Chapter 2
Vivian's POV
"As long as you stop crying, anything!"
What I wanted to know wasn't anything else-it was about Frederick and Felicity!
Four years ago, Marcus and I had barely managed to work our way through college.
To give me a better life, Marcus borrowed money from his friend Julian to start a business.
In just one year, Marcus became a rising star in the business world, and my life completely changed along with his.
At a gala, I met Frederick Ashton, heir to the Ashton family.
He fell in love with me at first sight. After three months of passionate pursuit, we got married.
Our married life seemed peaceful on the surface, but I knew almost nothing about Frederick's past!
Soon, Julian's investigation completely shattered my last shred of hope.
It turned out that after the Ashton family adopted Felicity, she and Frederick grew up together. As adults, they fell in love with each other. To be with Felicity, Frederick was even willing to defy his entire family.
After a year of deadlock, the Ashton family compromised, but with conditions.
Felicity could stay by Frederick's side, but could never be made public.
And Frederick had to marry a "suitable wife" within three months to maintain appearances.
And I was the carefully selected cover they chose.
How ironic. Frederick constantly accused me of impropriety with Marcus, yet the ones truly betraying our marriage were him and his "sister"!
I sat in the hospital corridor all night, occasionally dozing off, only to be jolted awake by nightmares.
In my dreams, I returned to the orphanage when I was five years old. A sweet-smiled girl led other children to isolate me, using razor blades to shred my clothes.
They surrounded me with mockery, calling me shameless. At the end of the dream, I heard them call her Felicity!
I frantically flipped through the documents Julian had given me. Sure enough, I found a small note in the corner:
Felicity, before being adopted by the Ashton family, came from Red Rose Orphanage.
I bit my lip hard.
So the person who bullied me as a child was Felicity. And the one who stole my husband as an adult was still her!
"Vivian."
A cold voice suddenly rang out.
It was Frederick.
He approached step by step, his face dark as he gripped my wrist.
"Come with me."
"I'm not going!"
I confronted him.
Frederick's eyes flashed dangerously, and his grip tightened, nearly crushing my bones!
Just then, the hospital room door opened. Marcus's pale, weak face appeared in the doorway.
"Vivian, what's wrong?"
Frederick lowered his voice threateningly.
"Are you sure you want me to punish you here?"
No... not in front of Marcus!
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Fine, I'll go with you."
His arm was like a steel clamp as he roughly dragged me and threw me into the restroom.
The next second, the faucet was turned on. Frederick grabbed the back of my neck and shoved my face violently into the water!
For a full seven minutes, I nearly suffocated.
He pulled me up, his voice cold as ice.
"This is for leaving without permission last night."
Then he shoved my head into the water again!
"This is for sneaking off to see your brother."
When he finally released me, I was soaked through, coughing violently from choking, yet I laughed.
"Frederick, why?"
His eyes darkened. "What did you say?"
"I said why can you see your sister whenever you want, but I can't see my brother? Who's the one with the real problem here?!"
Frederick seemed to freeze for a moment, his expression softening slightly.
But just then, a saccharine voice cut in.
"Vivian, you're getting bolder and bolder. How dare you speak to my brother that way?"
Felicity walked over gracefully and intimately linked her arm through Frederick's.
"The servants said she didn't even kneel for the required time last night. She completely ignored your orders!"
Her way of fanning the flames was exactly like when we were children.
In that moment, I finally confirmed that Felicity had recognized me long ago. She was doing this deliberately!
But before I could speak, Frederick's slap had already struck me hard!