Chapter 3 Disappointment

As expected, Aria's hope was crushed once again.

Larry didn't explain anything.

Finally finishing the last note, Aria closed the piano lid. She didn't control her strength well—it made a loud sound.

"Aria, are you upset?" Sophie immediately seized on this detail. "I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me."

"What's there to be upset about?"

Immediately, friends jumped to Sophie's defense.

"Exactly. Aria, you're overthinking it."

"I'm not upset. You didn't do anything wrong." Aria stood from the piano bench, her response weak.

Sophie's little schemes were always subtle—impossible for outsiders to detect.

What else could she say?

Sophie smiled immediately. "Actually, you played beautifully."

She approached Aria, reaching out her hand, then pulling it back.

As if remembering Aria's earlier "aggression," she didn't dare touch her again. This made her look even more like a pitiful victim of Aria's bullying.

"You haven't performed in so long—being able to play like that is already impressive. Don't be upset."

She smiled at Aria, her tone full of comfort.

"I dare say, even if you auditioned for our school now, you'd definitely get in."

Hearing this, Aria felt both desolate and like laughing.

Most graduates from their school became top-tier artists. Yet she'd regressed to pre-admission level.

And now she was being praised for it.

She ignored Sophie and glanced at Larry again.

For the sake of his reputation, he'd made her display her disability in front of his friends?

She couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed her handbag from beside the piano bench.

"I have something to do. I'll head out first. You all have fun."

Sophie called after her, but she didn't look back.

She could imagine how they'd gossip about her after she left—saying she was temperamental, psychologically fragile, that no one had mocked her but she was being paranoid...

And finally saying she wasn't good enough for Larry.

She really wasn't good enough. So she was voluntarily stepping aside, returning Larry to Sophie.

After that scene, Aria had no mood to continue drinking.

She texted her friend and decided to go home to prepare things for going abroad.

But the moment she walked through the door, she saw her mother-in-law, Hazel York.

"Where were you this late at night?"

Ever since the marriage, Hazel had looked down on Aria.

Disabled, never having children, unable to attend high society events with Larry...

Even though Larry defended her every time, nothing could change Hazel's attitude.

Aria called out "Mom," already too exhausted to explain.

Hazel didn't press further—after all, she was certain Aria wouldn't dare have an affair.

"Come here." She used a commanding tone. "I brought you medicine."

Aria's heart seized. She immediately wanted to flee—she was truly terrified of this.

Hazel thought her disability was shameful and wanted to cure her hand even more desperately than Aria herself.

Even though Larry had already consulted world-class doctors who all said there was no solution, Hazel refused to give up.

Hazel constantly searched for folk remedies, with treatment methods so vicious they were practically torture.

Once she'd even forced Aria to eat a live toad raw.

Fortunately, Aria had found a chance to call Larry for rescue that time, narrowly escaping.

But the incident had enraged Hazel, who came back later and slapped Aria three times in succession.

Aria never told Larry about that incident again.

"This is a recipe passed down from my grandfather's generation." Hazel gestured to a servant who produced a white porcelain jar. "Drink it three times a day. Try a cup right now!"

The moment the jar opened, a violent stench rapidly filled the entire living room.

Even the servants frowned and held their breath.

Inside the jar was something pitch-black—a viscous liquid of unknown origin that made Aria nauseous just looking at it.

"Hurry up and come here!" Seeing she wasn't approaching, Hazel urged again.

"Mom, I'm not feeling well today."

Aria made up her mind—she wouldn't let Hazel torment her.

"Making excuses again! Five years, no pregnancy, your disability still not cured—what good is just having a pretty face? Seductress!"

Aria numbly endured the scolding, her heart already completely numb.

If only she really were a seductress.

When they first married, she'd tried hard to please Larry, even bought sexy lingerie.

But he always found excuses to refuse.

Finally, one time when she tried to climb onto him, she saw the look in his eyes.

He was staring at her left hand.

She couldn't identify what emotion that was.

Even though she was acknowledged as beautiful with a good figure, she was ultimately disabled.

That day she fled in embarrassment and cried alone for a long time.

After that, she never initiated again.

In five years, he truly hadn't touched her.

"Actually..." She really wanted to steel herself and tell Hazel that Larry had never been intimate with her.

But she was interrupted.

Hazel pointed, "Go hold her down. I'm making her drink it today no matter what!"

Aria's heart jumped. She turned and ran!

But the servants Hazel brought definitely wouldn't let her go.

In a few steps they grabbed her arm and dragged her before Hazel.

"Let me go!"

Getting closer, Aria was so nauseated by the smell that bile rose in her throat, about to spill out.

"Is this supposed to cure me or deliberately torture me?"

She'd endured all evening, but now she completely couldn't take it anymore, her voice trembling as she questioned Hazel.

"Why would I torture you? Your thoughts are truly vicious for thinking of me that way!"

Hazel, furious, personally grabbed at Aria's collar. Her other hand lifted the jar, about to pour the contents into Aria's mouth.

Aria used all her strength to struggle away.

Unexpectedly, the servant restraining her suddenly loosened her grip. All of Aria's struggling force landed on Hazel instead.

She broke free, but Hazel couldn't maintain her balance and fell forward onto the floor.

Before Aria could react, she heard movement at the entrance.

Then Larry strode over.

"Mom! Are you alright?"

Before he could help her up, Hazel clutched her knee, crying out in pain.

"Look at the wonderful wife you married! Today she dares hit me—tomorrow she'll be walking all over me!"

"I'll take you to the hospital." Larry remained calm throughout.

He helped Hazel up and headed out. Aria hurried to follow but was stopped by him at the door.

"You don't need to come." He said to her.

"I..." Aria wanted to say she really hadn't hit Hazel, it wasn't intentional.

But Larry had already left.

Watching the taillights gradually disappear, she stood in the night breeze leaning against the doorframe, her thin body trembling.

When he spoke just now he hadn't looked at her, but the suppressed anger in his voice made her heart race with fear.

When Hazel loudly accused her of violence, Larry's entire aura had changed—she'd never seen him angry to this degree.

But he'd still held back, so what had he been thinking?

She was his life-saver—no matter what, he couldn't lose his temper with her?

She'd cried so much today that she had no tears left.

Aria pulled out her phone and opened her chat with Larry, typing out a line.

[Let's get a divorce.]

Her trembling thumb hovered over the send button. She closed her eyes, wanting to press it directly.