Chapter 5 Are You Crazy?

Evelyn knew Christopher was waiting for me.

She hitched a ride but ended up sitting in the passenger seat.

I wanted to turn around and leave, but reason urged me to stay. I reached out my hand to Christopher. “The car keys.”

Christopher didn’t say anything; they just placed the car keys in my hand.

I walked around the front of the car and sat straight in the driver’s seat. Facing Evelyn’s stiff and surprised expression, I smiled, “It’s okay. You’re like Christopher’s sister. It’s normal for you to hitch a ride.”

Then, I leaned out to Christopher outside the car. “Hurry up and get in. Grandpa must be waiting for us.”

We didn’t speak a word on the way.

The car was as quiet as a coffin.

Evelyn wanted to chat with Christopher, but she kept turning her head, which seemed unnatural.

Perhaps sensing my unhappiness, Christopher suddenly opened a bottle of drink and handed it to me. “Mango juice, your favorite.”

I took a sip, frowned slightly, and handed it back. “A bit too sweet. You have it.”

I’ve been liking sour things lately. In the past, I could force myself to eat something I wouldn’t say I wanted to avoid wasting it. But now, I couldn’t force myself to take even a single sip.

“Okay.”

Christopher didn’t say anything and took it back naturally.

“You shouldn’t give back something you’ve already drunk from. There are a lot of bacteria in your mouth. H. pylori is transmitted this way,” Evelyn said with a complex tone.

I couldn’t help but smile, “By your logic, we shouldn’t sleep together at night. Isn’t that even more dangerous?”

We’re both adults, and Evelyn naturally understood what I meant. “I didn’t expect that even after so many years of marriage, you two are still so intimate.”

“Are you jealous?” Christopher retorted coldly.

Sometimes, like now, Christopher’s attitude towards Evelyn made me feel like he actually disliked her.

It seemed to be a familiar pattern of interaction between them. Evelyn sneered, “Yes, I’m jealous! What’s it to you?”

“Of course, it’s none of my business.”

“Sure, sure.”

Evelyn smirked, feeling somewhat pleased. “But on our wedding night, when you heard I was in trouble, you didn’t even care about your wife and stayed with me all night…”

Christopher got angry and said sharply, “Evelyn!”

I suddenly came to my senses and hit the brakes. The car stopped just short of the zebra crossing. Through the rearview mirror, I stared blankly at Christopher’s deep-featured face, feeling very upset.

In an instant, I felt so wrong that I was about to cry.

Christopher, rarely showing nervousness in front of me, said, “Hope…”

“That night, did you go to see her?” I asked. I realized my voice was tinged with bitterness.

Sorrow made me feel a bit lost, and I could hardly control myself.

On our wedding night, he left me because of a call from someone I didn’t know, and then he didn’t come back all night. Even though my relationship with Christopher is harmonious now, this incident still feels like a thorn in my heart.

It was Christopher’s grandfather, Bentley Valence, who arranged our marriage. When we had just gotten married, there was a period of distance between us, and I never had the chance to ask him where he had gone that night.

This matter had been left unresolved all this time.

But now, Evelyn unexpectedly yanked out that thorn in my heart and plunged it even deeper.

My gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them, feeling like a complete joke.

Evelyn covered her mouth in panic and looked at Christopher. “You didn’t tell Hope about this? It’s all my fault. I’m too straightforward.”

It was as if she was saying, your relationship isn’t that great. You’re hiding something like this from her.

“Evelyn, did you get your head stuck in the door?” Christopher’s face darkened chillingly.

His features were deep-set and sharply defined. When he had a cold expression, he exuded a strong sense of menace, which was one of the reasons why, at a young age, he could take charge of the Valence Group.

“Alright, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you didn’t tell her about this.” Evelyn quickly apologized, but she seemed innocent and intimate with Christopher.

She seemed to have figured out that Christopher wouldn’t do anything to her.

Suddenly, a familiar ringtone sounded.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Give it back to me.”

I reached out to take back the phone and glanced at the caller ID. I answered the call and calmed down. “Grandpa.”

“Hope, are you almost here?”

I really wanted to get out of the car and leave.

Hearing Bentley’s kind voice, I softened. “We’re almost there. Grandpa, it’s windy today. Please don’t wait for us in the yard.”

Everyone said Bentley was serious, old-fashioned, and dictatorial. But I often thought that if my own grandfather were still alive, he would probably only be this good to me.

As autumn approached, the days grew shorter and the nights longer.

As the car entered the Valence Manor, it was already dark.

The lights around the mansion were lit up, creating a lively atmosphere.

I parked the car, grabbed my bag, and got out alone.

Although I had reminded Bentley on the phone, he stubbornly waited for us in the yard.

I could hide some emotions over the phone, but in front of Bentley, my feelings were immediately noticed.

“Is Christopher bullying you?” Bentley’s little beard twitched as if he was ready to stand up for me.

“No.”

I didn’t want Bentley to worry, so I led him inside. “It’s so windy. Are you getting a headache from the wind?”

Although I covered for Christopher, Bentley saw him and Evelyn getting out of the car together, and Bentley’s face darkened.

However, Christopher’s uncle, Quentin Valence, and his family were also present, so Bentley held back his anger.

Charlie, on the other hand, was delighted to see Evelyn return.

“Christopher, I heard Evelyn started working at the company. You must take good care of her to make up for Brenda.”

It was at the dinner table. I could pretend not to hear and eat seriously.

Christopher glanced at my expression and said, “Okay, I understand.”

“Hope, you also need to take care of Evelyn with Christopher.”

Charlie mentioned me again, afraid that someone at the company might mistreat Evelyn.

I took a sip of corn juice and said calmly, “Don’t worry, Evelyn is my direct superior now. She needs to take care of me, too.”

My words changed the atmosphere at the dinner table.

“Hope, as I’ve said, if you’re unhappy, I can give you the position of director at any time.” Evelyn behaved generously and sensibly.

In comparison, I seemed a bit ruthless.

Bentley slammed his coffee cup down. Clearly angry, he said sharply, “Give it? It is Hope’s thing! You know your capabilities. Christopher is a fool. He dares to repay, but you dare to take!”

“Grandpa…”

“Don’t call me that.”

I heard Quentin’s wife, Audrey Valence, say that Bentley had never acknowledged Evelyn’s status. When Evelyn’s mother, Brenda Valence, wanted to marry into the family, he strongly opposed it.

Charlie went ahead and married her.

As a result, the Valence family’s property had nothing to do with Charlie. He only had a yearly allowance of one million dollars for living expenses.

He had nothing else.

Charlie quickly said, “Dad, she’s alone now. Why do you have to…”

“Shut up!” Bentley scolded angrily.

I had only known that Bentley didn’t particularly like Evelyn.

But this was the first time I witnessed him publicly embarrassing her.

Evelyn turned pale. Holding her bag, she stood up in confusion. “I shouldn’t have come today and ruined everyone’s mood.”

With that, she cried and ran out.

Charlie gave Christopher a look. “Aren’t you going to go and comfort her? She just got divorced. If something happens to her, can you live with your conscience?”

I suddenly understood why Christopher was so indulgent towards Evelyn.

There was always someone reminding you that you were letting someone else down.

Under long-term moral coercion, no one could withstand it.

When Bentley tried to intervene, Christopher had already gone after her.

I watched his back and sighed silently.

After a while, they still hadn’t returned.

As Christopher’s wife, even if I was  pretending, I should get up. “Grandpa, I’m going out to check on Christopher.”

“Okay.”

Bentley nodded and instructed the servant carefully, “It’s chilly at night. Get a coat for Mrs. Valence.”

I walked out of the house and saw the Maybach still in place in the yard, so I prepared to go outside the mansion to look.

As soon as I stepped out, I heard voices arguing.

“What do you want to do? Don’t tell me you said that in the car because you’re too straightforward!” Christopher questioned sharply, with a hint of hostility.

I had only seen this side of him at work.

Evelyn, in contrast to her usual gentle demeanor, cried and made a scene, looking at Christopher with a heartbroken expression.

“Are you blaming me? But I’m jealous. I can’t help it. I’m so jealous.”

“Evelyn, she’s my wife. What right do you have to be jealous?” Christopher sneered, his tone cold and firm.

“I’m sorry.”

Evelyn trembled, crying. “I’ve already divorced. Chris, you know, I divorced for you.”