The dazzling sunlight pierced through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, shining down on everyone.
Fortunately, the central air conditioning system in the villa was still working well, so it was quite cool and comfortable.
The Quinn family rarely had such bustling, noisy, and fully attended gatherings, so after finishing lunch, everyone moved to gather in the common living area to drink afternoon tea, leisurely chatting about this and that.
Lily sat close beside Chloe, persistently demanding that Chloe share her knowledge of diamond appraisal.
On the opposite side of the tea table, Julian was both listening to Wesley bragging about the stock market and picking up a red American apple, quietly peeling it with a tiny silver knife.
Seeing this, Chloe raised an eyebrow, feeling incredibly astonished in her heart.
Julian’s hands were very beautiful, the fingers long, slender, strong yet nimble.
His peeling motions were incredibly skillful; in no time, an apple was cleanly peeled, then meticulously cut into thin slices, arranged neatly on a bone china plate, and pushed in front of Chloe.
“Eat some.” “For me?” Chloe widened her blue eyes in surprise.
“Yes.” Julian gave a bland hum, then turned his head back to continue gossiping about macroeconomics with Wesley.
He remembered that before lunch, his little wife had refused the apple salad, probably wanting to eat fresh fruit very much; she had been staring intently at the apple in his hand with sparkling eyes all this time, after all.
Chloe took a deep breath, feeling a tightness in her chest making it hard to breathe.
She did not reach out to take any apple slices on the plate in front of her, her complexion complex and hard to read.
“Chloe, aren’t you going to eat?” Lily spoke eagerly, then picked up the fruit fork nearby, intending to spear an apple slice: “Then I will eat it, it looks so juicy.” “Hey!” Wesley reached out his long arm, snatching the fork from his young wife Lily’s hand: “When will you fix this habit of eating whatever is around?
Fruit that another man has touched and peeled, you just eat it because you say so?” “I…” Lily felt aggrieved and pouted: “I just had a craving for it…
you never peel them for me.” “…” Wesley rolled his eyes and glanced at his parents, seeing his father, Mr.
Arthur, and Victoria tilting their heads back to look at the ceiling, pretending not to hear this internal squabble.
He then glanced over at his younger sister and his childhood friend-turned-brother-in-law; both had their heads bowed, who knew what they were calculating.
Then finally, he glanced back at his precious little wife, who was glaring at him with red eyes like an angry little bunny.
Sighing in defeat, he resignedly picked up another apple, clumsily and awkwardly starting to peel it, silently thinking that marrying a young wife was truly incurring a debt; the life of a playboy was considered over.
But when had a young master like him ever done these kitchen chores?
Having finished peeling an apple, the surface was incredibly rugged and jagged, and due to his excessively clumsy handling, many parts of the apple flesh were oxidized and turned brown.
Lily looked at the finished product with a bit of disgust, wrinkling her small nose in disdain, but a wave of sweetness still welled up in her heart; she accepted the ugly apple, happily taking small bites.
Chloe looked at that bickering couple with a bit of admiration.
She silently thought that this was exactly what a truly loving marriage should look like; noisy and toxic arguing, but deep down in their hearts, they only had each other.
While lost in a daze and immersed in thoughts, she suddenly felt her lips touch something cool; instinctively parting her lips, a crisp, sweet apple slice was neatly fed into her mouth.
She widened her eyes in surprise to look at Julian; he was continuing to use the fork to spear another apple slice, bringing it close to her lips.
The familiar, elegant, and masculine cedarwood perfume scent on the man’s body wafted straight into Chloe’s sense of smell.
The tranquil lake in her heart, which she had told herself was frozen without a ripple over the past few days, now became fiercely turbulent just because of a tiny, caring gesture.
“I…” Chloe flusteredly and hurriedly reached out to take the silver fork from Julian’s hand: “Let me just get it myself.” Because her mind was a bit panicked, her slender fingers with artistic nail polish accidentally brushed past his large, warm back of the hand.
“Cough, cough…” Chloe choked and coughed violently, her cheeks flushing bright red.
She silently cursed herself for being truly useless; it was just a touch of hands, they had done intimate bedroom matters far beyond this countless times already, so why was she still feeling shy over this childish, ambiguous high-school game?
She could only find an excuse to blame the harsh midday sunlight streaming through the glass window, shining down and making her hormones chaotic and unsettled.
Julian looked at Chloe’s alluringly flushed cheeks, not understanding why his Adam’s apple slightly bobbed up and down, his throat becoming a bit dry.
He had always known his wife was an absolute beauty.
He tried to act calm by picking up the cup of English Breakfast tea to take a small sip, but the bitter, astringent taste of the black tea could not extinguish the fire burning vigorously in his chest.
“I say, bro?” Wesley, having finished coaxing his little wife, spoke up to break the atmosphere: “That commercial real estate project in the West district, how about the two of us go up to the study to research the data carefully for a bit?” “Agreed.” Julian placed the teacup down on the saucer, stood up, buttoned his suit jacket, and walked up the spiral staircase with Wesley.
As the iceberg sitting beside her left, Chloe’s defensively tensed body finally relaxed with a sigh of relief.
Having finished chewing the apple slice in her hand, she unconsciously speared another piece herself.
“Chloe!” Victoria narrowed her eyes in an elegant smile, leaning close, looking extremely satisfied at the neat fruit slices on the plate: “Julian is truly a husband who knows how to care for women; your father has been busy his whole life and has never personally peeled a single apple for me.” Lily, hearing her mother-in-law say that, slightly paused her apple-chewing motion, feeling a bit guilty.
Chloe sneakily rolled her eyes slightly: “It is fine, Mother.
You don’t have a thoughtful husband, but in return, you raised a good son.” Saying that, she jerked her chin, hinting toward Lily.
Lily embarrassedly put the half-eaten apple down, flusteredly smoothing out the folds of her dress.
“Oh, come on!” Victoria used her red-painted finger to press lightly on Chloe’s shoulder: “I want to have a serious discussion with you here; you two have been married for two years, shouldn’t the baby-making plan be put on the Timeline by now?” Chloe felt both of her temples throbbing with sharp pain, only feeling like lately, the whole world was pressuring her about having a baby.
Looking at Chloe’s vexed expression, Victoria knew all too well that mentioning this matter today was essentially a wasted effort.
She let out a sigh full of hidden meaning: “Chloe, let me tell you this from experience: no matter how passionate the affection between two people is, it cannot compare to having a shared child to firmly bind the foundation.
Do you understand what I mean?” Chloe fell into a deep silence.
Of course, as a mature woman, she understood.
Initially, when the two signed the strategic marriage papers, Victoria also partially grasped the cold agreement within.
This was her mother implicitly advising her to use a child to create additional leverage, ensuring this prestigious marriage remained safe.
It was just that…
“I want to proceed with divorce procedures.” Chloe clearly articulated every single word.
The voice was not loud at all, but its power was no different from a bomb; the space in the common living room suddenly became terrifyingly quiet.
“What did you just utter?” Victoria immediately retracted her elegant smile, narrowing her eyes tightly, her sharp expression clearly bearing the implication of “try repeating that joke one more time and see”.
“I want to file for divorce.” The words having just left her mouth, Chloe, on the contrary, felt her entire body become relieved and tranquil, not struggling or finding it as difficult as she had imagined.
It was only that, right after, she immediately felt a large chunk gouged out of her left chest, so empty and hollow that it was suffocating.
“Nonsense!” Her father, Arthur, who had been relaxing with his eyes closed in the leather armchair by the window, heard this and slammed his hand hard on the armrest.
He stood straight up, pointing his finger right at Chloe’s face, clearly extremely furious: “Initially, who was the one crying and making a scene, insisting at all costs on marrying into that family, huh!” Chloe was choked speechless, then chose to purse her lips in silence.
On this point, there was truly no way to defend herself.
For her own stubborn mistake, she had to grit her teeth and admit it; whatever bitter consequences there were, she had to bear them all by herself.
Victoria had now regained the composed demeanor of an upper-class lady.
She stared scrutinizingly at Chloe and asked: “Did you two have a conflict and argue?
A marriage between two families is not a joke, you still need to act cautiously.” “We didn’t argue at all.” It probably couldn’t be defined as an argument, Chloe mocked herself.
Two people interacting loudly was called an argument; in this case, her directing and acting out the trouble all by herself was called bringing trouble upon herself.
“Then did Julian do something shady and wrong you?
Or did he abuse you, treating you badly?” Victoria completely did not think that the root of the problem came from Chloe’s side.
Over the past two years, anyone in their circle could see that her daughter had wholeheartedly acted as a perfect wife, nurturing this marriage.
Pondering for a moment, she lowered her voice and asked more delicately: “Or is it because things are not harmonious in bed that you are discouraged and disappointed?” Lily, having just snapped back to reality from the shock of gossiping, heard her mother-in-law Victoria ask so bluntly and impulsively rebutted on instinct: “How could brother-in-law Julian treat Chloe badly?
Just now he even peeled an apple for Chloe with his own hands.” The mindset of this Gen Z girl was very simple and naive; Wesley treating her with indulgence was enough to make her satisfied, but that playboy had never been thoughtful to the point of personally peeling fruit and serving it right to her mouth like that.
“…” Chloe was suddenly rendered speechless.
That was right, she truly couldn’t turn white into black, turn a blind eye, and say Julian treated her badly.
It was just that his gallantry was not the passionate love that real married couples should have.
Any caring action he did always carried the cold distance of a task that must be completed.
“The fault does not lie on his side.” Giving a brief explanation to protect Julian’s face, Chloe turned her face away, wearing an exhausted look, not wanting to discuss it any deeper.
Right in the middle of the open space connecting the living room door and the stairs, Wesley whistled softly: “Wow bro…
your home front is blazing fiercely on fire over there…” Hearing this, Julian stopped his steps and turned to look at his best friend.
His face maintained its emotionless coldness, as if the woman who had just announced her desire to divorce in the living room over there had absolutely no relation to his assets: “I don’t need you meddling in other people’s business.” Then he paused for a beat, glanced over, and continued saying: “But I’ve always had a premonition that I got set up by you.” “Hey!
What’s with this baseless accusation!” Wesley clearly bristled in displeasure: “What bad flaws does my sister Chloe have?
If you want beauty, she has beauty; if you want a body, she has a body; if you want an Ivy League degree, she has a degree; if you want a career, she has her own brand; if you want net worth, she has massive assets.
As my brother-in-law, where have you suffered any grievances or disadvantages?” “I wasn’t referring to her.” Julian stared straight at Wesley with a piercing gaze: “I meant you.” “What the fck!” Wesley didn’t expect the fire of trouble to spread and burn him.
Hearing this, he jumped up and cursed, unable to control his voice volume, exposing the presence of the two of them to the people sitting in the living room.
Julian, seeing that they were exposed, took long, steady strides into the hall.
On this side, Wesley still wanted to grab Julian’s shoulder to reason things out, but seeing the tense situation, he had no choice but to scratch his head in frustration and trail along behind.