"Bronson said you washed the lingerie I left behind yesterday?"
Estelle kept her eyes fixed on the case files, flipping through them with deliberate calm as if Soleil’s words were nothing more than a passing breeze.
Soleil slammed her cup onto the table, her anger spilling over as she hissed, "Estelle, how long are you going to keep clinging to Bronson?!"
Estelle’s response was cool, distant. "You’ll have to ask him about that."
The word divorce had once escaped Estelle’s lips, and at the very moment it did, Bronson had driven her to the seaside in the dead of night. He stood there, his coat whipping in the cold breeze.
“Estelle, if you don’t want to end up at your mother’s grave for a second time, go ahead and say it. Say you want a divorce.”
Estelle’s eyes lifted from the papers, her voice sharp as a blade. "If you could get Bronson to divorce me, you wouldn't be here. You and he are childhood friends, well-matched, but you couldn’t handle him. How do you expect me to?"
That struck a nerve with Soleil. At first, she thought Bronson was just playing with Estelle, but after returning from six months abroad, she found that Estelle and Bronson had already made it official.
Soleil knew Bronson. If he didn’t care deeply for someone, they would never make it onto his household registration.
If she could have moved him, she wouldn’t have been here now, testing Estelle’s devotion like a fool.
"I never wanted to be the young madam of the Bradwell family," Estelle stood, her voice steady but biting. "If you want that position, go ahead and find your way in. But don’t expect me to make it easier for you."
She paused, then added, almost casually, "And your lingerie? It wasn’t washed. It’s in the trash now."
With that, Estelle turned on her heel and left, leaving Soleil seething behind her, her teeth grinding in frustration.
Just as Estelle reached the door, Soleil’s phone rang—an incoming call from the private investigator she had hired to dig into Estelle’s life.
"Miss Ruslan, we have news," the investigator’s voice crackled through the line. "Estelle secretly had an abortion at the OB-GYN yesterday."
Soleil’s eyes gleamed with a spark of triumph. She knew that bloodline was sacred to Bronson’s grandfather, and this could be the key.
"What should we do next?" the investigator asked, his voice uncertain.
Soleil’s lips curved into a sly smile. "Not yet. Estelle threw away my things, so let’s make her regret it first."
She didn’t quite understand why Estelle had married Bronson. Still, Soleil was certain of one thing: Estelle wouldn’t agree to a divorce until she had been pushed to the breaking point.
Later that day, while Estelle was out picking up takeout, fate intervened. She found herself caught in a minor car accident.
Her left leg snapped, and though the driver was kind enough to take her to the hospital, the pain was unbearable.
As the doctor set the bone without anesthesia, Estelle’s face drained of color, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
Finally, after being discharged with a cast on her leg, Estelle’s phone buzzed. It was Bronson.
"You're not at the office?" he asked, his voice cool and controlled. He had a way of tracking her movements with uncanny precision.
"I had an accident, just heading back," Estelle replied, carefully weighing her words.
She knew the accident wasn’t a coincidence, but she had no intention of telling Bronson the truth. The Bradwell and Ruslan families were in the middle of a crucial deal, and if she caused any disruption, she knew the Bradwells would never forgive her.
She had reached a point where the only person she wanted to deal with was Bronson.
"Don’t go back. Come to the hotel and find me," Bronson’s voice came through, dripping with amusement. Estelle’s brow twitched in response.
"I still have a case to handle..."
"Why don’t you come and try?" Bronson replied before ending the call.
With no other choice, Estelle hailed a taxi, heading straight to him.
Today marked the anniversary of their wedding. Bronson had spared no expense, hosting a grand banquet. Having never courted a woman before, he wasn’t sure how to make her smile. After consulting Kade, he decided to surprise her with something special.
