Leah Sterling had absolutely no idea what had gotten into Adrian Hawthorne.
He was the one who had told her to move out as soon as possible.
Leah figured his pride simply couldn’t handle the fact that she was the one who had brought up the divorce.
After all, even if she were given a second brain to ponder it, she would never believe this man actually felt any regret.
Leah had just said, “I’ll go too.”
The very next second, Adrian dialed a number.
“Come up.”
Not long after, Taylor Thorne came up.
Taylor was one of Adrian’s assistants.
Compared to Robert Rhodes’s gentle and refined demeanor, Taylor was tall and burly.
He looked less like an assistant and more like a bodyguard.
“Mr.
Hawthorne,” he greeted.
“Help her with her luggage.
We’re going back to The Verdant.”
“Yes, sir.” Taylor looked at Leah.
“Mrs.
Hawthorne, where is your luggage?”
Leah hesitated for a moment.
“There isn’t really anything to bring.
Let’s just go.”
It was only going to be a hundred days, anyway.
Besides, when she had initially moved out, she had only taken her own personal belongings.
As for the gifts Adrian had given her over the years, she had left them completely untouched.
Adrian glanced at her, then instructed Taylor, “Have someone come and move her electric stove, her hair dryer, and her mud-playing tools to The Verdant.”
Leah’s eyes widened.
She didn’t even have the time to correct him that they weren’t an electric stove and a hair dryer.
She hurriedly turned her gaze to Adrian and said, “That won’t be necessary, will it?”
“When we built the kitchen at The Verdant, it was wired with three-phase power just to handle your oven.
It should be able to handle your stove and hair dryer, too.”
“They aren’t a stove and a hair dryer…” Leah defended her tools.
Adrian had already moved on, instructing Taylor, “And find someone to upgrade the wiring here to three-phase power as well.”
“Yes, sir,” Taylor nodded.
On the way to The Verdant, Leah sat in the car, wondering how things had turned out like this.
By all rights, she should have been a young, wealthy divorcée by now.
At that thought, she cast a sideways glance at the man beside her.
With just that single glance, Adrian noticed and met her eyes.
His dark eyes were as profound as a starry night.
One look was enough to make anyone feel as though they were being pulled into their depths.
People often said that beauty could be skin-deep or bone-deep, and that a beautiful bone structure was far more captivating than merely attractive features.
Beyond that, there was presence and temperament.
Adrian excelled in all of these.
He possessed both striking features and an impeccable bone structure.
His presence and temperament were nothing short of perfect.
This was why everything he did—from his grandest gestures to the smallest details, like the raise of an eyebrow or the curl of his lips—exuded sheer charisma.
Just looking at his face was enough to quell a person’s anger by at least a third.
Right now, as he looked back at her, he asked, “What is it?”
“What on earth has gotten into you?” The words were right on the tip of her tongue.
Leah pursed her lips and held them back.
Forget it.
It was only three months.
Having to look at this face wouldn’t be too terrible an ordeal.
“Nothing,” she replied, averting her gaze.
Having lived at The Verdant for five years, Leah still felt a sense of belonging upon arriving.
Walking into the yard, she noticed that the plants were looking a bit wilted.
Leah sighed softly.
“Adrian, you should remember to hire a gardener in the future to maintain the plants in the yard regularly.”
Adrian’s lips curled up slightly.
“Don’t you do a perfectly fine job of taking care of them?”
“You go on inside,” Leah said.
Unable to bear seeing her plants suffer, she rolled up her sleeves and walked into the yard.
When Adrian reached the door to the house, he paused and glanced at Leah’s slender back in the garden.
Her sleeves were rolled up, and her long hair was casually pinned up at the back of her head.
She was holding the garden hose nozzle, watering the greenery.
His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds before the continuous buzzing of his phone snapped him out of his reverie.
Glancing at the caller ID, Adrian frowned.
He answered the call and walked inside.
“Yes, Mother.
What is it?”
Leah didn’t find any peace in the yard, either.
The phone in her pocket began ringing noisily.
Looking at the screen, she sighed softly and answered the call.
“Hello—” Before she could even finish her greeting, let alone address the caller, a frantic, rapid-fire voice blasted from the other end.
“Leah, what on earth is going on?!” Walter Sterling’s voice sounded like it was about to catch fire.
“What’s all this about the trending search?
Is the recording fake, or is it true?”
“Dad,” Leah said quietly.
“It’s true.”
Leah and Adrian’s marriage had initially been arranged by the elders of both families.
It was an alliance.
However, neither family’s elders were aware that it was a contract marriage with a five-year term limit.
Walter’s business ventures were currently a chaotic mess, and he had a penchant for gambling.
His biggest source of confidence was that his daughter had married well and his son-in-law was highly capable and influential.
When the trending search exploded today, Walter was so terrified he nearly lost his mind.
He had swallowed his pride and reached out to his in-laws first.
Only after learning that the Hawthorne family elders were also in the dark about the marriage term limit did he steady his nerves enough to call Leah.
“Are you crazy?!
How could you agree to such a contract?!
Don’t you know the Sterling family’s business relies entirely on Adrian to survive?
How dare you divorce him?”
Hearing this, Leah’s lips twitched.
Her smile was mocking, yet bitter.
Although she hadn’t held out much hope for her father, the fact that he called without offering a single word of concern was still jarring.
He didn’t care in the slightest that Wendy Scott had shown up at her door, nor did he ask if she was sad or feeling wronged.
The moment he opened his mouth, it was all about profits.
Every word was a reprimand.
“Dad, do you think Adrian is stupid?”
“…What?” Walter’s voice faltered.
“You know exactly what state the Sterling family is in right now.
Adrian isn’t stupid.
Why would he let the Sterling family—let you—leech off him forever?” Leah took a deep breath.
“And why would he keep paying off your gambling debts?
You’re almost sixty years old.
Can you stop being so naive?”
Walter mumbled defensively, “The contract…
was Adrian’s idea from the beginning?” But he quickly recovered.
“But he can throw thirty million at Qu’s project!
Continuing to support the Sterling family definitely wouldn’t be a problem for him.
Besides, it’s not like he’s eager to divorce you either, right?!
“You need to behave yourself and do whatever it takes to please him!
Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on!
Everyone out there is saying you’re the one who initiated the divorce!”
Secrets never stayed buried for long.
The news of Leah handing Adrian a divorce agreement wasn’t exactly top secret.
Naturally, word had gradually gotten out.
“Leah!
Do you hear me?
If you don’t fix this, I won’t let you off the hook!”
Listening to his furious, exasperated voice on the other end, Leah’s expression remained exceptionally indifferent.
Without saying a word, she hung up the phone.
Leah turned off the hose and stood there for a while longer before finally heading inside.
Adrian was in the living room.
Hearing her footsteps, he looked over.
“I had Robert order some food…
What’s wrong with you?”
Noticing that Leah looked a bit pale, Adrian furrowed his brows imperceptibly.
He noted the phone gripped tightly in her hand.
“Who called—” Before he could finish, realization dawned on him.
“Did Walter Sterling call you?”
Based on his recent conversation with his mother and Leah’s current mood, it was easy to guess that Walter had called.
Adrian knew exactly what kind of piece of work Walter was.
If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have frequently used the man as a weapon to mock Leah in the past.
“Leah, you—”
Before he could finish, Leah raised her eyes and cut him off.
“Mr.
Hawthorne, may I ask a favor of you?”
Mr.
Hawthorne?
Adrian raised an eyebrow.