Chapter 6 I Do Not Like Changing Partners

Even with the marriage certificate held in her hands, Gardenia still felt like she was dreaming. A dream even more frightening than being trafficked abroad and having her organs removed. An instant later, a hand reached over her head to take the marriage certificate from her. "Ansel?" she asked dumbly. "I'll be keeping that," Ansel replied. He expressionlessly tucked the two marriage certificates away in his suit pocket. Gardenia frowned and lifted her hand to stop him as he was getting into the car. "Can we please have a proper talk about this, Mr. Leager?" He hummed in amusement. "When you have something to ask of me, you call me Mr. Leager, but when you're acting tough, you call me Ansel Leager." She fell into an embarrassed silence. He strode forward and opened the car's front passenger door. "I have a meeting scheduled and need to return to the company. We can talk on the way there." Gardenia followed him into the car, but after starting the engine, he started receiving calls one after another. It seemed like after all these years, he was still as busy as ever. "I'm busy today, so let's talk some other time," he said into the phone. Finally, he hung up the last call and turned off his phone, then turned to look at her. "Tell me what you wanted to talk about." Gardenia said bluntly, "I think we need to reach a consensus as to how long we're going to keep this marriage going." His hands paused on the steering wheel, and he smiled calmly. "How long are you thinking?" Seeing that he seemed to be open to negotiation, she immediately asked tentatively, "One year?" Ansel said nothing. Gardenia steeled herself and cried, "Three years! How about it? With your status and background, you could have any woman you want, Mr. Leager! You're just angry that I ran away from you, which is why you're so obsessed about getting me to come back to your side." "Keep going." "So, what do you think about my suggestion? Within these three years, I promise not to think about running away anymore, and I'll devote myself to working for Leager Group. And once the three years are up, you'll set me free. How about it?" She had thought things through and concluded that trying to run away in front of Ansel was like trying to one-up Houdini himself. As long as he wasn't willing to let her go, he had a million ways to force her into submission. Therefore, instead of relying on schemes and making a fool of herself, she might as well be more direct with him. "I think it isn't much." He was using those words again. "Then, Mr. Leager, what do you—" "I don't like changing partners, Fleur." Oh, right. He suffered from mysophobia, and that applied to women, too. "Three years is a really long time. For all we know, you might meet a woman you like more during that time, Mr. Leager!" Gardenia regarded herself as a relatively pretty woman, but she was definitely not a top-class beauty. After years of toiling away in the workplace, she had become accustomed to the speed at which men from higher society went through different partners. Compared to those men, Ansel had even more financial power with which to date multiple women at a time. She believed he would very quickly grow tired of her. "Your words seem to make a little sense," said Ansel. He was in a good mood, so he casually told her such a thing. "It's settled, then! Our marriage will have a three-year deadline! If you find someone you like before the deadline, you can let me know right away. We can terminate the marriage in advance at any time!" Ansel glanced at her after listening to her words. That was the first time she had smiled so sincerely since they had met yesterday. Was setting a three-year deadline for the marriage enough to make her that happy? He snorted and rolled down the car window, then reached for the cigarette box lying on the dashboard and lit a cigarette. "I'll ask my assistant to help you get familiar with Leager Group later." Gardenia nodded. "Okay." She was just about to say something else when she saw Ansel's handsome face suddenly turn stormy again. She followed his gaze to see Ian's car parked at the entrance to Leager Group's building. Ian had, of course, caught sight of them. He strode toward them and demanded, "What's the meaning of this, Mr. Leager?"