Chapter 3

Oceanis was an underground aquarium that has been under construction since the day I was born. A stretch of top-grade emerald was positioned on the southeast section. When light passed through the rippling seawater, a beauty as breathtaking as the galaxy would unfold. As the project neared completion six months ago, Dad entrusted the final stages to Nathan. He was supposed to present Oceanis to me at my birthday party, which was just a month away. But now, what was supposed to be my birthday gift had become Cecelia's. My gaze landed on Nathan. He was the one in charge of bringing the project to completion. No one would've been allowed inside the unfinished aquarium without his approval. He grew uneasy under my gaze and turned away in anger. "Cecelia had always been trying to get by in the countryside and never really had the chance to look at the sky. I just want to fulfill one small wish of hers. "Besides, the aquarium will still belong to you in the end anyway. Stop being unreasonable. I'll just announce our engagement at your birthday party a month later. Happy now?" As I looked at Nathan's condescending expression, I almost thought I was the adopted child here. However, none of the others realized something was off. Instead, all of them took his side, feeling sorry for him. "Why bother sacrificing yourself like that? Sherry is stubborn, willful, and wicked. You'd be better off becoming a monk than marrying her!" "Sherry would be obnoxiously overjoyed to have her long-held wish come true now." "Don't sacrifice your happiness because of me, Nathan. I'll just get on my knees and beg for Sherry's forgiveness instead. I'll do anything for her…" My throat went dry as I said, "I won't marry you." Nathan raised a brow in surprise. Samuel and Shawn exchanged glances, clearly worried I might want to marry one of them instead. I was despised by the three men who grew up together with me. Fearing that I might start crying if I didn't leave soon, I turned to walk away. However, Cecelia grabbed my wrist. She dropped down to her knees tearfully. She said, "Please don't make things hard for Nathan. The three of them were adopted by the Guthrines, so they're already beneath you. If you're upset because they took me to Oceanis and want to complain to Mr. Guthrine, I'm willing to beg for your forgiveness!" Cecelia remained on her knees until they were scraped and bleeding. Nathan gently helped her up and turned to look at me angrily. "You're saying that you won't marry me now, so you'd better not choose me when the time comes! You're playing dirty just to make things hard for Cecelia. Aren't you just trying to use this as an excuse to send her away?" I stared at him coldly. "I don't know what you're talking about. But don't worry. I'll never pick you as my husband." I thought Nathan would stop at that, but he grabbed my hand out of nowhere. "Who else would you pick if not me, Shawn or Samuel? Samuel is passionate about the arts and wants to study abroad, and Shawn loves his freedom. You've already targeted me, and now you're trying to go after them too?" He took a deep breath and continued, "As long as you promise not to bully Cecelia from now on, I'll marry you. Stop throwing a tantrum, okay?" Nathan's gaze was full of exhaustion. He was acting as if I had been tormenting him for the longest time. I stared at him and replied, "Everything will go as you wish." Nathan didn't want me to bully Cecelia and was unwilling to marry me. All of his problems would be solved once I married Felix. … I hadn't gone to see Nathan in all this time. He only showed up on the day of my birthday party. His expression was cold. Shawn and Samuel followed behind him, looking equally displeased. I frowned and turned to look at my assistant, Gwen Blossom. I had made it clear that today's engagement announcement had nothing to do with them. There was no reason to invite them at all.