Chapter 1 No communication

EVELYN

These days, who even enters into an arranged marriage?

I had been with this man who detested everything about me for six months in a loveless marriage. During our marriage, Edward Richards truly let me know how much he despised me.

I was never touched by the man at all. He said nothing to me at all. He treated me like I didn't exist when I was in the house. He only talked to me when we were at his parent's home or in the presence of his coworkers.

I never would have imagined the outcome of my marriage to be this. My parents arranged for me to marry their best friend's son by the time I turned 22 before they passed away. Why? Since, in my opinion, they were merely bored and thought it would be wonderful to marry their kids.

Furthermore, I was a wimp for agreeing to this ridiculous agreement.

I assumed that though they never said so, Edward's parents wanted to take care of me since they knew I had no one else and that's why they wanted me to marry him.

All I had were my parents and no family. No parents, no siblings, no aunts, uncles, or anybody else.

My mother's marriage to my father left his relatives disapproving of her. His parents, who are my father's side grandparents, detested my mother and opposed my parents' union. When my father took my mother to flee and get married, it got to the point where they shunned him. After that day, my father had no family left except for my mother.

Sadly, when I was fifteen, my other grandparents-on my mother's side-passed away. Only one brother, who died young, was related to my mother. I was so left without an uncle. The family of my mother? Not that I'm aware of; I've never met them. Except for her parents and one aunt, whom she cherished dearly but who sadly passed away many years ago, my mother never spoke of any of her relatives. The small relative was a result of my mother's limited family background.

Edward's parents treated me so beautifully and kindly, which was a blessing. For as long as I could remember, they had been nice to me; they regarded me like I was their daughter, whom they had never had. Following the death of my parents, they kindly took care of me.

22 years ago, Elisa, an obstetrician, assisted my mother in giving birth to me. On that day, they grew close and became friends. Michael worked as a pediatrician. That they were both doctors astounded me.

Neither Edward nor any other healthcare professional was a doctor. In actuality, he was the owner of a business that his grandfather had left to him because Michael, being a doctor, was unable to manage it. When Edward turned 23, he took over the company with the assistance of a mentor after his grandfather passed away when he was just 16 years old.

He was a hardworking man, and it was the one thing about him that I liked. Despite having everything, he never allowed them to influence him.

I married Edward two years after my parents passed away. Our wedding was awkward, to put it mildly. When I walked down the aisle, he was emotionless. He didn't appear at all content. And our brief first kiss together as husband and wife was only two seconds long. If there was awkwardness between us, nobody showed it. My wedding was perhaps the most miserable event I have ever attended.

Not only did we not take a honeymoon trip, but we also didn't engage in any romantic activities or share a bedroom. He returned to work two days after our wedding, acting as though we had never said goodbye. I hardly ever saw Dad in the house because he was so busy. He would get up before me and go to work, returning just after I had fallen asleep.

There were moments when I thought he was intentionally doing it to avoid me.

He was only unable to avoid me when we had to go to activities together. Now and again Edward would have quiet events, and I would always accompany him. It was hard to be in public with him; we had to pretend to be in love. Imagine kissing the man you detested with all of your heart while holding hands.

Imagine for a moment.

I attempted to treat him with courtesy. Despite my efforts to be the wife he desired, he continued to disregard me.

"Do you mind?"

I blinked, realizing that I was obstructing his path.

I stepped aside right away. "Sorry."

He took out a bottle of juice from the refrigerator without saying anything else. He hadn't spoken anything to me in a long time until now.

I observed his features as I fixed my gaze on him. Although he appeared worn out and anxious, he still had a great appearance. How could someone who appeared anxious look so good?

He gave me a chilly look as he sensed that I was staring at him. I looked aside immediately.

I gave a throat clear. "I cooked for dinner, have a seat."

Even though we didn't communicate much, it was my duty as his wife to look after him. regardless of how dysfunctional our union was.

"I'm not staying for long, I have to leave soon."

I furrowed my brows. "Where are you going?"

He quickly answered, "Work."

With a sigh, I filled my glass with the juice and took a sip. It was his fourth-night missing meals.

"Aren't you tired? You returned an hour ago."

"I have better things to do."

I rolled my eyes. "You're working too much. You see yourself now, don't you? You appear prepared to jump into bed and go to sleep. Work is not as vital as your health."

He spat, gazing at me angrily this time, "I didn't ask you to care for me."

I scowled at that. I did at least have affection for him, even though this marriage was a farce. After all, he was the man I would have to live my entire life with as my spouse. And perhaps, just possibly, I was a little too attached to him.

He left me in the kitchen and said, "I will be back very late tonight, don't wait for me."

As I watched him go, I sighed. I had run out of options for getting him to listen to me or at least treat me politely. He pushed me away each time I attempted to get near to him.

"Are you okay, Evelyn?" One of the maids found me in the kitchen and asked, "Jane?"

"I'm doing OK, Jane. Edward was being Edward, simply as that."

Jane, a 56-year-old widow, had spent 20 years working with Edward's family. She remained devoted to the Richards. She was extremely kind to me and made me think of my mother; I began to love her so much.

Jane was also aware of the events of our marriage. When your spouse avoided talking to you at home and you didn't share a room, it was difficult to resist saying, "Give him some time, Sir Edward is a nice man."

I sneered. "To you."

Evelyn, he will also get fond of you. I think he will.

I was too lazy to answer that. Nor did I anticipate that he would become friendly. Everyone is aware that would take a very long time to occur.

"Anyway, do you know at what time Felix comes here tomorrow?"

Edward was driven by Felix. At forty years old, he had two children. When his grandfather was still in charge of the business, he worked as an on-call driver for Edward before Edward hired him as his driver.

"He usually will be at 5 as Sir Edward has to leave to work at 6."

I gave a nod. "All right. Would you kindly ask him to take me into town at around ten o'clock?"

"Sure, I will let him know."