Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Warding Off Misfortune
"Nonsense. My woman would never give in to fate so easily."
"Tristan..." The woman’s sobs grew louder.
Tristan Grayson felt his heart shatter at her cries. "Maggie, wait for me. Don’t let your mind run wild. I’m on my way to you right now."
"Okay... I’ll wait for you... Tristan..."
Tristan Grayson hung up the phone. With a WHOOSH, the car sped off.
Mika Summers was running when a car sped past her.
It was the same car she had just gotten out of, so she knew exactly who it was. She casually wiped away her tears and smiled bitterly.
’The only person who could make Tristan Grayson drive that recklessly had to be *her*.’
’So, Tristan Grayson, the moment we divorced, you were that desperate to run and tell her the news.’
A sharp pain lanced through her heart, and tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
She wiped her tears, telling herself, ’It’s alright, Mika. You have a hundred million now. A hundred million! You’ll be able to find any man you want.’
————
Mika Summers didn’t get home until around eight o’clock that evening. Staring at the empty house, her heart began to ache all over again.
Her gaze fell upon the sofa in the living room, and a bitter smile touched her lips.
She recalled how, when they first married, she would sit on that sofa watching TV and wait for him to come home. But she couldn’t remember a single time he ever did.
Over time, waiting for him to come home had become an unconscious habit.
Every night, as soon as the clock struck eight, she would take her seat on the sofa and begin her foolish vigil.
Even when she knew he wouldn’t return, she would still wait, just like a fool.
The tears she’d been holding back finally streamed down her face. She couldn’t control her emotions any longer.
Tristan Grayson was the man of her teenage dreams, the boy she’d had a crush on since middle school.
Originally, they had no connection at all; their relationship was simply that of a campus heartthrob and his admirer.
But less than two days after she sent Tristan Grayson her one-hundredth love letter, she received a call from him.
Tristan Grayson asked her to meet him at the marriage registration office.
At only twenty-one years old, her head was so full of her crush that there was no room for anything else.
So, without a second thought, she married him.
Only after they were married did she realize she had walked right into a trap.
But even knowing it was a trap, she was willing to spring it for the man of her dreams.
Although she didn’t know why he had married her, she believed that no matter the reason, if she treated him with all her heart, he would one day fall in love with her.
In the end, however, it was just a teenage girl’s fantasy. That day never came. It was never going to come.
Later, she learned that he had only married her to bring good luck to his ailing grandmother.
He also had a girlfriend, but for some reason, that girlfriend couldn’t marry him. So she had been chosen as her substitute.
As for the reason why, she had no idea.
In short, her girlish dream was shattered. Utterly and completely.
Though their marriage was in name only, they were still bound to each other.
She had been forced to drop out of school, and he had forcibly cut off all her social ties.
He kept her locked in the house all day, forbidden to go anywhere without his permission.
She was like a pet dog he kept. When he was in a good mood, he’d take her out for a walk; when he was in a bad mood, she could only stay locked up at home.
No, she was worse off than a pet. At least he took his dog out in public. She wasn’t even allowed to be seen.
Other than his family, no one even knew she existed.
She was just a secret substitute, a good-luck charm who couldn’t be seen in the light of day.