"Tell me, why has your personality changed so drastically since our marriage?"
"If I told you I came from another world., would you believe me?"
"You're clearly insane."
"Haha, perhaps I am!"
Vivian guessed that Ethan's harshest punishment, the one he claimed would make her regret, amounted to nothing more than house arrest and cold treatment.
Two days passed since that confrontation. Ethan increased surveillance over her, forbidding her from leaving. He would leave early and return late, avoiding her by hiding in his room, completely avoiding any interaction, thereby isolating her emotionally.
Other than that, he did nothing more to her.
Well, except for bombarding her with phone calls on the first day.
The incessant ringing lasted the entire day. At first, she thought Ethan was trying to torment her mentally, but then realized it was "her" phone, which was incredibly loud and filled with contacts she didn't recognize. In frustration, she smashed it and requested a new one.
To her surprise, a new phone arrived within three hours.
Aside from confining her and ignoring her, Ethan didn't mistreat her in any other way.
Her meals were prepared by a personal chef, and within the house, she could request anything, and it would be provided instantly.
Such pampered days hardly felt like punishment...
This stubborn yet soft-hearted man would surely make a mistake eventually, Vivian thought, a smile involuntarily forming on her lips.
Over the two days, Vivian acquired newspapers and magazines to immerse herself in the knowledge of this world.
She discovered Ethan was indeed a famous and wealthy CEO.
As the head of a multinational corporation, he topped the country's wealth rankings. Newspapers and magazines constantly featured stories about him, with business and finance publications often showcasing his face on their covers. Even gossip columns were filled with pictures of him.
...Was there ever a CEO so prominently in the public eye? Vivian felt she had landed in an extraordinary world.
Business magazines dedicated entire columns to Ethan, detailing his upbringing abroad in elite education, his return to the country at eighteen after his parents' tragic accident to take over the Sharpe Corporation. Despite bleak prospects, he not only stabilized the crumbling empire but propelled it to new heights.
Entertainment magazines portrayed Ethan as breathtakingly handsome but emotionally frigid. Every public photo depicted him without a smile. This aloofness meant that despite being labeled annually as the most eligible bachelor, he rarely had any romantic rumors.
And yet, this highly coveted man married Vivian in a whirlwind ceremony in March, stunning many. Media outlets ran headlines about it, with the buzz lasting over a month before gradually fading.
Pushing aside the pile of papers, Vivian leaned on her chin, recalling a familiar storyline...
"'What are you girls chattering about?'
'Miss Shaw! Nothing... just...'
'Oh, Miss Shaw, don't look! You won't like it!'
'Let me see... The Heartless CEO's Delicate Bride?'
'We... we just noticed the protagonist shares your name, Shaw, so we were curious...'
'Yeah... just curious... Oh, Miss Shaw!'
'I'm curious too, let me take a look at it!'"
Reflecting on the media descriptions, Vivian realized they eerily matched a novel she once read.
Drawn by the protagonist sharing her name, she had read the romance novel earnestly, her first dive into the genre.
With too much on her plate back then, she couldn't recall the specifics, only that the female lead was timid and unlucky, forced to marry the CEO in her sister's stead, drugged into intimacy, then discarded. She endured physical and emotional torture until she and the CEO grew closer. Just as things improved, she faced the advances of the CEO's cousin。After misunderstandings, and a miscarriage... more trials followed. After tens of thousands of words chronicling her suffering, the female lead left the country heartbroken, returning years later with twins.The misunderstandings were cleared, the CEO begged for forgiveness and relentlessly pursued her for tens of thousands more words before they reunited, living happily ever after with their twins.
After reading it, Vivian pondered: Whose children were the twins?
Her professional instincts kicked in—after such a long absence, a DNA test should be conducted; resemblance of the kids with him alone wasn't enough.
Still... perhaps ignorance was bliss.
