The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 581

My divorce hadn't even gone through yet, and she was already scouting my next husband. The moment the dust settled on my marriage, she was ready to set me up on another blind date. Judging by Lucille's tone, she wanted me married off immediately.

But I was an adult now. I wasn't the helpless little girl relying on the Hayes family anymore. Did she really have to force me into another marriage?

"No!" Lucille shut me down instantly.

I clenched my fingers. "My job is stable now. I can support myself. I'll figure out a way to cover the Greenwood Care Center bills, and Sabrina will be back from studying abroad soon..."

"It's not about the money! You have to get married because I can't protect you!" Lucille cut me off again, her voice sharp and uncompromising.

She frowned, her tone urgent and stern. It felt like a knife slicing right through the brief moment of tenderness we had shared just five minutes ago.

Five minutes ago, she had sorrowfully said that if the marriage was over, it was over. That if I wasn't happy, I should leave.

But now, she was ruthlessly demanding that I remarry right away.

"Selena, I'm not trying to force you. But as a woman, you need to settle down. You need to use your youth and beauty while you still have leverage, while men still desire you. Pick someone and marry him. If you drag this out, you won't get opportunities this good again." Perhaps noticing the shift in my expression, Lucille's harsh tone softened a fraction.

But her goal remained the same: pushing me to choose my next husband. "I'll take a step back and let you choose. Leon and Caspian are both great catches. Pick one, and we'll lock it down quickly so people don't think we're stringing them along."

What a step back.

Her 'step back' was worse than not stepping back at all. Lucille was a master negotiator—refusing to budge on the core issue while pretending to give me the illusion of choice on the details.