He then said, “The dowry your family gives can’t be greater than the betrothal gift my family gives. This is the rule of our Norman Family. If you want to be my wife, you must abide by it.”

My mother was already worried that I wouldn’t feel confident enough to be bullied after marrying, so she prepared a generous dowry for me.

So, after some thought, I finally agreed.

Finally, he said, “I’m not determined to get married yet. Let’s try it out for three months. If it works, we’ll get married.”

I thought he was being responsible for our future, so I agreed.

But to my surprise, my repeated concessions made him look at me with increasing disdain. He asked me, “Yvonne, are you so desperate to get married?”

I wasn’t. I just wanted to marry the man I loved.

That day, I really wanted to tell him. I’d loved him for ten years. Marrying him had become my greatest wish.

It was my mother who stopped me in the nick of time. On the way home, she told me. “No matter how much you love someone, don’t expose your weaknesses to them. You never know when your weaknesses might become a boomerang back at you.”

She said that no matter how much you loved someone, you must maintain your self-respect.

I carried my luggage home. My parents were surprised to see me back.

They kept asking me why I’d come home so late at night.

I didn’t hide anything and showed them the photos I’d taken.

My mother’s face paled as she saw the absurdity in the photos. She shouted, “I’m going to the Norman Family right now. I have to get an explanation from them!”

I shook my head and reached out to stop her. “Forget it, there’s no point in doing such meaningless things. Besides, he’s not the only single man in the Norman Family; he still has his uncle.”

If I couldn’t be his bride, I could at least be his aunt.

My dad slapped his thigh excitedly when he heard this.

He kept praising me. He favored Albert over Ken.

A few years ago, he got drunk at a party and insisted on becoming closer to Albert.

But he ruthlessly rejected him. He still remembered this incident. That night, I slept soundly at home.

When I woke up the next day, Ken’s mother personally sent someone to invite my parents and me to the Norman Family’s house.

They wanted to apologize for what happened the night before.

From now on, we should remain part of the Norman Family. There was no need to make things awkward.

So we arrived on time. Unexpectedly, upon arriving at the Norman Family’s house, we heard the merciless crack of a whip.

As the whip fell, there was a stubborn, angry retort. “Regina and I are innocent. Yvonne is just imagining things. What does it have to do with me? Besides, I don’t like her. You’re the ones forcing me to marry her!”

I’d known Ken disliked me all along. But hearing him say it in person still pricked my heart uncontrollably.

When we entered the room, Ken’s back was covered in crisscrossing whip marks. He knelt awkwardly before Theo, who sat in the middle. Seeing us, Theo quickly subsided and invited us to take a seat.

“My dear in-laws, you’ve come just in time. We can discuss the marriage now…”

“What marriage? I told you, if Yvonne can’t accept Regina, I won’t marry her!”

Ken raised his head stubbornly and looked at me with disdain. Theo gave him an ambiguous look and said to himself, “Whether you agree or not, Yvonne is always the daughter-in-law of our Norman Family…”

Before I could speak, a scornful sneer echoed from the vast living room.

Ken straightened his back, his eyes cold and indifferent.

He repeated, “Even if you force me to marry her, I won’t fall in love with her or live a good life with her.”

Perhaps I had heard this kind of talk too many times. So this time, it didn’t sting as much as before.

I met his gaze coldly and said slowly, “What a coincidence! I also won’t fall in love with you or live a good life with you.”

As I finished speaking, Ken’s figure visibly trembled slightly.

He couldn’t understand why I, who had always agreed to any request, wouldn’t back down on Regina.

Even more, he couldn’t understand why I wanted to marry him before, even though I didn’t like him.

He opened his mouth, about to say something else. Regina somehow ran in. Seeing the crisscrossing scars on his back, her eyes welled up again.

She fixed her gaze on me and said indignantly, “Miss Chapman, you’re Ken’s fiancée after all and you didn’t even bother to stop him. You just watched him get punished. Don’t you feel bad?”

Hearing her words, I almost laughed. I countered, “You know I’m his fiancée, so why were you so tactless? You barged into our wedding room on the first night of our trial marriage and did something so disgusting?”

Her face flushed red at my words and her eyes were filled with pity.

Something struck her, but she sank to her knees before me and pleaded, “I was wrong about this. I’ll definitely change this habit. As long as you’re happy, I’ll never come to Ken again.”

His mother was furious and shouted, “Who are you to be crying like that? I told you to stay away from Ken, so why are you still going around with him behind my back?”

At this, Regina’s face paled. There was a flicker of guilt in her eyes. She didn’t dare look at her. Ken, however, was furious. He stood up with a jerk and carefully helped her up.

With red eyes, he shouted at everyone present, “Regina and I haven’t done anything against the law. Why are you bullying a delicate little girl like this? Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at if anyone knows about this?”

With that, he didn’t stop and angrily dragged Regina out of the house.

His mother was trembling with anger as she watched him openly defy them for her.

After calming down, she began to apologize again.

I had long since gotten over his repeated insults.

I shrugged nonchalantly.

That day, we stayed at the Norman Family’s house to discuss my marriage to Albert.

We didn’t hide the wedding preparations.

Ken soon became the topic of everyone’s gossip. So much so that many people in the community started teasing him. “Mr. Norman, your wedding was quite grand. Not only did you book the city’s most luxurious hotel, but even the wedding dress and rings were designed by renowned international designers.”

“That’s right. If we didn’t know better, we’d think you loved your bride.”

Ken listened to their banter and felt a pang of annoyance.

He gulped down his liquor and scoffed, “Don’t think I’ll just give in. I won’t forgive her until she apologizes to Regina.”

As he spoke, the corners of his lips curved slightly. There was a sly glint in his eyes.

He said calmly, “I’d like to see how embarrassed she’d be without a groom at her wedding.”

Regina, who was sitting next to him, heard this and her eyes lit up with delight. She asked him, “Are you planning to run away from the marriage and not fulfill your engagement?”

Ken’s expression darkened. “I’m running away just to teach her a lesson. I still have to get married, or I don’t know what my parents will do to me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Regina’s smile instantly faded. She bit her lip and whispered, “So you’re leaving me alone? If she still doesn’t accept…”

Ken saw her cautious expression and caressed her face with a look of heartache.

He whispered soothingly, “When I was little, I accidentally fell into the river and nearly drowned. You saved me. How could I abandon you?”

Only after hearing his assurance did Regina smile again.

Standing at the door of the private room, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.

I’d been wondering why he had changed his attitude toward Regina.

Now, I finally knew.

At that moment, a head popped out of the adjacent box and called cheerfully, “Yvonne, come quickly! Your final bachelorette party is about to begin.”

I took a step back and followed her into the adjacent box.

Time flew by. Soon it was Albert and I’s wedding day.

Ken, in an attempt to escape the marriage, had bought an early-night flight and taken Regina abroad.

He even sent me a message just moments before the wedding.

[Yvonne, I won’t be back until you realize your mistake. Just enjoy being a bride without a wedding.]

I smiled silently, pulled the man next to me over, took a photo and sent it to him.

I said, [Have fun outside, nephew. Your uncle and I will be waiting for you to come back and offer you tea.]