The Husband I Loved for Eight Years Never Loved Me-Chapter 56: In Name Only

Chapter 56: In Name Only

"President Sterling, this is the divorce agreement signed by Miss Royce."

The lawyer handed the divorce agreement to the man before him.

「Five years ago.」

Peter Preston had contacted Tristan Sterling’s side to discuss the divorce.

It was true that he had been the one to first propose the divorce, but now it was Rachel Royce who was desperate to finalize it.

This made him extremely uncomfortable.

"If she wants a divorce, tell her to come talk to me in person."

The divorce agreement they had signed before was thus rendered void.

And just like that, five years had passed.

The two of them were still legally husband and wife.

Tristan Sterling looked at the divorce agreement, a layer of frost seeming to settle in his eyes. "Where is she?" he asked.

Hearing the man’s voice, the lawyer said, "Miss Royce has authorized me to handle everything. If you refuse to sign, President Sterling, our only remaining option will be to file a lawsuit."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man’s expression turned even colder. He suddenly let out a mocking sneer. "Then I’d like to see just how capable she thinks she is."

The lawyer left the president’s office.

Melissa Sterling came to the office looking for her father. The moment he saw his daughter, he quickly concealed his emotions, but Melissa could still sense that he was angry.

"Daddy, have some candy."

Melissa Sterling held up her small hand to feed her father a piece of candy.

Tristan Sterling bent down and accepted the piece of candy from Melissa, placing it in his mouth.

"Don’t be angry, Daddy. Melissa will keep you company."

Tristan Sterling picked up his daughter and settled her on his lap. "Daddy’s not angry," he said.

Just then, his phone vibrated.

He picked it up. The caller ID read: Claire.

*

As soon as the lawyer left the company building, he called Rachel Royce.

"Okay, I understand."

Rachel Royce hung up and put down her phone with a sigh. ’Tristan Sterling still hasn’t agreed to the divorce. He probably feels that the control he should have had has fallen into my hands.’

’How could someone with his personality tolerate that?’

What surprised her, though, was that he still hadn’t married Claire Ainsworth because of this.

Just then, her phone vibrated, interrupting her thoughts.

It was a call from Joanna Sutton.

"Hello, Joanna."

"Rachel, where are you?"

"On my way. There’s a bit of traffic, so it might be another ten or fifteen minutes."

"Okay, no rush. Drive safely. We’ll wait for you."

"Okay."

She had just returned to the country two days ago.

It was Friday, and everyone was free that evening, so they were throwing her a welcome-home dinner.

She watched the city’s nightscape flash by her window.

Five years had passed.

Everything was still so familiar and unchanged.

「About fifteen minutes later.」

The Ferrari slowly pulled to a stop in front of a private kitchen housed in a traditional Chinese-style building.

Rachel Royce pushed open the car door.

Her high heels clicked on the ground as she stood up. The wind lifted her long hair, and the last rays of the setting sun cast a golden glow upon her exquisite face.

She closed the car door, grabbed her bag, and walked toward the lobby.

There were quite a few people coming in for dinner at this hour.

Her arrival immediately drew the eyes of everyone around.

She wore black shorts that showed off a pair of long, straight, and well-proportioned legs, and a white, short-sleeved blouse with a cinched waist that highlighted her slender figure.

Her face was almost too beautiful, with sharp, clear features, and she exuded an air of cold, mature elegance.

Someone even approached her directly to try and strike up a conversation.

The people who could book a table here were generally not ordinary folk.

Rachel Royce smiled and politely declined before striding into the lobby.

A male server came forward to greet her. Even though he was used to seeing beautiful women while working here, his eyes still revealed a flash of astonishment the moment he saw her. However, his strong professionalism kept him from faltering.

When Rachel Royce mentioned her reserved private room, the server led her toward it.

Just then, a voice called out from behind her, "Rachel."

Rachel Royce turned to see Thomas Sterling striding toward her. Five years had passed, and the boyish charm in his handsome features had faded, replaced by a deeper maturity and composure.

Rachel Royce smiled at him, the light reflecting gently in her eyes.

In the past five years, Thomas Sterling would visit her whenever he had free time, though they only met occasionally. He was busy with work, as was she, but they did talk on the phone from time to time.

It had been more than half a year since they last saw each other, when he had taken the time to fly to the United States specifically to celebrate her birthday.

’Seeing her again now, she seems to have grown even more beautiful.’

"I almost didn’t recognize you."

Rachel Royce laughed. "You say that every time we meet. Did you think I had a face transplant?"

Thomas Sterling laughed as well.

The two of them walked toward the private room together.

Before they even entered, Rachel Royce could hear Joanna Sutton’s voice.

Rachel Royce entered the private room and knocked.

The people inside turned to look at her.

When Joanna Sutton saw Rachel Royce, she gasped, then got up and walked over. She looked her up and down and asked, "Excuse me, beautiful, but is your name perhaps Rachel Royce?"

Rachel Royce couldn’t help but laugh. "My name is Joanna Sutton."

"Oh my! I’ve long heard that the beautiful Joanna Sutton was a peerless beauty, a goddess whose looks could make fish sink and geese fall, eclipse the moon and shame the flowers. Seeing you today, it’s all true!"

"You really know how to flatter yourself!" Ian Quinn mocked without mercy.

Joanna Sutton turned and glared at him. "If I don’t flatter myself, should I be flattering you instead?"

"Is that any way to talk to your superior? Believe it or not, I could dock your pay."

"Tch. You’re just a junior partner. The big boss is right here and hasn’t said a word. What gives you the right to act so high and mighty? Isn’t that right, President Jennings?"

Julian Jennings was sitting next to Ian Quinn. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt and looked just as refined and handsome as he had five years ago, with an extraordinary air about him.

"Alright, everyone, let’s all sit down first."

Rachel Royce stepped forward to greet the two of them.

"Professor, Ian."

Ian Quinn said, "A girl really does go through a 360-degree transformation!"

Rachel Royce just smiled.

She sat down next to Joanna Sutton, and Thomas Sterling took the seat beside Rachel Royce. Peter Preston hadn’t arrived yet.

He was at an airshow today.

In the past five years, Prodigy Tech had grown at a breathtaking pace. Five years ago, it was a small, unknown company, but now it was collaborating with the state on multiple confidential projects. Furthermore, a game development project they had worked on with Thomas Sterling’s company was launched last year, and its sales had already surpassed ten billion.

Rowan had earned enormous profits from its investment in Prodigy.

As a result, they had been flooded with partnership proposals over the past two years. Peter Preston had been so busy all these years that he had barely had a chance to rest.

Around six o’clock, Peter Preston finally arrived.

Once everyone was there, the servers began to bring out the food.

They made small talk about life and work.

"For the financial summit next week, the professor said you’re going to be the host, Rachel," said Joanna Sutton.

The international financial summit was being held in Kingsland next week, and the invitees were all top figures from the industry, both domestic and international.

Hosting such a large-scale event, especially in front of a crowd of industry titans, was not something an ordinary person could do.

Even she wasn’t qualified for it.

Rachel Royce hummed in agreement. This would be her first public event since returning to the country.

"In that case, Tristan Sterling will definitely be there."

Hearing this, Rachel Royce’s hand paused for a moment. "It doesn’t matter," she said. "To me, he’s just a stranger. I’ll treat him like any other guest."

Although she and Tristan Sterling were still legally married, their relationship had long existed in name only. There was nothing between them anymore.