If being left alone in an empty house on the second day of her wedding by her husband had already made Hannah Hargrave feel wronged and unwilling to accept it, then seeing Nicholas Croft come back only to start packing his clothes into a suitcase made her even more panicked and uneasy.

She stood beside Nicholas, clutching his arm, and asked in a fright, "Nicholas, where are you going? A business trip? Some event? How come I didn’t get any notice about it..."

Hannah’s grip on his arm interfered with Nicholas’s packing. He flung her off and snapped impatiently, "Get lost!"

Hannah was thrown off balance and stumbled, but instead of getting angry, she clung to him again, lightly holding onto his arm as she cried, "Nicholas, don’t treat me like this. We’re husband and wife. When you act like this, it really hurts me..."

"You asked for it!" Nicholas said coldly. He shoved the pants and shirt from the bed into the suitcase, snapped it shut, then grabbed it and strode toward the bedroom door.

"Nicholas, don’t go!" Hannah called out miserably, hurrying over and spreading her arms to block his way.

Sophie Foster was still in a coma, and Nicholas was in a rush to take her abroad for treatment. In this situation he had no patience at all. Seeing Hannah tactlessly blocking his way, he raised his hand, grabbed her arm, and flung her aside.

With a dull "thud," Hannah’s head slammed against the wall next to the door. A buzzing rang through her skull. She pressed a hand to her throbbing forehead, her brows knitting in pain.

Nicholas acted as if he hadn’t seen anything, hauling his suitcase as he strode out. Hannah had just braced herself against the wall and gotten to her feet, about to chase after him, when his merciless voice rang out in the hallway.

"Auntie Wang! From now on, don’t let any random riffraff into my room. If you can’t manage that, go home and babysit your grandkids!"

Nicholas’s words were like a basin of cold water dumped over Hannah’s head, chilling her from head to toe.

She was his newly wedded wife, yet he... called her random riffraff, said she wasn’t allowed to step into his room... 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Heh..." Propping herself up against the wall, Hannah couldn’t stop a bitter laugh from slipping out, and tears slid from the corners of her eyes.

That afternoon, Nicholas flew to the United States. On the third day of their marriage, he left his bride alone at home to guard an empty room...

In a café, Hannah sat in a corner seat, eyes lowered as she stirred the coffee in her cup. Even with delicate makeup painted on, her face couldn’t hide its haggardness.

Assistant Harry Zachary sat opposite her, quietly watching her, his handsome face devoid of expression.

When the milk in the coffee was more or less stirred evenly, Hannah took a breath that carried a faint tremor, picked up the cup, and asked lightly, "How did it go?"

Her tone was very casual, but it was tinged with hoarseness.

Harry’s brows tightened slightly. He didn’t answer her question. Instead, with a blank face, he asked, "Is it worth it?"

Hannah’s hand, halfway through bringing the cup to her lips, paused. She looked up at him, fingers with perfectly manicured nails pinching the handle of the cup, stopping just before her mouth. "What did you say?"

Clearly, her mind was elsewhere.

"Do you like her that much?" Harry asked. His tone was still flat, but only he knew how much it hurt to see the woman he admired become so haggard overnight.

Hannah set the cup back down, still holding it, her expression turning displeased. "Don’t forget your place. You’re not qualified to interfere in my private life!"

"My place? And what place do you think I have?" Harry countered, his face expressionless.