Callie looked up.
He removed her mask. “Afraid of being recognized? Or because you did something shameless!”
His words were filled with the fury of a trapped beast.
Callie felt the pain as he squeezed her neck. She struggled and slapped his hand. “Nelson!”
He leaned closer, his cold laugh resembling that of a European vampire. “You don’t want to tell me who that man is. Is it because you know him? Not only do you know him, but I also know him.”
It was a statement.
Oxygen slowly squeezed out of her lungs, and everything in her sight became blurry, like a cinematic effect with colorful, bizarre lights.
Eventually, she couldn’t even see his face clearly.
He must have found out something.
Callie’s gradually calmed down.
She decided to give up the futile struggle. If this man wanted to strangle her, so be it.
Sensing her dwindling will to survive, Nelson’s tired eyes regained some sanity, and he finally chose to let go.
The sudden release of pressure made her stagger back a few steps, looking quite disheveled.
Nelson clearly didn’t intend to let her go. He approached her again, not with the sudden rage from before, which made Callie even more afraid.
He said, “I really wish I could strangle you.”
Unable to control his rage, he added, “But now, even touching you feels dirty.”
He wouldn’t actually strangle her. Callie didn’t dare provoke this man on the brink of collapse any further. She tried to distance herself, coughing hard while clutching her neck. “So let’s divorce. Your assets are complicated; it’s better if you draft the agreement.”
Nelson, dressed in black and slightly hunched over, looked like he had come from the end of the world.
He regretted it a bit. He didn’t mean to hurt her; he was just too angry, too furious.
Callie looked at him calmly, without any anger or aggression. The calmer she appeared, the more uncomfortable Nelson felt.
“Are you going to give up on me?” Nelson asked softly.
Callie almost choked, gritting her teeth as she nodded. “Yes, since you already know, I won’t hide it anymore. We can’t go back to how things were.”
“I can give up everything, but I want to find Reuben.”
Nelson clenched his teeth so hard that he tasted blood, feeling dizzy.
It was as if a chasm had opened between them, making everything seem unreal. The worst was the collapse of their personas and the dissolution of their beliefs.
“Do you feel any guilt towards me?”
Callie didn’t dare look at him for long. She replied indifferently, “I feel no guilt.”
She bent down to pick up the fallen mask but paused when she heard Nelson’s unstable and slightly sharp voice. “Don’t pick it up.”
She stopped.
“I said don’t pick it up. Did you hear me?” His tone was more intense, still a statement.
Callie glanced at him from the corner of her eye, feeling a slight stir in her heart.
At that moment, Nelson seemed fragile. It was as if picking up the mask would completely destroy something he had been holding onto.
Sunlight slanted in as time moved forward. Callie finally put on her hat again, stood up straight, and walked away.
Nelson’s alluring voice followed her. “If we divorce, you’re at fault in the marriage. The Oconnor Group’s legal team will make sure you lose everything.”
But Callie didn’t stop. She walked forward resolutely without looking back.
“Give me a reason,” he demanded. “A reason why we must divorce.”
She didn’t look back.
The only response he received was the empty silence of the long corridor and the dust floating down in the air.