Chapter 4

“Aubrey, do you think staying in a marriage without sex is going to turn out to be a happy thing for you?”

Lorelei sighed and said, “We don’t want to see you both get divorced either, but Randy has been nothing but stubborn and persistent. You’ll never be happy in a sexless marriage. So, why would you do such a thing to yourself and continue causing yourself misery?

“Nothing good ever comes out of a forced relationship. If you insist on going on like this, you’ll be the only one suffering in the end. Even if you don’t divorce him, Randy will still be with Juni. At most, people will just think of him as a rich playboy who likes messing around with others outside of his marriage. It’s normal for men to cheat on their partners anyway.

“And since he and Juni have such deep feelings for each other, they’ll continue being together and live happily ever after. Meanwhile, what would be the use of you living in this huge mansion all by yourself?

“Even unmarried partners and bastard kids have a right to their family’s inheritance. Other than your marriage certificate, your reluctance to divorce him isn’t going to affect Randy or Juni anyway.”

Aubrey looked at Lorelei in silence. She’d managed to hide her fury, but she couldn’t stop herself from getting all worked up inside.

They were stooping to such underhanded ways to force her into a divorce. Randell wasn’t the only shameless person in the family. Even the elders were as shameless as he was.

“If you think that the alimony is too little, we can raise it by eight hundred thousand dollars. He’ll give you a total of three million and eight hundred thousand dollars. What do you say?

“You can also have the ownership of the car you’re driving now. And you can continue staying in this house like what the agreement says, for however long you want. We won’t interfere with your life.”

However, the mansion would still belong to the Cohens.

The huge mansion was worth more than ten million dollars. The Cohens weren’t that generous as to give it to Aubrey.

Since Aubrey had come from the countryside and didn’t have a proper job other than helping Wilfred out at the farm from time to time, the Cohens thought that Wilfred would still be giving her some pocket money from time to time.

So, three million and eight hundred thousand dollars should be considered a large enough sum of money as alimony. After all, Aubrey would never be able to earn this much even if she slaved away for the rest of her life.

Amara Saunders, Randell’s mother, also said, “You also don’t have to return the jewelry we gave you during the wedding. They’re worth a lot of money, but you can have them.

“You don’t have to return a single cent we spent on you during your wedding either. So, Aubrey, there’s nothing for you to lose in this divorce.”

Amara continued, “Had Randy not been stubborn in refusing to be intimate with you, I’d never want you both to get divorced either. Breaking up your marriage is the last thing on my mind.

“But you’ve been married to Randy for three years, and others who’d gotten married at your age have already had kids who are starting to learn to walk. Yet, I never received any good news about you two having kids. I still want grandchildren, you know?”

Aubrey’s face had gone pale. She bit on her lower lip and tried to argue. “I can’t give birth on my own.”

So what if they were married, if they’d never once even had sex with each other? There was no way she could produce a grandchild for Amara otherwise.

“Exactly my point. You both aren’t even sleeping together, so no child would ever come out of you. But nobody outside of the family knows that. They’ll just think that one of you is infertile.”

“Aubrey, our point is, we are the ones who wronged you. How about this—we’ll add on another line to the divorce agreement. We’ll also pay for your little brother’s education until he graduates from college.

“You won’t have to fund him from the alimony we’re giving you. It can just sit in the bank and continue collecting interest every year.

“The economy isn’t doing well lately, and many people are losing their jobs with no other source of income. They’re probably suffering from keeping up with their loan repayments for their cars, houses, and other assets.

“Not many people can be like you with millions of dollars in the bank. You need to be grateful, Aubrey.”

The Cohens were using every trick in the book to get Aubrey to agree to the divorce.

Aubrey didn’t say anything. However, she picked up the divorce agreement and started reading it in all seriousness.

The Cohens exchanged glances with each other when they saw her going through the agreement. Randell looked particularly relieved. However, Juniper didn’t look happy at all.

That was because everything the Cohens promised Aubrey, including the additional eight hundred thousand dollars, the extra funds for Aubrey’s brother’s education, and the wedding jewelry, should have all belonged to her! Not Aubrey!