Marriage Before Love

It was a night in midwinter.

Outside the window, the winter chill was piercing as it snowed heavily, with delicate and clear snowflakes covering the glass panes.

Compared to the chilly outdoors covered in white, the room inside felt as hot as a furnace.

The crackling fire in the European-style fireplace roared, its vigorous flames casting a warm glow on Jennifer Gabel's fair cheeks, turning them rosy red.

Tonight was supposed to be her and Charles Landon's wedding night, but at this moment, the man before her was not her husband.

"Xavier!

"Xavier Griffin, you're out of your mind! You can't treat me like this!"

Jennifer's eyes were filled with tears.

She had been tormented by this man, shattered into pieces, as if only in this way could his deep hatred be erased from his heart.

With her small hands clenched into fists, the woman rained punches on his shoulders in fury and resentment. "I'm already Charles' wife! How dare you humiliate me like this! You can't treat me this way..." she sobbed.

Jennifer, filled with sorrow, nestled in his embrace, weeping uncontrollably. Each heart-wrenching gasp of hers tugged at his nerves.

The man's long, cool fingers gripped her pale chin while he looked down at her with the arrogance of a king who ruled the world.

His eyes were like pitch-dark abysses, unfathomable and impossible to peer into, whereas the iciness of his gaze seemed to want to freeze her alive. "Jennifer Gabel, my brother's still lying in that hospital bed because of you. How dare you marry someone else in peace, then?"

His imperious words were like the sharp edge of a knife, piercing straight into her heart.

Regardless, Xavier Griffin didn't give her any chance to respond, for he sealed her lips with a kiss.

In the fireplace, the firewood burned brighter and brighter...

One hour later...

The man got up without any hesitation.

Yet, that strikingly handsome and unparalleled face of his remained calm and composed all along, perhaps even bordering on indifferent and heartless.

His custom-made suit was swiftly tidied up, and he walked to the bedside table with not a single hair out of place, putting on his watch, followed by the gold-rimmed glasses that concealed his hostility.

That previously ferocious beast vanished in an instant, replaced by its opposite - a restrained, refined, and gentlemanly presence.

At this moment, a thought quickly popped into Jennifer's mind. What a shameless scum of the earth!

"Xavier Griffin, I could sue you for sexual assault for what you did tonight!"

Jennifer glared at him in grief and indignation with welled-up eyes. Her five fingers that were clutching the bed-sheet turned horrifyingly pale.

"Sexual assault?"

Xavier casually put one hand in his pocket, looking down at her condescendingly. His regal posture was like that of an emperor surveying mere ants.

A frigid, sarcastic smile played on his lips. "Jennifer Gabel, I paid for tonight's services, you know."

He paid?

The color drained from Jennifer's face.

"W-What do you mean by that?"

Her lips were trembling ever so slightly.

"What did you think you meant to Charles?"

With an overwhelming oppressiveness, Xavier leaned in closer to her.

His slender fingers with distinct joints gripped her jaw as his glacial, sharp eyes met her innocent, tear-filled ones.

Back then, wasn't my young and naive self also deceived by these innocent doe eyes of hers?

"For a mere 750 thousand dollars, he gave you to me!"

Jennifer was struck dumb.

A tear of shame instantly slid down from her damp eyes. "You're lying! You're lying!"

She couldn't bring herself to believe that her newlywed husband would treat her like this.

Xavier pushed her face away in disgust, took out a Hermès men's silk scarf from his trouser pocket, and wiped the hand that had touched her. "Save your cheap tears; they're useless to me. After all, there will only be more opportunities for you to cry in the future, not less."

After leaving behind that foreboding statement, he took long strides and walked away.

As he strode past the trash can at the entrance, he tossed the silk scarf in his hand right into it without even blinking.

The assistants and secretaries waiting outside the door hurriedly followed the man's footsteps with utmost respect and reverence.

All of their heads were lowered, and they didn't even dare to breathe audibly.

After all, ever since their boss found out that this troublemaker, Jennifer, was getting married, these subordinates had not had a single peaceful day.

"Call the police after 15 minutes," Xavier ordered frostily.

Felix Smith, an assistant, was momentarily stunned before regaining his senses and nodding. "Got it."

Immediately following Xavier's departure, the hotel room door was violently forced open from the outside before Jennifer, who was still on the bed, even had time to collect herself.

The people who barged in were none other than her future mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Behind them was her newlywed husband, Charles, who had treated her like a mere commodity to be sold.

Seeing Jennifer on the bed, Charles' mother, Felicia Landon, was so furious that her face turned red. She rushed forward, ready to pull off the quilt wrapped around Jennifer. "Charles, what did I tell you before? I said this woman was no good and you shouldn't marry her, but you just wouldn't listen! Now, look at what she's done something on her wedding day. Are you happy now? Are you satisfied? Huh?"

"That's right. A leopard can truly never change its spots! Four years ago, you caused the eldest son of the Griffin family to fall ill, and now, four years later, you're up to your old tricks again. Only a fool like my brother would be willing to marry a woman like you."

Florence Landon, Charles' younger sister, also pointed at Jennifer and cursed at the latter in a shrill voice.

Just like that, the scandal that took place at the Griffin residence four years ago was thrown back into the spotlight, being shredded layer by layer by them. Every layer they shredded made Jennifer's heart ache intensely.

She bit her lower lip hard as her two small, pale hands grasped the bedding firmly, refusing to let go even a bit.

Her eyes were fixed intently on the silent Charles, who was hiding behind.

He's the one who is the true mastermind behind today's farce!

Under Jennifer's piercing gaze, the man felt so guilty that he didn't dare to meet her eyes.

"How dare you still glare at my son like that?"

Felicia couldn't contain her anger any longer. She raised her hand and showed no mercy as she slapped Jennifer's colorless right cheek.

In an instant, five crimson finger marks appeared on the latter's delicate skin.

Nonetheless, Jennifer's gaze never softened as she stared daggers at Charles. On the contrary, it became even more piercing and intimidating.

At last, Charles, who had been hiding behind, couldn't stand it anymore. He stepped forward and pulled at his mother's arm. "Mom, don't make things difficult for Jennifer anymore."

Surprisingly, his conscience was not completely gone yet.

"Things have already come this far, yet you're still defending her?"

Felicia was in disbelief.

Florence, too, snarled, "Charles, are you really bewitched by her or what?"

"I believe Jennifer definitely didn't do this on purpose-"

Smack!

A crisp slap sound cut off the rest of Charles' sentence.

Jennifer had struck him on the cheek, the force so great that it turned his face to the right.

In a trice, the room fell into a deathly silence, with only the crackling of the firewood in the fireplace audible.