Chapter 9 The Divorce Agreement

Janice turned around to look at Malcolm and said in a gentle voice, "I am tired, Malc. Can you let me go this time?"

After being submissive for two years, she thought that she could be open about her needs for just one day. She felt that if she lived the way she had used to for even another day, she would grow sick of herself.

Although Janice was just putting forth a small request, Malcolm felt as though his heart was crumbling apart. He had feared for a long time that she would leave him one day, and that fear only made him hold her hand even more tightly. He looked at her with a grim expression and said,

"That's not going to happen, Janice. You're my wife and you are not allowed to go anywhere without my permission." Although his voice was cold as ice and his words seemed rude, he only wanted to stop her from leaving. Janice's life was damned. Even if she wanted to cry, she could only cry in his villa.

However, his overbearing tone made Janice lower her head at once. Upon seeing that, Roy immediately stepped in front of her, protecting her from Malcolm.

"Think before you speak, Malcolm! Have you ever treated Janice as your wife in the past two years?" Roy's deep voice sounded a bit too harsh for Malcolm.

Malcolm looked up, his eyes filled with a bloodthirsty sense of rage.

"Whether I treat her as my wife or not is none of your business, Roy. Don't go too far," Malcolm warned in a sharp voice.

With a sneer, Roy placed his wounded hand over Malcolm's. He tried his best to pull Malcolm's hand away from Janice's, not caring about his own injury.

"When Janice decided to marry you, I had to hide my sadness, even though it hurt me worse than any pain that I had ever experienced. I did that because I wanted to be a good friend to her... Someone who is happy with her decisions and makes her feel good about herself. But now, I am regretting it, because you've crossed a line, Malcolm." Roy suddenly loosened his grip on Malcolm's arm. "Jannie is the apple of our eyes, but you're heartless and merciless towards her. We all know the way you treat her and we're going to make you regret your actions, sooner or later."

Roy's words pierced through Malcolm's heart like a spear. The moment he was done, Malcolm's expression turned darker than Janice had ever seen him be.

With a murderous gaze, he slowly let go of Janice's hand.

"You think that I am being cruel to her for no reason? How would you have treated her if she killed your parents, Roy?" Malcolm's odd question made Roy stiff all of a sudden, sending a chill down his spine.

Janice stared at the two, unable to turn away from their heated argument.

How could she hope to be happy while her life was so miserable?

"Roy, let's go..." Before she could even finish speaking, she heard Roy shout.

"That's just not possible. I know Janice better than anyone else, and I can say for sure that she wouldn't even hurt a fly," Roy replied in a firm voice. His answer almost felt like music to her ears. Before she could even fully understand what was going on, she saw Roy holding her hand tightly. "Jannie, why don't you call Alivia and inform her that I am going to be staying with you tonight?"

Roy's warm voice calmed Janice's distressed heart. After giving him a nod, she took out her cellphone and sent a text to Alivia.

She then turned to look at Malcolm. Although she was not crying, her red eyes made it clear that she was upset.

"Malc, I just want to go out to have fun, okay?" After saying that, Janice took Roy's hand and walked out of there without even waiting for Malcolm's reply.

Although Roy was happy to hear Janice standing up for herself, his heart ached when he saw her crying.

Roy turned around and said, "Malcolm, if you even have a heart, you would give her a divorce. Jannie is a princess and she should not have to spend her life in such misery."

With that, he grabbed Janice's hand and walked out of the villa.

Malcolm stood still, staring at Janice's receding back, lost in thought.

Was he really going to let her walk away?

Should he draft a divorce agreement and let the whole world know that their relationship was broken? He knew that Janice was a stubborn woman. If she broke up with him, then she would never contact him again. Her happiness, her sadness, her carefulness, and her silliness would have nothing to do with him after that.

Whom she chose to date, or even whether she felt happy or sad...it would all have nothing to do with him. He would not have the right to hate her or care for her after that. Malcolm knew that if they split up, Janice would treat him like a stranger, and not even as her ex-husband.

She would smile while another man held her, she would act like a spoiled child in his embrace...and she might even sleep with him.

The longer Malcolm thought about it, the angrier he became. He knelt on the ground and smashed his fists against the hard floor, hurting himself.

"Dead or alive, you are mine, Janice. I won't let you go!" he roared.

Meanwhile, in Roy's car that was parked outside the villa,

Janice wrapped a piece of gauze around Roy's palm and covered her face with her palms, crying. Roy held a handkerchief in his hand, ready to hand it to her any second.

After a minute, Janice took the handkerchief from him and wiped her tears, sniffling.

"Everything's fine. Let's get going, Alivia must have waited for a long time," she said firmly. Every time, as soon as she let out her emotions, she would become a strong, fearless woman again.

Although Roy knew her well, he was still concerned for her.

"Don't you want to rest for just a bit?" he asked. Since Janice seemed to feel weak, he thought that a short nap might make her feel better.

"It's fine. Besides, I'm not all that weak-hearted. I'd like you to start the car now, Roy. If we don't go there, Alivia is going to be so mad at us!" Janice said with a smile.

Her smile had a hint of bitterness in it and her eyes sparkled with tears, like a lake on a summer afternoon.

"Jannie, don't you want to..."

"Alright, let's rest for a bit. In the meantime, I will fix my makeup. If Alivia sees me in such a pathetic state, she's gonna freak out." Saying that, Janice reached for her makeup bag in the glove compartment and started to apply makeup while looking at her reflection in the rear-view mirror.

Roy could not refuse when he saw how calm she was.

He would let her do anything, as long as it made her happy.

"Fine, then, hurry up or Alivia will be angry with me!" Roy said with a smile. Since they were childhood friends, they knew each other really well. Alivia was short-tempered, so if anyone pissed her off, she would chew them up.

"Don't be so scared, I am going to be there to support you, right?" Saying that, Janice continued to put on her makeup, ignoring Roy's worried expression.

Roy, too, did not dwell on the thought. He felt that Janice would someday see him as a better match for her.

Thirty minutes later, Roy's car stopped outside the Night Bar.

Although it was just past noon, the bar was very crowded. Several men tried to flirt with Janice, but Roy glared at them, chasing them away. But only after they entered their private room did those men truly leave them alone.

The moment Janice walked into it, Alivia ran up to her and hugged her.

"Stop crying, Alivia! We just had a fight, it is not like we're divorced! Don't blame me if you ruin your makeup by crying, okay?" Janice said with a smile, patting Alivia on the back.

Upon hearing those words, Alivia cried even louder, but then, just a moment later, she stopped crying.

"I am not letting you go back to him, Jannie! Malcolm is the same as Leonel. They are both sick jerks... You're going to stay with me, and if Malcolm comes asking for you, I will curse him in every language that I know." Although Janice was shocked to hear Alivia speak with such boldness in her tone, she felt rather warm when she saw how much she cared about her.

"All right, I will stay with you for a few days, but you must promise me that you won't talk about Malcolm or anything unpleasant to me, okay?" Only after Alivia heard those words did she calm down. Soon, they all sat down happily, chatting and drinking.