Chapter 3

"I know Grandma Gloria asked you to help the Williamses, but…" Joe raised his brows, wondering if Skylar thought the Williamses deserved a higher status. Though Jeffrey simply wasn't fit for it, Joe would still agree to her terms if that was her condition for the marriage arrangement. "I hope you'll stop helping them." Skylar dropped her gaze, fearing the malice in her eyes would throw him off. "Oh?" Joe was slightly taken aback. Nevertheless, he didn't question any further. Seeing that Skylar had signed the documents, he glanced at his watch. "Let's go." "Alright." The courthouse wasn't busy, so they managed to obtain their marriage certificate quickly. Everything still felt unreal to Skylar as she strode out of the courthouse and stared at the certificate. Joe's voice rang from beside her. "Let's exchange our numbers. I'll send you my address; you should move in with me in two days." Before Skylar could refuse, he left promptly. She had planned to move in with Gloria. Not once had she ever considered living with Joe. However, she wasn't against this particular arrangement. A harmonious facade of their loving marriage life would put Gloria at ease, after all. Skylar checked the time. It was 3:30 pm, and she could still head back to Williams Residence to retrieve her belongings. She wouldn't even step into their house again if it weren't for the valuable items Viola had given her. Her phone rang on her way to Williams Residence. Without checking the caller ID, she answered the call swiftly. "Hello?" "Babe, Maisy called me earlier. She said you got into a fight with Jeffrey and Sadie at the hospital over her blood transfusion. "I feel like it's quite inappropriate of you to do so. You'll upset them, and Maisy needs your blood as well. Your relationship with them will become strained if you leave them right away. "Where are you? I'll come find you, and you have to apologize properly to Jeffrey and Sadie later! We'll head to the hospital tomorrow early in the morning. "Also, do you want to go watch a movie together after you've donated your blood?" Christopher coaxed her from the other end of the phone. Skylar clenched her phone. She had loved Christopher with all her heart back then, and her feelings toward him had been unwavering from high school to college. The day he'd graduated, he'd claimed that she was the love of his life and said he wanted to marry her. At this point, Skylar had come to the conclusion that men's promises were nothing but bullshit. Everything she had experienced in the year she had been paralyzed felt just like yesterday to her. Christopher was slightly enraged by Skylar's lack of response. "Babe, are you there? Is the signal bad on your end? Should I text you on WhatsApp instead?" "I'm breaking up with you, dumbass." Skylar could no longer bear being acquainted with Christopher. She hung up swiftly. Her phone began buzzing with notifications, yet she completely ignored them. She hadn't blocked Christopher yet because it wasn't the right time to do so. Soon, Skylar arrived at Williams Residence. Jeffrey and the others hadn't returned because of the rush hour traffic. They probably wouldn't be back for another 30 minutes. Since Skylar had only moved in there about six months ago, she didn't have a lot of things. One suitcase was enough for her to pack her things. When she descended the stairs, she saw an antique painting hung in a corner of the living room. The painting was hung in an extremely inconspicuous spot. Skylar had spent three long months restoring it so she could give it to Sadie as her birthday present, but Sadie hadn't been impressed. She had told the maid to hang in the least conspicuous place in the living room. Skylar had felt glum back then. Sadie had even looked impatient when Skylar had offered to explain the origin and significance of the painting. In contrast, she had gleefully accepted the designer bag Maisy had given her. Sadie certainly didn't deserve the painting, nor did she deserve Skylar's sincerity. Skylar strode toward the painting and took it off the wall carefully. After rolling it up meticulously, she stowed it away in her suitcase. Jeffrey, Sadie, and Maisy returned after 40 minutes. Glancing around and realizing that Skylar was nowhere to be seen, Sadie frowned. "Lucy, has Skylar come back?" The maid, Lucy Sanders, set her work aside in a haste and replied, "Ms. Skylar returned half an hour ago, then she left again with a suitcase." "Left with a suitcase?" Sadie screeched. "Yes, Mrs. Williams." Lucy nodded. Maisy was taken aback. She had assumed she would be greeted with a sheepish-looking Skylar and her apologies. Hadn't Christopher said that he would deal with her? "Did she run away from home?" Maisy inquired. Jeffrey was outraged. "If she has the guts to run away, then she shouldn't bother coming back! Such insolence! I'm terminating her credit card now!" Skylar had really brought shame upon him. "I'll go check her room now. Maybe she's just trying to scare us by running away. I bet she wants a car as well. She's hopeless!" Furrowing her brows, Sadie dashed upstairs into Skylar's room. She rarely went into Skylar's room. When she opened the door, she was momentarily startled by the empty and plain room. A sense of uneasiness prickled at her. "Mom, I think I'll leave. I don't think Skylar wants to see me at home. She'll come back once I'm gone." Maisy said, approaching Sadie. She noticed that Sadie was lost in her thoughts. Maisy sensed that things were spiraling out of her control. She should be the only one pampered in this family! Skylar was always meant to be inferior to her. Snapping back to her senses, Sadie turned toward Maisy and said warmly, "Just imagine what it would be like if she were as sensible as you are. Just ignore her. She can go whenever she wants." "Skylar grew up in the countryside, after all. It's normal that she lacks basic courtesy since her adoptive mom only graduated from middle school. "Mom, she'll become more sensible after we teach her. She'll come to respect you and Dad just like I do," Maisy chirped. Sadie grew annoyed whenever she heard about Skylar's past. "Skylar's been studying in college for a few years now, hasn't she? By right, she should be sensible and mature. The truth is, she's just a narrow-minded and ungrateful whelp! "Don't bother about her. Let's go down and eat," she said. … In the cab, Skylar took in the view of the bustling streets outside the window. Everything felt like a dream—she had really been reborn. "Miss, your phone has been ringing." The driver chanced a glance at her through the rearview mirror. He thought she looked pretty. She appeared to be only in her 20s, but the sullen look in her eyes said otherwise. Had something happened to her? Her phone had been ringing incessantly. "It's fine. It's the scammers," Skylar replied, looking down at her phone. Christopher had been spamming her on WhatsApp. She could imagine how agitated he was right now, but that image in her mind soon overlapped with the image of him devouring Maisy. Her grip on her phone tightened, and the ringing stopped. Another call came in instantly. Skylar's lashes fluttered slightly when she saw that it was from Joe.