Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ novel Chapter 117

My Nemesis

I froze, looking at Lanfen in disbelief. I had to admit that her story made some sense. If she truly was the target, that would have explained why she was the only one who appeared in the footage while the rest of whoever came there didn’t. Still, I had a feeling that I was missing something…

“How did you fool them?” I asked, tracing her face to catch the slightest change in her expression.

She blinked at me. “Pardon?”

“If those professionals came there to kill you, how did you manage to escape? Besides, I saw you running out of Aren’s room, and I didn’t see anyone else,” I said.

Lanfen sighed. “I know it might sound silly, but I hid in the closet in Aren’s room, hoping they wouldn’t find me. One of them even walked inside… I was afraid that he might hurt Aren, but, fortunately, he didn’t. Someone called that guy over, and he left the room, and then they all left. I waited for a while before I decided to run away from there… That’s probably when you saw me.”

I hated the way her story was believable. I was desperate to find any flaws in it, reasonable doubt.

“Do you know who those men were?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No, I assume that they were hired by someone from the company called Changshou Yao. They are trying to make their way into the American market, but they keep stealing our recipes and we have threatened them with a big lawsuit…” My eyes widened at her words. “And you think that’s enough reason to kill someone?”

She laughed, gently covering her mouth before saying, “It’s big money we are talking about, and big compensation they wish they could avoid. Besides, those guys might work for the Triad, and men from the Triads don’t negotiate-they kill.”

I gave her a nervous smile. She seemed to be tough and intelligent, a woman fighting alone for her life and position. If she wasn’t my husband’s ex-girlfriend, I would admire her, but currently, the greater she seemed to be, the more she pissed me off. It was easier to fight against the villainess, an evil lady-heartbreaker, but how could I possibly fight against a hurt, heartbroken woman who had been forced to spend a part of her life in an abusive relationship? Yet, I still didn’t know what it was that she wanted…

I leaned forward on the table and smiled a bit. “Would you mind if I called you by your name? You can call me Cora if you want to…”

She smiled back at me. “By all means, call me Lanfen.”

I cleared my throat. “Then… Lanfen, what is it that you want from Aren… and me?”

Her smile turned into a wry grimace. “Honestly, when I first came to New York, I wished to reunite with Aren. I wanted his forgiveness, but I also wanted him back in my life…” she paused to see my reaction.

I struggled to remain composed. I was afraid she would say that, and I was even more afraid of the words I assumed she’d say next…

She corrected her expression, curling the corners of her lips. “But then I learned that Aren had gotten married, and I saw him in the newspaper looking happy. I would never destroy his happiness or come between him and his loved one.”

That seriously stung. His “loved one”… She made it clear that she didn’t care whether I loved him or not. All that mattered was if he loved me in return. I laughed awkwardly, pretending that I was relieved by her words.

“I’m glad to hear it,” I assured her. “I felt quite anxious with the thought that you would want to destroy my marriage…” She chuckled and nonchalantly waved her hand. “As I said, I would never hurt the one who Aren chose to love.”

I gave her my best-trained smile, pressing my hand to my chest. “I’m so relieved.”

Shit. It was time to face it. As soon as Lanfen realized that Aren hesitated whether to love me or not, she would fight for him like a freaking lioness. But seriously, I wasn’t going to stand there and watch her try. At that moment, I became determined like never before to show Aren that he would never find someone better than me, someone willing to always be by his side and fight for him. The only problem was that I had little knowledge of Lanfen’s abilities, and every time I looked at her gorgeous face I was losing a tiny ounce of confidence..

“I’m so glad that we could talk. I feel better that I could tell you the truth,” Lanfen said, smiling at me as we finished coffee. “Unfortunately, I need to get back to work now, but I hope we see each other again.” She got up from her seat, reaching out her hand.

I gave her a firm shake. “Yes, maybe we could go out for a coffee again in less awkward circumstances…” I stretched my lips into a thin smile. I would prefer to not meet her ever again, but somehow I didn’t think that was possible.

“Maybe we will repeat that once Aren is back in New York,” she tossed, taking her purse before stepping toward the exit.