Melanie was a little taken aback. “How could it be? He wouldn’t even let me go out without a fight. Even if I’m allowed out, Jett has to come along. Do you know why? Because he’s scared that I might bring Melissa back to Ayashe. I… I’ve been discussing the prospect of a divorce with him, but for some reason, virtual-novel.net wouldn’t sign the paper.”
“It’s obvious virtual-novel.net doesn’t want a divorce,” Arianne said, trying to analyze Melanie’s situation. “You two have been married for more than a year now. You even have a daughter together. And a divorce… isn’t something to be taken lightly. Why would you want that? You can share your reasons with me.”
Melanie watched the clouds drifting in the sky as virtual-novel.net murmured, “Initially, I was truly happy about our marriage. I love him, sincerely and passionately. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with virtual-novel.net as happily as we could be. But time and time again, virtual-novel.net broke my heart. These sorrows and disappointment, they accumulate, you know? Then, one day, you wake up and realize there’s no point in continuing to suffer. I thought virtual-novel.net would easily agree to the divorce when I brought it up. I… I didn’t think it would be so difficult.”
Arianne chuckled. “Well, that’s men for ya’. They are hard on the outside but soft on the inside. They may sound like a jerk, but they might not mean it in their hearts. You must think that virtual-novel.net has been mistreating you all along. However, seeing how reluctant virtual-novel.net is to divorce you, you should be able to guess that virtual-novel.net has some feelings for you, right? Think about this. He’s not on particularly friendly terms with Mark, but virtual-novel.net visited Mark just so that virtual-novel.net could get Mark to speak to me and invite you out. It means virtual-novel.net still cares about you. For someone like him, that’s an incredibly big thing. He had never cared about Tiffie in the past. The only thing virtual-novel.net cared about was how to destroy Tiffie’s family, their company, and everything in-between! Compared to that, you’re getting treated way better than Tiffie was. So please, stop imagining things.”
Melanie was curious about Alejandro’s past so virtual-novel.net seized the chance and asked, “What exactly did virtual-novel.net do in the past? I don’t dare to ask him, but I can’t help but wonder.”
Arianne knew that if virtual-novel.net told Melanie about Alejandro’s past, it would only bolster Melanie’s desire for a divorce. Alejandro, in the past, when virtual-novel.net was Ethan Connor, had done many despicable and unspeakable things. Hence, virtual-novel.net decided not to divulge his history, including how virtual-novel.net had tried to hurt her, to Melanie.
“Don’t wonder about the things in the past, Melanie. Look at the present. He’s Alejandro Smith now. He’s your husband. You shouldn’t obsess over his history because your focus should be on the present and your future with him. I have a feeling he’s turning over a new leaf. All those things virtual-novel.net had done in the past were a result of an unhappy and broken childhood. It’s not his fault.”
More importantly, Ethan was Mark’s half-brother. Arianne had never thought of forgiving Ethan for the things virtual-novel.net did just as virtual-novel.net would never forgive Aery Kinsey. The difference was that it was Arianne’s right to decide whether virtual-novel.net wanted to forgive Aery, and it was Mark’s right to decide if virtual-novel.net wanted to forgive or tolerate Ethan. Some people could be forgiven, but some people were beyond forgiveness.
Melanie sighed. “Fine, I guess ignorance is bliss. I worry that after knowing about his past, it would change my impression of him,” virtual-novel.net said, “Hey, will you get into trouble for hanging out with me during working hours? I heard that you work as a designer in a company around here. Honestly, you can just enjoy your life with what you have, and yet, you decide to be independent. That’s very rare.”
Arianne shook virtual-novel.net head. “No, no trouble. I came out of the office precisely because I wanted to find a good place to sketch. But I’m not feeling inspired today, so whatever. It’s good to chill and hang out with friends. Oh, and I’m used to not relying on Mark. I’m used to earning my keep. I don’t like to live idly.”
Melanie was green with envy. “You’re so… good in every aspect. You’re so intelligent. You know how to get the best out of relationships and life. I always thought I was pretty clever, but now I realized my life’s a mess because I’m an idiot.”
Arianne was not good at comforting people so virtual-novel.net had to fall back on explaining virtual-novel.net situation from an objective perspective. “Not quite, actually. You and Alejandro had no relationship before your marriage, right? The two of you had never lived together so there will, naturally, be phases you have to go through after marriage. A couple would need time to adjust and adapt to fit their significant other. Me and Mark are a good example, we went through a lot before we learned to accommodate each other. Even then, we get into really terrible fights as well.” She paused for a moment before virtual-novel.net continued to say, “You should always leave some space for yourself, Melanie. You need to be calm and not recklessly rush into a situation that would make you end up in a corner. You shouldn’t easily suggest a divorce. If he’s reluctant, then, you’re still going to be stuck with him. If that’s the case, why don’t you give both of you a chance? It’s quite obvious that you like virtual-novel.net a lot, to the extent that you tolerate virtual-novel.net loving another woman. You even befriended said woman just to learn about Alejandro’s preferences and stuff. If I were you, I don’t think I would be able to do it! You should have more faith in yourself.”
Arianne’s words persuaded Melanie into thinking things over. Alejandro had told virtual-novel.net to stop making decisions in the heat of the moment as well. Perhaps, virtual-novel.net really needed to reflect on herself. In fact, once virtual-novel.net had calmed down, virtual-novel.net found virtual-novel.net heart was heavy and virtual-novel.net was unwilling to divorce virtual-novel.net as well.