Callie looked directly at him. “When you have time, give me the other copy. I’ll sign it.”
“Why don’t you listen to me!” Nelson shouted angrily, throwing the pen to the ground with a sharp noise. “I won’t divorce!”
“Nelson! What will we do if we don’t divorce? You will always have resentment towards me. You will always be pointed at because of me. Oconnor Group can’t turn around. I heard you want to help Charlotte fight for shares. Can you do it if we don’t divorce?”
“I’ll find a way!”
“I don’t want that.” Callie shook her head gently in the face of his anger. “From the beginning until now, I never wanted to be your burden.”
This man, who had always been strong, had never been so fragile. His expression broke, his eyes glistened, and tears slowly slid down his face. He held her hand tightly, his voice also softening, “Don’t leave me.”
It was as if he was back in the rain when he was a child, when Lucia left him and he ran through the rain, crying out in despair. That desperate feeling played out again.
Back then, Maevelyn saved him. Now, there was no one…
Callie closed her eyes. She had never seen Nelson like this before. She took a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and placed it in his cold hand.
“I hope I can live up to your deep affection for me.”
She walked past him, holding back her tears, and quickly left Paucaster Villa. Outside, it was late at night, the moon high in the sky. Callie ran into the night, full of confusion.
Nelson stood there for a long time before slowly unfolding the paper.
It was an assessment.
After the photos were released, Callie went to the hospital for an examination. The doctor wrote that during that time, she had no signs of sexual activity.
In other words, she did not have sex with the man in the photos.
The photos were staged.
For a long time, Nelson was in extreme pain. He slowly squatted down, wanting to scream but unable to utter a word, eventually sobbing silently.
He woke up at six in the afternoon the next day in the living room of Paucaster Villa.
In his pain, he liked to destroy things. Last night, he almost smashed the entire villa. The servants were efficient and quickly cleaned everything up. Only the broken television had a missing piece that hadn’t been dealt with yet, possibly because the repairman hadn’t arrived.
He stared blankly at the missing piece. How long had he slept? Five hours.
His temples throbbed, his throat hurt, and he couldn’t help but cough. The withdrawal from smoking felt like a snake suddenly crawling back, devouring all reason.
Bianca saw him wake up and brought medicine and soup to the table. “Drink.”
Nelson moved slowly. After a brief silence, he grabbed everything and poured it into his stomach. Finally, he lit a cigarette and put it between his lips in one swift motion that Bianca couldn’t stop in time. She frowned as she watched.
She sighed deeply. “I heard Callie signed?”
After a long time, as it began to get dark outside, Nelson slightly pulled his legs together and finally spoke, answering indirectly, “That divorce agreement was just to give Reuben a sense of security about this marriage. I never thought it would actually be used one day.”
Bianca looked at him.
“Bianca, even after the photos were exposed, I never thought about divorce.”
“… I understand. You’ve never changed your mind once you’ve decided on something since you were a child.”
“Do you know? I’ve never loved anyone this much before. Not even Maevelyn.” Nelson leaned back on the sofa, his eyes devoid of emotion.