Chapter 3 Because I Refuse to Be the Other Guy

Gardenia had lied to Ansel. During her second year of high school, her gambling addict father—Anthony Wendell—ran away after owing huge debts, leaving his young daughter to deal with all the creditors. However, he simply owed too much money, and the debt collectors approached her one after another. Over time, they started looking at her in ways that made her more and more uncomfortable. She had tried making a police report to no avail. The debt collectors never hit her or verbally attacked her, after all. They were just asking for their money back, which didn't even constitute harassment. Later, she unintentionally overheard their plans to traffic her overseas. She was so scared that, after a sleepless night, she made the bold decision to step in front of Ansel's car in the street. "Please adopt me, mister." She had forgotten exactly what expression Ansel had on his face back then, but she remembered that he had only asked her one thing that day. "What's your name?" "Wendell… Fleur Wendell." She hadn't really been lying to him, because Fleur was her nickname. Her mother, Camelia Belrose, frequently used to call her that back when she had still been alive. "After going several years without seeing each other, I certainly didn't expect that my little flower was about to be planted in another man's garden," Ansel said casually. He raised an eyebrow and used his knee to force her legs apart, keeping her pinned down and completely cutting off any possibility of her escaping. Gardenia felt his presence pressing down on her like a physical force. The sense of aggression he was giving off was just too strong. She wanted to scream and make a call to Ian for help, but it would be a futile effort. So, she tried her best to calm down and take things one step at a time. "I've already paid back the money my father owes you, Mr. Leager." Ansel lifted a hand and pressed his fingers to her face, forcing her to look up at him. "Settling scores with me? Alright. In that case, let's also calculate everything I spent on you after adopting you at the age of 15." "I added an extra ten thousand dollars on top of the sum I gave you before I left!" "Do you think I only spent ten thousand dollars on you in the five years I had you in my care?" Gardenia clenched her fists tightly, her face slowly losing all color. "I only spent your money in the first three years, after which…" Ansel grinned. "So, you stopped counting costs after you started sleeping with me?" Gardenia had no way out of this, so she could only muster all her courage to take the gamble. She said reasonably, "Even if you had been keeping another woman on the side, you'd have to spend money on her anyway, right, Mr. Leager? Moreover, I never asked for any of the expensive gifts you bought me back then, nor did I take a single one with me when I left!" Ansel suddenly lowered his gaze and scoffed. "So, you do actually know that you're my kept woman." Gardenia fell silent. "I'm giving you five minutes to send a message to that Chandler guy and tell him that there's no way you'll marry him," he threatened. The Chandler family was simply unqualified to be poaching someone who belonged to him. "Even if I were to break off my engagement to Ian, I'm never going to have anything to do with you again, Mr. Leager!" yelled Gardenia. Ansel arched an eyebrow at her and informed her with forced calm, "You have four minutes left." She said nothing. He added, "If you behave and send that message, this matter will only be between you and me. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that nothing will happen to the Chandler family." Did she even have a choice? She could only take her phone out with trembling fingers and send Ian a message informing him that she was breaking off their engagement. The instant the words "Message successfully sent" appeared on her phone screen, Ansel started kissing her. When Gardenia tried to struggle and push him away, he bit her lip without hesitation, breaking skin. For a moment, she could taste copper in her mouth. She gritted her teeth furiously. "Since you already planned to force yourself on me, why bother taking the extra step and making me send Ian that message, Ansel Leager?" "Because I refuse to be the other guy in a relationship."