I can hardly imagine that this is the contract I was offered by my fiancé's mother. My hands tightly grasped the sheets of paper, trembling slightly. I could barely control myself by taking deep breaths and self-hypnosis so that I wouldn't throw all these things on the face of this "damn witch" in front of me.
"Sven, have you seen these?" I turned to Sven and stared at him
"Yes. Mom saw the news about you this morning and called the group's lawyers to draft them." His voice was wispy
I laughed out loud, and as I laughed my tears fell uncontrollably. Then I read the terms aloud!
"Party B must be a full-time wife after the marriage, not allowed to work, not allowed to participate in the management of anything in Group B and Fox Group, all the work is represented by Party A.
Party A will set a financial budget for Party B every year, and all the consumption content and quantity of Party B must be included in this part of the budget. Party B has the right to suggest, but not to decide.
The amount of PartyB's budget and the type of consumption depends on the quality and quantity of PartyB's eggs and offspring.
Party B voluntarily waives the right to initiate the divorce, the right to choose the fertility and the right to support (if necessary, the offspring may be supported and supervised by a guardian appointed by party A)
If PartyB does anything against PartyA, PartyB voluntarily gives up all property and leaves PartyA with the permission of PartyA
All property inherited by Party B shall be considered as the common property of Party A and Party B, and all agreements issued by Party B shall not violate any of the contents of this agreement. In the event of a conflict between any other agreement and this agreement, all provisions of this agreement shall prevail."
After reading this, I waited for Sven to give me a response.
Sven rubbed his eyebrows. He looked at his mother. There seemed to be a universe hidden in his eyes, and there seemed to be nothing in it.
I knew it would be hard for him to defy his mother, so I stood firm on his side, never letting him choose between me and his mother, I try my best to become the person they like. I tried my best to get everybody in his family to like me and get Catherine to agree to our marriage, but what did I get in the end?
I blinked hard to dry the tears in my eyes
"Guess what, PartyB sounds like an animal in this one! No! Animals have more rights than PartyB. And what's even weirder -I am the Party B."I said sarcastically
"Anna, honey, no one is trying to hurt you, we're just protecting ourselves. Someone is responsible for this, and it obviously shouldn't be us. As the future heir of the fox group, you have to be prepared to make sacrifices for the fox family.
And we need your assurance that what happened yesterday will not happen again. Only if the chips are high enough, people won't take any risks, will they? Otherwise, someone will lose everything."
Catherine's tone was still warm and healing. But at this point, it made me sick.
I didn't want to say another word to this woman, she always could web her prey like a spider.
"Sven, do you believe me? Are you a coward who needs a contract to make sure your wife doesn't hurt you? "
Silence
"Sven, are you going to say something?"
"No."he said
"So you agree with it?"
"Yes"
"You want me to be your slave? too? I became this damn PartyB, living like a slave, deprived of liberty, deprived of money, deprived of rights , even my children and almost everything I care about, is that what you want?
He clenched his hands into fists, "Anna, I love you no matter what! This is all I can tell you!"
"This is ridiculous! Our engagement is a piece of shit, and so is my fiancé, I loved him for so many years before I found out that now. On the way here I even considered that I could get on my knees and beg your mother to forgive me. But you are too greedy! You want the whole GroupB. I promised to my brother, that I'll protect my family and my Group. So....."
My vision quickly blurred, and I put my hands lightly over my eyes.
"You know what? I'd rather I die that night than let you save me. "
I put these papers on Catherine's lap, "Thank you for your time!"
I walked towards the door, then I ran as fast as I could.
Sven did not catch up as usually, he did.
I don't know how I got home. At the door of my house, I happened to run into my father who was coming home.
"Dad, are you okay? Last night I ..." I hadn't finished my sentence.
A slap hit me in the face, and I fell to the ground.
I sat frozen on the ground, my ears buzzing. Somehow the slap didn't seem out of my league. I had gotten used to it, hadn't I? My cheeks went from numb to stinging, I slowly lifted my head and looked at my father, and suddenly I had some regrets about not signing that contract just now. If I had signed it would his current expression still be so condescending?
I covered my left cheek and slowly stood up, and my father's slap knocked the last of my fear away. I had nothing to lose.
Then I noticed that besides my father, there were many people behind him, of whom I only knew the lawyer of our group—— John and my uncle - Joshua, vice president of the Brown group. There was the same mocking expression on their faces, and there was even a hint of anger in their eyes, in addition to ridicule and sarcasm.
I quickly put away my emotions and made myself a person like them. With the same sarcastic face I said to my father, "Before you gentleman send me to the hell, can I say something?"
At this point, my mother came out of the room "Mr. Ryan Brown, please explain why you hit my son!" She blocked the maliciousness of others and spoke directly to my father.
How long had it been since they talked to each other? 3 years or 5 years? Mom kept pretending she couldn't see Dad.
From the moment my Dad saw my mom, his eyes could no longer be taken away from her. Yes, my father loved a woman who didn't love him for decades- my mother. But they gave birth my brother and me.
It's ridiculous, it's the curse of the big family. A family like ours is cursed by money and power. Members in these families gain a lot and lose more. He wanted to explain, opened his mouth but hesitated. I think he's trying to figure out how to explain what's going on without waking up my mother from her dreams.
The presence of my mother made these men in front of me unconsciously hide the expression on their faces. They greeted my mother with a slight nod. No, they weren't greeting my mother, they were greeting the Dupont family.
My mom——the youngest daughter of the former chairman of the D Group. The half-sister of the current D Group's president. Although I don't know why my mother has not been in contact with the Dupont family for many years, she still holds 10% of the shares of the D Group, is one of the largest shareholders of the D Group, and is a member of the D Group's board of directors.
She hadn't stepped out of this villa for many years, and she rarely appeared in front of outsiders.
My mother stared at my father, who frowned and gave no answer.
My uncle, Joshua, suddenly spoke: "Elizabeth, last night Matthew was drunk and driving, had an accident and hit someone. Although he took the person to the hospital, the patient is still in a coma. My brother was so worried about Matthew that he hit him. You know a car accident is very dangerous.
What a wonderful lie!
Mom grabbed my hand and looked back and forth at me, checking to see if I was hurt. When she checked out that I was okay, and she said to me very seriously
" Do not drive after drinking, you can't have another accident, have you forgotten about Anna?" When Anna was mentioned, she seemed to be in great pain.
But I did feel a trace of joy from her pain. Because she still remembered me.
"Even if Matthew made a mistake, you have no right to hit him, you touch him again, next time let him visit you in jail. "My mother would not have any regard for my father's dignity in front of others, and then she gently patted my hand, "Talk to your father and let him help you solve this problem."
She went upstairs. I knew she hated strangers. If it wasn't for "Matthew", she wouldn't be here.
"Let's go to the West Wing" My father was worried about disturbing Mom again.
Naturally, my father and his fellows sat on one side of the table, and I sat by myself on the other. It's so funny, it reminds me of an interrogation room in a police station.
None of them spoke.
My father threw John's phone at me and turned his head away as if his eyes would burn if he looked at me more.
I took the phone and saw the headline on Fox news - Group B selling daughter to fill funds. The accompanying picture was a huge nude picture of me. I mechanically browsed through the headlines of all the major media outlets, all of which were about "me".
"Princess is worse than a whore"
"The collapse of Group B - the fall of a celebrity"
"Group B's heir becomes 'the other woman'"
"The union between the Adams and Williams families was destroyed because of her "
"Shame on her-Anna Brown"
Vicious words + nude photos + degenerate celebrities, yes, this kind of news can ignite all media.
I had been tired of reading these things. If the hunter wants to put you to death, he will not give his prey a chance to breathe more.
" Father, whether you believe it or not, Gavin and I were set up by someone else. Although I caused this incident, I am also a victim. Save your insults. "
" That's your attitude? So you're completely innocent. You didn't cause the share price of our group to evaporate by half? Do you know that our capital chain is about to break? " He scolded me loudly, as he always did. His eyes were wide and bloodshot with rage. It seemed that I was not his daughter but a mortal enemy. He gasped heavily.
"Anna, because of this, the Group's stock price has dropped a half. Our financing business with fox group is about to be affected, and if Fox group stops providing funds, we will be in default to the bank. At that time the whole group will be ruined. And fox and our cooperation is based on your marriage with Sven Fox, you know that." John glanced up at me
"Your marriage is not just your marriage, it is known to everyone, I hope you can understand that you need to do your best to make sure that your marriage will go on as usual"
" It's impossible. I've already rejected Catherine." I said peacefully, prepared for facing the storm.
"You what?" My father's anger could have tipped the roof over
"I already said! I rejected " I looked at him calmly, without any sensuality.
My father has been so angry that he can't talk, He pointed his trembling finger at me, "You!"
He raised his hand at me once more.
I watched as his hand swung toward me, and I reached out to intercept his hand steadily. I put his hand on my other, uninjured cheek
"You want to slap me again? Yes, come on! Look at my face, just look at it. It resembles my mother's; you must really hate me. You love her too much to hate her, but she hates you, so you take out all your hate for her on me." I taunted him, then I felt his hand slide down my cheek.
I felt my father's anger fade quickly, and he had changed back to the towering chairman of Group B.
The others bowed their heads slightly, trying to pretend they didn't exist because they heard the chairman's privacy, except for one person - my uncle Joshua.
My uncle Joshua looked at me with a smile, "Anna, Don't be angry, I know you've always been a good girl, but this time things are different, you can't be impulsive you just need to explain to the Fox family, explain to Sven, especially to get Sven's mother - Catherine Fox's understanding."
I know she is difficult, but Anna you are the heir of the group and a part of this scandal, you should explain and seek their forgiveness"
His tone was emotionless, and his eyes were all about profit and risk.
It would make it a lot easier for me to just talk about things without getting emotionally involved. I finally got a chance to talk properly. So I quickly told everyone here about Gavin and me and our judgment. As for my marriage to Sven I simply stated Catherine's newly drawn up prenuptial agreement.
"So you don't agree with the agreement do you Anna?" my uncle asked me very calmly as he quietly fumbled with the ring on his hand.
"Do you agree? After I inherit Group B in the future, everything will be theirs and the Brown family won't get a single penny"
My uncle glanced at my father, who nodded to him, and then, he handed me an agreement.
Another agreement, what a fucking day!
I refused to read the agreement, the lawyers they keep at great expense every year are there to protect themselves from time to time while attacking others. Apparently now I was the target of my father's attack again.
Sure enough, I'm party B again! Fuck!Fuck! Fuck!I throw the agreement back.
"Dad, are you afraid to tell your kids yourself what's written here?"
I looked at him.
My father took one look at me and again nodded his head at Joshua
"Anna, this is a renunciation of inheritance agreement. It needs your signature." My uncle's tone was icy.
I couldn't help but shiver. I suspected I had misheard, "What?"
"Voluntary renunciation of inheritance and no participation in the succession of the company, but we will transfer 100 million dollars into your account after you sign the agreement."
"Father is this your idea?" I said, wrapping my arms around myself.
"If you have to know,yes, it was my idea".
I clenched my own fists, "Why? Why you! Anyone else can make such a decision except you! you were the one who told me when I was a child that I must work hard to improve myself in order to become a reliable heir. You were the one who told me that my brother was dead but I could live on his behalf, travel his duties, and protect all that he cherished. You were the one who told me that it was my brother's last wish, my mother's dream. Why do you give up now?"