Marriage Before Love Ten Years of Secret Admiration

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!"