CHAPTER 201: CHAPTER 201: WE COMPLETELY SPLIT UP

Eastern Imperial Splendor Residence

Florence Fuller was awakened by Ethan Harper.

The two of them had returned late last night, and it was rare for Florence to sleep in today. It was already noon when Ethan woke her up.

"If you don’t get up now, the afternoon video conference will have to be canceled."

Still groggy from sleep, Florence got up after hearing his words and got ready to go to the restaurant with him for a meal.

"I have a flight to France tonight," Ethan said. "I’ll resolve the Harper Family matters as soon as possible."

"There’s no rush," Florence replied. "Take your time."

Ethan nodded, though in his heart he wished to resolve things quickly so he could be by her side.

But to his surprise, Florence’s next words left him utterly stunned.

"Once you go back, if I don’t contact you, don’t come back."

Ethan froze. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said."

"I don’t understand," Ethan said, looking deeply at her. "Why can’t I come back?"

"I’m preparing for a divorce, but Luke Gardiner won’t agree no matter what."

Ethan frowned. "Just because he won’t agree to the divorce, you want to cut things off with me?"

Florence looked at him. "Do you think... what we have now is fair to you? Is it right for us?"

"I don’t care about that," Ethan said. "Florence, I care about you."

"If you care about me, you should listen to me, okay?" Florence said.

Ethan was silent for a long time. "I can’t do that."

"Yes, you can," Florence said calmly. "You managed for three years, this should be nothing for you."

Hearing her mention the three years made Ethan’s heart ache. "It’s precisely because I missed those three years that I’m even less willing to be apart from you now. Florence, I really can’t do it."

"You have to," Florence said. "If this all comes out, it won’t look good, you know that?"

Ethan paused, looking at the girl in front of him. "Are you doing this for the Gardiner Family, for me, or for yourself?"

"All of them," Florence explained. "But I don’t want you to get involved."

"I..." Ethan was speechless. Just last night, they had been so intimate, and now it felt like they were standing on opposite sides of a negotiation.

He didn’t like this.

"There’s plenty to keep you busy with the Harper Family. Ethan, just stay in France with peace of mind and wait for me to resolve things here, okay? I’ll contact you then," Florence said.

Ethan silently looked at her, his dark eyes full of unfamiliarity. "Have you never needed me, or have you never considered relying on me?"

Florence paused in drinking her water, glancing at him.

"For so long... you’ve never needed my help. No matter what happened, you always pushed me away first. Is it because I left silently three years ago, and that’s why you..."

"Think whatever you want," Florence interrupted him. "If you can’t do it, then we’ll separate completely."

Ethan stood up uncontrollably. "What did you say?"

"I said," Florence looked at him unblinkingly, "if you can’t accept it, we’ll completely separate."

"Florence, you can’t sentence me to death in your heart just because I left without a word three years ago. I feel guilty for those years I was gone and want to spend my life making it up to you. But why do you still say such things to me now? We never thought of separating before."

"Right, you didn’t have to mention it," Florence said with a sarcastic laugh. "You just left without a word, nowhere to be found."

Ethan was suddenly stiff all over.

"Besides, things aren’t like they used to be," Florence’s cold words made Ethan’s blood run cold. "Do you think we can go back?"

Ethan’s fingers trembled, and he nodded repeatedly, seemingly at a loss for words, facing the cold demeanor of the girl in front of him. With a shattered heart, he turned and left.

The sound of the door closing came from the hallway. Even though it was a faint sound, it reverberated so intensely that it felt like Florence’s heart was being torn apart. She gulped down a large amount of water, tightened her grip on the glass, and then suddenly hurled it.

It smashed into a row of displayed wine bottles, breaking several. The raspberry-red wine spilled everywhere, mingling with the fragrance of the wine, but Florence was in no mood to care about the present situation. She lowered her head, burying her face in her hands.

——

Luke Gardiner’s long-dormant scandal emerged once more.

This time, rumors had it that he appeared at a hotel with a trending young starlet, one arriving after the other. Whether it was media speculation or something orchestrated, this piece of gossip dragged up his past.

"Yo~ Wasn’t he just saying he’d be faithful and settle down with his wife? How long did that last?"

"Exactly, men are inherently fickle. A waste marrying such a good wife."

"But Mrs. Gardiner is truly beautiful. Could it be they’re playing their own games behind the scenes?"

"No way! Mrs. Gardiner seems so gentle and beautiful, she doesn’t look like that kind of person. And when this princeling gets into gossip, she doesn’t even react, proving she doesn’t care. Probably just a loveless family alliance."

"But this doesn’t seem like the princeling’s style. In the past, when he caused a scandal, the beauties were always by his side, not sneaking around one after the other."

"That’s true..."

"..."

The online narrative was mostly unfolding as Florence expected, but right now she wasn’t in the mood to handle it. She absentmindedly scrolled through her phone. When she arrived at her destination, she put on her sunglasses and walked out with a stern and cold demeanor.

Meanwhile, a group of black-clad bodyguards followed her into the estate.

She stood under the vine-laden bridge at the estate’s entrance, not going in herself—the bodyguards went in and dragged out Jason Harper, disheveled, in less than ten minutes.

Jason was thrown down roughly in front of Florence, and seeing the loose state of his clothes and the suggestive marks on his body, Florence sneered, "You’re living well, aren’t you?"

"How could it be," Jason understood the situation, realizing Florence had found out something. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come for him like this. "How could it be better than your husband’s life?"

Luke Gardiner’s scandal was all over the internet; anyone who went online would know.

Florence took off her sunglasses and looked at him. "Mr. Harper, do you think I’m easy to bully?"

Jason pretended to be clueless. "Could it be you’re here to settle accounts with me just because I told Ethan about your contact with me? I’m innocent! I only went to Italy once and got caught by him. You know I’m not strong enough to resist questioning, so I answered whatever he asked."