Love Beyond the Contract

Lucas's Beautiful Lie

"What did you say?"

Nancy couldn't believe it. Her body trembled uncontrollably.

She suddenly felt so cold, so very cold.

A chill was creeping up from the soles of her feet, spreading through her limbs, making her shiver.

Back then, Grandpa Lu had asked her, "Nancy, if Lucas wants to be with you, to marry you, would you agree?"

"Grandpa, is he willing?"

At that time, she already knew that the person he loved was Fiona, which was why she had asked that question.

She had told herself that if he was being forced by Grandpa, she would never agree, because she didn't want to tie him down with a marriage.

She didn't want to win him over in such a way.

"Silly girl, Lucas is so stubborn. If he wasn't willing, how could Grandpa force him?"

Later, she had also asked Lucas.

She asked him, "Are you willingly marrying me? I know Grandpa loves me dearly, but I don't want you to marry me just because of his orders. I don't want to put you in a difficult position."

How had Lucas answered her?

He said, "It's voluntary. Fiona and I have already broken up. Let's make an agreement—three years. I'll try to fall in love with you. If after three years I still can't, we'll divorce peacefully. Do you agree?"

"Of course!" she had replied with a bright smile.

Lucas had also asked her, "Why do you agree to marry me? Don't you have someone you like? Are you willing to be bound by marriage? Don't you want to pursue your own love?"

She said she did—she had liked him for eight years.

Then she shook her head: "I won't pursue it anymore."

Because she had already become his wife, directly transitioning from love to marriage, taking a huge leap in life.

But now, Fiona was telling her that all of this was a lie.

If what Fiona said was true.

Then it meant that from the very beginning, everyone had been deceiving her.

The three-year agreement?

Nancy pinched her fingers, suddenly wanting to laugh. It turned out to be nothing more than a facade, a blatant lie.

Back then, she had been moved to tears, thinking that Lucas had truly forgotten Fiona and wanted to start anew with her.

But in reality, she was the naive one, the one who had been played like a fool.

"Nancy, you're really adorably naive. Lucas loves me. How could he willingly marry you? Do you know why he proposed the three-year agreement? It was so that after three years, you would have no reason to object and would willingly divorce him, setting him free so he could return to me."

"He knew that only if you brought it up to Grandpa would Grandpa agree. If he asked, Grandpa would never consent."

"To be with me, he put in so much effort, even setting up this beautiful trap."

Fiona's words made Nancy feel as if she had been thrown into an ice cellar.

A coldness tightly enveloped her. She felt so cold, so very cold.

If all of this was a lie.

Then all those days and nights, had he just been acting?

And those nights.

When he held her close, when he was tender with her, was it all fake?

Was nothing real?

Nancy's heart ached terribly. She suddenly felt like a ridiculous clown, utterly foolish.

That was why Lucas had been able to scheme against her so easily, to deceive her so thoroughly.

"I don't believe it. Unless you tell me how Grandpa forced him."

Nancy clenched her fists. After being together for so long, she knew Lucas too well.

Unless there was something extremely important at stake, given his personality, even if Grandpa held a knife to his neck, he wouldn't have yielded.

Fiona let out a mocking laugh.

"Nancy, you really won't give up until you hit the wall. Since you're so eager to know, I'll tell you."

"Because Grandpa threatened him. If he didn't marry you, Grandpa would send me abroad, and in this lifetime, he and I would never see each other again. Even though we couldn't be together, for the chance to meet again, he compromised."

Nancy bit her lip. She was in so much pain.

So much pain that she couldn't even speak.

But Fiona didn't let her off. She continued her attack: "As for my legs, do you remember that on your wedding day, Lucas received a phone call during the ceremony and almost left on the spot?"

"Yes."

Of course, she remembered her wedding.

"Because on my way to your wedding, I got into a car accident. I almost died. It took a whole day of emergency treatment to barely save my life, but these legs were already ruined."

No wonder he had left in such a hurry after the wedding.

She had even asked him if something had happened at the company.

He said a friend had been in a car accident, and he wanted to go take care of them, but Grandpa wouldn't let him, so he asked her to cover for him.

She remembered Grandpa calling her specifically to ask, "Nancy, is that boy Lucas staying home with you?"

"Yes, Grandpa, he's right here with me."

She had foolishly helped him cover it up.

As a result, he didn't come home on their wedding night.

It turned out, on their wedding night, he had gone to be with another woman.

For the next few days, he had been leaving early and coming back late, looking utterly exhausted.

But he had never told her that the friend he mentioned was Fiona!

If she had known?

Nancy gave a bitter smile. Even if she had known, she would have still helped him cover it up.

Because she loved him so much, she couldn't bear to see him scolded by Grandpa.

"So? Why are you telling me all this now?"

Nancy looked at her, suddenly like a hedgehog fighting back, raising all its spines to protect its soft body.

"Are you telling me that your legs are ruined because of me? That I'm the one who made you crippled?"

"Nancy, ask yourself, isn't it true?" Fiona's voice grew more agitated.

"If it weren't for you, Grandpa wouldn't have forced Lucas. Lucas wouldn't have reluctantly married you. I wouldn't have been distracted on my way to your wedding and gotten into a car accident. These legs wouldn't have been ruined."

"If it weren't for you, I would have already married Lucas. We might have had children by now, enjoying our family."

Nancy struggled to control herself.

After a while, she raised her head and calmly replied, "It's not because of me. You're just finding a convenient excuse and a scapegoat for your ruined legs."

"I believe in Grandpa. Grandpa loves me dearly, but if he didn't agree to you being with Lucas, there must be a reason. If you truly met Grandpa's standards for a granddaughter-in-law, not even a thousand Nancys, or ten thousand Nancys, could shake your position."

"As you said, if Grandpa went to such lengths to keep you apart, it only means one thing, Fiona—you have issues yourself."

"I, Nancy, may not be some wealthy heiress, but I'm not someone you can bully as you please. Don't try to pin all your blame on me."

"No one invited you to the wedding, and no one made you drink and drive."

Nancy's words were firm and logical, leaving no room for rebuttal.

Fiona looked at Nancy in disbelief.

After two years apart, she never could have imagined that the timid girl who used to follow Lucas around, blushing at the slightest thing, speaking softly and gently, could suddenly become so fierce.

"The person I love most is getting married. Do you think I would miss it?"

"The person you love most?" Nancy sneered. "Fiona, there are things Lucas doesn't know, but that doesn't mean I don't. Don't push me to bring up all your dirty secrets from the past."

"You're lying! I'm innocent. How can you slander me like this?"

In her agitation, Fiona stumbled and suddenly fell from her wheelchair.

At that moment, Lucas returned.

He put down the thermos, gently helped Fiona up, and with a cold expression, asked, "Can someone tell me what's going on here?"