Chapter 3

"The Phoenix flies. A golden comb.

"The Phoenix attends the ceremony. One golden hairpin.

"Auspicious wishes. One jade abacus.

"Dragon-Phoenix pair. A pair of gold bracelets.

"Mandarin Ducks frolicking amidst lotuses. A set of golden bowls and chopsticks."

...

Members of the Sue family looked at each other after listening to the list of gifts. How could that be a gift to Grandmother Sue? It was practically a betrothal gift!

"Cash betrothal, eight million eight hundred and eighty thousand."

Everyone in the Sue family was stunned.

When the bright red hundred-buck bills were placed in front of them, the entire hall fell silent and all that could be heard was some rapid breathing.

At 8.88 million, that kind of money was an astronomical number for a second-rate family like the Sue family.

Grandmother Sue got up on crutches and staggered to the person presenting those gifts. She asked excitedly, "Excuse me, who are you? And which of our Sue family’s girls have you fallen in love with?"

Upon hearing that, several of the Sue family’s unmarried younger women were flushed with excitement. Although they did not know who the other party was, they were surely wealthy men. Marrying a wealthy man was something all of them could only dream of.

Yvonne's face paled. She was the only woman from the Sue family who was married. In other words, everyone else had a chance, but she had no chance at all.

"I'm only tasked to present the gifts. I don't know anything else." The gift-giver came and went quickly, leaving no further information.

Everyone in the Sue family looked at the gold, the jade, and the 8.88 million in gorgeously-red bills. Many people were already drooling. If their unmarried daughters had been identified, their familial status would certainly soar to great heights. From then on, the entire Sue family would have to rely on them.

"It must be me. I’m the most beautiful woman from the Sue family." At that point, a woman with a very sexy figure said.

"Yo, yo, yo! Where's all that self-confidence coming from? We still don’t know who it’s for yet. Do you have to be so impatient?"

"Yeah, we all have a chance, so why would it definitely be you? I think this rich young master is deliberately trying to be mysterious. Maybe I’m the one he fell in love with."

Several younger women argued with each other and the family split into several factions.

"Don't fight. Each of you have a chance, but it's a pity that someone can only stare eagerly at you." Harvey deliberately glanced at Yvonne when he said that.

Everyone present knew who he was talking about and broke out laughing.

"Yes, yes, we have one less competitor."

"Thanks for this, Samuel!"

"If it weren't for you, we would have one more opponent."

Samuel lowered his head and his expression was gloomy, with a trace of fierceness even. Those people had no idea who the Hannigan family was, but he knew them very well.

Were they trying to make up with him?

It had been three years. Did Samuel really need their help?

"Don't fight. I'll keep all these betrothal gifts first. They’ll only be given to the intended recipient after the gift-giver shows up and reveals who it is he likes." Grandmother Sue made a final decision to prevent any more disputes.

After lunch, Yvonne's family of three drove away without waiting for Samuel, as the incident had thoroughly caused them to lose their reputation.

When they thought of the time when Samuel became their family member, he did not even have any money for the betrothal, let alone any betrothal gifts. There was no way they were not jealous when they saw such a large sum of money that day.

Yvonne shut herself in the room back at home.

Yvonne’s mother, Lydia John yelled angrily at her husband, Godfrey Sue. "Look at their homes and look at ours. That’s how big a difference we have.

"If you weren’t that useless, the old man would never have been able to let Samuel marry into our home and stay with us.

"I really was blind back then. I thought I could live a good life by marrying into the Sue family, but I didn't expect myself to fall into the hands of a piece of trash like you. The old man never even thought of giving you the Sue family’s right of inheritance.

"Look at the others. They live in villas and apartments with elevators. Me? I still have to climb up stairs and live in a cramped-up, run-down neighborhood with you.

"It may be nice for me to tell people that I’m the daughter-in-law of the Sue family, but with such a useless piece of trash like you, no one knows the kind of bitter life I’m having right now."

Godfrey lowered his head and did not dare to refute. He was the stereotypical henpecked husband and was well aware that he was useless, hence his apprehension toward losing his temper in front of Lydia.

Lydia's domineering character made Godfrey feel even more useless.

"I don't care. Let Yvonne divorce this piece of trash immediately. Your Sue family’s reputation has nothing to do with me. All I want is to live a good life."

Godfrey said weakly, "Dad warned me not to let them divorce. The entire Cloud City knows about this too. Wouldn’t it be a joke to let them divorce now?"

Lydia began to throw a tantrum. Sitting on the ground with tears in her eyes and mucus in her nostrils, she cried bitterly, "Godfrey, you useless good-for-nothing. Why did I marry such a mess like you? What evil did I do in my past life? Are you going to ruin our family and destroy the second half of Yvonne’s life just for the sake of the Sue family? Yvonne has to run to construction sites every day. Doesn’t that make you feel distressed? She’s a girl, but all your relatives are letting her do those dirty and tiring jobs. If you don't love me, you should at least love your daughter."

The Sue family was in the construction materials business and it was normal to visit construction sites. The reason why all those tasks fell on Yvonne’s head was because their family had the lowest status within the entire Sue family.

Godfrey could not hide his pain. He knew for a fact that it was because he was the most useless person ever. That was why the old man shoved Samuel to them and Godfrey had to bear the greatest responsibility for all that happened.

Nevertheless, he had no say regarding the divorce. The old lady would rather let Yvonne and Samuel waste away their entire lives, rather than risk embarrassment for the Sue family.

The wedding was already big enough of a joke that year and the incident was already gradually forgotten after three years. A divorce would inevitably be the kind of joke that would be told after dinner, and the old lady would certainly not allow that to happen.

Samuel walked to the door and heard the cries from outside the home. He sat on the stairs and took out a cigarette. The rising smoke could not erase the coldness in Samuel's eyes.

After smoking that cigarette, Samuel was about to enter when Yvonne's voice came from inside.

Yvonne—who had shut herself in the room—suddenly entered the living room. She looked at the distressed Lydia and Godfrey with a pained expression, then said, "I will not divorce him."

"My daughter, have you gone nuts? Are you really going to spend a lifetime with this wimp?" In Lydia's view, Yvonne should be the one who wanted a divorce the most, yet the girl was against it.

"I'm not crazy. For three whole years, he might not have shown any prospects, but he never complained at home during these three years. Didn't he do all the sweeping and cooking? A person would have feelings even if they raised a dog, let alone another human being.

"I look down on him, but I don't hate him. Grandpa is the one who decided this. If I had to hate someone, I can only hate Grandpa.

"And Grandma won't let us divorce. She treats the Sue family’s reputation with more importance than anything else."

Samuel stood at the door, took a deep breath, and smiled. It was not until that day that he found out what he meant to Yvonne. It turned out that he was not as unbearable as he thought, and at the very least, that woman had some feelings for him.

As it turned out, the extreme of hate really did produce love.

"Yvonne, I’ve wronged you," Godfrey said with a sigh.

 With tears on his cheeks, Yvonne shook her head and said stubbornly, "I don’t feel wronged."

For a long time, Yvonne felt that she would eventually divorce Samuel. She even told him on that same day that they would divorce sooner or later.

However, when the question was really put in front of her, she realized that the useless man had entered her heart in the past three years. They never once held hands and even kept a certain distance in public.

Despite all that, the man who slept under her bed for three entire years gave her a kind of feeling that could never be erased.

"I’m the one who ended up becoming a disappointment. I didn’t expect to like him for real," Yvonne said and bit her white lips.

At that point, Samuel opened the door, walked to the living room, and looked at the tear-stained Yvonne. He reached out to wipe away the tears on her face.

"Samuel, you said that I’m the only one who can change you."

"You’re right."

 "I don't want to be looked down upon anymore. I don't want to be the butt of someone else's joke anymore. I want all those who looked down on me to regret it."

"Okay."

Samuel replied curtly, then turned to leave.