"Ryan, in your imagined oue, I should be deeply grateful now, right?" I asked sarcastically.


    "Not really."


    Ryan avoided my gaze and loosened his tie with one hand. "I just hope that you can live a morefortable life."


    "Alright."


    I wasn''t in a hurry to refute him. I said softly, "Then name your price. If you sell the 51% of shares you hold in the Charlotte Jewelry, I''d be much more at ease."


    From the beginning, perhaps neither of us had truly understood each other.


    He once saw me as wild grass in an unkempt field, never sparing me a second nce. Now, he viewed me as a rose in a greenhouse, only suitable for delicate nurturing.


    And as for me, I had lost all trust in him.


    Why would the two of us choose to be together?


    He suddenly looked at me, his thin lips pursed. "Charlotte..."


    I smiled. "Didn''t you say you wanted me to livefortably?"


    "With the RF Group to back you up, you''d be more at ease."


    I looked down at the bustling traffic below the skyscrapers and, after a moment of silence, said with resignation, "Ryan, you never truly knew what I wanted. You didn''t even give me the most basic respect."


    "I know..."


    "What do you know?" I asked, looking at him with mixed emotions. "Before you invested in me, did you ever respect my wishes? Did you ever let me know that the person investing in the Charlotte Jewelry was you?"


    "So what are your wishes?" Ryan, rarely submissive, spoke with a gentler tone, his noble features touched by tenderness, "Alright, I promise to respect your wishes as much as possible in the future..."


    I couldn''t help but interrupt him. "My wish is to have nothing to do with you!"


    Without hesitation, he said, "That''s impossible."


    "See?" I smiled. "All your respect and concern for me are built on your own selfish desires."


    The person he wanted to satisfy was never me, but himself.


    Ryan frowned, his expression growing cold. "Have you always thought this way?"


    "Every time you favored Jessica while she caused trouble, you said it was just to repay a favor."


    Revisiting these matters, I remained surprisingly calm. "When Bethany appeared, you dropped a few words to make me believe you and then severed ties with me."


    "Even now, your eagerness to reconcile is just because you''re not used to it."


    "Did you ever ask me about any of this? Did you ever ask me what I think? What I think has never mattered."


    "You only care about your own feelings. As for me, as long as I don''t die or leave you, that''s enough to satisfy your sporadic possessiveness."


    Ryan''s originally cold expression showed signs of regret with every word I spoke, "Charlotte, it''s not as you think. I may not understand how to love, and I''ve done many things to disappoint you, but my intentions were never as you say."


    "Ryan."


    Under his puzzled yet earnest gaze, I said slowly, "I won''t reconcile with you."


    Being his wife was too difficult, too exhausting.


    Many things, even today, still made me feel bitter and unbearable when I looked back.


    Ryan seemed to have many things caught in his throat, his voice tightening. "Are you not going to forgive


    me?"C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org.


    A bitter smile appeared at the corners of my lips, "Whether I forgive you or not doesn''t matter. You should ask the child if she forgives you."