Chapter 5 Making You Suffer along with Me

• At this moment, Nikita was waiting at the bus stop. She was completely unaware that she was already married, and her husband's grandmother was sitting in another private car.
• Soon, Dorothy called her. She first apologized for not taking her home, then began talking about how Nikita should get along with Theo. Listening to Dorothy's enthusiastic reminders, Nikita didn't take them too seriously.
• Although they were still unfamiliar with each other, they were now family in the eyes of the law. She wouldn't avoid the responsibilities and duties that came with it.
• "Don't worry, Dorothy. I'll make sure to get along well with Mr. Morris. I'll be busy from Monday to Friday, but this weekend, I'll make some food for us to enjoy together."
• After chatting for a bit longer, Nikita excused herself as the bus had arrived and hung up the phone.
• Dorothy sighed softly and said, "How pitiful! My grandson's wife has to squeeze onto a bus in weather like this."
• "When I was 18 and working on my first project, I took the bus too!"
• Theo didn't show an ounce of sympathy.
• A person can be poor, but if they can't even handle the hardships of taking the bus, they'll remain poor forever. And he certainly didn't need a wife with such fragile sensibilities.
• "But she's your wife!" Dorothy reminded him.
• "Five minutes ago, she was still a stranger," Theo said with a blank face. "Besides, haven't I already given her 50,000 dollars a month?"
• Giving her living expenses was his duty in the marriage. If that woman spent it frivolously, he certainly wouldn't be giving her any more.
• "Money isn't what defines a marriage," Dorothy argued with a frown.
• "But the wife you chose for me is exactly that—a marriage for money," Theo sneered coldly and asked, "See? Didn't she just prove that money can buy anything? Even a wife."
• Dorothy stared at her increasingly indifferent grandson and chose to remain silent.
• She knew that Theo was thinking of his parents. If the conversation continued, it would surely touch upon painful memories for him.
• ...
• It wasn't rush hour, so the bus wasn't crowded.
• Nikita rubbed her freezing hands and sent a message to her colleague and close friend, Stella Reid, at the flower shop.
• "A batch of fresh flowers is being delivered from the estate from the outskirts today. Can you receive them? Thanksgiving is coming up, so we need extra stock. I'll send today's orders shortly, and I'll come in to cover the afternoon shift."
• Stella replied quickly.
• "Going to spend some sweet time with your husband today? Don't forget to bring me wedding candies!"
• Nikita didn't know how to respond.
• Stella knew that she and Derek were supposed to register their marriage today.
• Since the groom had been switched halfway through the ordeal, the whole situation was absurd. She had no idea how to explain it.
• After a long moment, she could only send back a simple, "Okay."
• Putting down her phone, Nikita gazed at the passing cityscape. She was overcome with a wave of melancholy.
• If what had happened to Simon had occurred months ago, she might not have had to take the route of marriage.
• She put in a lot of work and rose to the position of acting manager at the flower shop where she worked. Combined with online orders, she had finally saved up some money.
• However, Simon's situation had drained all of her savings.
• Thinking of this, she couldn't help but sighed.
• Fate played cruel tricks. The marriage certificate, which sat quietly in her bag, weighed on her like a mountain. She was still reeling from the fact that she had just married a stranger.
• After transferring onto two buses, Nikita made it home just in time for lunch.
• In the dining room, Carlos and Darcy were having their meal.
• Standing alone at the doorway, she felt completely out of place.
• When Darcy saw her, the smile on her face froze instantly. A hint of awkwardness tinged it.
• "Nikita, you've come home? Why didn't you call first?"
• Her cautious tone was so distant, it felt as if they were strangers who had only just met.
• Nikita's memories were still stuck on the time before she turned six. After her father had passed away, she had cried endlessly. This woman had held her through the night with such warmth and comfort.
• Without realizing it, everything had changed. Now, she was nothing more than a passerby in this house, and all the warmth no longer belonged to her.