“Left Bank Coffee.”
Half an hour later, Bella arrived at Left Bank Coffee where Celeste was already waiting for her.
“Celeste, what is it? It is so late. ”
“Bella, first of all, I want to apologize to you. I actually spread out that report on the internet.”
Bella suddenly froze and asked, “What did you say?”
“I spread the news that you abandoned your foolish fiancé for marrying into a rich family.”
Bella was silent for a minute. She was in deep shock. She couldn’t believe what Celeste did.
“Why? Why did you do that?”
When Bella came back to her senses, she gritted her teeth and questioned.
“To let Patrick know that I have returned.”
“What’s the beef between you and my father-in-law?”
Celeste’s gaze was sharp as she looked askance out the window and said coldly, “More than thirty years ago, I was engaged to Patrick, but your mother-in-law stole my man. Patrick cheated on me. They even had a child. I’ve been holding grudges for decades. It’s time to seek justice for myself!”
Bella was in shock again. Unexpectedly, Celeste had such a deep hatred for her father-in-law and mother-in-law.
“So, did you approach me from the beginning with ill intentions?”
“No, at first I didn’t know that you were their daughter-in-law. You are a good girl. Even though you knew the past, I still like you just as much with all my heart. The reason why I asked you out is that I wanted to discuss something with you.”
“What is it?”
Bella was wary of her by now, no longer seeing her as a kind as if she were a mother as before.
“They have been good to you, haven’t they?”
Celeste asked meaningfully.
“Does this have anything to do with you?”
“They seem to have a good relationship with you. If they were in trouble, would you risk your life to save them?”
Bella frowned and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“Alright, I’ll be straight with you. I hold in my hands the evidence of their deliberate murder three years ago. As long as I hand over this evidence to the police, they will definitely be punished by the law.”
Bella took a deep breath, “What is your relationship with Freya?”
She seemed to have a hunch that the two must have an extraordinary relationship.
“She is my daughter, non-biological. We met in France.”
Bella was completely furious. She had the feeling of being deceived, “So, you already knew about the relationship between Freya and my husband, the three of us?”
“Yes.”
“You’re so horrible. You knew from the start, but you pretended not to know anything. I don’t want to see you ever again!”
Bella was about to leave. Celeste raised her eyebrows and said, “Wait a minute.”
“I’ve never denied that I don’t know Tanya. You didn’t ask me.”
“Then don’t you feel guilty? You have been treating me like a fool. I guess you arranged for Freya to come back this time, right?”
“We don’t have to argue about Freya. I just want to ask you out now to talk about your in-laws’ problems.”
“You can talk to them. I don’t want to talk to you about any problems.”
“You’re the only one who can save them.”
Celeste’s words of certainty made Bella turn around, “What do you want?”
“It’s simple. I want you to divorce Kevin. I will completely destroy the evidence.”
Bella really even had the heart to kill her. She growled angrily, “Are you threatening me? Why do you want me to divorce, Kevin?”
“My son likes you.”
“Dream on! I’ll tell you frankly. You can do what you like. You can’t threaten me. You can’t bring down my in-laws easily either!”
“Even if I can’t bring them down, this evidence is enough to ruin their Group. If you bear to see your husband go bankrupt, do whatever you want.”
“You are despicable!”
Bella couldn’t stand it any longer. She picked up a glass of water in front of her and angrily splashed it on Celeste’s face. And then she turned around and strode away.
Out of the Left Bank Coffee, Bella expressionlessly drove the car to Louis’s residence. She parked the car frantically and pressed the doorbell. Louis seems to have just taken a shower. His hair was wet. He opened the door and saw Bella. He was surprised, asking, “Bella, why are you here?”
Slap-
Bella slapped him hard in the face. Louis was completely stunned. He covered his face and asked woodenly, “What are you doing?”
“I’ve always thought of you as a friend. Even though I want to avenge my mother’s death, I didn’t choose you. I didn’t want to hurt you and use you, but what did you do? You let your mother force me to divorce Kevin? Do you think I will marry you if I divorce him? Dream on! Don’t you ever think about it! Even if I die, I will never marry you!!”
Bella burst into tears. She thought that Louis would be a lifelong friend of hers, but he hurt her.
Louis watched her leave. He suddenly feverishly chased after her, stopped her at the car, and hysterically roared, “This has nothing to do with me. I never asked my mother to break up you and Kevin!”
“Did you know that your mother was plotting against me from the beginning? Do you know your mother has a long-standing feud with my in-laws? Do you know what your mother’s relationship is with Freya?!”
Bella threw three questions at him. She pushed him away, started the star, and went away.
Louis watched her car gradually disappear in the distance. His heart suddenly ached like it was going to be torn apart. He closed his eyes in pain. He felt exhausted for the first time because of this complicated life.
Dazedly, he drove the car to a bar and ordered six beers. He was sitting in a dark corner and drinking alone.
He fumbled his cell phone from his pocket, and then he called Alice. He only told her the name of the bar before hanging up the phone.
After receiving the call, Alice quickly arrived at the bar he was at. She was looking at the drunken man under the light. She felt a hint of sadness.
“Mr. Hunter, what’s the matter?”
By the time she found Louis, he had already consumed five beers.
“Alice, you like me, don’t you?”
Upon hearing this, Alice was stunned. She awkwardly changed the subject, “Shall we go dancing?”
“Answer me.”
She was at a loss, “Did Bella say anything to you?”
“I’m talking about you and me right now. Tell me, do you like me?”
Louis couldn’t control himself. Alice was gazing at him in silence. And then she answered, “Yes, I like you.”
“Well then, let’s get married.”
He suddenly calmed down and looked incomparably serious.
Alice stared at him in shock and said after seconds, “You’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk. I’m more sober now than ever. Maybe I don’t mean that, but I want to marry you.”
“Don’t joke about it. I’m leaving.”
Alice stood up woodenly, but Louis grabbed her, “I am not asking you to say yes right now. You can think about it before answering me.”
She shook off his hand and ran out of the bar.
But a few minutes later, she was back. She stood in front of Louis and asked, “Why did you suddenly say that to me?”
“It is for Bella. If I’m married, she will not continue to be hurt.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
Alice’s heart ached. Louis’s words made her feel as if she was just a tool to be used.
“My mother is now trying to force her to divorce Kevin in order to get her to stay with me. If I get married, then my mother won’t make things difficult for Bella.”
“Then don’t you think it’s unfair to me? You sacrifice me for the one you love…”
Alice’s tears slowly fell, and she clenched her hands.
“So I’m giving you time to think about it. It is not that you have to say yes. If I want to get married, marry women would like to marry me. But Alice, you said you like me. I’m just asking if you’re willing to marry me.”
Alice then didn’t know how she got out of the bar or how she got home. She was sitting on the cold floor, thinking about it all night long.
After dawn, she finally made a decision that aggrieved her, which was to agree to Louis’s proposal. Even though she knew that such a marriage was meaningless, she still wanted to marry Louis. She knew clearly that there was a kind of relationship that was cultivated after marriage. She would marry him rather than watch him marry another woman. It was better to keep this one in a million chance for herself. At least, she would have more chances to be with him from now on.
She took out her phone and quickly edited a text message to send it to him. There were only short three words, “Yes, I do.”
Kevin finally knew about a bad relationship between Celeste and her father and mother back then. After pondering, he decided to ask Celeste out for a meeting.
In the elegant environment of the restaurant, Freya arrived on time for the appointment. She looked at the table full of her favorite food, but she did not feel much better. It was because of what happened to her and Kevin that day.
“What’s the matter?”
“Did you give Celeste the evidence?”
Freya’s eyes flickered, “It took her a long time to find out the evidence.”
“Didn’t you say that you would leave it to us?”
“But if you still like me… Kevin, do you still like me? Would you like to be with me?”
“I think I understand that you’ve decided to team up with Celeste to deal with my family.”