Forgive the Knife, Not the Lie

Natalie Harrington never expected that less than a year after remarrying, Adrian Brown would cheat on her again.

As the design director of Brown Group, she had worked late into the night once again. When she returned home, she saw the servants standing in a row at the foot of the stairs, blocking the way.

The moment they spotted her, their faces turned deathly ashen.

"Mrs. Brown... why are you back? Didn't Mr. Brown say you'd be working through the night and wouldn't be coming home? I... I'll go upstairs and ask him to come down."

As the servant turned and went upstairs, Natalie heard the sounds coming from above.

"Ah... that feels so good! Adrian, slow down, I can't take it..."

"Go on. Louder. Natalie isn't home anyway. You can scream all you want."

"You're so bad... ah!"

Seeing Natalie's expressionless face, the servant asked nervously, "Mrs. Brown, I'll go tell Mr. Brown right away that you're back."

"No need." Natalie turned and walked toward the dining room, her voice calm. "I'm hungry. Prepare a late-night meal for me."

"That's it?" The servant froze, staring at Natalie in disbelief.

"Did Mrs. Brown just say she was hungry?"

"If this were before, she would've stormed upstairs and dragged that woman down for a beating."

"Yeah. Three years ago, Mrs. Brown beat that woman so badly she nearly ended up in the hospital. If Mr. Brown hadn't stopped her, that woman might've died."

"Maybe she's completely disappointed now. After all, Mr. Brown once promised he'd never cheat again."

......

Their words all reached Natalie's ears, yet she showed no reaction.

Three years earlier, when Adrian cheated for the first time, Natalie beat the woman mercilessly, then immediately demanded a divorce.

No matter how he begged, she never wavered.

Less than a year after she left, Adrian searched the entire world and finally found Natalie.

To beg her to come back, he lashed himself ninety-nine times right in front of her.

With every strike, he said, "I'm sorry."

After ninety-nine apologies, Natalie finally softened.

After they remarried, Adrian treated her well, as if he wanted to give her his entire heart.

He canceled every unnecessary social engagement and came home on time every day to be with her.

He even cooked for her himself, making her favorite ribs.

Knowing she loved white roses, he personally bought a hundred acres of land and planted an entire field of them, just to make her smile.

What Natalie never expected was that in just nine months, he cheated again.

After she finished eating, the sounds upstairs still hadn't stopped.

Even the servants couldn't help complaining, "Why isn't Mr. Brown done yet? That woman is unbelievable. Every time she comes, it drags on until midnight."

Only then did Natalie realize this wasn't the first time Adrian had brought that woman home.

She wiped her mouth and stood up, heading upstairs.

It wasn't her first time catching Adrian cheating, but this time, she was far calmer.

When the door opened, she saw two bodies tangled together on the bed at a glance.

"Adrian, you're amazing! Are you this intense with your wife in bed too?"

"Natalie is fragile. I'd never treat her like this. I love her. Do you understand?"

"That's awful. So you don't love me? You even use a whip on me. Why don't you do that to her?"

"Because... I can't bear to hurt her..."

Watching the two figures entangled together, Natalie was reminded of her past with Adrian.

The Harrington family and the Brown family had been close for generations, and the two of them had known each other since childhood.

When Natalie was very young, her mother had already told her that she would marry Adrian one day.

She had feelings for him and never thought about refusing.

Adrian was two years younger than Natalie and loved to play from a young age.

He disliked studying and had no interest in learning the family business.

Natalie was like an older sister to him, patiently teaching him how to study and how to manage the family business.

Whenever he made mistakes, she stood in front of him and took the blame.

The words Adrian said to her most often were, "Natalie, what would I do without you?"

Later, they got married.

On their wedding night, Adrian kissed her brows, her eyes, her nose, her lips with tenderness.

Knowing how afraid of pain she was, he was as gentle as possible when he took her.

The moment she shed tears, he pulled her tightly into his arms and promised, "Natalie, I love you. I'll love you for the rest of my life."

That night, Adrian was as happy as if he had the whole world.

Natalie believed they would be happy like that forever.

But what was meant to come always did. A year ago, Adrian still cheated.

She thought forgiving him once meant there wouldn't be a second time. Less than a year later, he cheated again.

And this time, Natalie knew their relationship had reached its end.

"Mr. Brown..."

"You little tease..."

The filthy words reached Natalie's ears, abruptly cutting off her thoughts.

After taking a deep breath, she turned on the light anyway.

The moment the light came on, the man exploded in anger.

"Who is it? Didn't I say you weren't allowed to come in?"

"Adrian, don't stop... I'm just getting into it..."

"It's late. There are reporters outside. Ms. Bennett should leave as soon as possible."

The moment they heard Natalie's voice, the two inside froze completely.

Yana Bennett hurriedly got dressed and shrank behind Adrian, trembling.

"Miss Harrington... Mr. Brown and I, we..."

Natalie glanced at her once and said coldly, "I'll say it again. There are reporters outside. Ms. Bennett, leave immediately."

Otherwise, Brown Group's stock would take another hit tomorrow. Natalie was exhausted and no longer had the energy to manage it.

Seeing her, a flash of panic crossed Adrian's eyes.

"Natalie... why did you suddenly come back?"

Seeing how afraid he seemed of Natalie, Yana finished dressing resentfully and left.

After she left, Natalie immediately opened the windows.

When the cold wind swept away the nauseating smell in the room, she finally felt better.

Seeing her like this, the man behind her grew even more nervous.

"Natalie, I didn't want you to see this. Yana's been clinging to me for a year, and I endured it for a year. Tonight, I really couldn't hold back anymore... so it happened. You can hit me or scold me. I'll accept anything."

"Why would I hit you or scold you?" Natalie showed little reaction. She only asked the servants to come in and change the bedsheets.

Adrian was surprised, then secretly delighted.

"Natalie, you can accept this? Didn't you used to forbid other women from getting close to me? Why are you suddenly acting like you don't care? Are you mad at me?"

Natalie shook her head. "I'm not mad at you. I truly can accept it now."

"Natalie, you're amazing!"

He stepped forward, trying to pull Natalie into his arms.

She sidestepped him. "I'm tired. I'll sleep in the guest room tonight."

"Then tonight I-"

Adrian glanced downstairs. Yana's car was still parked by the back door, untouched.

Yana was tantalizing, and he wasn't done yet.

"Go ahead."

Natalie didn't stop him. She simply turned around and walked into the guest bedroom.

After watching Adrian get into Yana's car and leave, Natalie took out her phone and called her parents overseas.

"Dad, Mom, I'm divorcing Adrian. And this time, I will never remarry him."

"What happened, sweetheart? Didn't you just remarry not long ago? Why are you divorcing again?"

"He cheated." Natalie said.

"He cheated again? That ungrateful brat is trying to give us a heart attack! Whatever decision you make, we support you. Over the years, many of Brown Group's businesses came from the Harrington family. If you come back, our family will completely cut ties with the Brown family. Without you and our cooperation, would the Brown family be where they are today? Absolutely shameless."

"Dad, do whatever you think is best. I'll come over as soon as possible."

After hanging up, Natalie took out the photo album from the drawer.

In the photos, Adrian and Natalie looked no more than eighteen, yet they had already become the most important people in each other's lives.

But now, she no longer loved him.

That night, Natalie slept soundly.

After waking up early, she put on refined makeup and planned to go to the company to hand over her work before leaving Brown Group for good.

In the office, she was focused on organizing documents, preparing to hand them over to her assistant.

Her phone suddenly vibrated. Adrian had sent her a video.

It was a video of him and Yana fucking in the office, explicit enough to make anyone gasp.

"Mr. Brown, is Miss Harrington really like a corpse in bed?"

"What do you think? Rigid and boring-"

Natalie didn't need to guess who had sent the video.

She ignored it, set the phone aside, and continued organizing her work.

The office door was suddenly pushed open. Adrian rushed in, flustered. "Natalie, about that video just now, Yana didn't mean to send it to you. She just likes fooling around..."

"I know." Natalie nodded, her tone completely flat. "Is there anything else?"

Adrian frowned. "You... aren't angry?"

Something was off. Everything felt wrong.

If this were before, she would have caused a huge scene.

Why had she suddenly become so cold?

"I'm not angry. She's right. I am a corpse in bed, and I don't know how to please you. But it's obvious she makes you very happy. As long as you're happy, that's fine."

After organizing the documents, she prepared to take them out to her assistant.

Adrian suddenly grew irritated. "And you say you're not angry? If you're not angry, why are you talking like this? All sarcastic and cutting. It makes me really uncomfortable!"

"Then what do you want me to say?" Natalie reached out and pushed him aside. "I'm really not angry. I actually think this is fine. I'm busy. If you have nothing else to do, Mr. Brown, you can go find some more exciting games to play with Ms. Bennett."

Adrian had no intention of leaving. Instead, he softened his tone. "I know you're upset about what happened last night, and Yana provoked you again today. Of course you're unhappy. How about this? It's already lunchtime. I'll have lunch with you today, alright?"

Natalie refused him again. "I said no."

"What exactly do you want?"

Adrian had completely lost his patience and was about to snap when Yana walked over, looking pitiful. "I'm sorry, Ms. Harrington. I came to apologize. That video was sent to you by accident. I was just fooling around with Mr. Brown. I didn't mean to send it out."

Natalie was already exhausted from hearing this kind of performative innocence.

If this were before, she would have exposed her without mercy. Now, she barely reacted. "I accept your apology. I really need to get back to work. Please, do as you like."

Watching her walk away, Adrian's brows knitted tightly.

"Something is really wrong with Natalie." Adrian said.

"What's wrong? Isn't this how you wanted her to be?" Yana stood on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said sweetly, "I'm hungry. I want you to take me out to eat."

Adrian pulled her hands away, his face cold. "Don't get this close to me at the office anymore. And without my permission, you're not allowed to enter the CEO's office again."

"Fine, I got it. You're really strange. Ms. Harrington gets angry and you're unhappy. She doesn't get angry and you're still unhappy. I really don't understand what men are thinking!" Yana replied.

Adrian didn't know either, but he strongly disliked Natalie's current attitude.

People said that when a woman stopped caring, it meant she no longer loved him.

Had she really stopped loving him?

It seemed he would have to seriously win her back.

That night, Adrian came home early, carrying a pile of gifts.

When he returned, Natalie was watching TV.

"Natalie, look at what I bought for you. They're all your favorite things..."

When Adrian brought the gifts over to her, she didn't even lift her head.

"Mm. Just put them there."

Her attitude set him off again. "Natalie, how long are you going to keep this up? Do you know how much I hate it when you act like this? If you have something to say, say it. Stop pretending you don't care!"

"Fine. Then I'll say it." Natalie looked up at him. "I don't need you to comfort me. I just want you to fire Yana and cut all ties with her. Can you do that?"

"Why do you have to be so extreme? Yana is still young, and she already said she wouldn't compete with you for the title of Mrs. Brown. Isn't that enough?" Adrian looked completely confused. "If that's still not enough, I'll fire her and keep her somewhere else. You won't have to see her again."