Chapter 17 Are You Sure You Want a Divorce?
Brayden was dressed in a set of sleepwear that looked similar to Alison’s. His collar gaped slightly open, and his hair was rather messy. There was a tousled sort of beauty that made him look less cold and solemn than usual.
At that moment, it felt like they had been transported back to the starting days of their marriage.
Seeing the lost look in her eyes, he took the time to scan her appearance. Her face was tear- stained with the remnants of her tears still lingering on her eyelashes.
Upon seeing that, he gulped hard. He frowned and asked, “Why were you crying?”
“Who?” she asked in confusion. As she had woken up in the middle of the night, her mind was not fully working. Her response made her seem like she was hiding her emotions and pretending to be strong.
He assumed she was upset over the divorce. “Since we’re both awake, come sit with me.”
“No.” She was exhausted. She was only awake to get a drink of water. I’m heading back to sleep
However, before she could walk away….
He reached out and grabbed her arm. After plucking the glass of water out of her hand, he led her toward the dining table.
She stared at him, confused.
He placed the glass before her on the table. His white knuckles and slender fingers glistened in the light. “Why couldn’t you sleep?” he asked in a deep and rather sensual voice:
She took tiny sips of her glass of water.
However, she did not answer his question.
“Is it because of the divorce tomorrow?” he asked.
She paused mid-sip, unable to understand his train of thought.
eyes
“When I got married to you, I truly planned on living out the rest of my life with you,” he explained, seeing that she was going to remain silent. As he had just woken up, his dark did not seem as distant as before. “I never thought Julia would have left me because of other reasons.”
She placed her empty glass on the table and blandly said, “Oh, I see.”
Before Julia’s call, he had been great to her. He did not have a wedding because she did not want one. He never publicized their marriage because she did not want to attract too much attention to them. He would help her with everything.
1/4
He would even heap praise after praise on her about every aspect of their lives because he was worried she would feel depressed over the difference in their social statuses.
If not for Julia’s call, she would have thought she had bet on the right man.
Her mother could stop worrying about her.
In the end, reality proved otherwise.
“Alison,” he called out in a voice that rang with the love and warmth that used to be in it.
She did not argue with him.
Perhaps it was because she had dreamed of her mother; perhaps it was because of the memories of their past; perhaps it was because of the late hours addling her mind.
She merely responded to him with a simple hum.
“I’m sorry.” For some unknown reason, the sight of the tears on her face made him feel like he was being stabbed in the heart.
Sensing the change in his mood, she finally replied, “I accept your apology.”
Her response made him feel so empty on the inside.
Her emotionless reply made the feeling that he was about to lose something precious rise in him
once more.
“I wish for the two of us to be strangers after our divorce,” she continued. “Even if we bump into each other, we will be strangers.”
Once she headed back, she would likely focus on managing the company.
Lambert International might belong to her b*stard of a father, but her mother had poured her heart and soul into it.
There would always be collaborations between companies, especially since Lambert International and Cornell Corporation were both major players in the country. She did not want any business deals between them to be marred by personal emotions.
“I can agree to that.” His eyes were dark with worry. “You have to promise me one thing though.”
“Tell me she said.
“If you ever end up…” He was unable to finish the sentence, to say “marrying someone else”.
The mere thought of her having children with another man, smiling at another man while in their embrace, caused his heart to sink with dejection.
She stared at him, confused.
2/1
“What is it?” she asked.
“If you ever end up with anyone else, remember to get a prenuptial agreement,” he reminded. He did not want her to be conned. “Don’t tell anyone that you are rich either.”
In his eyes, she was just an ordinary woman.
If anyone found out her net worth was in the billions, she would be a target.
When that happened…
She would be in danger.
“Don’t worry. I know.” She was honest when she said that.
w
His heart continued to sink. He had planned to pick a fight with her over Charles just a few hours. ago, yet he was now able to talk to her calmly.
In the end, he assigned all the blame to the tears on her face.
He also assumed his reaction was just the last burst of warmth that was caused by the imminent divorce.
“If that is all. I’m going back to sleep.” She stood up. She was truly exhausted.
“Wait,” he called out to her.
She turned around to look at him, confusion was evident in her eyes.
He did not wait for her to say anything and reached out to wipe the tears off her face with a *thumb. In a voice that rang with agony, he said, “Don’t cry.”
She reached a hand up to her other cheek to find that it was wet.
She was stunned at first before she recalled she had woken up from a nightmare.
Then…
She looked up into his eyes and explained, “I wasn’t crying.”
“You don’t need to pretend to be strong.” He then moved his hand away. She could see her reflection in his dark eyes.
“I really wasn’t.” She wiped her face dry once more and held up her glass of water to bluntly explain, “The tears you’re seeing might be water from when I bumped into you.”
He was rendered speechless by her explanation.
She glanced at his wet shirt. “It gets cold at night in autumn. Remember to get changed before you go back to bed.”
3/4
He continued to stare at her in silence.
“I’m heading back to bed. Sorry for wetting your sleepwear.”
He remained silent.
She placed the glass on the dishrack before walking up to her room to sleep, leaving Brayden standing by the dining table while questioning every thought he ever had.
The nice, romantic atmosphere had been broken with that one sentence.
The air around him slowly turned cold. The thought of how he kept trying to reassure her just made him feel foolish.
At the thought of the way she was staring at him, frustration surged in him.
Back then….
She probably thought he was an idiot.
He stood there for a long while before heading back to his room. Subsequently, he sat down on the couch. The more he thought about what happened, the more frustrated he felt. In the end, he did not get much sleep.
Early the next morning, he was waiting in the living room with the divorce paperwork ready before him.
Both of them silently ate their breakfast, refusing to mention what happened the night before.
At 8.00AM, the two of them got into the car with their documents and paperwork.
Conner could sense a tense atmosphere lingering around the two of them. He glanced at them through the rearview mirror before asking, “Boss, are you sure you want a divorce?”
