Chapter 3

Over the next few days, at Linda's behest, William would come to my door almost every day.

When William knocked on my door again, I couldn't help but frown. "Tell Linda, you really don't have to do this."

I couldn't contain the impatience in my tone.

William was stunned for a moment.

He thought I was angry that he was talking to Martha in front of me these days.

He took my hand and said in a helpless tone, "I talked to Martha about normal work topics, nothing else. If you don't believe me, you can check my phone."

Why bother?

Even if we were married in our previous life, he could still unscrupulously communicate with Martha, not to mention he could delete messages on his phone at will.

Checking it was meaningless.

"I believe you," I mumbled, trying to brush him off.

In the past few days, it had cost me a lot of effort to recover my core technology and improve my business framework.

I really didn't have time to talk to William here.

But William's eyes lit up for a moment, and then he looked at me with some relief. "Anna, I knew you were a reasonable person."

As he spoke, he carefully took out his phone, "Anna, your uncle is the lead of a college, right? I want to promote Martha to be my personal assistant."

William pursed his lips, a trace of uneasiness drifting across his face. "But when we built the company, you set a rule requiring my assistant to have a doctor's degree. Can you..."

"I can't." I draw my hand.

I wouldn't do it even if I could, not to mention that it was illegal.

I would never put my loved ones at risk for someone I hated.

"Didn't you always say justice and fairness were important? Now, are you sure you want to make an exception for Martha?" As William was about to speak, I spoke before him.

William opened and closed his mouth, and finally swallowed the unfinished words.

Then, we started to give each other the cold shoulder.

Perhaps he thought that as long as he snubbed me as before, I would give in, begging him for more attention.

But now I wouldn't.

Linda was so anxious watching us give each other the cold shoulder, but she still habitually advised me not to get angry with William.

I said, "Linda, are you saying that William talked me into letting my uncle break the law for Martha, and I'm not allowed to give him the cold shoulder?"

Linda was silent.

That night, William showed up at my door again.

But I ignored him.

I didn't open the door until the day before I went to try on the wedding dress.

William stood next to Linda and handed me a bouquet with a gloomy face, but I sidestepped him.

William's face became even more embarrassed.

I shot him a sardonic smile and looked at Linda, who was trying to mediate.

I said, "William, I'm allergic to pollen. Why do you give me flowers? Do you want to kill me so you can be with Martha?"

William was stunned and then immediately threw the flowers into the trash can next to him. "Sorry."

I ignored his hypocritical apology and got into the car.

But as soon as I got out of the car, I was slapped in the face.

Martha yelled, "Anna Nolan, you vicious woman. I can't believe you actually let them fire my parents."

I was dazed from the slapping.

I didn't do anything. I guessed it must be Linda who did this.

But what did this have to do with me?

She didn't dare to go to settle the score with Linda, so she took it out on me. How ridiculous it was.

I sneered, and before Martha could react, I slapped her hard.

She screamed, "How dare you hit me?"

Martha pounced on me to slap me again. I couldn't dodge, and my cheek was scratched by her manicure, leaving a blood mark.

"Enough." As I raised my hand, I was stopped by William. "She hit you just now, and you hit back. So, you are even now."

His tone was light and natural.

My eyes went red with fury. "What? So, your little lover gets to take it out on me, and I'm supposed to take it?"

I shook off William's hand. "Don't forget, whose fiancé are you?"

My words made William's face pale. He gritted his teeth and looked at me discontentedly. "I admit that you are my savior, but I have already promised everything you want.

"You said you want to get married, and I also said yes. My mom targeted Martha and her family because of you." William frowned. "Almost enough."

He stood in front of Martha as if I were the one making a fuss. He defended her as blindly as I'd seen a thousand times in my previous life.

But obviously, I was the one who got hurt.

I clenched my fists with a cold face, sneered, and said a few words.

William took it as a compromise and turned to comfort Martha, who was crying with grief.

I picked up my phone and calmly dialed 911. "Hello, my name is Anna Nolan, I want to call the police, someone deliberately hurt..."

Then I was thrown to the ground with a slap.

This time, it was William who did it. "Anna, could you stop making things worse?"

His face was cold. Standing beside him was Martha with a smug look on her face.

He yelled, "It's no big deal. Why do you have to call the police?

The sun shone on him, burning my eyes.

Even though I knew he didn't love me, I could still hear my broken heart clearly at this moment.

There were only six days left.

But I couldn't take it anymore.