Chapter 1: I don’t want money
The man had fallen asleep, his narrow, sharp eyes now just slightly closed.
Victoria Blackwell endured the unbearable soreness as she settled onto the bed, her back arching gracefully, her long hair draped over her. The green and painful bruises were concealed. She only intended to pick up the scattered clothes on the floor when an icy voice startled her from behind.
“How much do you want?”
The tone was emotionless, and the intense ambiguity of last night’s drunkenness had dissipated.
Victoria’s hand, clutching her shirt, twitched.
It was ironic that her husband of three years didn’t even know who she was.
She saved Mr. Andrews’ life three years ago, just when her dad’s company was in trouble with the first round of financing, Mr. Andrews smoothly offered her to marry his grandson – Nick Andrews and injected three hundred million into her dad’s company.
Nick had been absent the entire time. Victoria only learned of his departure overseas after the marriage license was signed.
In three years, as the renowned but unattractive Mrs. Andrews, she had become a subject of ridicule in the eyes of others.
Little did she know that their first meeting would be in bed.
“I don’t want money.”
She put her clothes back on. Her head was a mess from the hangover, as if it were about to explode.
“No money? Are you trying to pester me?” Nick sneered softly, his penetrating gaze scanning her from top to bottom.
He looked at her features and realized her face was white and small, just the right size, with clear eyes and a good face, but nothing special. For him, she was just another girl who came forward to seduce him. But in contrast to other girls, she was successful in doing so.
The man retracted his eyes. “Then what do you want? I can give you the money, but if you are thinking of manipulating this situation, then I would suggest that you put that thought out of your mind before it’s too late.”
Last night he was drunk, but not so drunk that he was completely out of control with a woman, but it was the wine she gave him that caused the problem.
Victoria was already dressed now and now standing in front of him.
Last night, a reception banquet was hosted by the Andrews family, which attracted a circle of celebrities. They all wanted to meet the Andrews family’s heir, who had just returned to the country to take over the entire Andrews family business.
Victoria arrived late at the banquet. Even though Mr. Andrews was abroad, he had specifically instructed her to come over. Victoria wanted to show up and leave but she was stopped by her dad, who brought her two glasses of wine.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
He said that since Nick was back in the country; it was a good time for both of them to talk to each other.
But the results later were different with her ending up in his bed.
She knew very well how resistant Nick was to this marriage. But how was she going to convince him that what happened last night was not her intention?
A flash of self-deprecation appeared in Victoria’s eyes and she was silent for a rare two seconds. “Actually, I …”
The cell phone on the bed vibrated. Nick swept his eyes nonchalantly, and realized that it was his personal attorney.
Pressing the speakerphone, he kept the phone near his ear when a respectful male voice came over the line, “Sir, I’ve arrived at Miss Blackwell’s apartment. She’s not home. Do I need to send this divorce agreement to her office?”
Nick got up and went near the long floor-to-ceiling windows. He frowned at the river view at a distance as his mind was not impressed with the wife of three years of marriage.
His grandfather told him that his wife had an outstanding personality, was not competitive, and was a senior at Veridian University, but so what? He didn’t want to be tied up in that meaningless marriage to a girl he hadn’t even met.
Victoria’s family’s company had long survived the crisis. The Andrew family had helped them overcome the crisis and in this way she had already been paid back for saving his grandfather’s life.
Nick’s tone was merciless and cool. “First, contact her and ask her to sign the divorce agreement. If she does not agree, then contact her family elders…”
Victoria found her cell phone, checking to see if she had missed any work messages. But she froze for a moment when the words “divorce papers” appeared before her. The phone screen prompted a message from her dad, Daniel Blackwell.
Just then, her phone buzzed. It was a call from her father, which she hurriedly picked up.
“Via, you left the table early last night… Cynthia asked me to ask you if Nick had that drink?” Her father asked on behalf of Cynthia, who was her stepmother.
Victoria bowed her head, “You didn’t prepare the wine, Daddy?”
“It’s from Cynthia. If you’re not busy with work today, go see Linda at the hospital. She says she misses you a lot.”
She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was the woman who had deliberately counted and not her father.
And Daniel saw she wasn’t responding. “What’s wrong? Was the drink too concentrated, and you got drunk?”
Thinking that she was not feeling well from her hangover, he asked her if she needed sobering soup. His tone was full of concern.
It was not like Victoria didn’t have a problem with her dad, but after her mom passed away early, he had been busy running the company on his own for all these years. And being a dad and a mom for her both at the same time.
And it was only her freshman year that her dad married again. She had no problem with his marriage and it did no harm to her.
The hard feelings she was feeling were pushed down by her unwillingness to speak about them. “No, I’ll see Linda later. You can tell Cynthia, thanks for being so considerate.”
Nick was still on the call, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. The faint sound of work being discussed could be heard.
Victoria noticed the light from the window shining down on the man’s shoulder, who was dressed in a white robe with a casual posture.
As he stood with his back to the light, his handsome face could not be seen, but the lines of his side face were extraordinarily cold, appearing more and more cold by nature, making it difficult for those around him to approach.
Victoria put her cell phone away. She turned around and pushed the door open, and walked out.
He was planning on divorcing her, anyway. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to discover that he had slept with the wife he had not seen for the past three years?
The best thing to do was to leave it at that and move on.
Nick hung up the phone. It was getting late and there was a woman here who hadn’t been dealt with. As he turned to look at the women, he found a silent room in front of him, and he couldn’t help but frown.
The messy sheets were half ripped off, and the crumpled suit shirt was tossed at the end of the bed. An elegant red wine laced with delightful flavors.
He raised his hand and pinched his brow. It would have seemed like a hallucination if it had not been for the dark red color on the printed sheets, which was unusually harsh.
There was a knock on the door and Declan, the secretary’s voice, came from outside. “Sir.”
“Come in.”
Opening the door, Declan, holding a brand new suit, was taken aback by the sight of the room, but he did not ask many questions, setting down his clothes and retiring to the living room with respect.
As Nick entered the bathroom, he took a shower, got dressed, and departed.
Declan followed a half-step behind, while Nick they both exited the building. “Who was the woman who left my room this morning?”