While Easton and the others were stirring up chaos back home, I was already on a plane headed
to France.
The moment I stepped out of the terminal, I saw my parents were waiting anxiously, and beside hem was Martin.
At first, my heart leapt, my footsteps quickened with anticipation. But the instant my eyes fell on Martin, my pace faltered.
Yes, the six of us had grown up together. But when scandal began to follow Martin’s name, under Easton and the others‘ persuasion–I gradually distanced myself from him.
Especially after that surveillance footage surfaced, showing him kissing a girl at a bar. From hen on, I wanted nothing to do with him.
My coldness toward him, coupled with the Addams family shifting their business overseas once le came of age, meant he had never been listed among my “eligible fiancés.”
And yet, on the very night I turned eighteen, after the birthday banquet ended, I returned home only to find a small package waiting for me–an engagement token sent by none other thar Martin.
I was because of that token that, just a couple of weeks ago, his name came back to me.
And so, I decided to marry him.
Although Martin was a playboy, and might not be the best choice for a lifelong partner. But a he very least, we could form a business alliance. If I couldn’t endure it anymore, divorce would lways be an option.
And I knew my parents would support me.
After all, with someone like Martin, I wouldn’t even need to invent an excuse. His reputation
lone could be reason enough.
Compared to him, what future would await me if I chose one of the other four?
Choosing Easton, Connor, Kenji, or Hayden would mean being forever entangled with Charlie.
n that country, I would be completely suppressed–perhaps even imprisoned in that gilded cage
of a marriage. Whether it began or ended would never be up to me.
Even before a marriage bond, they had already humiliated me, already inflicted torment anc
hame in the name of Charlie.
f I were truly to marry into their hands… what horrors awaited me then?
The thought sent a chill through me. My gaze sharpened as it fell once more on Martin.
No matter how reckless, no matter how dissolute–he could never be worse than Easton and the others.
With that conviction, courage welled up in me again. Step by step, I closed the distance.
My parents‘ faces lit up with unrestrained joy the moment they spotted me. And unless it was only my imagination, Martin’s expression softened faintly as well.
“Dad, Mom!”
Chapter Q
2/2 39.1%
3:23 pm D
The words burst out of me as I rushed forward.
I had endured so much, stifled so many grievances in their absence. I thought that as long as I escaped Easton and the others, all my suffering would be worth it. I thought I had grown strong enough.
But when I saw the pain in my parents‘ eyes, all my strength shattered. I broke down in sobs and buried myself in my mother’s embrace, collapsed into my mother’s arms.
My mother clutched me tightly, her voice trembling with fury:
“What happened? Who dared to bully you? Tell me, and I swear I won’t let them off!”
My father’s face turned stormy.
“Was it those bastards back home? They dared to bully you while we were away?” His voice was low and dangerous. “They must truly be tired of living!”
Taking a deep breath, he stroked my hair, trying to soothe me as he gently said, “Don’t worry sweetheart. Whatever wrongs you’ve suffered, tell us. We will make sure they pay for every single
one.”
Hearing his words, the dam within me broke completely. My tears fell like pearls spilling onto the ground.
And just for a heartbeat, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I caught something impossible- Martin’s face softened with tenderness.
But I quickly dismissed the thought as an illusion.
A playboy like him, harbors feelings for me? That’s absurd! He’d never once shown it before.
forced the thought away and refused to look at him again.
After my tears had run their course, my parents guided me gently toward the car. Martir ollowed silently, walking just a step behind.
He didn’t say a word.
t wasn’t until we were in the car, with him trailing us in the vehicle behind, that my parents inally pressed, coaxing the truth from me.
Feeling somewhat relieved, with nothing left to hide, I told them everything–every humiliation every cruelty Easton and the others had inflicted on me.
By the time I finished, my parents‘ faces were ashen with fury.
‘They dared–those wretched brutes dared to humiliate you like that?!”
‘Animals!” my father spat, his voice thick with rage. “And to think, I once believed they cherished you. I thought if you chose one of them, you’d live a life of happiness. They’re wolves in sheep’s clothing! Bastards!”
His features twisted with barely contained anger, as if he could tear them apart with his own hands if they stood before him now.
My mother, meanwhile, could only hold my hand tighter, her voice trembling.
“This is our fault. We left you there alone. If even one of us had stayed, you never would have been forced to endure such torment…”
Her tears streamed down, falling onto our clasped hands.
