Chapter 151 Not A Girl Anymore
The family of three finally stopped walking.
Arabella didn't really have anything left to say to Molly anyway. She'd said everything that needed saying, and if Molly didn't want to accept reality, that was her problem. It had nothing to do with her anymore.
But Alexander had stopped. He turned to face Molly, his dark eyes containing a cold, distant chill that made her instinctively shrink back. She was terrified of this man.
When Alexander spoke, his tone was equally cold. "Arabella promised Ms. Ramsey she'd take good care of you, and she did everything within her power. Before you even arrived, she personally decorated your room, spent countless hours and energy just wanting you to settle into your new home as quickly as possible."
"She doesn't have children of her own—adopting you meant she planned to treat you like her own daughter. She wanted to nurture you properly, pay for music lessons you'd enjoy, send you to college, eventually buy you a car and a house, give you a happy life. You threw all of that away with your own hands."
"You have no right to call her a hypocrite. The hypocrite here is you. The fake one is you. You're exactly the small-minded person you're accusing her of being. Arabella has a clear conscience."
His voice grew harder. "You came looking for her because you're desperate and out of options. But you need to understand something—in this world, every choice we make comes with consequences. No one is obligated to stand in place forever waiting for you. Arabella won't help you, and neither will I. Whether you live or die from now on has nothing to do with her. Got it?"
His expression remained blank, but his presence was overwhelming. Molly was too frightened to speak. Only after Alexander pushed Arabella's wheelchair away with Becky did she finally exhale in relief, slumping to the ground in defeat.
So Ms. Bourbon had really done all that for her? She'd actually planned out how to take care of her entire life, even thought about buying her a car and house...
Molly's heart was a tangle of emotions—regret and resentment. She regretted believing Cassidy's lies back then, but she resented that Arabella hadn't told her these things at the time. If Arabella had told her, maybe she wouldn't have chosen Cassidy!
What was she supposed to do now? The Watson family had kicked her out, Cassidy wouldn't take care of her, Arabella wouldn't help her either, and she didn't even have a place to live... Molly began sobbing, crying for her own pitiful situation and hating how everyone else just stood by and watched.
After leaving the hospital, Alexander carefully studied Arabella's expression. "Are you upset?"
Arabella paused at the question, then smiled and shook her head. "Not upset."
It was all in the past. She was doing well now—if anyone should be upset, it should be someone else.
Alexander saw that her expression didn't seem fake, and he finally relaxed. "People who truly love you will never hurt you. Being able to see their true colors early is actually a good thing for you. The lucky part is that you're still young—your life still has unlimited possibilities."
Arabella laughed. "Why do I feel like you're talking strangely today, like something terrible happened to me or something."
Alexander opened his mouth but didn't dare continue.
If someday she learned that her marriage to Anthony had been full of lies and manipulation, that the person she'd once loved with all her heart was actually a monster—would she be unable to cope? He didn't know, but he was afraid she might not be able to handle it. That's why he instinctively tried to prepare her mentally.
Alexander silently resolved that no matter what, she could never learn those truths. Such reality would be too cruel and painful—he couldn't bear to let her suffer like that again. Her first half of life had already been full of storms. Now that he was by her side, he wouldn't let any more storms fall upon her.
Arabella's rejection of Molly made Becky happiest of all. She walked with extra bounce in her step, animatedly telling stories about interesting things that happened at school.
---
The Watson family home.
Anthony stood in the living room smoking, the red glow flickering on and off, making Rachel's heart skip nervously as she sat on the sofa. The atmosphere was tense.
Jennifer tried to mediate. "Anthony, you know Rachel is about to discuss marriage arrangements with the Green family. If we have some child of unknown origin in our house, what would the Green family think? That little—that child was adopted by Cassidy anyway, so she doesn't really have anything to do with our family. Kicking her out is no big deal."
Anthony looked up at his mother, anger threatening to explode in his chest, but he didn't say a word. This had become a habit over the years. His father had long since abandoned family responsibilities to avoid trouble elsewhere, leaving his mother to raise him and his sister alone. He'd grown accustomed to not wanting to hurt his mother's feelings.
Even though he'd climbed to a very high position over the years, this habit still bound him tightly.
He took a sharp drag of his cigarette and exhaled. Rachel watched his grim expression, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Her hand gripped the leather sofa surface. After struggling for a long time, she finally said, "Anthony, I was the one who kicked her out. If you want to blame someone, blame me."
Jennifer immediately panicked. "How could we blame you? It was my idea. Anthony, I really don't understand why you have to care about that child. What does she have to do with you? It's not like she's your biological daughter..."
She stopped mid-sentence, suddenly freezing as she looked at Anthony suspiciously. "That child isn't really your—"
"No." Anthony coldly dropped those two words and turned to leave.
Jennifer quickly asked, "Where are you going? Let me tell you, you absolutely cannot bring that child back, understand? The Green family won't stand for it!"
Anthony's steps hesitated briefly, but he said nothing.
Rachel watched Anthony's figure disappear outside the door. After a moment's hesitation, she looked at her mother. "Mom, he wouldn't actually bring that little brat back, would he?"
Jennifer's face darkened. "If he had any consideration for our family, he wouldn't do something so stupid. I'm just afraid that..."
Rachel looked confused. "But why does he care so much about that child?"
Jennifer's eyes flashed with anger as she suppressed her rage. "I suspect it's because of that little bitch Arabella!"
"Arabella?" Rachel was stunned. "What does this have to do with Arabella? He's been divorced from her for over six months."
Jennifer said coldly, "That little bitch was the one who sponsored that bastard child originally, and later she insisted on wanting to adopt her. Your brother probably wants to keep Molly because of Arabella. Now that he's divorced from that slut Cassidy, who knows what he's thinking?"
Rachel frowned deeply. "That can't be right, can it? Arabella is already married. Would he still be interested in her?"
Jennifer's face remained dark, but she said nothing more. There were things Rachel didn't know, but she understood very clearly.
Originally, Anthony had approached Arabella to ensure that certain matters went off without a hitch. But after they'd been dating for over six months, she'd sensed something was wrong. At first, it was Anthony who proposed marriage to Arabella. She'd been shocked and asked why.
Because that matter absolutely didn't require Anthony to sacrifice his own marriage—someone as naive as Arabella could have been figured out just by dating her for a while without needing marriage. But Anthony had insisted on marriage, saying only marriage would guarantee success.
She'd had no choice but to agree. To prevent Arabella from claiming any family assets, she'd deliberately drawn up harsh prenuptial agreements—when Arabella married into the Watson family, not only would there be no bride price, but she wouldn't get any money after marriage either.
But unexpectedly, Anthony had strongly opposed that agreement. Although he'd eventually agreed to her conditions, before the marriage he'd given Arabella at least a hundred thousand dollars. After marriage, he'd also given Arabella a supplementary credit card with a million-dollar limit, letting her spend freely.
As his mother, her own monthly allowance was only two million dollars, and what he gave Arabella amounted to half of hers.
She'd realized then that her son wasn't as indifferent toward Arabella as he appeared on the surface. She'd thought the divorce would be a new beginning, but unexpectedly, after all this time, he was still thinking about Arabella!
What was so special about that bitch Arabella? How was she worthy of him?
Jennifer couldn't understand it, but she had to nip this in the bud. If that bitch Arabella thought she could seduce her son and return to the Watson family, she absolutely wouldn't allow it!
Pushing those thoughts aside, she looked at Rachel. "I asked you before to invite the Green family's young master to dinner at our house. Did you manage to arrange it?"
Rachel's face immediately scrunched up at the mention. "Mom, you saw how that guy talked and acted that day. Do I really have to marry him?"
Jennifer snorted coldly. "Wasn't it your own choice? I said don't marry, don't marry, but you insisted on agreeing with your brother. Now it's set in stone—if you don't marry him, what else can you do? If we offend the Green family, do you think the Watson family will be okay?"
Rachel sighed and lowered her head dejectedly. "How was I supposed to know he was like that? He's basically just a complete jerk!"
Two nights ago, the Green and Watson families had dinner together. Originally it was arranged for her and young Mr. Green to get to know each other, and for both sets of parents to meet as well. But unexpectedly, Mr. Green had shown up with women! And he'd brought two of them! One on each arm—what a player!
If those two women had been respectable ladies, that would have been one thing, but they were dressed like streetwalkers. It was disgusting to look at! But his parents seemed completely used to it, not managing him at all. They just greeted Ethan to sit down and continued chatting as if nothing had happened.
Anthony hadn't said anything either when he saw this, so she'd had to keep quiet too.
During dinner, Mr. Green had cursed constantly, pulled out white powder to snort, and even groped those two women's chests right there at the table... Rachel had thought this Mr. Green would be bad at most in terms of drinking, gambling, and womanizing, but she hadn't expected him to be using drugs too. Was that stuff even safe to touch? And his behavior was so crude—he was like a common thug!
No wonder the prestigious Green family was willing to accept the Watson family. Such a bastard—even though he was fairly good-looking, she really didn't want him!
Jennifer saw the disgust written all over her face and sighed. "Things are already this way now. Don't even think about breaking the engagement—the Watson family can't handle the consequences. Unless the Green family is willing, we absolutely cannot bring it up."
"That Green family young master may be a bit wild, but at least you'd be the legitimate Mrs. Green. Your status and position would be completely different. With the Reeves family blocking you, you can't find a good family in Majestic City. Comparatively speaking, the Green family in Seaside City is a decent choice."
"Rather than randomly marrying someone in Majestic City, it's better to fight for higher status. Rachel, you're not a child anymore—you need to understand the stakes involved."
Rachel wasn't enthusiastic about it, but she could listen to her mother's reasoning. After a moment, she nodded. "I'll call him, but if he won't come, then there's nothing I can do about it."
Jennifer squeezed her hand. "That's fine. Having the Green family young master come to our house for dinner is just basic hospitality—the most important thing is showing our attitude. If he doesn't come, then that's not our fault."
This attitude was mainly for the Green family to see. Rachel nodded silently.
---
'Echoes of Waves' film set.
During break time, Daisy was calling Arabella. "Really? You're out of the hospital? I was thinking about taking time off to help you with discharge procedures. Mr. FitzRoy works pretty fast!"
On the other end of the phone, Arabella laughed. "Yeah, focus on your filming. When you finish this drama, I'll throw you a proper celebration—after all, it's your first time as a female lead."
Daisy's ego shot through the roof. "Of course! I'm the invincible beauty who combines both acting skills and looks..."
Before she could finish, someone nearby snorted with laughter. Ethan pulled off the wig the makeup artist had just put on him and opened his mouth with complete mockery. "Beauty, my ass. In two more years you won't even qualify as a young wife."
Daisy hung up the phone and charged at him. "What the fuck did you just say? Who's a wife? Who the hell is a wife?"
Ethan dodged quickly. When Daisy saw she couldn't catch him, she grabbed a prop broom and started swinging it at him. The assistant director and crew members rushed over to break it up, both of them grabbing Daisy.
"Hey, hey, don't! That's the male lead! You two are supposed to be lovey-dovey in the drama—if reporters catch you fighting like this offscreen, we'll be screwed! Put down the broom!"
"Exactly! And you're aiming right for his face! If that face gets injured, how are we supposed to keep filming?"
Daisy was hopping mad. "Well he can't call me a wife! I'm a pure, innocent virgin, damn it! He dares call me a wife—I'll beat him to death!"
Ethan, watching the drama unfold from a safe distance, paused, his expression suddenly becoming meaningful. "No way, you're still... tsk tsk tsk tsk."
With Daisy's explosive temper, she immediately jumped up. "Let me go! If I don't kill this bastard today, I'll kill myself! You think everyone's like you—a total man-whore! With barely any meat in your pants but can't control yourself from spreading your seed everywhere. Drop dead!"
Ethan touched his nose. "Hey, don't get worked up. Let's talk this out calmly."
He honestly didn't understand what had set her off about the 'wife' comment. It was just stating facts—she was already thirty, still calling herself a girl. In two more years she'd be middle-aged. Calling her a young wife was actually being generous about her age. He felt completely wronged.
Just then, his phone rang. He quickly made a truce gesture to Daisy and ran off to answer it. The crew members seized the opportunity to drag Daisy to the other side, talking until their mouths were dry before finally getting her to temporarily abandon her murderous intentions toward Ethan.
Daisy glared at Ethan's back, her teeth grinding audibly. If it weren't for the filming schedule, she'd rather die than not tear that stupid jerk's mouth apart and sew it back up! She swore that after filming wrapped, if she said even one more word to that stupid asshole, then she was an idiot!
She sat there furiously, mentally killing Ethan one hundred and eighty times with her glare.
Over there, after Ethan answered the phone, his expression became casual and carefree. "Oh, dinner at your place? Sure, you don't mind if I bring two extra people, right?"