[What good is getting drunk? It’s no different from Riley Carter—he doesn’t know the first thing about the basics.]
[He’s a virgin. How could he have gotten Quinn Johnson pregnant?]
I had no idea what Avery Carter was thinking. His expression kept shifting—one moment pained, the next vacant.
Finally, he glared at me, then took off after them in long strides.
“Why did my older brother glare at me?” I asked, baffled.
Looking back, Mom and Dad’s expressions were hard to read too, especially when they looked toward Riley Carter.
Riley Carter’s handsome face darkened. “You’re so noisy. Can’t eating sunflower seeds keep your mouth shut?”
I closed my eyes and held it in. [You sharp-tongued jerk. Just you wait. I’m definitely getting a divorce, then finding a sweet little puppy who knows how to comfort me!]
And with that, the little drama came to an end.
As I was getting ready for bed, Riley Carter blocked the doorway, stopping me from closing the door.
“What do you want?”
Riley Carter looked a little awkward, his face flushed. “Are you… are you thirsty? Would you like some milk?”
Me: “?”
Milk?
Was it the kind of milk I was thinking of?
4.
Was this really the cold, aloof Riley Carter I’d known?
Had something possessed him?
Or maybe…
[Does Riley Carter regret getting divorced?]
[Ugh! What a scumbag! He doesn’t even like me, but still wants to sleep with me!]
[I bet he just doesn’t want to give me the 500 million.]
[Get out of my way!]
To my surprise, when I shoved him hard, the milky-white liquid in his hand spilled all over him.
I froze. “I-It really is cow’s milk?”
Riley Carter seemed to laugh in anger. “What else did you think it was?”
I hurriedly grabbed a tissue and dabbed at his shirt. “You can’t blame me for getting the wrong idea. You were offering me milk while blushing—who wouldn’t get the wrong idea?”
How could I not get the wrong idea?
Riley Carter fell silent, probably realizing he was in the wrong.
The milk in his hand had spilled all over his chest. The more I wiped it up, the harder it was to focus.
[Wow! I just touched… Are these abs?]
[I never expected Riley Carter to look so lean and have such great abs.]
[Hehe, so this is what it feels like to touch someone’s abs. After the divorce, I’m going to find a few male models and feel them up every day!]
I was enjoying the feel of his abs when Riley Carter suddenly grabbed my wrist.
A chill shot up my spine and straight to my head.
Oh! I was so busy feeling him up that I forgot this was Riley Carter.
I slowly lifted my head to look at him.
My gaze passed over the two undone buttons on his pajamas, revealing the faint outline of his muscular chest.
A little higher, Riley Carter’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
That’s it. He’s definitely mad now.
But when I met his gaze, I realized Riley Carter wasn’t nearly as angry as I’d expected.
Instead, his face was bright red, and his deep-set eyes held a look of embarrassment and unease.
[Oh my God! I really want to tease him.]
“Riley Cooper, stop teasing me,” he said hoarsely. “You know I don’t want to divorce you.”
Hearing that brought me back to my senses.
“Is this what you decided after thinking it over?”
I suddenly had no desire to talk to him. I pushed his hand away and turned to walk into the room.
[He obviously doesn’t even like me, but he still won’t divorce me. Why does he want to keep me around?]
[What a scumbag!]
Riley Carter pulled me back again. “If we don’t get divorced, I’ll give you another 10 million a month.”
He asked earnestly, “Would that be okay?”
“How much would I get?” I stopped walking.
“The 10 million will be deposited into your personal account. You can also use my supplementary card whenever you want.”
I laughed.
“10 million?”
“Do you think I’m that greedy for money?”
Riley Carter added, “If 10 million isn’t enough to satisfy you, I’ll…”
I cut him off. “Hmph. Riley Carter, you know me too well. I really am that greedy for money!”
“I’ve changed my mind. Maybe this marriage doesn’t have to end in divorce after all. So, when will that 10 million be transferred to my account?”
5
I didn’t ask why Riley Carter didn’t want a divorce.
Why wouldn’t I take the extra income?
But as it turned out, the money wasn’t so easy to earn after all.
Lately, I’d either had to accompany Riley Carter to parties or play the part of a sweet, doting wife, showing off our love everywhere.
There was no getting around it. Riley Carter had far too many fans.
He needed me, his legitimate wife, to act as a shield.
It was exhausting, sure, but everyone around him belonged to the upper crust, and every one of them had the latest juicy gossip.
Who could pass up a chance to snoop?
Besides, I had a blast digging up gossip.
But I never expected that one day I’d become the main character in the very story I’d been following.
“Look at her. She’s painfully tacky. How could someone like her possibly deserve to be Mr. Carter’s wife?”
“Exactly. The moment she arrived, she couldn’t stop eating, as if she’d never seen food before. She’s no lady of society.”
“I don’t think she’s even that pretty. With looks like hers, how could she ever compare to Alex Cooper?”
“I heard Alex Cooper is coming back soon. What do you think? Will Mr. Carter dump her and get back together with Alex?”
I scanned the gossip network to find out who they were talking about.
Alex Cooper, huh~
So she was Riley Carter’s childhood friend. They’d grown up together.
Just then, Riley Carter came downstairs. I slipped my arm through his and put on a very sweet act, then asked him outright in front of everyone:
“Riley Carter, I heard your childhood friend Alex Cooper is coming back to the country soon. Everyone’s wondering whether you’ll leave me and get back together with her.”
Seeing those women turn pale and squirm with embarrassment, I laughed to myself:
[Why speculate? I’ll just ask Riley Carter for you.]
[I’m actually hoping Alex Cooper comes back and Riley Carter really does get involved with her. Then I can finally get a divorce.]
Riley Carter’s expression darkened at once, and his sharp gaze swept over each of them in turn.
I could tell he was thoroughly displeased:
“You don’t need to concern yourselves with that. My wife and I have a good relationship.”
“We’re never getting divorced.”
Everyone looked embarrassed and was about to apologize, but Riley Carter pulled me outside before they had the chance.
Wait, was he actually angry?
Once we were in the car, Riley Carter’s expression was still cold.
“Alex Cooper and I are just ordinary neighbors. Don’t listen to their nonsense. There’s nothing between us.”
A little while later, Riley Carter explained to me:
“Oh, don’t worry. I don’t mind.”
Maybe I seemed too indifferent, and Riley Carter was afraid I didn’t believe him, so he added:
“I’m telling the truth. If there’d really been anything between us, it would’ve happened years ago.”
I wholeheartedly agreed:
“That’s true. But don’t worry—I’m not getting the wrong idea.”
“Of course, whatever’s going on between you two, you don’t need to worry about me. We’re only pretending, after all.”
That was an exceptionally understanding response.
I was very pleased with how I’d done, but when I looked back, Riley Carter’s expression seemed even more sour.
I tested the waters:
“Are you mad?”
“What do you think?”
I teased him:
“I’m the one they insulted, and I’m not even mad. How could you be?”
“Because you’re not mad. That’s why I’m mad.”
Riley Carter suddenly stepped closer, his deep-set eyes fixed intently on me.
We were so close that if either of us moved even a little, our noses would touch.
My brain immediately shut down.
I felt like I understood what he meant, and yet somehow I didn’t:
“W-what do you mean?”
Riley Carter murmured reproachfully:
“They want us to get divorced, and you’re not even mad. You don’t take our marriage seriously.”
Ah! He’d hit the nail on the head.
I answered weakly:
“But I thought we got married as part of an arrangement?”
6
At first, Riley Carter thought the original character had set him up, which was how the two of them had ended up sleeping together.
But in reality, both the original character and Riley Carter had been set up by people close to them.
Because of an unexpected mishap, they ended up in the same room. Even though nothing happened, the media reported on it.
Out of a sense of responsibility, Riley Carter married the original character.
The original character agreed to marry him because she needed money for her mother’s medical treatment.
They married as part of an arrangement, with no feelings between them.
It was only natural that I didn’t take this marriage seriously.
But Riley Carter looked angry, so I kept that thought to myself.
Riley Carter furrowed his brow, seeming so angry he was almost out of breath.
He stared at me in silence, then finally closed his eyes and sighed:
“Forget it. Next time you hear rumors like that, you don’t need to let them bother you.”
With that, he told the driver to get going.
I didn’t understand why.
A man’s thoughts are impossible to fathom.
So strange.
That evening, Avery Carter came home.
He looked dazed and vacant, as if he’d just taken a major blow.
Seeing him like that only made Riley’s father angrier:
“You’ve been gone for days, and you couldn’t even call. How could you handle this without telling us? Everything I taught you was a waste!”
I glanced at Riley Carter. He only shook his head.
[Let’s see what’s been going on these past few days.]
[Oh, did your older brother finally see through Quinn Johnson’s scam?]
[Thank goodness. I thought he’d spent the past few days trying to win Quinn Johnson back, but it turns out he was investigating her.]
[Tsk, tsk, tsk. Quinn Johnson is shameless. Even with all the evidence piled right in front of her, she still had the nerve to beg your older brother to marry her.]
[And then she said, “My baby can’t grow up without a father. Because I love you, I’ll let you be the father of my child.”]
[What a ridiculous thing to say. Is your older brother really that pathetic? Knowing the truth and still agreeing to be someone else’s kid’s stepdad! Thank goodness he came to his senses and cut things off with Quinn Johnson.]
Avery Carter stood there, looking dejected, apologizing to all of us.
He made a special point of apologizing to me:
“Sister-in-law, I misunderstood you. I’m sorry. You were right to be suspicious.”
“Quinn Johnson… she really is pregnant with someone else’s child.”
As he said this, Avery Carter’s eyes suddenly reddened:
“She kept saying she loved me, but she was lying to me the whole time!”
Mẹ Lục drew Avery Carter close and gently comforted him.
When it came to love, this was his first time. He’d given her his whole heart, so being betrayed had hurt him deeply.
Still, at least he’d escaped that misery.
I tried to comfort him:
“Don’t be too sad, big brother.”
“A woman like that isn’t worth your tears.”
“Just think of it this way: the next one will be better, and more well-behaved!”
At that, Avery Carter immediately choked up.
I was about to say a few more comforting words when I suddenly felt a dangerous gaze fixed on me.
Riley Carter looked down at me. “You think so too?”
“What?”