Chapter 3

It was a full seven days before Christina came home with a gift box and a few bags of pastries. Jason was right behind her.

This had become a common occurrence ever since Jason returned to the country.

Eli and Christina often argued and gave each other the silent treatment because of Jason. Christina would always leave him alone for a while, then show up a few days later as if nothing had happened, casually brushing aside whatever they had fought about.

This time, she had the same perfunctory expression as she said, "You did suffer a little because of what happened the last time. I brought Jason here today so he could apologize to you in person."

She gave Jason a look.

There was a hint of resentment in his eyes, but he still cooperatively nodded at Eli. "Sorry about what I did last time, Eli. I shouldn't have called you a homewrecker, and I definitely shouldn't have hit you. I was just joking around with you. So here I am, apologizing to you. I'm sorry. Are you satisfied now?"

Even though he apologized, there wasn't a trace of remorse in his eyes. In fact, while Christina wasn't looking, he silently mouthed the word "loser" at Eli.

Christina took the opportunity to stuff the gift box into Eli's arms and made the bare minimum effort to placate him.

Her tone was dismissive as she said, "That's enough. Jason already apologized, and it was just a small matter. You've had several days to cool off, so you should be over it by now. Go withdraw the divorce petition by yourself later.

"You like the pastries from Rivervale, right? I made sure to get you a whole selection during my business trip. Go ahead and try them."

She started opening up the boxes of pastries, only for Eli to find that several bites had been taken out of every single one of them. All of the best parts had been picked out and eaten.

Jason grinned cheerily, saying, "Whoops. Sorry about that, Christy. I was hungry on the drive over, so I tried a bit of everything. Eli is such a thoughtful and generous man. I'm sure he won't mind eating my leftovers."

Christina shot Jason an exasperated yet affectionate look before turning to Eli. "You couldn't have finished all the pastries by yourself anyway. It doesn't matter that he took a few bites first."

Eli didn't argue. He simply threw the gift box into the trash can, then pointed at the pastries on the table and instructed the maid, "Throw all those leftovers away as well."

The maid didn't dare move.

Christina's expression, however, darkened completely. "Eli, are you really going to keep throwing a tantrum?"

Eli's lips curled mockingly. "If this counts as throwing a tantrum, then yes."

He didn't want to look at Christina and Jason anymore, so he turned to leave. Christina called out behind him, her voice icy.

"I'm giving you one last chance, Eli. Take the gift, eat the pastries, and withdraw the divorce petition yourself. I can pretend none of this ever happened. But if you refuse to accept my olive branch, once you regret it, it'll be too late. You won't be getting another chance."

Eli didn't even stop in his tracks as he retorted, "Thank you for the kind offer, Ms. Foley, but save it for someone who wants it."

Christina scoffed before turning to Jason. "My family's having a family dinner this evening. You're coming with me."

Jason's expression lit up. "Me? But it's a family dinner, Christy. Who am I to join an occasion like that?"

Christina took his arm and declared sweetly, "You'll join as my future husband, of course."

Eli turned back around in disbelief, but Christina's eyes remained fixed on Jason. "Jason, Eli and I are getting divorced. Will you marry me?"

Jason gave Eli a smug look before answering without hesitation, "Yes! I will!"

Christina turned back to look at Eli's pale face. "You're the one who wanted a divorce, aren't you? Who I marry after the divorce is none of your business, is it?"

Eli's voice was slightly hoarse as he replied, "That's right. You're free to marry whoever you want after the divorce, Ms. Foley. It's none of my business, and I'm not interested in caring, either."

Christina stared hard at him before suddenly grabbing Jason and striding out, leaving him with one final message.

"You'd better not regret this, Eli!"