Chapter 7

She felt as if she was dreaming. Holly stood there, her mind blank. Her arms and legs felt cold.

Bryce immediately sobered up when he saw Holly. He pushed Samantha away forcefully and stood up, holding onto the couch.

Samantha turned around and pretended to be surprised as she called out, "Holly, you're here?"

Holly suddenly seemed to recover her senses, and her heart thumped madly.

She turned and left without even closing the door.

Sometimes, things were too shocking and unexpected, so she couldn't react on time.

She didn't cry or make a scene, but she just felt herself stumble, and her vision seemed to waver.

The cold spring breeze seemed to scrape against her face like ice.

Holly became more alert with the cold, and she began to feel angry.

Bryce had made the driver call her so that she could come and see him getting intimate with Samantha?

She had already agreed to the break-up last time. Why did he still want to humiliate her this way?

Could he hurt her however he wanted because he didn't love her?

Anger filled her every pore.

Holly began walking straighter and straighter, and then she began marching. She marched out through the gates of the villa.

The driver was waiting at the entrance. He pulled open the door and said, "Mrs. Gabelman, Mr. Gabelman told me to send you home."

Holly was silent for a long time. Then, she bent down and got in.

The driver closed the car door and called Bryce. "Mr. Gabelman, I found Mrs. Gabelman. I'm sending her back at once. Don't worry."

"Alright."

Bryce put down his phone and looked coldly at Samantha. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Samantha put on a long face and said pitifully, "I didn't know that Holly would come right at that moment. I just slipped and fell on you by accident…"

"I'm just drunk! I'm not an idiot!"

Samantha pouted, and tears dripped down her cheeks. "It's my fault. I'll call Holly to explain."

She reached for the phone in her pocket.

Bryce raised his hand to stop her. He snapped, "There's no need. You'll just make things worse. Go home."

"Then, you…"

"I'm just drunk. I won't die." Bryce sat on the couch heavily, pinching his forehead.

He looked completely exasperated.

Samantha didn't move. She stood there with her head hung low, like an aggrieved housewife.

Her shoulders shook as she suppressed her sobs.

Bryce finally relented a bit and said, "I'm not blaming you. Holly didn't do anything wrong. I shouldn't hurt her this way."

"You've already hurt her by mentioning a divorce!"

"That's why I'm trying to minimize the harm. I don't want to humiliate her this way."

"It's better to make a clean break. This will only hurt her more." Samantha added in a small voice, "It hurts me, too."

"We can't get divorced right now. Granny disagrees." Bryce looked up and swept his gaze over her coldly. "I'm not divorcing her completely because of you. You're just a decoy."

Samantha felt as if she'd been struck.

She paled, and her lips trembled as she asked, "Bryce, are you telling the truth, or are you just angry?"

Bryce put a hand to his forehead and said impatiently, "I drank too much. I might trigger you with what I say. You should leave."

Samantha was afraid that he would say something even more cruel or that things would go beyond repair. Thus, she left in tears.

The moment she left, Bryce called her father and told him to keep an eye on his daughter to make sure that she didn't commit suicide again.

The next afternoon, at Treasure Grove, Holly received a bank card from Bryce.

The person who delivered the card said, "Mrs. Gabelman, this is a little compensation from Mr. Gabelman. The password is your birthday."

Holly looked at the card and laughed to herself.

Money was a good thing, but sometimes, giving people money was another form of humiliation.

She pushed the card back and said, "Tell him I don't need money."

"Mr. Gabelman insists that you take it. He told me to tell you something. What you see may not be the entire truth. He will agree with any decision you make."

"Alright."

When he left, she sat there quietly for a while before she got up and went to eat at a nearby restaurant.

The moment she went out, she bumped into Samantha, who was dressed in white and looked dejected.

She held a bouquet of white roses in her arms and said gently, "Holly, can we talk?"

Holly suppressed her emotions and looked at her indifferently for a few seconds. Then, she said,

"Okay."

The two of them went to a nearby restaurant.

After they sat down, Samantha put the flowers on the table.

She rubbed the velvety petals of the roses between her fingers and said happily, "I didn't think that Bryce would be so romantic. He sent me flowers this morning.

"It's been three years, but he still remembered that white roses are my favorite. 20 roses, which means that this love is eternal."

Holly felt conflicted.

They had been married for three years, but on every special day, Bryce would only give her a card. He had never given her flowers, not even a single one.

So it wasn't because he wasn't romantic. He just didn't want to be romantic with her.

20 roses, an eternal love. Their love would never change. How touching.

The waiter served their coffee.

Samantha stirred her coffee slowly as she said in a sweet voice, "Bryce and I are childhood friends. He's always been fond of me…"

Holly took a sip of her coffee and said impassively, "Can you get to the point, Ms. Cott? I'm very busy, and I have no time to hear you talk nonsense."

Samantha shrugged. "So you do have a temper, Holly. You just don't seem to have one in front of Bryce. You hide things well."

Holly laughed coldly. "I'm still Bryce's wife right now. You went into my home in the middle of the night and clutched onto my husband. You were practically chewing on him.

"You're lucky I'm not throwing this cup of coffee in your face, and that's because I have class. Don't overstep the boundaries, Ms. Cott."

"Wow." Samantha stuck out her tongue in mock surprise. "You're a tigress, Holly."

Holly's hand trembled slightly as she held the coffee cup. She really wanted to throw it all over Samantha's face.

Samantha waited for a moment but was left disappointed when Holly didn't throw the coffee at her.

Since Holly refused to fall into the trap she had set, she had no choice but to up the ante.

She stared at Holly's face and said, "You're a smart woman, Holly. Just by looking at my face, I'm sure you can guess that you're just a replacement for Bryce. Now that the real thing is back, shouldn't you leave?"

"'The real thing'?" Holly wanted to laugh. "Ms. Cott, didn't you ever go to school? Or are you just illiterate? Bryce and I are legally wed. We're protected by the law. I'm the real thing."

Samantha clicked her tongue and said deliberately, "You're about to get divorced. What are you so arrogant about?"

Holly sat up straight. "As long as we're married, you have nothing to be arrogant about."

Samantha harrumphed coldly and pulled out her trump card. "Three years ago, you married Bryce for ten million dollars. I'll give you double the amount."

She pulled out a check from her wallet and slapped it onto the table. "This is 20 million dollars. Please take the money and leave him at once!"

Holly's gaze swept over the check, and she said, "I didn't marry Bryce just for the money."

Samantha laughed loudly. "You're so fake!"

Holly pressed her lips together and looked coldly at Samantha. She really wanted to slap her.

Samantha said disdainfully, "Three years ago, your grandmother was diagnosed with uremia, and she needed a kidney urgently. Your family sold your house to treat her, and you were penniless.

"You've only been with Bryce for a couple of years. Have you forgotten where you came from? You're just a wild woman from the depths of poverty. No matter how high you try to climb, you can't change how much of a peasant you are!"

She pushed the check forward and lifted her chin imperiously. She said loftily, "Take it! Stop pretending to be all high-and-mighty!"

Holly was surprisingly calm.

She glanced at the seal on the check and said impassively, "You got this check from your father, didn't you? You must have spent some time persuading him to give you the money.

"Does your entire family support you being a homewrecker? What a strange family. What's the point of having so much money? It still can't hide your ugly hearts."

Samantha turned pale, then red with rage. "You're talking rubbish!"

Samantha stood up and looked down loftily at her. "I restore old paintings. It's not hard to earn money in this industry. Even if I hadn't married Bryce three years ago, I would still have been able to earn ten million dollars."

She took the check and tossed it at Samantha's face. "Take your money and get lost. Stay away and stop making people sick of you!"

Samantha was enraged when the check hit her face.

She lunged at Holly and reached out to claw at her face.

Suddenly, a figure dashed out and grabbed Samantha. Then, they swung a punch at her.