8
I sat next to Natalie, fully dressed.
There was a strange sense of guilt.
Adrian sat alone in the side chair, his fingers irritably tapping the armrest, taking a deep breath every few seconds to calm himself.
“Natalie, why are you back?” I asked.
My sister coughed, seeming to find it difficult to say these words. She hesitantly began, “Actually, I never went on that third wedding anniversary trip. I was traveling alone to clear my mind.”
“Huh?” I was stunned.
Natalie stammered.
“Ms. Zhao, if you have something to say, just say it,” Adrian said, clenching his fist.
My sister hesitated, “Aria, I actually got divorced.”
I looked at her, instantly understanding her purpose for coming.
Natalie put the dirty, stepped–on divorce agreement on the table, “I was a bit unsure, but seeing this agreement, I felt I should say something.”
She looked at Adrian, “Mr. Shaw, when I ran away back then, I wronged you. I can marry you now as compensation, please let my sister go.”
My heart skipped a beat.
This should be great news.
Adrian, who had refused to divorce me no matter what, would naturally give up a replacement when faced with the real deal.
But why do I feel so…
I looked at them, Adrian and Natalie silently staring at each other.
I should be happy, right?
I lowered my head, hiding all my expressions.
After a long silence, Adrian spoke: “What?”
Natalie: “Please divorce my sister.”
Adrian: “No need.”
I looked up in disbelief.
He expressionlessly said: “Having both sisters marry me in turn, if word got out, I’d be laughed at.”
Natalie: “I’ve taken foreign citizenship now, and my current name is still my ex–husband’s surname, so don’t worry. As long as I don’t show my face, no one will connect me to my sister.”
Adrian: “…”
Natalie gently pushed the divorce agreement over, “Mr. Shaw, please sign it. I’ll repay what I owe you, don’t torment my sister anymore.”
Adrian: “Torment?”
He laughed angrily, leaning forward, seeming to have been pushed too far recently, giving him a sense of reckless madness.
He glared at Natalie with cold eyes, “How have I tormented her? Why don’t you ask your dear sister who’s really tormenting who?”
He clenched his jaw, his cheeks bulging, utterly bewildered, “Why? Why does everyone keep trying to make us divorce? Yes, I forced her to
Throught.
12:51 PM J
He laughed angrily, leaning forward, seeming to have been pushed too far recently, giving him a sense of reckless madness.
He glared at Natalie with cold eyes, “How have I tormented her? Why don’t you ask your dear sister who’s really tormenting who?”
He clenched his jaw, his cheeks bulging, utterly bewildered, “Why? Why does everyone keep trying to make us divorce? Yes, I forced her to marry me, I brought this sin upon myself, I’ll accept however she treats me. But you, who are you to-”
He pressed his lips tightly together, seeming to remember she was my sister, using his last bit of rationality to hold back even harsher words.
Natalie was stunned.
I was stunned too.
Adrian suddenly seemed to realize he had let something slip, his eyes flashing a moment of stagnation before hurriedly covering it up.
But, what did he mean by saying I was forced to marry him?
Three years ago, it was clearly an arranged marriage between the Zhao and Shaw families. My father saw potential in the rising business star Adrian Shaw, not minding his humble background, and wanted to marry my sister to him.
But my sister unexpectedly eloped with a blue–eyed, blonde foreign violinist she met by chance.
I was still in school at the time, forced to marry Adrian at the minimum legal age of 20.
What does he mean by forced marriage?
Natalie murmured: “So lan was someone you arranged. No wonder I kept running into him everywhere, I thought it was fate.”
Adrian stood up abruptly, his expression tense, “Enough, stop talking.”
Natalie stood up too, her eyes blazing, “So you never liked me at all, you deliberately chose someone of my ideal type to approach me. I don’t owe you anything, the Zhao family doesn’t owe you anything-”
“Shut up!” Adrian’s voice trembled, uncharacteristically flustered and weak, unable to cover Natalie’s calm and merciless voice-
“And my sister certainly doesn’t owe you anything!”
Adrian’s chest heaved violently, as weak as if he had been punched.
Like a snail stripped of its shell, exposed to the scorching sun, pale to the point of suffocation.
“That’s right, my sister doesn’t owe you. The business contract agreed upon in the arranged marriage has also been fulfilled. If she wants to leave, what right do you have to force her to stay?” Natalie continued to accuse.
She had actually rendered the usually dominant businessman speechless.
Adrian trembled, clenching his fists, “I just won’t allow it.”
His eyes reddened as he glared at Natalie, not daring to look at me for even a second, “I just won’t allow it!”
He had just said I was acting like a child, but now, he was behaving more childishly and unreasonably than anyone.
My sister stood protectively in front of me like an angry bull, as if ready to gore him with her horns, “You really think just because you’re rich, everyone has to revolve around you? My sister is a living, breathing person, not a tool for you to control!”
“Adrian Shaw, play your mind games and schemes at your company all you want, but what right do you have to bully a college student?”
He opened his mouth, pale.
I wanted to say, he hadn’t bullied me, he just never looked at me, never touched me, never loved me, making me very
sad.
Natalie got increasingly angry as she spoke, “Look at the life she’s living! The bedroom door has been broken for so long, and
you with your
big house and fortune don’t even know to fix it for her. You even stepped on the divorce agreement she wrote. Have you ever treated her as your wife? Have you ever been good to her? Aria is so pitiful, she even had to ask me to buy her a phone card!”
I wanted to say, he hadn’t bullied me, he just never looked at me, never touched me, never loved me, making me very sad.
Natalie got increasingly angry as she spoke, “Look at the life she’s living! The bedroom door has been broken for so long, and you with your big house and fortune don’t even know to fix it for her. You even stepped on the divorce agreement she wrote. Have you ever treated her as your wife? Have you ever been good to her? Aria is so pitiful, she even had to ask me to buy her a phone card!”
In an instant, cold sweat broke out on my back, every hair standing on end.
My mind went blank except for two words-
I’m done.
