The woman’s expression faltered, her mouth twitching with barely concealed disdain. "Oh, Mrs. Hudson, don’t be so proud of your daughter," she sneered.
"When women reach a certain age, they should get married, tend to their husbands and raise children. That’s how it’s always been.
"And everyone knows by now that Sylvia was dumped by Darrel, the big-shot CEO. He’s marrying her sister Ashley instead.
“It’s even all over the internet, how Sylvia dreamed of going from a pheasant to a phoenix, only to be humiliated by the real female lead."
As she spoke, she grabbed the arm of the man beside her, puffing up with pride.
"My son is a senior engineer at a big company, earning $50,000 a year. He’s an honest, upright man with no shady business. Sylvia, you won’t regret marrying him."
"Yes, yes! I’ll treat you well!" the greasy man next to her chimed in, nodding vigorously like a pecking chicken.
His thick, ill-fitting black-framed glasses and oily demeanor made my stomach turn.
I kept my tone even but firm. "Sir, I have no plans to get married. Please leave."
The greasy man’s face contorted, his voice rising in indignation. "Ungrateful! You... you should be grateful I’m willing to marry you."
Before I could react, a fist collided with his face, sending his glasses shattering to the ground.
"It’s not your turn to humiliate Sylvia," a familiar voice growled, heavy with authority and anger.
I turned, stunned, to see Darrel standing there, his presence as commanding as ever.
He just stared coldly at the greasy man who fell to the ground. His cold aura did not allow anyone to challenge it.
“Sylvia is my wife. Put away your dirty thoughts and get out!”
“Mr. Gonzalez, please forgive me!”
The middle-aged woman hurriedly pulled the greasy man out of my house.
Then, Darrel turned around and stared at me with concern. “Sylvia, are you okay?”
That gentle look was just like before.
I actually still had a glimmer of hope that Darrel might still be the same Darrel as before. But the next second, he pulled me back to reality.
“Uncle, Aunt, Sylvia, Ashley and I will have our engagement party in ten days. I hope you can be there."
Originally, ten days later, Ashley was going to marry Seth.
My father frowned and asked.
“Darrel, if you said you want to get engaged to Ashley first, then what about Sylvia?”
Darrel answered confidently, as if I was still the toy that he could manipulate as he pleased.