.
I rushed towards the door, hugging the doorknob with both hands like I was escaping for my life, just as I opened it halfway—
“Bang!”
The door was slammed shut by Adrian’s fist.
He pressed down hard on my hands, “You dare?”
Adrian looked at me, his expression not at all fierce, even somewhat calm.
But his eyes were extremely deep, his breathing uncontrollably becoming very flustered.
I gritted my teeth: “Mr. Shaw! I have someone outside! Wake up!”
He clenched his jaw, I could almost see the veins throbbing at his temples.
He seemed about to faint from my words, his knees locked around my legs, knee against the door, so angry he could barely stand, but his hand still tightly gripping my hand that wanted to open the door.
His whole body wrapped around me like a snake.
Those cold and unfeeling lips couldn’t say any dirty words, nor could they say any sweet words of pleading.
He could only grit his teeth and repeat, “You dare?”
I felt my back against his chest burning hot to the point of pain, that pain like an electric current, following my bones and blood flow, all the way down.
My mind went blank, I couldn’t even control my own gasping, let alone rationality.
meld into one.
I trembled, gritting my teeth to speak.
I wanted to say some harsh words to force him.
But my voice betrayed me before I could, going soft, almost choking up as I instinctively said: “You don’t even love me.”
I gasped, saying softly: “Adrian, please, let’s divorce. You don’t love me, someone else will love me.”
Adrian’s breathing stopped for a moment, his whole body stiffening. He clenched his jaw tightly, seeming about to say something, but still unable to open his mouth.
His body, which had gone soft with panic, gradually regained its strength, his palm supporting against the door as he stood up straight.
I was about to reach for the doorknob again when he suddenly picked me up.
“What are you doing!” I struggled in panic.
Adrian expressionlessly endured my kicking, kissing me hard, deliberately stepping on that divorce agreement as he walked.
“Divorce? Not unless I’m dead.”
I cried angrily, “What right do you have to treat me like this? Why are you being so unreasonable?”
Adrian carried me to the bed.
He said: “Because we’re married, and can only be entangled with each other for life.”
I deliberately provoked him: “I like him! I slept with him!”
The last layer of pretense torn away, but there was no earth–shattering reaction as imagined.
He calmly took off his own clothes.
His lips, bitten red by me, contrasted with his cold white face, lush and beautiful.
The muscle lines of his entire body were perfect to the point of being exquisite, even more beautiful than the stock photo I had sent.
He lowered his head, looking at me, “So what?”
I was stunned, “What?”
Adrian said expressionlessly: “You’re still young, it’s normal to be curious and want to play around with that stuff.”
I couldn’t believe it.
He looked down at me, taking off the last layer.
My gaze uncontrollably fell on a certain place.
Suddenly understanding why Adrian only let out a cold laugh when he saw those two provocative photos.
He indeed had the right to be disdainful.
Adrian gently gripped my wrist, lowering his head. I smelled the scent of his pheromones.
Without all those layers of complex, austere suits as barriers.
Without his endless work and cold words.
For the first time, I realized an obvious fact – Adrian was a man, a man full of invasive masculinity.
“You…” I even felt my tongue go soft, unable to say any words of rebuttal.
<
“You…” I even felt my tongue go soft, unable to say any words of rebuttal.
All my senses were focused on the man in front of me at this moment.
He looked at me calmly, “Aria, you were just hungry. Running away from home for junk food is childish behavior.”
He touched my forehead, gently, domineeringly making me tilt my head back.
Another long kiss.
I was almost suffocating.
Even almost forgetting my original purpose.
Adrian’s hand encircled my neck, not too forcefully, causing slight breathlessness. He looked down at me scrutinizingly, saying in a low voice: “But wanting to leave me for trash, that’s not okay. You’ve made a mistake, and need to be punished.”
My whole body trembled slightly, my speech stuttering, as if hypnotized by an incubus, only able to respond along with his words, “H–how will you punish me?”
Those three moles were traced over again.
I trembled, begging for mercy.
Adrian watched quietly, waiting until my second plea went unanswered and tears welled up in my eyes. He sighed, as if forgiving all my wrongdoings, kissing me as he moved to go deeper.
“Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.”
The doorbell rang.
Adrian pretended not to hear it, wanting to continue.
Not long after, there was a knock on the bedroom door.
“Aria, it’s Natalie! Mr. Shaw, are you there too?” My sister’s concerned and urgent voice came through.
Adrian gripped the sheets tightly, taking a deep breath, his expression becoming terribly ugly.
He closed his eyes, struggling to calm down.
Was it because he was excited to see his beloved crush?
I laughed bitterly to myself, not knowing why, but the heart that had died three years ago masochistically ached again.
Perhaps it was because Adrian’s possessive behavior recently had given me some unfounded delusions.
“Aría?”
Natalie knocked on the door forcefully a few more times. Seeing no response, she started to turn the doorknob.
My heart jumped – the lock on my bedroom door had been broken long ago!
“Don’t open the door! Wait in the living room, we’ll be right there, Adrian sald, covering me with the blanket.
“…Alright.”
I sat next to Natalie, fully dressed.
There was a strange sense of guilt.
