Chapter 406: Chapter 406: Elias Hawthorne, Let’s Get Divorced (Part 2)
"Raina, in your eyes, am I, Elias Hawthorne, just a businessman driven by profit?"
Raina was stunned. For a moment, she seemed to catch a glimpse of an emotion called hurt in Elias Hawthorne’s eyes.
Could The Hell King Hawthorne really be hurt?
She must have seen it wrong.
Before Raina could answer, Elias Hawthorne had already closed in.
Raina wanted to retreat, but she was trapped by Elias Hawthorne, leaving her with no way out.
"Raina, what are you afraid of?"
Afraid?
Raina was at a loss.
"What do I have to fear?" Raina argued, taking a deep breath and continuing firmly, "Elias, you should know our marriage was a misunderstanding. You were supposed to marry Claire North, and I thought Baby was my son, which is why we’re entangled together. But there really is no feeling between us, and this marriage will end eventually. I thought this was something we both had agreed on, wasn’t it?"
"Raina, don’t use your little quail-like mind to guess my thoughts. I never assumed anything." Elias Hawthorne was furious, but he had to hold it in.
Quail mind...
Goddamn quail, you’re the quail, your whole family is quails!
Raina felt insulted by the implication.
"Mr. Hawthorne, you keep pursuing relentlessly, refusing to agree to a divorce. Could it be that you’ve fallen in love with me?" Raina teased.
"Yes!" Elias Hawthorne’s gaze was profound, reflecting the stunned Raina.
That intense gaze was like lava, enveloping Raina’s entire being; she felt as if she were about to melt.
After awkwardly laughing twice, Raina shrank back and slipped out from Elias Hawthorne’s arms, putting some distance between them.
"Mr. Hawthorne, that’s not a funny joke."
Elias Hawthorne didn’t chase after her. Instead, he spun around and sat down across from Raina.
Though the distance had increased, Raina felt Elias Hawthorne pressing even closer.
That powerful aura made it hard for Raina to breathe.
"I, Elias Hawthorne, never joke."
Confronted with Elias Hawthorne’s seriousness and assertiveness, Raina was no longer frivolous and nonchalant.
"You’re joking right now."
"I overheard your conversation with Claire North today." Unluckily, he could read lips.
"Then you..."
Elias Hawthorne didn’t give Raina a chance to speak: "Raina, I know your past has shaped your character. You don’t trust anyone, especially a man’s feelings. I can imagine what you’re thinking. You could have fought back against Claire and the others, but you chose to stay silent. In your heart, you believe people can’t endure probing and will eventually lose to reality. Instead of struggling forward and ending up disappointed and hurt, why not retreat with dignity before it even starts!
"Earlier, you were hesitating, unable to find a reason. Claire North conveniently offered you one. Now seems like the perfect time, because for personal reasons you implicated The Hawthorne Family, and for everyone’s sake, you’re enduring to leave, giving up on me, giving up on the position of the Young Madam of a wealthy family, how noble, how touching..."
"Enough, stop talking." There’s no denying Elias Hawthorne had this ability; no matter how toughly you packaged yourself, he could strip you naked, exposing the most vile and least wanted to be known parts of you to the world.
Raina raised her head, directly facing Elias Hawthorne.
"That’s right, this is who I am. Self-serving and profit-seeking, Elias Hawthorne, I was never a kind little white flower."
Elias Hawthorne looked at Raina, who was like a hedgehog with all her spikes raised, and let out a long sigh.
"Why are you so certain you’ll definitely lose?" Elias Hawthorne said, "Raina, I’m not Beau Shelby."