The ring was just taken off like that. His pupils dilated and for a moment, it felt like his heart was being squeezed, causing him immense pain.
But just as he rushed out the door, Sarah stood behind him, smiling. "Why did you demolish the house? Are you planning to renovate it for our new home?"
The panic in Michael's eyes quickly faded. He took Sarah's hand and smiled, "What kind of decoration do you like?"
"Hmm, something simple."
"Alright, whatever you say."
With their fingers tightly intertwined, the two of them walked out the door side by side.
As Michael had just held the diamond ring in his hand, he threw it to the ground the moment Sarah appeared. Before leaving, Sarah glanced back with a cold smile and kicked it into the sewer, murmuring, "I don't want it and you don't deserve to pick it up!"
Michael didn’t look back. He thought to himself that he had probably spoiled me too much, indulging me every whim, letting me throw little tantrums at him.
The villa's multimillion-dollar renovation was destroyed overnight, becoming a joke in their circle.
He cursed under his breath, “What is there to make a fuss about with her background? Even if there are other women outside, so what? She probably doesn't know how many girls are lining up to throw themselves at me with just a wave of my hand. I spend a lot of money, give her plenty of love and affection and even during the years Sarah is away, I never sleep with another woman.”
He believed that he had already been attentive enough to me. If I continued to act out, he regarded it as my immaturity and without him, I wouldn't have lasted three months before facing hardship. A woman he had pampered wouldn't be able to handle the grind of a nine-to-five job, bowing and scraping.
He determined that once I was done throwing tantrums and wanted to come back, he'd lay down the rules properly.
What he didn't know was that while he might have been the prince of Altheris, I was the quintessential young lady of Zeroth. We both played our roles in this game for three years. While he performed convincingly, I was just as committed.
Three months later, a grand banquet was held at the Thompson Family's mansion in Zeroth City.
I was forcibly ordered by my brother to attend as a representative of the Taylor Family. By the time I dragged my feet to the venue, more than half the guests had already arrived.
To my surprise, I ran into some familiar faces beside the Thompson Family patriarch.
Michael, with his arm around Sarah's slender waist, stood beside the old man, holding a wine glass. As half of Zeroth City's elite and wealthy business people took turns greeting the patriarch, the two of them naturally blended in, gaining recognition in the process.
Michael, claiming the title of Walker Family's son-in-law, never left Sarah's side for a moment.
The moment he saw me, the smile on his face froze.
Instinctively, he loosened his grip around Sarah's slender waist.
As for Sarah, when her gaze followed Michael's and landed on me, her expression changed slightly but only for a moment. She then calmly leaned close to Michael's ear and said something.
Without waiting for me to greet Mr. Thompson, Michael walked straight toward me. Ignoring the startled gasps from others, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me to a corner by the staircase.
Lowering his voice, Michael asked me, "Why are you here? Where have you been these past three months? Why did you block all my contact information? Am I really that unworthy of your affection? If that's the case, then why did you show up here? Do you even realize how important tonight's banquet is to me? Whether the Harris family can gain a foothold in Zeroth City depends entirely on tonight."
He signed. "Three months of drama is enough. This is not the place for you to be causing trouble. Go back to the hotel and wait for me."
Without caring about my protests, he reached into my handbag, trying to find my phone to leave his number in it.
