Love Contract
Chapter 33 It's Just The Truth

"Bella Su, this marriage is merely a perfunctory decision based on my parents' wishes. There is another girl that I love and if you were a smart woman, you would accept my proposition. You will be my nominal wife and once I succeed and achieve my goals, I will let you go back," stated Jimmy Duan callously.

"Since I married you, how can I go back?" Sitting elegantly in a wicker chair as if it was the most comfortable piece of furniture in the room, Bella inquired, although she looked a little

disappointed.

"Don't worry. I will make all the arrangements and make sure that you are well taken care of." Jimmy frowned in disgust. He always found old-fashioned women to be quite troublesome, he liked his women independent and self-reliant. "Rest assured I will replace a good husband for you once we are done."

"General, if what you are saying is true then, I, Bella, would like to thank you," Bella said indifferently.

"Humph!" Jimmy snorted arrogantly and walked out of the yard, his coat tails flapping in the wind.

Bella looked at the lotus bag that she had embroidered. It had a pair of mandarin ducks playing in water, symbolizing a couple in love. Now it was no longer useful so she took out her scissors and tore it into tiny little pieces.

"OK, Cut!" The director ordered, "Let's wrap up this scene."

"Yes, everyone did a wonderful job!"

"Great work, everyone!"

There was a round of applause as the crew and acting team were all excited to finish and go for food.

Mary gave a small self-deprecating smile and contemplated, 'Bella's situation may be acting, but it really reminds me so much of my own situation'.

"Mary Lu!"

All of a sudden, someone shouted her name while approaching from behind. Mary turned around and saw that it was Victor rushing towards her, although it seemed he hadn't had time to change his clothes. "Ah, why is the general here?" Mary blinked and teased.

"I traveled through time, ha ha. What do you think? I look good in this suit, don't I?" asked Victor with a smile.

"Yes you do. I must say that you look very handsome." Mary nodded in agreement. "I'm just not used to seeing you act as Jimmy Duan."

"Why do you replace my acting strange?"

"He is supposed to be a faithful general while we both know that you are the total opposite. You are a playboy with a lot of scandals to your name," said Mary.

"Well, I behave like that because I haven't met someone I like yet," said Victor with a smile, staring at Mary. His eyes rested on her as if she was a hot platter of chicken ready to be devoured.

Mary was a little distracted by his gaze, but she suddenly heard someone calling Victor and asking him to go over there.

"Victor, we are ready, come and change your clothes. Haven't you had enough of wearing those filming clothes?"

"You better go and remove your makeup and change your clothes," said Mary. "It's also time for me to get off work, I am exhausted," Mary continued exhausted.

"Don't leave right now, I want to invite you to join me for dinner."

"No, thank you. Today is tricky for me." Mary shook her head vehemently.

"I insist," said Victor with a smile as he jogged away towards the changing rooms. "Don't go." Mary looked at Victor's receding back and sighed. She had no option but to wait for him since she didn't want to create a scene.

Meanwhile in William's apartment, Lucas gingerly put down his bag and looked around the house. "Where does Mary, your wife live? Why isn't she here? I haven't seen her since I came in.

Doesn't she live here with you?" William poured a glass of water for him and then explained, "I bought her a suite in the center of the city."

"You are such a cunning fox!" Lucas jumped from his seat while curling his lips as if he knew a secret. "I'm tired, I need to sleep off the jet lag. Call me later so that we can go for a drink," said Lucas. "Just go ahead."

As soon as Lucas walked into the guest room he instantly fell asleep.

"Ring! Ring!"

William took out his phone. "Where are you?" It was a message from Frank.

William didn't have time to fiddle with buttons on his phone so he decided to call him directly.

"Hello? William."

"Yes, what do you need? I am at home right now. I have just arrived from the airport." "Were you picking up someone?"

"Yes, Lucas was scheduled to return today."

"He came back? Why is he back? Did something happen?"

"Not really, I asked him to come because I want him to do me a favor." Taking another sip of his water, William said, "I want him to check on Mary's mother."

"You invited a famous cancer expert... You seem to care about Mary."

"It wasn't anything extraordinary, don't put too much thought and significance into it."

"How can I?" Frank replied cheekily. He had a wide smile plastered on his face on the other end of the line. "I was just saying it casually. William, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet, but I will be going for a drink with Lucas later in the evening." After a pause, William asked, "Would you like to join us?"

"Is that okay with everyone?"

"Why not?" With a smile on his face, William said, "Let's meet at the Love Bar, at eight o'clock. You know how to get there, right?" "Okay, see you in the evening."

After hanging up the phone, William thought about Mary again for no reason. He felt as if she was a permanent fixture in his mind.

He hadn't seen her for the last few days. He wondered if she would be working at the convenience store tonight. If he went there, would he meet her?

Meanwhile in a restaurant near the shooting site, Mary and Victor were waiting for their food.

"I often come to this restaurant. It's not big and doesn't look elegant or fancy, but the dishes they make are always delicious," said Victor.

"Well, it's a very small and exquisite place with a warm ambience." Mary nodded and looked around. The place was packed with all the actors and actresses from the movie set.

"Seems like it's our dish coming!" The proprietress came all the way with their dish in her hands. "Your pickled fish is here, I hope you enjoy the meal."

"Thank you." "It smells really nice," Mary said, while sniffing the delicious aroma.

"Alright, let's dig in, I am famished." Victor handed her the chopsticks and took a pair for himself.

The dishes kept coming in one after the other. Mary was so engrossed in eating her meal, which she was basically absorbing like a vacuum cleaner due to immense hunger, and didn't notice the smile on Victor's face when he occasionally stopped eating to watch her. "Mary." Victor finally couldn't help himself and said, "I have really enjoyed watching you eat. Your appetite is contagious and makes me feel hungry too."

"Hmm, what are you talking about?" Mary looked up from the bowl filled with vegetables like a mountain and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You seem to really like the dishes."

"Well, they are really nice."

Victor almost choked through his laughter. "Hurry up and eat, finish your food."

"Why did you invite me for dinner? Now I'm a little embarrassed. I won't get free food without paying for my fair share," said Mary.

"Aren't we friends? I can always invite you for a meal whenever I want." After a pause, Victor asked, "Are you afraid to eat with me because of your husband? I was really scared when he lost his temper last time."

"No! No! No!" Mary shook her head. "I'm sorry about what happened last time."

"Don't worry, it's been a while since it happened. It's okay. How are you and your husband getting along lately?" asked Victor.

"It's the same as before." Mary stopped eating and smiled pretending to be natural and unrestrained. Victor knew that something was up, just by observing how she was behaving. "You really are a horrible actress, would you like me, a professional actor, to teach you?"

"You..." Mary almost sprayed him with the food that she had just shoved into her mouth. Mary hadn't expected him to be so straightforward. She felt embarrassed when he called her out on her lie. "What are you talking about? I don't understand..."

"You are such a strange woman," Victor said sarcastically. "I'm curious. Don't you care about his relationship with Frank?"

"What are you talking about?" Mary was genuinely confused and dropped the false pretense. "What's the relationship between him and Frank? I really don't understand what you mean. Aren't they very good friends? Is there anything else between them?"

When Victor noticed that she was actually not lying and she seemed genuinely confused, he was shocked. "You really don't know anything about them?"

"I know nothing, what should I know?" Mary was stunned for a while as she tried to absorb what she had just heard then said, "You're so strange. Ever since the first time I met you, you have always told me strange stuff. I'm not familiar with Frank so I don't know anything about their relationship. What are you talking about?"

Victor looked at Mary in astonishment. "You don't know Frank?"

"No, I don't." Mary shook her head.

Victor felt his heart beating faster and faster and it was so loud he thought Mary could hear it too. "Didn't you say that you knew Frank? What did you mean by that?"

"I know that he is the owner of the Intoxicating South Restaurant Chain and has a lot of business cooperation with the AJ Group."

"Well except for this? What do you know?" Victor was now agitated.

"Rumor has it that he is William's good friend and they have known each other since childhood.

As he stared at Mary, with an intensity that could burn through her clothes, Victor had mixed feelings. He just realized that William hadn't told her about the relationship between him and Frank! He was shocked that Mary really knew nothing. She was in the dark about everything!

"What's wrong? Why do you look like you just swallowed a whole fish?" Looking at the serious expression on Victor's face, Mary was a little confused.

"No...There is nothing, nothing at all." When Victor came to his senses, he smiled and thought, 'How silly you are, Mary.'

"Really?" Mary doubted his sudden change in attitude. "You were so agitated just now."

"You know I will always protect you, Mary." All of a sudden, Victor said something irrelevant, which completely stunned Mary.

"Just eat and enjoy your food." Victor lowered his head as if he was trying to avoid eye contact with her and didn't look at her anymore.

'Mary, from now on, I will expose William and Frank's hidden secrets one by one, so that you can know what the truth is.'

After the two finished their meal, Victor seemed to be very happy. He didn't want to let her go anytime soon, so he showed her the TV show he had just shot. Mary had no choice but to accompany him. On the other hand, at the VIP box of Love Bar, the atmosphere was hot.

The box was packed since it was occupied by William, Lucas, Frank, Frank's wife Nancy, as well as William and Lucas's roommates from college.

It was as if they had separated themselves according to their gender, the women were chatting while the men were drinking.

"Lucas, we haven't seen each other for so many years. Why did you come back?" One of the men who was wearing glasses asked.

"Of course I was always destined to come back. I see you have also been doing well over the last few years."

"None of us is doing as well as you have been doing," a tall thin man continued. "We all learned management together, but who would have thought that you would inherit the family business and become a doctor?"

"Ha ha, father's orders are difficult to disobey," Lucas said with a smile. "I think William is doing better, he is the best of all of us."

"Yes, yes," Everyone echoed.

William smiled and said, "Don't flatter me. Everyone is doing well."

"Well Frank is slightly ahead," the tall and thin man said, "He is not only successful, but he also married earlier than you. You have to try harder to keep up."

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked, "Aren't you aware that William has been married even though you're in the same city!"

"What...? What do you mean that he has been married?"

"Wow, such an interesting piece of news. Why don't you tell us before?!"

"Yes, that's a good question. Why didn't you tell us? Is it because you look down upon us or something else?" "I just got my marriage license. I haven't told everyone yet. I'm too busy to talk about such things," said William with a smile, staring at Frank.

"No way!" The man said, "We must drink to that! Drink up!"

"Okay, okay," said William with a smile. "If you want, I can punish myself by drinking three glasses of wine."

"William, why didn't you come with your wife here today?" Nancy asked.

"She is busy today." After downing the second glass of wine as part of his punishment, William suddenly felt that the wine he had swallowed was unbearable.

"This is not right!" The tall, thin man said, "You must have hidden her in your expensive house!"

"Ha ha," said Lucas with a smile. "If there is a chance, let her come out and meet us!"

"Sure, of course I will." Holding his glass in his hand, William smiled and drank it up.

"Excuse me, I'm going to the toilet," Frank

suddenly said.

"Wait," called Lucas. "I'll go with you."

Frowning, William looked at Lucas with a warning meaning in his eyes, but Lucas pretended not to see him. The two of them walked out of the box. However, when William was about to chase after them, he was pulled by several of his friends and offered another drink.

"Frank, stop pestering William." After passing through the door, Lucas said without beating around the bush.

"You should go and tell him." Frank sneered, "If he wants me to leave, then I'll leave."

"You obviously know he feels guilty! Don't think that you can keep him," said Lucas while glaring at Frank.

Lucas gave him a cold stare and then went into the restroom. 'I'm the only one who knows what had happened between you and Frank. William, if I don't help you, who else can? Even if you think I should not mind your business, I'll stop you from damaging your own future!' thought Lucas.