Faux Vows, True Desires
Chapter 38

Serendipity Cafe.

Lucinda blankly stared at her computer screen, typing out a few lines here and there, only to delete them moments later.

Cecilia was busy wiping down all the tables. Seeing her friend still in a sour mood, she walked over, pulling a chair to sit across from Lucinda.

Lucinda seemed not to notice her presence, still staring blankly at her computer screen.

"Lucy." Cecilia waved a hand in front of her.

Lucinda snapped back to reality, forcing a smile upon seeing her friend. "Cecilia, what's up?"

She looked around the coffee shop, seeing no customers. "Why are there no customers today?"

"We just opened, silly."

Cecilia chuckled. "You've been so lost in your computer screen since you got here, I thought you were in the middle of a writing spree."

Lucinda shut her laptop, looking troubled. "I'm not in the mood for writing."

"What happened? You don't even want to write? You've always been so consistent with your updates ever since you started writing online unless something major comes up."

Cecilia was both worried and curious. To her, Lucy was one of the most dedicated writers. Always writing whenever she had spare time, always thinking about her next update, Lucinda had almost forgotten what it was like to hang out or attend gatherings with friends.

"Cecilia, what would you do if you suddenly married into a super-rich family?"

Cecilia laughed. "Lucy, have you been writing too much fiction? With my situation, how could I ever marry into a wealthy family?"

She didn't even know any rich kids. The most impressive person she knew was Lucy's contracted husband, Stefan.

"Lucy, we're just ordinary people. We all dream, but don't let those dreams cloud your reality. In stories, the female lead can capture the heart of a big company CEO because the plot requires it, not because it's realistic. How many ordinary girls in reality can marry into a wealthy family? The threshold of a true wealthy family is high, and we ordinary people can't cross it."

Lucinda slumped onto the table, whispering, "I wish it was just a dream, but when I wake up, the reality is still there."

"Why are you suddenly asking this?" Cecilia finally sensed something was off.

"Cecilia, I made a huge mistake. I thought I knew someone I've known for eleven years, but I knew nothing."

Cecilia, "You got conned? Did they take your money? How much? Did you report it?"

"No, it's about Stefan, he's not an ordinary worker, we just misunderstood."

Not only was Stefan not a worker, but he was also a big fraud. He took everything from her. Thinking about what happened last night, Lucinda felt her headache worsen. Stefan even said she was his childhood friend, he watched her grow up every day.

Lucinda felt her mind a complete mess at this moment. This agreement simply couldn't be carried out! From the moment they registered for marriage, he never thought about leaving her. She was so naive, even jumping into his trap herself.

Cecilia was puzzled, and she looked at Lucy, waiting for her to explain.

"Stefan is the eldest son of the Anderson family, the CEO of Ascend Global. He uses his mother's surname, so I never connected him with the Anderson family. For eleven whole years, I never knew he was the eldest son of the Anderson family, even my brother didn't know."

Cecilia, "This is so dramatic! Sure enough, fiction comes from life. So dramatic plots can happen in real life too. Lucinda, how did you replace out about Stefan's true identity? Tell me, I'm very interested in your story. Lucinda, you should turn your story into a novel. I'm sure it would be a hit, then you can publish it, sell the movie rights, adapt it into a game, a comic, etc. You'll make a fortune."

Lucinda looked speechless, so this was her friend's reaction.

About fifteen minutes later.

After Cecilia listened to Lucinda's story, she watched Lucinda for a while, then stood up, patting Lucinda on the shoulder, saying, "Lucy, you chose this path. Even if it's hard, you have to stick to it. Why did you even decide to marry a man so impulsively? remember you were the one who first proposed to him to pretend to be your boyfriend, right? You should have woken up when he suggested you get married, but you still dived in head first. Who's to blame?"

Cecilia finished, turning to walk away.

"Cecilia, tell me, what should I do?"

"You said it yourself, he's not willing to divorce you, and you two have even consummated the marriage, what else can you do? Accept reality, and be a good daughter-in-law of the Anderson family." Cecilia gave Lucinda's shoulder two more pats, then walked away.

From the moment Lucinda easily hired Stefan as her boyfriend and even rushed to get married, Cecilia had guessed that Lucy would one day fall into trouble. And here it was, she got herself in deep, completely burned by the flame that was Stefan.

"Stefan isn't bad, I don't hate him, it's just, our realities are too different. I feel like the moment he takes me to meet his parents, they'll put a check for five hundred thousand in front of me, saying 'Take the money, and go!""

Cecilia was brewing coffee, laughing, "So would you take the five hundred thousand and leave?"

"I want to take the money and leave, but Stefan won't divorce me, so no matter how much money I take, I can't leave."

"What are you still thinking about then? The ball isn't in your court, the person who can make the decision isn't you, you're just meat on Mr. Coleman's chopping board, at his mercy. As for whether his family can accept you, leave it to him to deal with since he's the one not letting go."

Lucinda looked distressed. "Even if he's willing to confront his parents for me, a marriage without blessings is unlikely to be happy."

"Lucy, don't overthink this, just go with the flow."

"Ugh!" Lucinda let out a deep sigh, "I guess I'll just have to go with the flow."

Lucinda agreed to marry Stefan, even going as far as to agree to handle the paperwork. As long as everything was done by the book, whether it was getting married or divorced, it was all legit. There was no such thing as a fake marriage or divorce.

"Eleven years and I still can't see his true colors. He's good at keeping things under wraps!"

Lucinda couldn't help but vent about Stefan's knack for concealing himself.

Cecilia brewed two cups of coffee and handed one to Lucinda, "Have a sip, it'll pick you up. You didn't sleep well last night, did you? You've got dark circles under your eyes."

Lucinda blushed a little. He kept her up all night, like a whirlwind, leaving her exhausted.