Chapter 14 Treating Marriage as a Joke

The air was thick with tension when Yvonne returned to Anderson Mansion.

She looked around and saw Elizabeth sitting on the couch with a stern expression. A middle-aged man sat beside her, exuding power. Stephen was casually sitting on an armchair; his undignified manner looked out of place given the current atmosphere in the mansion.

Yvonne was confused; she had no idea what was happening. She greeted them with a smile and asked, "Why is everyone in the living room?"

Elizabeth banged the floor with her walking stick. "How dare you seduce Stephen and force him into marrying you?"

Yvonne was stunned by the accusation. She couldn't understand why Elizabeth said she'd "seduced" Stephen.

She looked inquiringly at Stephen, wanting to ask him what he'd said to Elizabeth. However, she quickly remembered that he was blind. Sighing, she decided to take the blame anyway. She looked at Elizabeth and said in a pitiful voice, "Grandma, if this is about the marriage certificate, Stephen's the one who—"

"If you didn't seduce him, why would he agree to marry you? Marriage isn't a child's game. You didn't even inform the rest of the family before you got married!" Elizabeth was furious; she'd planned on talking them into having a trial marriage instead of getting married right away. She hadn't expected them to get married in just a few days and even get the marriage registered.

"Don't think that you can take advantage of Stephen just because he's blind. Don't you think the rest of our family has a say in this?"

"You're saying that I took advantage of..."

Stephen?

Yvonne tried to say something but gave up immediately after glancing at Stephen. To outsiders, he was a blind man. Of course, it was more believable that she was the one who took advantage of him instead of the other way around.

"Grandma, listen to me. We were just—"

"There's nothing to explain! A country bumpkin like you doesn't deserve to be married to Stephen!”

The middle-aged man interrupted with a deep and powerful voice. "You could only misbehave because I wasn't home. Now that I'm back, you'll have to do as I say."

Judging by the way he spoke, Yvonne guessed he was Stephen's father, Charles Anderson.

"You're both going to get divorced this afternoon," Charles ordered.

"Are you treating my marriage as a joke?" Stephen asked slowly. "Am I a toy to you?"

"How dare you!" Charles’s complexion became ghastly pale with anger.

Yvonne quickly took advantage of the situation. "Stephen, don't be like that. They're just looking out for your best interests. Besides, what we did was inappropriate."

"And how is that?" Although Stephen couldn't see a thing, his eyes were fixed in Charles' direction, clearly showing his defiance. "We're both adults. Don't we have the right to decide our marriage? And do you need to be so furious about it?"

Suddenly, Yvonne realized that Stephen wasn't trying to take her side; he was just purposely trying to annoy Charles. It worked—Charles strode toward Stephen and raised his hand.

Elizabeth quickly stopped him. "Charles, what are you doing? Don't you think this family has had enough?"

Yvonne had also sprung into action when she saw Charles rise. She held Stephen protectively, trying to make everyone think that they were deeply in love. "Father, hit me instead if you need to."

Stephen frowned with Yvonne in his arms. It was difficult for him to predict her actions and adapt quickly. She was too fast, and there was no guessing what she would do next.

The sight of Stephen being hugged by an ugly woman disgusted Charles. He put his hand down indignantly and turned away.

Suddenly, Elizabeth said, "I have one condition if you really want to stay married."