Chapter 3

"Gregory, do you even hear yourself right now?" Charlotte hissed. "I only asked you to make dinner. Why are you making such a scene?"

I clenched my teeth against the pain and said nothing.

But in Charlotte's eyes, my silence looked like defiance.

Victor stood off to the side and said in that sour, needling tone, "Charlotte, I think Gregory just can't stand me. Every time you ask him to do something for me, he acts like it's some huge burden. If you married someone like him, won't I end up getting kicked out of your house?"

Charlotte's eyes flashed with anger. She grabbed my hand, dragged me into the kitchen by force, and shoved me hard against the counter.

There was no warmth at all on her cold, expressionless face.

"If you can't make the food Victor wants tonight, then you can stay in this kitchen until morning!"

With a bang, Charlotte slammed the kitchen door shut.

A purple bruise had already formed around my wrist, and when I hit the corner of the stove just now, the skin on my elbow had split open. Blood showed through within seconds.

Before long, Victor's laughter rang out from the other side of the door.

Then Charlotte came back in. When she saw that I still hadn't moved, her brows drew tight.

"Gregory, why do you have to make everything difficult? Victor's my childhood friend. Is cooking him one meal really that hard?"

I straightened slowly, lifted my head, and looked at Charlotte with a faint, mocking smile.

"Did you forget? We're already divorced. I don't have to do anything for you anymore."

Embarrassment flashed through Charlotte's eyes. She cleared her throat, then wrapped her arms around me gently and began soothing me in a soft voice.

"I lost my temper just now, but I already told you. The divorce is only temporary. Once I calm Victor down, we can get married again anytime. Don't get upset over something this small."

As she spoke, she handed me a note covered with dish names.

Her expression turned serious, and there was a warning buried beneath it.

"I'm giving you a chance this time. As long as you make Victor happy and get him to settle down, we can remarry sooner. Be good."

After Charlotte left and closed the kitchen door again, an indescribable sadness settled over me.

Since when had divorce and remarriage become such trivial matters to her?

And now, she wanted me to please Victor?

Sorry, but I couldn't do it.

I would rather sleep in the kitchen than try to win him over.

I crouched down, sat on the floor with my back against the cabinet under the counter, and closed my eyes.

Half-asleep, I suddenly felt a cold shock run over my whole body.

When I opened my eyes, Victor was standing there with a cruel grin, dumping a basin of ice-cold water over me.

"Are you out of your mind?" I yelled at him.

He threw the basin straight at me. The bottom of it struck my forehead hard.

He sneered, "When Charlotte told you to cook, she didn't mean for you to come in here and take a nap. You really think someone like you deserves to marry her? Over my dead body!"

Rage shot through me.

I grabbed the basin he had just thrown and hurled it back at him.

Victor screamed. Even though he dodged the basin itself, the water left inside splashed all over him.

Charlotte heard the commotion and rushed over almost immediately.

When she saw Victor looking so disheveled, she grabbed me by the collar without a word and growled, "Have you lost your mind? How dare you hurt Victor!"

Her grip was brutal, and her face twisted with fury, as if she wanted to tear my collar apart.

My throat tightened as I tried to explain.

"He poured water on me first, and he threw the basin at me…"

But before I could finish, Charlotte's eyes widened, her stare turning violent and cold.

"Then you deserved it! I asked you to make one meal, and you had the nerve to slack off and fight back. Victor was already being considerate by only pouring cold water on you. If it were me, I would've thrown you out."

The last spark inside me finally went out, and I stopped resisting.