Chapter 2

No sooner had Carl slammed the door than Ciara lunged at me, her eyes red as well.

"Are you happy now, Julian? It took me two hours to appease him, and now you've driven him off with just a few words!"

Two hours, huh?

I couldn't believe she could be shameless enough to bring that up.

My throat tightened at the sight of her blatantly accusatory gaze. All of the sincerity I'd shown her in the past several years seemed to be nothing compared to a single one of Carl's tantrums.

Grabbing her handbag in frustration, Ciara threatened, "If anything happens to him, I'll make sure you have hell to pay!"

As soon as she opened the door, however, she was halted by the people who emerged from the elevator.

After seeing the marks on Ciara's neck and noticing the mess in the house, Mr. and Mrs. Hudson both turned pale.

"Why are you two arguing in the middle of the night? Tomorrow, you'll be—"

"Mr. and Mrs. Hudson," I interrupted while jerking down my necktie. "It's just as well that you're here. I won't beat around the bush. Let's call off the wedding."

Mr. Hudson's knees buckled, and Mrs. Hudson had to hold him steady, all the while staring at me in terror.

"D-Don't scare us like that, Mr. Spencer. This joke isn't funny at all!"

"I'm not joking."

Looking right at Ciara, I continued with a sarcastic smirk, "Since you two found yourself a suitable son-in-law and raised him with your family all along, why did you bother making a show of begging me and my family?"

Mr. and Mrs. Hudson looked even more panicked. "What are you talking about? You're the only son-in-law we accept!"

Scoffing, I retorted, "Since there seems to be no limit to certain people's shamelessness, I don't mind being more blunt.

"The two Hudson siblings share such an intimate bond that they'll even get in bed together. Since Ciara adores Carl so much, and you two know all there is to know about him, what's the harm in letting your adopted son become your son-in-law instead? After all, you're already a family."

Ciara's face drained of color. Clutching her handbag even more tightly, she growled, "Don't be ridiculous, Julian!"

"I'm the one being ridiculous?"

Three years ago, it was Mr. Hudson who came to my office, got on his knees, and begged me to save the Hudson family.

Ciara, who'd always been a proud and standoffish woman, compromised for the first time, saying, "As long as you agree to help us, Julian, I'll be your girlfriend."

At the time, her gaze had been stubborn and defiant. There was no affection in her eyes, only the hardened numbness of being backed into a corner with no other options left.

After the Hudsons left us alone in my office, she refused to even stand near me, stiffly declaring, "I'm only going to date you out of obligation, Julian. This is nothing more than a business deal."

I was a fool to think that with enough earnestness, a person's heart could be thawed. Now, I finally understood that no amount of effort made a difference if one didn't have a place in the other's heart.

Over the years, I'd invested ten billion dollars into the Hudson family's business. I bought out three of their competitors and even ceded the export opportunities I had to them.

With the help of my family, in just three years, the Hudsons managed to turn their near-bankrupt factory into a well-known company.

I thought I'd given them enough, but in Ciara's eyes, none of this mattered more than Carl.

Falling to his knees, Mr. Hudson cried out, "We're the ones who failed to raise our daughter well, Mr. Spencer! Please, on account of how we've done everything you told us to in the last few years, do give Ciara another chance!"

"Ciara simply had a momentary lapse of judgment, Mr. Spencer!" Mrs. Hudson cried out tearfully as well. "You're the only one she wants to marry."

Standing to the side, Ciara had turned bright red, but her lips were pressed tightly together. Through it all, she didn't say a single word.

It was only after her friends had managed to talk her parents into leaving that she finally vented all of her displeasure.

"My parents aren't young anymore, Julian! Must you threaten them with the company?"

"Threaten them?" I repeated with a snort.

Ciara sure knew how to twist things around.

"They're the ones who begged me for help back then. If you truly cared about your parents, you'd know what the consequences are for betraying me."

After Ciara stumbled backward, her phone abruptly started ringing.

"Carl! Where are you?"

I didn't know what he said, but her face turned pale, and her lips trembled as she cried out, "Don't do anything rash! I didn't say I'd marry him. Just stop the car first…"

Once the call ended, Ciara glared at me. "Carl's drunk, and he's driving on the highway right now. He said that if I marry you, he'll crash the car."

Taking a step closer, she snarled, "If you have even the slightest bit of conscience left, Julian, you'd stop pressuring us like that!"