Chapter 4 Negotiation

A rich variety of French cuisine was set on the table in the dining room. The servants were living statues, standing silently along the walls on both sides of the room.

Karl opened a bottle of red wine and chatted happily with Nathan. The room was filled with their occasional laughter.

One of the servants took a pair of slippers and laid them gently in front of Christine. Then she hurriedly took a fresh set of comfortable clothes, and politely offered them to her. "Miss Christine, do you need to change?"

Her feet were so numbed by the cold that she could barely feel them. "No, thanks. You can go now."

Christine sat uncomfortably on her chair. Exactly in front of her sat Wesley, and he was staring deeply as if looking through her. Christine felt sick and disturbed. No matter how delicious the dishes were, she lost her appetite.

A stale odor filled the air of a dimly lit room, rainwater leaking through the cracks in the roof.

The pieces of furniture were sprawled all over the place.

A woman was holding a newspaper tightly.

She was pretty, and yet her ferocious expression didn't match her.

"Find out everything about Christine."

She took out the phone from her bag gracefully, and noticed a series of missed calls from Wesley. Her red lips coquettishly curled up into a faint smile.

As long as Wesley still loved her, Christine would not be able to pose much of a threat.

However, Christine had to die. She had to nip all the possibilities in the bud.

The woman began to type on her phone, edited the message several times, before kicking away the trash at her feet in disgust.

She sneered in her heart. If it were not for Karl, she would not have been embarrassed like this. How could this happen? Anyone who offended her had to die, and Karl was no exception.

Back in that splendid house, five empty bottles of red wine had now decorated the table. Nathan was as red as a tomato and had begun to lose his mind to the alcohol.

"I mean my grandson will...no, must marry your daughter. Well, let's schedule it in three days."

Seeing that the timing was appropriate, Karl put down his wine glass. Although it was supposedly a discussion, it was more like an order.

"Mr. Karl, you must be kidding. My daughter is not good enough for Helian family."

Nathan was clearly too drunk to think straight.

"I'll give you three days to persuade your daughter,"

Karl told Nathan sternly.

After getting in a black Bentley and driving several miles away from the Helian mansion, Nathan's eyes gradually cleared and he muttered to his daughter, "You made this mess. You need to clean this up."

"Dad, I won't marry Wesley. Please stop saying that." Christine had been obedient to her father since she was a child. The moment she helped him get up, Christine realized that he was just pretending to be drunk.

"Since when did my marriage become a bargaining chip?"

Tears streamed down Christine's face, and all her pretense collapsed in an instant.

"You already have a bad reputation. Now everyone knows that you slept with Wesley. The Helian family are actually doing this to save your face. Do you know how shameless you are?"

Bearing his anger, Nathan lit a cigarette. The car was so dimly lit that his face was completely obscured from view.

"Shameless? Is that how you describe your daughter? Do you regret not killing me in the past?

You are my father, but are you fulfilling your duty as one? You forced Barrett to leave me, turning my life a living hell. Is this what you want to see?"

Barrett's departure had always been a thorn in Christine's heart.

She even wanted to go abroad to look for Barrett, but Nathan kept her passport away from her.

She was stuck in that city against her will.

Christine laughed at herself.

"You have no choice, Christine." Nathan stubbed out the cigarette nonchalantly. Since Christine was going to marry Wesley anyway, he did not need to worry about anything else.

Meanwhile, in the Ji family residence

Fiona was waiting at the entrance, with this day's newspaper in her hand. Beads of sweat were clearly lined up on her forehead.

The door was kicked open and Christine was escorted in by the bodyguards.

Christine tried to run away, but before she could take a few steps away from the gate, she was caught by the burly men.

"Christine, you don't respect me! I must teach you a lesson today. Kneel down!"

Nathan was sitting on the sofa, glaring at her with smoldering eyes. A servant handed him a long, wooden ferule.

"What are you doing, Nathan?" Fiona panicked at the sight of the tool.

"She is too stubborn for her own good! I'll make her agree to marry Wesley!" Nathan was so angry that every inch of his body trembled, his face warped into an ugly scowl.

"Even so, you can't make her kneel down. She's not a kid anymore now. Why do you still adopt corporal punishment to force her to do your bidding?

Everyone knows that Wesley loves Jessica. Besides, Christine also loves someone else!"

Fiona was equally fired up. Her face was twisted into a grimace and her hair was in a mess. Her eyes were bloodshot.

"Mom, don't beg him. Don't forget who wanted to kill me that year."

After calming herself down, Christine walked up to Nathan, bent over and whispered in his ear, "Do you think I'm still the little girl you could manipulate? Let me tell you, if you insist on forcing me to marry Wesley, we will perish together. I have solid evidence that you have broken the law."

The Ji family built up a fortune by selling drugs. Presently, they started a company and wanted to show others that they were respectable and innocent. All pieces of evidence from their sketchy past were almost destroyed. However, Christine discreetly hid some proof.

"Really? I don't care. But I'm afraid something will happen to your beloved."

Nathan had always been calm and calculated. He was not afraid that Christine would go against him because he had her weakness in his hands.

"How dare you hurt Barrett?"

Christine was like a spoiled brat. Even if she was in a difficult position, it was difficult for her to hide her arrogance.

"It's not a big deal, Christine. Let's fight to the death if that's what you want."

Nathan was aware that his daughter was good at almost everything. Unfortunately for him, she inherited his stubbornness, which meant she would never turn back when she was determined to do something.

This made Nathan both love and hate her.

"Barrett just got off the plane yesterday. My subordinates are lurking around in the shadows. As long as you dare expose our secret, the news of his death will appear in tomorrow's papers.

It was all my fault in the past. I shouldn't have tried to kill you. This time, I hope you can consider matters for the sake of the Ji family."

Nathan finally compromised.

He asked his daughter how he could convince her to marry Wesley.

"I shall agree to marry Wesley, under three specific conditions. First, we must divorce in three years; second, don't interfere with my relationship with Barrett in the future; and third, I want to break off relations with the family."

Christine was sick and tired of staying in the Ji family.

Seeing her father's cautious eyes, she could not afford to be cruel and disrespectful any more than what she showed now. At the end of the day, Nathan was her father.

Her features relaxed and she slowly calmed down.

"Mr. Nathan, Mr. Wesley is here." The housekeeper, Vivian Liang, came in view with footprints on her clothes.

Nathan's face changed. He looked back at Christine coldly and said, "Christine broke the family rules and must be punished."

The ferule hit her face, and Christine's cheeks quickly turned red and swollen.

Why was Nathan always willing to help others deal with his daughter?

The ferule fell again and hit the same area. Christine flinched, but she did not dodge.

"You seem to be very busy."

An annoyingly arrogant voice came from the direction of the door. Soon, Wesley's figure came into view, a wanton smirk on his face.

Wesley raised his eyebrows slightly. "Did I disturb you?"

"Of course not! Mr. Wesley, you are welcome here."

Nathan cast aside the ferule which had a crack in the middle.

Nathan quickly scuttled over and followed Wesley like a trained mutt.

Wesley sneered.

If he wanted force Christine to give up marring him, he would never had come to such a place in his life.

It was too dirty.

"That's good."

The smile on Wesley's face disappeared. He narrowed his eyes and stared coldly at Christine.

"You agreed to marry me?" he asked.

"It has nothing to do with you whether I agree or not."

"Aren't you afraid that I'll make you the laughingstock in the S City?"

"Wesley, you already turned me into a joke in S City."

Wesley picked up the wooden ferule on the floor and snapped it in two. "I like to destroy a person, break their will until they become mindless puppets."

Christine's smile broadened. "Let's see who will come out as the winner in the end."