Chapter 33

*CORA* The sense of failure was magnified infinitely,as if it was about to explode in my mind. I had no choice but to continue sorting out my contract with Dylan. I tried to numb my nerves by working hard. Before I decided to cooperate with Dylan,I had some scruples before.After all,I knew that Dylan would occasionally show affection to me,but he was just a friend to me.A very good friend. He didn’t make things awkward at all though.I could only hope that I had misunderstood my friend’s kindness by thinking too much. I was going to accept the offer of being a manager of the newly opened supermarket of Dylan’s company.On one hand,I could improve my ability to,on the other hand,I had wanted to expand new market for my company and evade Tristan’s control as soon as possible. Now,I loved and hated Tristan,but at the same time,I missed and was afraid of him.But I didn’t dare to express my feelings. What was the use of telling him? It was just that my self-esteem would continue to be trampled. Moreover,as a proud woman that I was, how can I please Tristan when I had been wronged? After a busy day,I was exhausted as I drove my car home. The city was bustling with cars and neon lights.I couldn’t help but lament that many people’s sacrifice helped the city achieve its prosperity. People surrender their humiliation,made efforts and finally only a few people get most of the benefits. Was the world even fair at all? Shaking my head,I mocked myself for being naive. The world was so unfair. Even if I had been born into riches,I had to admit that fact. I turned on the radio,and an elegant female voice recommended a song. Let it all go by Birdy. The lyrics made me feel all the more sad. My car sped along the road,and I decided to go see a movie to cheer me up. I loved movies and I haven’t gotten the time to see any one lately. When I arrived at the cinema,the next movie was to begin in 10 minutes. I got my tickets,I bought popcorn and a milkshake. It seems I was only able to eat more of light food now. When the movie began,a boy who seem younger than me,he looked like he was still a student started chatting with me. I was approached by boys a lot when I was still in school.I didn’t expect that I still had that charm. In a much better mood,I chatted back with the boy in a low voice. After watching the movie,what impressed me the most was that three had travelled to so many countries in their cars.How could they be so free to do such a shocking feat. Just as it was popular nowadays,many people were exhausted by the surrounding factors in a spontaneous trip.Time,work,money,study, friends,love,livelihood and so on. Who could truly do whatever they wanted? When we parted,the boy asked for my name and phone number.With a smile, I didn’t say anything and turned around to disappear from the crowd. I didn’t believe that I still had the ability to love. Moreover,he was too young for me. I knew he was still staring at me and by the time I got to my Porsche and opened the door. I stared back at him and saw him shaking his head before walking off.He seemed to understand why I couldn’t give him my number. When I returned to the villa,it was already 10:15pm in the evening. Unexpectedly,Tristan was typing on the leather sofa in the living room. He couldn’t be waiting for me,could he? I said nothing to him as I headed upstairs. In the past,whenever I came back late,he would ask me where I went. But now, he was completely indifferent. With mixed feelings,I stood on the stairs and turned to look at Tristan,I was surprised to find him already staring at me. For a moment,my heart skipped a beat. “We will have a family meeting tomorrow and my grandma wants you to attend.” I swallowed.”I…I haven’t seen her lately,she must have seen the news.That I’m a Watsons.” “I talked to her about it.She’s not mad at you.We just…we just have to find a way to tell her about our divorce.”There was sadness in his face. Looking at that expression,I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. Why did he look sad? Was it because of how his grandma might take the news? How was he even going to explain it? Was he going to announce it tomorrow? Was he determined to break his relationship with me? I sighed heavily.”Aside your mother,does anyone else in your family know about the divorce?” “As you already know,Marcus hates me.He wants to push me down from the CEO position and take control of Godoy Group.This must be his doing.But I have a plan.I’ll make it up to you for wronging you.”Tristan’s long and narrow eyes were shinning in the light. “I don’t understand what you mean.”I could already guess that what would happen to me tomorrow might be bad. “You’ll find out tomorrow.You’ll come to my company with me at 9 O’clock tomorrow.You don’t have to go to work.”Tristan didn’t say anything more. That made me so sad. He couldn’t just toss me around like this without telling me what was really going on. He wants me to find out tomorrow? What if it’s something serious and I’m made a fool of in front of his family. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Tristan,am I just a toy in your heart?I know you don’t care about it but it’s not fair that you keep treating me like this!”Tears well up in my eyes. **************** *TRISTAN* I didn’t expect that at this critical moment,Cora would be so emotional. She had always been cold and indifferent to me,hadn’t she? Today she was accusing me of treating her like a toy? That was rich coming from her! “Well,it’s not my fault that you feel that way.Afterall,we never loved each other so we can treat each other however we want,right?You really have no right to say that to me.” She blinked and open her mouth but no words came out and then she just stared at me,sadly,turned and headed upstairs. I lowered my head,as if I had felt her sadness. My chest tightened. Why was I feeling sorry for her? I didn’t know what the family meeting tomorrow meant for Cora.I only knew that tomorrow I had to find a way to justify the reason for our divorce. After the family gathering last time,Marcus accidentally heard what Cora had said,I found out late that he had someone monitor my move as well as Cora’s. He found out about Cora frequently meeting with Alvin and Dylan and with me seeing Phoebe. ******************* Marcus couldn’t wait to investigate,although there was no exact process,but according to the photos,Tristan went shopping with another woman,bought a car for her and went back to his house with her. Marcus was confident that these were enough to attract the attention of their Grandmother and the rest of the family. As Marcus had expected,when their Grandmother saw the picture,Lady Jane’s face turned blue. It could be seen that she was very angry. How could Tristan live such a dissolute life regardless of his family’s reputation? If the photos were leaked,it would have a great impact on Godoy Group. Tristan should have thought of that. As first,Lady Jane wanted to have a talk with Tristan but Marcus stopped her and said that for the sake of the family’s future,they should hold a family meeting to discuss the specific details and treatment.He suggested a family meeting to ask Tristan to give an explanation. Marcus wanted to humiliate Tristan in the presence of the entire family.He had absolute confidence is ruining Tristan,not to mention that there were many people in the family who supported him. But Tristan knew of his plan and he wouldn’t let himself but slaughtered like a meat on a chopping board. Marcus couldn’t compete with him,not only in business but also in everything. When a flying moth darts into the fire, is it really the moth’s win?Or the lamp? The corners of Tristan’s mouth twitched,and the air seemed to be filled with a sense of danger. **************** *CORA* When I went back to my bedroom,my anxiety disappeared. It was more accurate to say that I felt numb. I constantly felt headaches,and difficulty in breathing but now I only felt nothing. Maybe tomorrow,everything would be over. There was no hope anymore,since my father knew everything now,it was better the entire Godoy family knew of it too. Would others allow a divorced woman to continue living with her ex-husband? It was ridiculous. Everyone would laugh at that so I was definitely getting my freedom. As if I had foreseen the tragic scene of tomorrow,I took a deep breath. I had to face it. After taking a shower,I laid on my bed,tossing and turning,unable to fall asleep. It was the first time that I felt so anxious that I couldn’t sleep. Was I really going to leave this house tomorrow? Would he finally let me go? I had been lost in various fancies and conjectures and everything had just surfaced in front of me as if it had just happened. Past events faded like a puff of smoke and it felt hard to thinking about cutting ties with Tristan,forced. At 2 in the morning.My eyes were still wide open.I sat up on the bed and turned on the dark yellow bedside lamp. The soft light was dazzling. It took me one of two minutes to get used to it. My hair was in a mess and I felt so tired. In the horribly quiet night,after being in a daze for a few minutes,I began to pack up my belongings. This was the second time I was packing up my things and I hoped that Tristan does not devise any means to make me stay. Even if he doesn’t drive me away,after the family meeting,I would propose to leave. After packing up my luggage,I looked at the clothes and jewelries I had left behind before. They had been bought by Tristan.I stared at a light green dress he had bought for me when we had just gotten married. He bought me a white coat last winter.He was someone who really made nice gestures towards me but when he did,it was always memorable. But I guess nothing was memorable to him.Sitting on the floor and leaning against the corner of the wall,I held myself with my arms around my knees. I finally couldn’t help but burst into tears. Crying in the middle of the night felt more horrible.I covered my mouth to prevent me from being heard by anyone. Even if I cried,I didn’t want to be laughed at by them.I didn’t know how long I had cried. I cried until they weren’t any more tears left to cry.My luggage hadn’t been packed yet. Was it because I couldn’t bear not to leave? Or I was just too tired? I climbed back onto the bed. I still couldn’t fall asleep. After a sleepless night,I knew my face must look like a rose in a storm. And it did as I took in my reflection at dawn. I looked haggard. In order to hide my pale face,I did a delicate make up. The make up perfectly covered the tiredness on my face. The haggard appearance could be covered with make up but what about my haggard heart? There was no cure. It was incurable. When I went downstairs,Phoebe and Tristan were already seated for breakfast. Phoebe was very quiet which was unlike her and if I wasn’t mistaken,she looked trouble while Tristan didn’t even raise his head as I sat down at the table.