The Bigshot Married Himself to the Heiress Chapter 109: A Marriage in Name Only

Adrian Desmond pulled her hand away, apologizing sincerely, "lanie, you’re a good person, but I’m not. I’m the one failing you..."

"Sixth Brother is good to . I only love him. I don’t want a divorce; you’re all I have left... Please, don’t leave ..." Tears blurred lanie Carpenter’s vision, making Adrian a hazy figure in her eyes.

"I won’t leave you. Even if we get divorced, I will still take care of you.

"lanie, please don’t force anymore. If we don’t divorce, Mai will never co back. You don’t understand; I have nightmares every night, dreaming about Mai marrying another man with my son.

"Soon enough, that heartless woman will definitely remarry with my son. My woman and my son belong to !" This ti, Adrian didn’t give in to her tears.

"Sixth Brother, what about then? I’m your woman too!"

"..."

"Sixth Brother, are you really going to divorce ?" she asked again, her voice laced with uncertainty and desperation.

"I’m sorry, but if I don’t divorce you, she will not co back."

lanie had never expected Adrian’s attitude to turn so cold so suddenly. She shook her head in disbelief.

"In your eyes, Sixth Brother, what am I?"

He looked up, his thin lips pressing into a firm line before he answered, "You are my family."

lanie wept bitterly, tears streaming down her neck.

"lanie, don’t cry."

He reached out and pulled her into an embrace. As Adrian held her, a flicker of hope ignited in lanie’s grieving eyes. "Sixth Brother, I don’t want a divorce. I’ll agree to anything but that."

"If you agree to the divorce, I will grant you anything else you wish."

lanie frantically shook her head, her expression wrought with emotion. "No! No! No! I won’t get a divorce! I will never agree to a divorce!"

lanie’s eyes widened wildly, and she clutched at a policeman’s sleeve in desperation. "Adrian, you can’t treat like this! If my father were still alive, he wouldn’t let you off! And your mother—my aunt..."

"What’s so good about her? Besides her pretty face, how is she better than ? Why are you so captivated by her that you’ve forgotten everything else?" lanie shrieked hysterically, her hands clenched into fists, eyes bloodshot, the veins in her neck throbbing with agitation.

Sienna Johnson once said that no woman is immune to jealousy; so just conceal it beneath a veneer of magnanimity and virtue.

The longer such feelings are suppressed, the more violently they erupt.

lanie ripped away her mask of ekness and virtue, unleashing the ugly demon within. "How could you let her get pregnant with your child? Adrian, how could you do this to ?"

The thought of Adrian’s child in Sienna’s womb inflicted an agonizing pain upon lanie; her fingers trembled as she clenched her fists tightly.

"So, in your heart, you resent this much as well," Adrian stated, his voice flat.

"My hatred for you now is as deep as my love for you once was."

"Since it’s co to this, let’s get a divorce!" Adrian declared, his decision final and leaving no room for negotiation.

"No, I won’t agree to a divorce! Even if you kill , I will never agree!" lanie’s wails were so desperate and shrill they almost pierced her own eardrums.

"Cousin!"

Bella Ford, having just returned, heard lanie’s anguished cries from the doorway. Thinking sothing terrible had happened, she rushed in to find her cousin weeping in the dining room, with a cold and distant Adrian nearby.

"Bella..."

As if seeing her savior, lanie flung herself into Bella Ford’s arms, sobbing, "Sixth Brother doesn’t want anymore! He wants to divorce ..."

"What?!"

"Sixth Brother is leaving for that woman, Mai... I’ve already conceded so much, retreated until I’m at the edge of a cliff! How can they keep pushing like this?" lanie’s throat was raw and aching from her sobs.

Bella hadn’t expected things to escalate this far. She turned abruptly to Adrian, who sat there, unmoved, and demanded, "Sixth Brother, Cousin lanie is so upset. Aren’t you going to comfort her at all?"

Adrian didn’t want to, or rather, he couldn’t. So wounds are best dealt with quickly; a sharp, short pain is better than a prolonged agony. If only he had been more decisive back then, things wouldn’t have reached this stage.

Adrian rose and, looking at lanie’s tear-reddened eyes, stated, "Tomorrow, I’ll have Walter Klein publish notices in all the major newspapers announcing our divorce."

Not just in Abyanabad, but in the leading newspapers of various countries, Adrian planned to publish his divorce announcent. He hoped Sienna Johnson would see it and willingly return.

As long as she returned, he wouldn’t hold her running away against her.

lanie’s eyes flew wide, her lips trembling, unable to form a single word. Tears stread relentlessly down her face.

"Impossible! My cousin will never agree to a divorce!" Bella Ford interjected.

"This is between lanie and . It’s not for you to interfere in..." Adrian’s patience with this ’cousin-in-law’ was wearing thin.

"I will not divorce! If you insist, I’ll kill myself!" lanie sobbed, her shoulders wracked with tremors. Her entire body shook as if she were about to collapse.

She had never dared to speak to Adrian with such defiance before; she had always acquiesced to his every word. Today, this rare display of firmness had pushed their relationship into a dead end.

From this day forward, all Adrian would feel for her was probably disgust.

Adrian looked at lanie, this woman whose very existence seed to depend on him. He couldn’t bear the thought of her dying. "Living out your life bearing the title of Adrian Desmond’s wife, but without ever touching you—would you truly be content with that?" he asked.

"I’m willing!"

"lanie, you’re still young, and you’re gentle and virtuous. If we divorce, you might find a man who will truly love you. Why cling to this marriage that exists only in na...?" Adrian attempted to persuade her, but lanie was resolute.

"...n’s affections may be fickle, but mine are not. I have only ever loved you, Sixth Brother, and I will only ever love you. I will not divorce you. Even if you never touch for the rest of my life, I will die as Sixth Brother’s wife."

Realizing further words were useless, Adrian relented. "Fine. I won’t divorce you. However, I will publish an announcent stating that we are divorcing."

Actually, he wanted Sienna Johnson to know. She had left him precisely because she was unwilling for him to marry lanie Carpenter. Now, if she knew he and lanie were divorcing, surely she would return with his son.

"How is that any different from an actual divorce?" Bella Ford demanded.

"Legally, she will still be my ’wife’!"

Legally, all Adrian Desmond could offer lanie Carpenter was a marriage in na only. After all her tears and hysterics, this was all she had gained.

"Fine, I agree," lanie conceded.

"Cousin lanie, how can you agree to Sixth Brother announcing your divorce publicly? If it’s published, everyone will know Sixth Brother has abandoned you! They’ll all laugh at you!"