Chapter 372



“Harold, please hear me out,” Belinda urged softly.

She paused, a subtle smile tugging at the corner of her lips, before continuing, “After your birthday, Lucas and I are planning to get a divorce. Therefore, there’s no need to tell everyone that I’m your daughter-in-law at your birthday banquet. Announcing it one day and declaring a divorce the next would be humiliating. It’s better to say nothing at all. Let the identity of Lucas’ wife remain a mystery—it might be for the best.”

Belinda maintained a composed demeanor, but inside, her emotions were in turmoil. Each word she spoke made her feel pain.

As Harold listened, his expression turned grim. He realized that she was right. He had promised—if Belinda and Lucas still wanted a divorce after his birthday, he would not stand in their way. Belinda’s words just now suggested she had made her decision.

Was it the recent events that had driven her to this resolute decision?

Harold clenched his teeth and spoke in a low tone. “Belinda, I know Lucas went too far yesterday. Regardless of his reasons, he left you at that time, and I won’t make excuses for him. But… I can’t help feeling it would be a mistake if you two really got a divorce.”

He looked at Belinda earnestly and added, “After all this time, you must have seen the changes in Lucas. He is slowly opening his heart to you. If you give up now, won’t you regret it later?”

Belinda remained silent for a few seconds and then let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Opening up to me? Does that really matter? The moment Verena calls, he leaves me without a second thought. Whenever it comes to Verena, his choice is clear.”

Her words left Harold at a loss for words. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say. Then, as if struck by a sudden realization, Harold turned to Belinda.

“Belinda, there’s something I haven’t told you. I made a wager with Lucas. The agreement was that if, after this month and my birthday, you both still chose to divorce, I wouldn’t stop you. And… I’d never interfere in his marriage again. But there was one condition—during this period, Lucas had to follow my directions.”

Belinda was caught off guard by this, momentarily stunned. Suddenly, many of her previous confusions began to make sense. No wonder Lucas had never resisted any of Harold’s requests, whether it was having dinner with her, picking her up, or accompanying her to visit the Wright family. He had complied with everything without protest. It turned out it was all because of his bet with Harold.

As this realization sank in, a wave of disappointment flooded Belinda’s heart once more. She had naively thought that perhaps Lucas was engaging in these activities because, deep down, he cared for her, even if just a little.

Since Harold had forced Lucas and Verena to break up, Lucas had become rebellious, often defying Harold’s wishes. So, whenever Lucas mentioned things like “My father asked me to come,” Belinda found herself questioning whether he was merely using Harold as an excuse. After all, she believed if Lucas truly didn’t want to comply, Harold couldn’t force him. But what she hadn’t anticipated was… It turned out Lucas simply couldn’t refuse Harold because of the bet. Reflecting on this, Belinda silently rebuked herself for being foolishly hopeful.

Just then, Harold spoke up. “I’m really not good at matchmaking. Aside from giving you two more opportunities to be alone together, I honestly don’t know what else I could do. I thought I had a good plan, but then the mouse incident happened—you had nightmares all night because of that—and I felt sorry for it.” As he said this, Harold’s sense of resignation was palpable.

After that incident, he had resolved to let things unfold naturally. He had begun to sense that Lucas’ feelings for Belinda weren’t entirely indifferent. Yet, that wasn’t the main point Harold wanted to address. He continued, “Belinda, I urge you to think this through carefully. If you do decide to get a divorce, according to our agreement, I won’t interfere with Lucas’ marriage anymore. Even if…”

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