Chapter 5

News of Juliette waking up spread quickly through Duskhallow's upper circles.

One by one, all the handsome, ambitious young men who had once chased after her showed up to visit.

Marianne kicked every single one of them out, telling them plainly that her daughter was already married and that they should stop bothering her.

Juliette brought up divorce several times, but every time she did, Marianne scolded her like she had committed a crime.

Left with no other choice, Juliette finally went to find Archer.

"Honestly, you're a good guy with a strong sense of responsibility. But the truth is, we're just not right for each other."

After digging into Archer's background, Juliette had a clearer picture of who he was. He was a bit passive, sure, but he had decent character.

If she were just a regular daughter from a wealthy family, having someone like him as a husband wouldn't have been too bad.

Unfortunately, her identity was far more complicated. There was no way she could be with someone so ordinary. Forcing it wouldn't just make things miserable—it might even ruin his life.

It sounded cruel, but that was the reality.

Archer nodded. "You want a divorce? Fine by me. As long as your mom agrees, I've got no problem."

Juliette rubbed her temples.

"You saw how she is. Divorce is off the table for now. The reason I asked you here is to clarify that we're married in name only. Once she comes around, we'll divorce right away. Until then, let's stay out of each other's lives. You can see other women if you want. Just don't bring them home. I know that's kind of—"

"That's fine by me," Archer cut in before she could finish.

Honestly, he was wondering what he would do if he ran into another woman with a special constitution.

Marianne had been so good to him; to get involved with another woman would feel wrong.

Now that Juliette was the one making the offer, that made things easy. If things went sideways later, it wouldn't be on him.

Juliette blinked.

She hadn't expected Archer to agree so quickly. He didn't even put up a fight, as if he didn't care if she saw someone else. Most guys would lose their minds at the thought of their wife cheating, even if the marriage was just on paper.

Juliette wasn't sure whether she didn't have any charm, or Archer was just that spineless.

Thinking back to what she had read in his file, she figured it was probably the second one.

He was an illegitimate child who went to jail for his brother and then got sold off by his own family as soon as he got out. Through all that, he never fought back.

That was just classic spineless behavior.

Upon that thought, she felt even more disappointed. It only solidified her opinion that he was definitely not someone from her world.

Just as Archer came downstairs, Howard gave him a sour look.

"How could you just sit around at home all day? Do you think the Jensons are going to support you forever?"

Hearing that, Marianne snapped, "Howard, what's with the attitude? Why should he work? It's not like we're short on money."

Then, she turned to Archer. "Just ignore him."

Archer smiled. "No, he's right. I really should be earning my keep."

Marianne's expression lit up. "That's my son-in-law! So ambitious! Let me check if the company has any job openings."

She frowned thoughtfully.

Howard suddenly chimed in, "Doesn't the company still have a bunch of unpaid invoices? Why not let him try collecting them?"

Marianne instantly shook her head.

The people who owed that money were tough to deal with. Archer was still young—there was no way he could handle it.

Howard shrugged. "Come on. The kid's been in prison. Maybe that experience will come in handy."

Marianne was just about to object again, but Archer spoke up first.

"He's got a point, Mom. I'll give it a shot."

Howard smirked. "See? Even he's up for it. Don't crush his confidence." He then turned to Archer. "Go on. I'll have someone send you the list of overdue payments in a bit."

Archer nodded and walked straight toward the door.

"Don't push yourself, okay?" Marianne called out behind him. "Just do your best."

"Got it," he said with a smile.

He had just stepped outside when his phone rang. He glanced at the number and hung up.

A moment later, the phone rang again.

His expression darkened. This time, he answered. "What do you want?"

Truman's voice came through the other end. "I heard Ms. Jenson woke up. Do you think you could talk to her for me? I'd really like to meet her."

Truman was full of regret. Had he known Juliette would wake up, he never would've let Archer marry her. He would've sent Vincent instead!

Juliette wasn't just rich and accomplished—she hadn't even been disfigured in the accident. She was still the Jenson family's pride.

A daughter-in-law like that was almost impossible to find!

Truman believed that getting close to the Jensons would guarantee Ethan's future.

His father, Alfred, had been disappointed in his family for years and had been grooming his brother's family recently.

Now that Juliette was awake, Truman's first thought was to visit.

But remembering that he had sent an illegitimate child like Archer to marry her in the first place, he didn't dare show up uninvited.

So he called Archer to test the waters.

Archer almost laughed out loud. He couldn't believe the nerve Truman had to call him for help. Talk about shameless!

"Not interested. And don't call me again. I've got nothing to do with the Youngs anymore," Archer said coldly before hanging up.

Back at the Youngs' estate, Truman was fuming.

"That damned brat hung up on me!"

Caroline chimed in, fanning the flames. "Looks like he thinks he's hot stuff now that he's got the Jensons backing him."

"He wouldn't dare!" Truman yelled.

Vincent scoffed, "He's just a live-in son-in-law. Do you think the Jensons actually care about him? He's just full of himself!"

Truman tried calling again, only to be rejected. After a few more tries, he realized Archer had blocked his number.

"That ungrateful little punk! He blocked me!" Truman's face turned purple with rage.

Ethan started to panic. "Dad, what do we do? The deal with the Jensons could make or break my future!"

Truman's mood soured further. He had no answer.

Caroline's eyes narrowed as a dark thought crossed her mind.

"Didn't he have some girl he was close with back in school? We could use her as leverage. He's sentimental. He won't just sit back if we threaten someone he cares about."

All three men's eyes lit up.

Vincent jumped in. "I'll handle it right away!"

Truman nodded. "Make sure it's clean. I don't want this coming back to bite us."