“A sum of money?” I let out a faint smile as I asked with curiosity, “How much exactly?”
She showed me contempt before querying, “How much do you want?”
“The thing is, I don’t know how much you are willing to give!” I stated the truth. Based on her current income, she should be able to offer quite the sum.
“Five hundred thousand! That’s enough for you to afford a house with two bedrooms here, in A City,” she replied in an ostentatious manner.
I smiled and uttered, “Five hundred thousand is a large sum. I might need to work extremely hard for a long period of time.”
“It’s good that you know!” With her arms folded, she gazed at me haughtily like a boastful sparrow.
I lowered my head to look at my outfit. No wonder she’s so arrogant. I guess she has the right to be.
After all, my outfit is only worth about five hundred. It definitely pales in comparison to her luxurious and extravagant get-up.
“So? What do you say?” She inched closer. “Since you don’t love Ashton anymore, why don’t you just quit? I’ll even pay you for it. That way, you’ll have enough money to live however you like.”
I chuckled. “That does sound like a good idea.” Glancing at her, I frowned and added on, “However, how can you be sure that he would choose to be with you after separating with me?”
She answered confidently, “I’m the best candidate available; there is no one better. Once we have our own children, he will shift his focus to our family. For a man, romance doesn’t matter anymore after a certain age. Am I right, Scarlett?”
“Yes, I see that you have a plan in mind already.” I pursed my lips and smiled. “You must feel like you’re in control of the situation now. But Ms. Zimmer, there is a plethora of beautiful and graceful ladies in K City. Considering Ashton’s outstanding qualities, I believe they would not mind it’s Ashton’s second marriage. Do you think your talent and beauty are unrivaled? Just wait till you see the beauty of the prestigious bachelorettes around here.”
Glaring at the despondent expression on her face, I continued, “In addition to your talent that you are so proud of, the ladies here in K City are also well-versed in arts. Their talent far surpasses yours. Not to mention, a man as wealthy as Ashton would want to marry a lady based on her ability to educate children, not her ability to work. He would also want his wife’s family to be influential and strong. With that said, it looks like you have neither of the qualifications. Am I right?”
“Y-You…” Her expression changed drastically. Livid, she stared at me and extorted, “Who cares if that’s the case. If he was willing to marry an orphan like you, then why can’t he marry me?”
I let out a smile. “You forgot about the most important thing—love. As you said, love becomes irrelevant after years of marriage. Honestly, that is only the case for the average family. Privation and endless hard work to sustain a family are what strip marriage of love. Do you think Ashton fits into that profile? No. What a man like him craves after a certain age is mental nourishment. That’s why for him, love is crucial.”
She darkened her face and sneered, “Scarlett, since you no longer want to be with him, why do you bother arguing with me? You could’ve just quit. Aren’t you just playing hard to get?”
I smiled nonchalantly. “You’re overthinking this. If you like him, I honestly won’t mind you chasing after him. I’m only mad because you’re blaming me for your failure to do so. By the way, regarding the five hundred thousand that you mentioned just now, I’ll consider it. I’m kind of short on money recently.”
Having said that, I turned around and was getting ready to leave the base. To my surprise, I stumbled upon Ashton at the entrance.
He glanced at me with his gloomy face and asked in a deep tone, “I’m only worth five hundred thousand?”
Stupefied, my heart skipped a beat. Did he overhear our conversation just now?
I feigned a smile. “The thing is that was the highest she could go.”
“Scarlett, what the f*ck are you going on about?” asked Rachel, who was catching up to us. She put on a pitiful look and uttered, “You said so yourself that you didn’t love Mr. Fuller. You even told me that you despise him for being a nudnik to you.”
She paused for a while before gazing at Ashton. “Mr. Fuller, can you even trust her words? If she intended to get money, she would’ve just asked you for it. The pittance that I offered wouldn’t have mattered.”
Her statement was actually quite reasonable. Ashton stared at me with a sombre expression on his face.
I was speechless as part of me knew what she said was true. I shrugged and uttered, “That’s enough, I still have work to do. You two can continue acting in your depressing love story by yourselves!”
Ashton scowled and grabbed my hand before gazing at Rachel. “Leave now!”
“Mr. Fuller…” Rachel wanted to say something but was scared off by Ashton’s minatory expression.
