Marriage Named Hatred Chapter 02
Annelise’s fingers clenched instantly, her palm tightening as she stared at the offer letter in disbelief.
That thin sheet of paper carried the only dream she had held onto for more than 20 years, to become a principal violinist.
More than once, she had sat in front of her computer late into the night, refreshing her inbox over and over, hoping to see that long-awaited message.
Back then, Bastian had grown irritated by the constant clicking of her mouse and asked impatiently, “You’ve been clicking all night. Is it really that important?”
When she told him about her dream, the frown on his face had suddenly turned into laughter.
Now she finally understood—he had been laughing at her for being foolish enough to wait for something that would never come.
The envelope burned into ash and slowly cooled. Annelise’s heart grew just as cold.
She got back into her car and used a newly registered email account to contact the person in charge of the orchestra, explaining everything that had happened.
Even though the recruitment period had already passed, she still wanted to try one more time.
After sending the email, she pressed down on the accelerator and drove toward the Vasquez’s estate.
“Why are you back alone?” Robert frowned in displeasure. “Where’s Bas?”
“He’s busy,” Annelise replied casually, brushing it off.
Robert was about to say more, but Annelise had already walked toward the dining room.
“Anna, eat more.” At the table, her mother, Sarah Vasquez, sat close beside her, constantly placing food onto her plate. “You need to build your strength back up and try for another baby as soon as possible.”
Annelise instantly lost her appetite.
From the time she had been hospitalized until now, her parents hadn’t said a single word of comfort.
The only phone call she had received from them had been to blame her for failing to keep the baby, never once considering her feelings.
In silence, she took out the diagnosis report and placed it on the table. Her voice carried no emotion. “You don’t need to say things like that anymore. I can’t have children.”
The words struck like a thunderclap in the living room. Everyone stared at her in stunned silence.
Annelise ignored them, calmly picking up her fork.
The next second, the mug of chicken broth in her hands was knocked to the floor by Robert. “At a time like this, you still have the mood to eat?
“Does the Ryland family already know? Get back there right now and apologize!”
As he spoke, Robert had already stood up.
Annelise remained unmoving. “I’m not going back.”
She looked at her father, her tone even more resolute. “Not now, and not ever.
“I’m divorcing Bastian. I’ve already asked a lawyer to draft the divorce agreement…”
Before she could finish, a ceramic mug struck her on the side of her forehead.
Blood ran down from her temple, blurring her vision, but she could still make out the fury on her father’s face.
“Your mother and I went to so much trouble for your marriage, and now you want a divorce just like that?
“How can you face us? How can you face Cece, whom you killed?”
Over the past five years, that sentence had been used to bind her countless times.
But she didn’t want to endure it anymore. She opened her mouth to speak, yet before she could, her grandmother, Miriam Vasquez, spoke first.
“Oh, spare me. Whether this was for Anna or for cozying up to the Ryland family, you know the truth perfectly well.”
Miriam, who had remained silent until now, stepped in front of Annelise.
“When she was born, and you saw she was a girl, you left her at the hospital. If I hadn’t brought her home, she would have died.
“When the Ryland family shut her out, and Bastian made her kneel, did either of you ever ask how she was?”
As Annelise listened, her chest tightened with a dull ache.
Back when those things had happened, she hadn’t felt much at all.
But now that they were laid out one by one, she suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of grievance.
“Anna is the child I raised. If you don’t like her, then get out of my house.”
Robert’s face darkened with humiliation. He pointed at Annelise angrily. “You think I can’t touch you just because your grandmother is protecting you? Someone else will deal with you.”
With those words, Robert stormed off.