Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 424 - 403: A Marriage and a Divorce

The next day at noon, Sienna Thornton and Simon Forrester returned to Brimfield and went straight to Melinda Linton’s place for dinner.

After dinner, Sienna had a talk with Melinda in her room. Upon hearing that Felix Raines agreed to wait until Jenna Raines found a husband before divorcing, Melinda just let it be.

A week or two later, Sienna heard from Auntie King that Jenna Raines had been frequently asking for leave to go back to her hometown for blind dates. However, each time she went back, she was reluctant, yet fearful, forcing herself to go.

The fear was naturally of Felix Raines.

Even though Jenna now had the ability to work and lived in a place Felix couldn’t find, having grown up trained by Felix, no matter how capable she was, a command from Felix, reluctant though she was, would compel her to comply.

She had grown accustomed deep down to submitting to Felix Raines.

This time, Sienna seized upon Felix being besotted with his mistress, eager to divorce Melinda, to pressure him to quickly marry off Jenna, so that Melinda would no longer have any ties with the Raines Family.

No matter how clever Jenna was, she couldn’t match Sienna’s intelligence and strategic thinking. In dealing with Melinda’s divorce, Sienna managed to ensnare her as well.

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Soon, Felix Raines set his sights on a restaurant owner’s second son in Wrayhaven County for Jenna.

The man, like Felix’s mistress, saw Felix’s twenty-thousand-dollar watch, his imported cigarettes, buying a house outright in the county, and having connections in Brimfield. The restaurant family thought it was a suitable match, even feeling slightly like a social climb, and immediately agreed to the marriage between their son and Jenna Raines.

Initially, Jenna didn’t agree, but the Raines Family dissected the situation from all angles and brainwashed her, including the suitor’s earnest pursuits. With Jenna’s plain appearance and lack of prior romance, she succumbed under his sweet pursuits and Felix’s coercion.

On the day of the engagement, Sienna and Simon brought Melinda and Auntie King back to Wrayhaven for Jenna’s engagement party.

The engagement feast was held at the restaurant owned by the groom’s family.

The groom’s relatives saw Simon driving a Lamborghini supercar and noted Sienna and Melinda’s attire, and how Melinda traveled with a nanny. They all felt that the Raines Family was indeed well-off.

Sienna prepared a set of Chow Sang Sang bridal gold jewelry for Jenna: a large chain, thick and wide dragon-phoenix bracelets, gold rings, and earrings.

This was originally Melinda’s responsibility, but she was unwell, so Sienna prepared it all.

In the names of herself and Simon, she also bought a one-carat four-prong diamond ring from Chow Sang Sang for Jenna.

Just preparing these gold items and the diamond ring cost Sienna over twenty thousand, ensuring Jenna’s send-off was splendid in a poor county like Wrayhaven.

The reasons for spending this money were partly because Jenna was Melinda’s beloved youngest daughter; partly to make the groom’s family think the Raines had wealth, spurring them to quickly marry Jenna, hastening Melinda and Felix’s divorce.

For the still-impoverished rural folks of Wrayhaven Township, a girl able to wear a thick gold chain and bracelet for her wedding signified a decent family background.

Jenna’s dowry dazzled the eyes of the groom’s relatives. Even the groom’s father, a restaurant owner, had never seen so much gold; the diamond ring was something he’d only seen on TV.

For a moment, everyone thought the Raines Family was discreetly wealthy. Felix’s mistress, in particular, saw the gold and diamond ring Sienna prepared for Jenna, her eyes gleaming, pestering Felix that they’d need such things when they married.

Felix, in high spirits, readily agreed, thinking that if Sienna did not provide it, Simon would.

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A fortnight after the engagement, urged by the groom’s family and Felix Raines, Jenna and the groom quickly registered for marriage and started preparing for the wedding.

Initially, Melinda planned to return early to oversee Jenna’s wedding personally. But since the mistress was already living in the Raines home, Felix demanded Jenna delay Melinda’s return. So, Melinda only went back the day before Jenna’s wedding.

Melinda was aware that the woman Felix found had already moved into their home. She was unexpectedly calm, likely because her disappointment in Felix had accumulated to a breaking point. Having been separated for so long and having undergone two heart surgeries, she had come to terms with many things, remaining emotionally even-keeled, naturally avoiding clashes with the woman encroaching on her turf.

Country weddings are relatively simple; the groom comes early to pick up the bride. Once the bride leaves, there’s not much for the bride’s family to do.

On the morning Jenna got married, Melinda secretly wiped her tears with a handkerchief, grateful for Auntie King’s constant comfort.

Several female relatives helping to send the bride off saw Melinda looking younger by the day, her complexion having recovered its fairness without exposure to the elements, her clothing of fine quality and graceful appearance, always with a nanny in tow, and they envied her, praising Melinda’s fortune in having such a capable daughter.

As Jenna was sent off, Felix, impatiently, disregarded it being his daughter’s wedding day and hastily tried to take Melinda to handle the divorce paperwork.

At this moment, Melinda finally cried.

Sienna, though unwilling to watch, thought it better to end the pain quickly and reprimanded Felix a few times, proceeding to take Melinda away.

Taking Melinda to the hotel, Sienna and Auntie King worked long to persuade her, finally getting Melinda to agree to go to the civil affairs bureau with Felix that afternoon to handle the divorce. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

To enable Melinda to leave the marriage sooner, Sienna advocated for her to leave with nothing. Since the Raines’ money was essentially in Felix’s pocket and the house was under Felix’s wife’s name, fighting a legal battle over these things wasn’t worthwhile, so Sienna abandoned them all.

The children were all adults, and without property disputes, the divorce procedures were simple: fill in the forms, sign, certify, and the divorce was finalized.

Other than Melinda, who was understandably upset being the party divorced, everyone else seemed quite pleased.

With the paperwork completed, that afternoon, Sienna and Simon took Melinda back to Brimfield.

That night, Sienna and Simon privately discussed selling Melinda’s current apartment as soon as possible and buying her a new apartment near The Fenmore Villa, where Sienna and Simon would later move to better care for Melinda.

The reason for this, of course, was to completely sever ties with the Raines Family. Once Melinda moved from that apartment, even if the Raines came to Brimfield, they wouldn’t know where Melinda was.