Chapter 1
I’d been in a secret marriage for three years with an uncle who shared not blood relation with me.
At the family gathering, the elders once again tried to set me up with a blind date.
Ashton Carney also joined the matchmaking squad, half–jokingly saying to me at the dinner table, “Jenny, you’re not that young anymore. Let me find you a good man to marry.”
He had said the same thing in my previous life. Back then, I announced our relationship in front of all our relatives.
I became his legal wife, but he began to neglect me.
Even when I had a difficult labor, Ashton flew abroad to have a candlelight dinner with his junior.
Then, I realized I was just his second choice. The junior was his true ideal partner.
So this time, hearing the same words, I simply smiled and said to him. “Ashton, I already have a boyfriend. We’re getting married next month.”
Everyone at the table stared at me in shock after hearing that.
I took out my phone and pulled up a photo.
“He’s my junior. We’ve been together for five years.”
In the photo was a young man who looked obedient and cute. We had our arms around each other, smiling brightly.
10 54
I held my phone high. Ashton saw it too–his smile froze instantly.
He straightened his posture, dropping his previous teasing manner, and his expression turned serious.
“Jenny Smith, do you know what you’re saying?”
My mom was the happiest.
After all, ever since I graduated, she had been pushing me to get married. for five whole years. In the past, I always made up excuses to avoid blind dates because of Ashton. Now that I finally gave in, she looked at her adopted brother, who was 15 years younger than her, and teased him.
“Ashton, you and Cecilia are also senior and junior schoolmates, right? You’re already 35. When are you going to marry her?”
Cecilia Johnson was drunk, leaning casually on Ashton’s shoulder. Hearing that, she drunkenly raised her glass, clinging to Ashton, asking for a toast.
In front of all the relatives, she exchanged glass with him.
Ashton smiled dotingly, raised his hand to wipe the beer off her lips, and then adjusted his posture to make her sleep more comfortably.
No one else was surprised.
In their eyes, it was only a matter of time before Ashton married Cecilia.
My mom patted my shoulder and made a bet with me.
“Jenny, your words are magic. Want to bet when your uncle is marrying Cecilia?”
I replied indifferently, “Same as me–next month.”
Our voices weren’t too loud or too soft–just enough for Ashton to hear.
He only met my eyes for a second before guiltily looking away, not daring to meet my gaze. The hand that had been resting on Cecilia’s shoulder also dropped.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Cecilia and I could never get married. She has her own pursuits.”
When Ashton said this, his face was full of regret.
The way he looked at Cecilia was filled with forbearance and affection even he wasn’t aware of.
I didn’t argue with him like I used to, demanding an explanation.
I just lowered my head and peeled a whole plate of shrimp for myself.
Ashton didn’t like getting his hands greasy but loved eating shrimp, so I always peeled them for him and put them on his plate–only then would he reluctantly eat them.
But now, under Ashton’s gaze, I put all the peeled shrimp into my mouth.
“Ashton, do you want some? Stop looking at her. I’ll go make it for you!” Cecilia said, then drunkenly stood up and headed toward the kitchen.
