As soon as she left the hospital, Leah Sterling hurried toward the Civil Affairs Bureau.
“Driver, please go a little faster.
I’m in a rush.”
In a parking spot by the street outside the Civil Affairs Bureau sat a dark luxury car.
“Adrian, you aren’t really planning to divorce Leah, are you?” Ian Sloan asked, casting a sideways glance at Adrian Hawthorne while toying with an exquisite lighter in his hand.
Adrian scoffed.
“I’m planning?
Didn’t she hand me the divorce papers in public?”
He glanced at his wrist.
The intricate tourbillon dial displayed the time: 10:15.
“And here I thought she actually had the backbone to go through with it.” Adrian lifted his gaze and ordered the driver, “Drive.”
The dark luxury car glided out of the parking spot and merged seamlessly into the traffic.
When Leah finally arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, it was already 10:20.
Not seeing Adrian, she assumed he hadn’t arrived yet and gave him a call.
Inside the car, Adrian arched a brow at the sight of Leah’s name on his phone screen.
Seeing that he wasn’t answering, Ian urged him on.
“Just answer it.
If you don’t actually want a divorce and she doesn’t either, then you two need to talk it out.
Leah is a good catch.”
Adrian stared at the caller ID for a few more seconds before swiping to answer.
Fine.
He wanted to hear what she had to say for herself anyway.
“I’m at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, but I don’t see you.
Are you here yet?” Leah’s voice echoed through the speaker.
Adrian’s slightly softened expression immediately darkened again.
He realized she hadn’t changed her mind about the divorce; she was merely late.
“Adrian?” Leah prompted when she was met with silence.
“Leah, what time is it right now?” his voice was steeped in ice.
Leah bit her lip.
“I’m sorry I’m late.
Have you already arrived?”
“I’ve already left,” Adrian replied coldly.
Leah froze for a moment.
“I didn’t do it on purpose.
Some unforeseen circumstances held me up.
If you haven’t gone too far, could you please come back?”
Adrian let out a cold laugh.
“Do you think I have nothing better to do than waste my time on you?” Without giving her a chance to respond, he hung up with a stony expression.
Ian raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“And here I thought she backed out, but it turns out she was just late?” He looked at Adrian with amusement, intentionally teasing him.
“Looks like Leah does have a spine after all.
Should we turn around and head back?”
“Shut up,” Adrian snapped, his face grim.
That woman actually wanted a divorce!
Given the current dilapidated state of the Sterling Family, how dare she?
Adrian’s phone rang again.
It wasn’t Leah, but his mother.
Frowning and clearly not in the mood, he answered, “What is it?”
Julia Jules’s voice fired back like a machine gun from the other end.
“Adrian Hawthorne, are you out of your mind?!
No one cares if you fool around outside, but you and Leah haven’t even consummated your marriage?!
“I kept wondering why she hasn’t gotten pregnant in five years, and it turns out it’s *your* problem?
Is there something wrong with you?
If you have an issue, go to the hospital and get it checked!”
“What are you talking about?” Adrian’s frown deepened.
“I thought she was the barren one!
And since that Song woman just came back, I figured that was why you wanted to divorce her and throw her out!
But she just told me that *she* is the one divorcing *you*?”
“Was she just with you?” Adrian countered.
Mrs.
Hawthorne ignored his question, continuing coldly, “So after all this time, *you’re* the infertile one, and she’s dumping you?”
“Enough.” Adrian’s voice rang with displeasure.
His mother scolded him.
“Regardless!
You better sort this mess out yourself.
Fooling around is one thing, but if you actually let your family fall apart, then you’ve really outdone yourself.”
“I got it,” Adrian replied, not hiding his impatience.
After he hung up, Ian asked, “Adrian, you okay?
You look terrible.”
Adrian remained silent for a moment before saying, “I have some business to take care of, so I can’t drop you off.
Get out here.”
“Okay.” Ian had no objections.
Before stepping out of the car, he offered a piece of advice.
“Adrian, calm down.”
“I’m perfectly calm.” The expression on Adrian’s face was less ‘calm’ and more ‘ice-cold’.
He hooked his lips into a slight smirk.
“Let’s hang out another time.” He then ordered his driver in a low voice, “Turn around.
Head back to the Civil Affairs Bureau.”
The dark luxury car executed a seamless U-turn, retracing its route back to the bureau.
Outside the Civil Affairs Bureau, Leah’s brow was tightly knit, her expression tinged with anger.
True, it was her fault for being late, but she had a valid reason.
And that reason happened to be his mother!
Yet this man wasn’t even willing to wait twenty extra minutes for her.
Just twenty minutes.
In the past, she used to wait an entire night for him to come home for dinner.
She would wait until the candles burned down to stumps, reheating the cold food over and over until it lost all its original color, only to end up dumping it all into the trash.
But he wouldn’t even wait twenty minutes for her.
A self-deprecating smile tugged at the corners of Leah’s lips.
She sat on the edge of a flowerbed in front of the bureau, watching the couples arrive to get their marriage certificates.
Every joyful, beaming face she saw only made her feel more like a clown.
After sitting there for a while, Leah stood up, ready to leave.
Just as she reached the curb, a dark luxury car sped over, rounded the corner, made a swift U-turn, and stopped smoothly right in front of her.
Leah stared blankly at the vehicle.
If she wasn’t mistaken, this was Adrian’s car.
The rear door opened, and a pair of impossibly long legs stepped out, followed by Adrian’s tall, commanding figure.
Leah hadn’t expected him to come back.
She stared at him in sheer surprise.
“Get in,” Adrian commanded, his voice indifferent.
Thinking he was here to get their divorce finalized, she pointed at the main entrance behind her.
“But if we don’t go in now, the line will take even longer.”
Adrian fixed her with a chilling glare.
“If you want to talk about the divorce, get in the car.
My patience is limited.”
Biting her lip, Leah had no choice but to slide into the back seat.
“Head back,” Adrian instructed the driver flatly.
As the car pulled away from the bureau, Leah frowned.
“Adrian, whatever we need to discuss, we can just do it here.”
The man didn’t respond.
The car sped steadily forward in his suffocating silence.
Before long, they arrived at The Verdant, pulling to a halt in front of the elegant villa.
Adrian opened her car door himself.
Leah sensed something was vaguely wrong, but he didn’t give her any room to think.
“Get out.” His long, slender fingers locked around her wrist, hauling her out of the vehicle and straight into the house.
The moment they stepped into the foyer, before Leah could even open her mouth, she was overpowered by his brute strength.
He shoved both her wrists squarely above her head.
In the next second, she was slammed flush against the wall!
Adrian’s deep, magnetic voice hummed with imminent danger.
“Did you tell my mother that we don’t sleep together because there’s something wrong with me?
That you’re the one divorcing me because you’re dumping me?”
Leah was utterly bewildered by his sudden aggression.
It took her a moment to process his words.
By the time she finally realized what he meant, his scorching hand had already swept up the hem of her shirt!
“I…
What?!
I didn’t!
I never said that to her!”