Chapter 12
The room reeked of tobacco. Harriet felt uneasy staying in the
same room with him, but was worried Patsy might see her if
she left.
Unlike Jacquelyn and the others, Patsy wasn’t as easily fooled.
Ellsworth, on the contrary, was immersed in his own world.
He smoked, answered calls, and turned on the laptop-it seemed
he could always find something to do.
Torn, Harriet decided to do something. She looked at him and
said, “Do you know? Couples no longer need birth certificates to
get a divorce. How about we proceed with the paperwork
before telling the others?”
She had only read about this recently.
At that moment, a wave of relief washed over her.
It meant if she and Ellsworth both wanted it, they could go
through the divorce without anyone else’s approval.
As soon as she said this, Ellsworth looked up at her.
After staring at her for a while, he smiled, seemingly careless,
“Sounds like you can’t wait to get a divorce. Why? Are you
seeing someone else?”
Ellsworth assumed Kelsey’s return had triggered Harriet’s
jealousy, so this time, Harriet played hard to get to reel him in.
To his surprise, she actually got her birth certificate back,
prepared an NDA, and even took the initiative to tell him that
birth certificates were no longer required for divorce
proceedings.
He was intrigued.
He wondered what unreasonable demands she’d make during
the divorce.
Hearing his words, Harriet gawked at him. Did he just say that?
Just how despicable did he think she was?
It was impossible to have a rational conversation with him.
A cruel fact dawned on her-she could never change his
prejudice against her.
Never mind.
It no longer mattered.
Finally, looking at him with resignation, she said, “If you think
so, then yeah. When do you have time? Let’s go finalize the
divorce.”
She actually admitted it. The cold smile on Ellsworth’s face
vanished at once.
He looked at her, his gaze icy.
After several seconds, he still said nothing. Given this, she said,
“Get some rest. Just let me know when you’re free.”
With that, she turned toward the door.
He suddenly gripped her wrist as she reached for the doorknob.
Before she could react, he yanked her back toward him.
She steadied herself with difficulty and then looked up at him.
Being treated so rudely infuriated her. But then the memory of
him carrying her out of the fire surfaced in her mind, dousing
the flames of her anger in an instant.
Rubbing her reddened wrist, she asked, “Anything else?”
All this time, she had been baffled.
How did she and Ellsworth end up like this? Why did he hate
her this much? She racked her brains but still couldn’t figure
out the answers.
Her tone was laced with indifference. Utterly pissed off,
Ellsworth tucked his hands back into his pockets, tilted his head
away, and let out a derisive laugh.
Then he looked back at her. “Name, Harriet. Who’s your lover?
I’d like to see who’s got the nerve.”
She felt momentarily speechless.
Given his countless affairs, did he really think he was in a place
to question her about this?
She remained silent. He walked over to the coffee table, bent
down to pick up the cigarette case and lighter, then lit another
cigarette.
Then he stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his figure faintly
obscured by the smoke.
His back stood straight, his legs slender and elegant. Even the
shape of his head was flawless.
With him acting like this, Harriet was clueless about what to
Looking at his back, she said, “You know no one dares to mess
with you. I was just humoring you. Don’t overthink it. Let’s
settle the formalities when you’re free. You know Patsy won’t
let up, right? She’ll breathe down your neck every day, and it’ll
totally stress you out.”
