Hard to Go After

On a late autumn night.

The pouring rain all day finally began to stop.

No lights were on in the villa, and there wasn't lightning. The house was deadly silent and dark.

In a thin dress, a girl was huddling by the bed in the bedroom. With her arms clasping round her knees, she squatted there, motionless.

Her body was shivering with the cold, but she took no measures to warm herself up.

Finally, the vroom of the car engine came from the courtyard.

A full eight hours.

She waited from the afternoon till the middle of the night. Finally, he came back.

Flap...

The first thing the man did after he came in was to turn on all the lights in the villa.

The light stung the girl's eyes. She covered her eyes and put her hands off until she slowly adapted to the light.

Then her eyes landed on the man at the door.

He stood there with a poker face. His legs were straight and long. Above his wet shirt was his delicate, stunning face. Like a king, he naturally attracted attention and boasted an awful vibe.

"Jeffrey..." She opened her thin lips and called out softly in a trembling voice.

The man acted like he didn't hear her. Without even a glance at her, he strode out of the bedroom.

He came back today to ask about the matter with Luna Sandoval. When he saw her like that, he was in no mood to speak a word.

Heh, what kind of person was she? Hadn't he known her well enough in the past year?

After the man left, the girl clutched a piece of paper on the floor and clenched her fist so tightly that her nails almost dug into her flesh.

This was the man she had loved for five years.

He was ruthless, but his charisma was irresistible and deadly.

She thought she could melt his heart of stone. Unexpectedly, he made her life a cold cell first.

She thought he had driven away as usual. To her surprise, he showed up again in the bedroom half an hour later in just a bath towel.

He approached her step by step. The air about him was awful.

Scarlett Park lifted her eyelids and met his eyes as deep as the ocean.

Her eyes were dark and her skin was pallor probably because she hadn't been in the sun for a long time.

"What... what do you want?" Scarlett panicked and cowered to the corner.

"Heh, you, of course!" The man forced the words slowly out of his clenched teeth.

"Don't... don't come closer." The girl said, a quiver in her voice, and her hands pushed against his burning chest.

Feeling something under his feet, the man dropped his eyes. When he saw the striking title on the white paper, his eyes turned colder.

"You want a divorce?" He stopped moving and looked at her contemptuously. His voice was cold.

"Do you see any point in sustaining our marriage?" Scarlett fought back her tears desperately and whimpered uncontrollably.

"Heh." Jeffrey snorted.

He kicked the two copies of divorce papers to the closet and continued, "What makes you think you have the right to bring it up?"

He paused and snapped, "There is no divorce but only widowerhood in my dictionary."

Without waiting for her reaction, he stretched out his arm, lifted her, and threw her onto the king-size bed.

Scarlett resisted desperately and accidentally pulled off his bath towel. When she saw his naked body, she was shocked.

"Good, very good! With no man touching you for a year, you're horny as hell." His voice was cold and a little playful.

He bore down on her thin body, lowered his head, and kissed her shivering lips.

"No, don't..." Hot tears streamed out of her eyes. Glistening, they enraged the man completely.

"You want a divorce without fulfilling your spousal duty once? Do you think it's possible?" The man pressed his lips against hers, giving her no chance to speak another word.

Her dress was brutally torn to pieces.

He treated her like a sex doll, showed no mercy, and aggressively started intercourse without any foreplay...

It started to drizzle outside. The rainy night seemed endless.

Five years later.

L.A. Airport.

"Ellie, Ellie..."

"Stella, Stella..."

There was a hubbub outside as fans flocked to their favorite idols upon seeing them coming out of the airport.

"I was told that our trip was not announced to the public. Why are there so many fans here today?" Ellie Massey frowned, dropped her mouth to the ear of her agent, Nancy Tran, and asked in a sullen voice.

"Ellie, this is not Nancy's fault. I inadvertently mentioned our return today to Willow, and she secretly organized the pickup." Stella White hung her head and explained in a low voice.

Willow Singleton was the president of their fan club and on good terms with Stella. Stella had reminded her not to tell the other fans, but Willow brought so many people here.

Ellie and Stella were members of ST Girls, a pop group established three years ago. They didn't start well because of their incompatible personalities. At first, they disliked each other and preferred solo.

Then something happened one day. They clicked, and the duo formed. Until now, they still felt great about the decision.

ST meant summer and winter. It symbolized their widely different personalities and appearances. One was warm and the other cold. One looked sweet and the other calm.

After receiving a belief interview, they walked outside under the escort of bodyguards. However, the other exit also became noisy.

And there were too many fans and the media.

Nevaeh Cochran.

She was a senior in their company. Starting her career as a singer, she was now an A-lister. The artist currently focused on films and became the youngest movie queen elected.

Though working in the same company, they were not familiar with each other.

The man walking to the exit with her was Jeffrey Hodges, President of Colossal International. The business tycoon was famous at home and abroad.

He was wearing a pair of big sunglasses, and the woman next to him was also wearing sunglasses. Side by side, they walked towards the exit. When the reporters asked about their relationship, both people tacitly kept their mouths shut.

"Nancy, drop me off at the intersection. I have a matter to deal with and will return to the hotel later." Ellie paid no attention to the other group of people. After finishing a phone call, she whispered to the person beside her.

"You're acting mysteriously. There must be something." Stella looked at her and smiled with the eyes ambiguously.

Ellie pursed her lips but declined to answer it.

She pulled up the collar of her jacket, put on her hat, quickened her pace, and headed to the parking lot.

Ellie felt excited to meet that person.

They hadn't met for five years, and she wondered about his reaction in a moment.

That year before she left L.A., she only told one person about it, and he helped her arrange everything.

That included a change in her identity.

"Are you here yet?" Lest the fans might spot her, Ellie walked to an inconspicuous junction and waited for the man.

"I see you. You're wearing a white coat and a white hat, right? Turn to the left."

Ellie turned to the main road on the left and saw a striking aqua-blue sports car.

The beautiful car matched his unrestrained style!

Only it was too conspicuous. If the reporters caught her in the cameras when she got in this car, she would probably hit the headlines.

"Can't you keep it low-key?" Ellie sulked at the man on the other end of the phone.

She was not upset but felt helpless. Six years apart, he hadn't changed a bit.

However, the other party asked back with disdain, "Why should I?"

This was the cheapest one among his cars. Originally, he wanted to drive that high-profile flaming sports car. On second thought about her identity, he chose this Lamborghini.

After receiving such a reply from Ronin Gates, Ellie chose to shut her mouth.

Discussing such boring topics with him was simply a waste of time.

Because their worldviews were widely different.

Honk... When Ellie hung up the phone and crossed the road, a black Bentley dashed over.

Bang... The incautious woman was run over.

"B... boss, a crash." The driver looked back and reported to his boss in a trembling voice.

"What are you waiting for? Get off and take a look!" Jeffrey growled with a cold face, following the driver to open the door and get off.

He was not driven by fear or guilt. It was just that he had promised to pick up his son and dine with him. It was already lunchtime. To his son, Grady Hodges, he had never broken a single promise.

He just hadn't expected to see her!

In the ward of No. 1 People's Hospital...

Ellie's eyelashes trembled slightly. The bright light outside came in and stimulated her chaotic consciousness.

When she tried to recall what had happened, the attractive voice of a man came from the window sill nearby.

"I'll be there when I finish my business. Enjoy your meal."

"I won't go back on my words, I promise, okay?"

"Good, bye."

Ellie hadn't expected such a sweet voice as soon as she came round.

The voice was natural, gentle, and enviable.

Envy?

Heh, she must be crazy.

Or else, why did she have such a feeling?

When the man put away his phone and turned to her, she felt even more unhinged.

Was L.A. so small?

It was not that she hadn't imagined meeting him again, but not in such a way on the first day of her return.

Before this, Jeffrey was more surprised than her.

When their eyes met, the man's gaze from the distance was cold enough to make her shiver.

To her greatest surprise, she was still so nervous and at a loss when she met him again after so many years.

When she heard his gentle voice just now, she even had an inexplicable feeling.

He had never talked to any woman so gently, not even Luna.

So, he had got another woman as reported in the news?

And they were about to get married?

"Awake?"

Jeffrey broke the silence with a poker face.

He looked calmly at the delicate face of the woman on the sickbed. The shock and nervousness when he got off and saw her were long gone. Just now, he carried her into the hospital, shouted for help, and demanded her safety. Now he acted like a different person.

His deep slanted eyes landed on her as he sized her up meaningfully.

Five years apart, she looked thinner. Apart from that, she hadn't changed much. He was only a little surprised to see a cold expression on her delicate face.

He recalled the remark he said five years ago, "There is no divorce but only widowerhood in my dictionary." So, she faked her death and lived incognito?

Or, this woman was not her.

Instead of answering him, Ellie looked calmly at the statuesque man in the near distance. As if she didn't hear him, she showed distant coldness in her wandering eyes.

Her dark pupils swiveled as she surveyed the room. Then she laid her eyes back on Jeffrey and asked in a cold voice, "Am I in a hospital?"

Her voice was calm and indifferent. Her eyes, sliding out of focus, looked tired and lazy.

Her tone was so serene that Jeffrey could barely associate the effeminate, quiet girl from five years ago with this woman.

She was asking him but seemed not expecting his answer.

After finishing her question, she looked away and reached out her hand to pull out the syringe.