“Do you think I lack this little money? At that time, we agreed to sign the contract. Now you don’t have the final say to break the contract!”
“That agreement has no legal effect at all, and if I insist on not fulfilling it, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Bella really didn’t want to offend him openly, but Bella didn’t have other ways out.
“Yes, there’s nothing I can do with you, but if it’s your uncle instead, it’s not necessarily the same.”
Richard looked confidently at Armand, who looked guilty and drooped his head, not daring to look at his niece Bella.
“What do you mean?”
“You can let your uncle tell you the reason. I still have to take the afternoon flight back to T City. You get back to me when you’ve discussed it. If you haven’t come back to see Braxton by the 20th of this month, then don’t blame me for being rude.”
Richard gave them ultimatum and left swaggeringly.
For several minutes, Bella didn’t say a word and just stared at Armand.
Finally, Armand couldn’t be silent, “Bella, don’t look at me like that, okay? I’m getting afraid.”
“Are you afraid or guilty?” She questioned sharply, “What does have on you?”
Armand let out a long sigh and said, pulling at his hair in frustration, “I was trapped by him. He learned of your marriage from somewhere last month and predicted that you might break the contract, then he found me and said he wanted to show me a way to get rich, and lent me a large sum of money. I didn’t think much of it at the time, so I happily agreed, but who knew that it was a trap set up by him. The person I traded with was deliberately arranged by him, and he filmed the whole process of our transaction…”
“Deal? What’s your deal?”
Bella asked with an angry face.
“A deal to sell cigarettes.” Armand answered.
She was relieved, “What’s so scary about that? Selling cigarettes is an illegal act.”
“But…”
Only then she was nervous again, “But what?”
“The smoke was laced with a little heroin.”
“What?!!”
Bella stood up sharply, “You sell…”
Before the words drug trafficking could be uttered, Armand covered her mouth in panic, “Keep your voice down. It will kill us!”
It was really going crazy. Bella was so angry that she almost blacked out and was trembling. She calmed down for a long time to stabilize her mood, and told him plainly, “This time, I’ll never help you again.” Picking up her bag, she angrily left the teahouse.
“Bella, listen to my explanation. I have a hard time…”
Armand chased after her and pitifully tugged at her sleeve.
Bella angrily shrugged it off, “You always have a hard time. I’ve heard enough of your reasons!”
“But this time I really have a bitter reason. Your aunt is suffering from liver cancer. Surgery costs a lot of money. I also have no choice. That’s why I fell into that Richard’s trap. I have no children. The only one who can stay with me is your aunt, so no matter what, I can’t just stand by and watch her die. I believe you can understand the pain of losing a loved one more than anyone else…”
“Uncle, you really are an asshole.” Bella accused him with deep resentment, “In order to gain my sympathy, you even cursed your own wife with a terminal illness.”
Armand shed tears, “Bella, why don’t you believe me? If you don’t believe me, just go with me to the house and take a look.”
“No, I’m already completely disappointed in you and my aunt.”
No one would always believe the wolf story.
Bella resolutely stepped away, but Armand growled behind her, “What right do you have to hate your father? You are all equally cold-blooded.”
She stopped and turned back slowly, mockingly asking, “Do I have to sacrifice my life’s happiness to fulfill your one selfish interest?”
“How much happier are you married to the man who’s been divorced six times?
“No matter happy or not, at least I chose my own path.”
“No one forced you in the first place.”
A hint of sadness flickered in Bella’s eyes, “Yes, no one forced me in the first place, but what could I do in that situation?”
“Then you can’t do anything to break a promise.”
“It’s not right of me to break a promise, but I never wanted to keep my promise from the beginning.” She paused and said sadly, “So I’m sorr, uncle, but this time, I will really give up on you.”
Armand saw that she was determined and couldn’t help but panic, “Bella, aunt’s life is now completely in your hands. If you let go, then she will be really dead…”
“Why would you cause troubles in the first place.”
She looked at her only family member bitterly. And ruthlessly, she finally stopped a taxi and left.
Back home, it was twilight. After separating from her uncle, she went to her mother’s cemetery, where she spoke to her mother for a long time.
“Bella, is something wrong? Why do you look so bad?”
As soon as Blanche saw her, she was very concerned and asked her.
She smiled bitterly, “It’s fine, Mom.”
Seeing that she didn’t want to say, Blanche pointed to the dining room, “Then we have dinner.”
Kevin came down from upstairs and also saw that Bella did not look well, and when he passed by her side, he asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She muttered.
After the meal was over, she was about to go upstairs when dinner was over, but Lena suggested, “Bella, let’s playing cards tonight.”
“No, you guys play. I want to go upstairs and read.”
“Oh my god, it’s summer vacation yet you don’t relax. You’re always so conformist, so Kevin loves you so much. Freya could play…”
Lena did not finish her sentence, and her head took a heavy hit. Blanche looked indignant at her, and then she realized that she said something wrong.
The atmosphere was awkward for a time. Bella looked at Kevin whose face instantly fell.
“Raise your hand if you’re willing to play, okay?”
Knowing that she had made a mistake, Lena tried to ratchet down the tension, and was the first to raise her hand, but no one followed her for a long time. So she said, “If you don’t want to play then forget it, I’m going to bed.”
This was Lena’s usual trick. When she got into trouble, she would escape as soon as possible.
Bella returned to her room with heavy steps. She already felt bad, now even worse.
No one would be happy to compare themselves with others, though she knew that Lena was not on purpose.
The sky was like a rough, washed-out blue-black cloth, and the stars seemed to be the shiny gold sprinkled on the rough cloth.
She stood at the window, her head leaning against the frame, her bright eyes unblinking when staring straight ahead. The breeze blew and crickets was chirping in a shady patch of grass.
“Are you in a bad mood?”
There was an unexpected question from behind her, and she turned to glimpse Kevin walking towards her.
“No.”
She looked at distant stars, her tone faint, “It is the fifteenth, a good day to enjoy the moon.”
Kevin followed her sight and nodded, “Indeed. The flowers are in full bloom and the moon is full.”
“It’s a pity that the moon is full, but on such a reunion night, you have to be troubled by your loved ones.”
Bella said in a low voice, not wanting to confide anything to Kevin, but he still heard and asked curiously, “What, did your sister mess with you again?”
“No, why does she annoy me?”
“Then who’s bothering you? Your dad? Your stepmother?”
The only thing Kevin knew was that these three were Bella’s only relatives. Other than that, he couldn’t think of anyone else.
“None of them.”
Not wanting to broach the subject, he feigned casually shift the subject, “Can I use your bathroom for a shower tonight?”
“Why?”
“I’m a little tired.”
Although she was good at lying, he would leave no doubt at all about what she was saying. Since he could see her tiredness on her face.
“Okay.”
Kevin was rarely easy to talk to. Not only did he agree, but also he thoughtfully opened the massager for her and played a mood-soothing music.
Bella lay in the bathtub, thinking about what had happened during the day, and couldn’t help but feel a little distracted, simply held her breath, and sank into the bottom of the tank without hesitation.
When she came out of the bath, Kevin, who was lying on the sofa, reminded her, “Your phone has been ringing.”
“Oh.”
Compared to him being dispirited, she was distracted.
Walking straight into the secret room, she picked up the phone on her bed and took a look at dozens of missed calls, all from the same person, uncle Armand.
Dejectedly, she ruffled her hair and dropped to the edge of the bed. She fell into a boundless struggle and misery. As for Richard’s appearance, though she was surprised but not yet troubled, but she was extremely annoyed with the mess caused by her uncle. Because this time the mess was really more troublesome than ever before.
Kevin threw down the magazine in his hand and was about to go to the bathroom to take a shower when Bella came out fully clothed.
Glancing at the bag she was holding in her hand, he was surprised and asked, “Are you still going out this late?”
“Yes.”
Afraid that he might ask too many questions, she walked forward quickly while looming down, and was about to step out of the room when he suddenly said, “Don’t forget the curfew time. Although I’ve promised to treat you well, there are some principles that you’d better not deliberately break.”