Chapter 13 No Right to Say No
Elsa's heart felt torn beyond repair.
In that moment, she finally understood one thing clearly.
In front of Alexander, she had no right to say no.
He used money to force her into submission.
She was forbidden to see Serena and her son, forbidden to make trouble for them, forbidden even to argue with him about them.
If a scandal ever broke, Elsa would still be expected to stand beside Alexander as Mrs. Horton and clean up the mess, preserving his reputation.
She lay silently on the bed, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes.
Elsa had heard pieces of Alexander and Serena's history before.
Their backgrounds had been too different. The Horton elders had looked down on Serena's ordinary family and decided she was not suitable for Alexander.
They had forcibly separated the two of them.
Alexander couldn't marry Serena, so now he intended to support her and her son privately.
And he refused to divorce Elsa because he wanted to force her to cooperate and help hide everything.
Weakness spread through her body.
"Alexander, I don't have the money to repay you. And I can't meet your conditions. Is there a third choice?"
Alexander lay down beside her and pulled the blanket over her carefully.
"No."
The gesture was warm.
The answer was absolute.
He switched off the bedside lamp and wrapped an arm around Elsa through the blanket.
"Get some sleep. This weekend I'll go with you to visit your parents."
Elsa couldn't sleep.
All these years, this was exactly how Alexander had deceived her.
He appeared respectful and filial toward her parents, but behind every generous gesture was calculation and exchange.
She had suffered for so many days believing she could finally divorce him.
Instead, she had discovered he still held every advantage.
To him, she was so unimportant.
So easily controlled.
While Serena and her son mattered enough for him to rearrange everything.
Elsa opened her eyes.
In the faint light seeping through the curtains, she silently traced Alexander's strong, handsome features.
She remembered them as children.
According to their families, when Elsa was one year old and her relatives held the traditional first-birthday choosing ceremony, they placed all kinds of objects in front of her.
Elsa ignored every one of them.
Instead, she grabbed Alexander's ring finger and refused to let go.
Eleanor had laughed and told Alexander to kiss the baby.
He leaned down and planted a kiss directly on Elsa's mouth.
Margaret joked that her daughter's first kiss was already gone.
Eleanor then suggested the two families arrange a marriage between the children.
After discussing it, the elders agreed and formally betrothed Elsa and Alexander as part of an alliance between the families.
Elsa's love for Alexander had never been a secret.
Neither had Alexander's indifference toward her.
Somehow, despite all of that, they had still ended up married and survived three years in a loveless marriage.
Perhaps that alone was a kind of miracle.
Elsa stayed awake until dawn.
When Alexander woke, he saw her lying beside him without life in her eyes, barely moving except to breathe.
He looked away, got out of bed, and went to wash up.
She hadn't mentioned divorce again.
She hadn't continued fighting him either.
Apparently she'd finally thought it through.
Alexander came out of the dressing room fully dressed and only then noticed that one of their wedding portraits was missing.
He frowned. "Where's the wedding photo?"
"I threw it away."
She had thrown it out yesterday.
And not just that one.
Alexander had only noticed this morning, and even then he'd noticed just a single missing portrait.
Everything Elsa had once treasured most had apparently never mattered to him at all.
Alexander answered casually, "It's fine. I'll have the photography studio send another copy."
If she'd thrown away one, she'd probably thrown away all of them.
Maybe it was good for her to vent.
Better than holding everything inside.
Alexander turned to leave.
Elsa got out of bed. "Alexander, I want to work."
He was right about one thing.
She couldn't demand everything.
She had married the man she wanted. Alexander had helped the Winters family survive and carried all of its debt.
He gave her marriage, status, and material comfort.
In his mind, perhaps that meant she was expected to tolerate his betrayal.
If their marriage was a transaction to him, then Elsa had the right to negotiate terms.
Alexander looked back at her. "Fine."
Having something to do might help. It would keep her from spending all day at home thinking herself into another breakdown.
Elsa added, "I want to move out."
Alexander stopped and turned fully toward her.
"No."
Her voice remained firm. "I loved you for years and married you for three. You betrayed me and still refuse to divorce me. I'm a person, Alexander. This hurts. You have to give me time to adjust. I want to live somewhere else for a while. I need space to calm down."
Even if she couldn't afford divorce yet, she would find a way.
Alexander walked back to her, placed both hands on her shoulders, and pressed her down onto the edge of the bed.
Then he sat on the nightstand, studying the lifeless look in her eyes.
"Elsa, Horton Group is publicly listed. My marital status is public information. Everything we do can affect the company's future."
His voice was calm and final.
"As long as we are married, you live here."
Elsa shot back, "You keep talking about Horton Group. If reputation matters so much, why aren't you afraid that keeping another woman outside your marriage will become a scandal?"
Alexander answered without hesitation.
"If anything I do damages Horton Group, I can take full responsibility for it. Can you?"
Elsa fell silent.
She already owed him one billion just to end the marriage. If she caused the company's stock price to crash as well, she truly could not bear the consequences.
Alexander reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
His voice softened.
"I had the family kitchen make porridge for you. Violet will bring it over soon. Eat your breakfast and rest at home."
Alexander went to the office.
Elsa remained in bed like an empty shell.
Her screaming, her anger, her breakdowns—none of it stirred any emotion in Alexander or earned a single concession.
She felt hopeless enough to die.
He thought she was making a big deal out of nothing.
That she was simply acting out.
After loving him for so many years, Elsa had never imagined he could be this cruel or this cold.
Quietly, effortlessly, he had even taken away her right to lose her mind.
A little after nine, Eleanor and Violet arrived with breakfast and tried to comfort her.
Elsa did not tell them about Alexander calculating the Winters family's debts against her.
Eleanor had always treated Elsa well, almost like a daughter.
But Alexander was still her biological son.
At heart, Eleanor did not want his marriage to fail.
Violet was someone Elsa could trust emotionally, but Violet could not keep a secret to save her life.
If Elsa told her Alexander was demanding one billion for a divorce, Violet would announce it to half the city before sunset.
Elsa did not want that.
At noon, she went to her parents' home.
When they learned she was no longer divorcing Alexander, neither looked relieved.
They only looked worried.
Margaret took Elsa into the bedroom and whispered, "Did Alexander make things difficult for you?"
Elsa didn't dare tell them the truth.
She forced herself to lie.
"He explained everything. He said it was a misunderstanding. He didn't cheat."
Margaret pressed a hand to her chest and finally breathed out.
"Thank goodness. Thank goodness he didn't cheat."
Then she led Elsa back into the living room.
"Your father and I talked last night. Your third uncle's family is moving to another city, so their place will be empty. We're planning to move there."
Margaret took out a bank card.
"This account contains the money Alexander has transferred to us every month. Except for what we spent during my hospitalization, almost all of it is still there. Your father found consulting work at a factory in the development district. His salary will cover our expenses.
Take this card and return it to Alexander."