Chapter 161 Lie
"What else? Is there any point in continuing this kind of marriage?" Harriet tugged at the corner of her lips and said, "Now I finally understand that Tristan, who rushed out to save me, is different from Uncle Jasper, who rushed out to save Elowen."
"Uncle Jasper would never hurt Elowen, but Tristan keeps hurting me over and over again."
Griffin clenched his fists. "Harriet, I'll go find him."
"Find him for what? To get justice for me?" Harriet shook her head. "There's no need for that anymore. This time, I've truly given up."
Harriet didn't know what Tristan was thinking, and she didn't want to know.
She didn't even plan to meet with Tristan to discuss divorce matters. Instead, she filed for divorce directly.
The first person to receive the news was Finnegan.
He was a famous figure in the legal world and also the legal advisor for Apex Global Group, so naturally, anything related to Tristan couldn't escape his attention.
Finnegan immediately called Tristan. "How did things between you and Harriet get to the point of divorce?"
On the other end of the phone, Tristan said coldly, "Who told you I want a divorce?"
"Harriet hired a lawyer and is preparing to file for divorce." Finnegan looked at his computer screen, reading the divorce petition as he spoke. "Not only does she want nothing, but she's also calculated the costs for her grandmother's treatment at The Lancaster Hospital. She says her grandmother received three years of treatment at thirty million dollars per year, totaling ninety million dollars, which she'll pay back to you in installments. She's divorcing you without taking a huge sum to secure her future comfort, and instead she's paying you back money. This shows how determined Harriet is to cut ties with you."
In the CEO's office at Apex Global Group, Tristan's handsome face was dark as water. His hand on the desk slowly clenched, his knuckles turning white.
Tristan pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking several deep drags, but it couldn't calm the irritation in his chest.
"Tristan, Harriet isn't an impulsive person. If she's doing this, she must have her reasons. What did you do to upset her?"
Tristan didn't say much. "I won't divorce. If she files, you'll represent me. Let her know that I'm not someone she can marry when she wants and throw away when she wants!"
Finnegan was stunned.
"You want me to be your lawyer? That's not really appropriate, is it?" Finnegan said awkwardly. "Harriet and I are friends, after all. I can't bring myself to help you go against her."
"I don't want to repeat myself." Tristan said coldly. "If you let her win, you can get out of the country and never come back."
Before Finnegan could respond, the call was disconnected.
He couldn't help but complain, "What's your problem? No wonder your wife wants to divorce you!"
Finnegan pressed his temples, then picked up his phone again to call Harriet.
The phone rang for a while before Harriet answered. "Mr. Savoy, you're looking for me?"
"Harriet, I hope I'm not interrupting your work?"
"I'm not busy right now. Go ahead."
Finnegan got straight to the point. "Why are you suddenly filing for divorce?"
Harriet laughed. "Mr. Savoy really has eyes and ears everywhere. I just hired a lawyer and you already know about it. Yes, I want a divorce."
"Did something happen?"
"It's complicated." Harriet said. "Actually, I originally wanted to ask you to be my lawyer, but then I thought, you're his friend, so you'd probably choose to represent him, so I had to find someone else."
Finnegan was momentarily speechless. "Harriet, we're friends too. As a mutual friend of both of you, I actually don't want to see you two reach this point."
"Mr. Savoy, you've never been married, so you wouldn't understand how difficult marriage can be."
"Tristan won't divorce you." Finnegan said honestly. "You can't fight him."
Harriet smiled. "Then we'll start counting from now—two years of separation."
Athenia law stipulated that if a couple was separated for two years, the marriage would automatically dissolve.
Finnegan raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Harriet, is there really no way to save your marriage with Tristan?"
He could tell that Tristan cared about her deeply.
He just didn't know how to love.
"That's right." Harriet answered decisively.
That evening, an auction was held at a five-star hotel.
During the intermission, Griffin went to the buffet area to get a drink.
Before long, a tall, straight figure walked toward him.
"Mr. Wallace."
"Mr. Johnson." Griffin raised his glass in greeting. "What can I do for you?"
"I wouldn't say 'do for me', but there's something I'd like to ask you. Would you mind stepping aside to talk?"
"Sure."
The two men walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, away from the crowd.
Only then did Nolan speak. "I heard from Harriet that you two are longtime friends, more like family. Is that right?"
"Yes."
"Then do you know that Harriet searched for you for many years, going to the police station again and again to ask about you, only to be disappointed each time?"
Griffin took a sip of red wine. "That's my fault. I made her worry all those years."
"It is your fault." Nolan looked at him. "If Harriet knew that you weren't actually trapped in Vesperia unable to contact her, she'd be very disappointed."
Griffin said calmly, "What are you talking about, Mr. Johnson?"
"Tristan looks down on those places in Vesperia, but I'm different." Nolan smiled. "I have business in Vesperia, and I'm not exactly clean either, so it's not hard for me to find out what happens there."
"And what did you find out?"
Nolan pulled out a cigarette and lit it, turning to look at the prosperous night view outside the floor-to-ceiling window, smoking as he spoke. "You were sold to Vesperia one month after you went missing in Athenia."
"The seller was a fisherman who rescued you while fishing at sea. You were seriously injured at the time. He spent some money to find a doctor to save your life, but when he saw you were penniless, he sold you directly to Vesperia. If I were Harriet, I'd also imagine how you suffered and how you spent five years trying to escape that hell. But what Harriet doesn't know is that it only took you two years to rise up. You thrived there—you could get a phone and contact the outside world freely, and you could return to the country anytime, but you didn't."
Nolan blew out a smoke ring and turned to look at him. "For the next three years, you climbed up step by step, entering the core management. Reaching that level meant you'd achieved financial freedom. Only then did you return home and appear before Harriet, but you didn't tell her the whole truth. Instead, you faced her as someone who'd been missing and victimized for five years. What exactly are you trying to do?"
Griffin calmly drank his wine and chuckled. "Mr. Johnson truly is Luminara City's richest man. Though you may not be as famous as Tristan, your abilities are no less than his. You even managed to find all this out."
"What exactly are you trying to do?" Nolan demanded. "If you're planning to hurt Harriet, I advise you to stop now. I won't allow you to hurt her!"
"You won't allow it?" Griffin scoffed, turning to look directly into Nolan's deep eyes. "On what grounds?"