The Enigmatic Return novel Chapter 579

They sat and Neera called him, "Jean Beauvort."

It was rare for her to call him by his full name.

Jean's heart sank. He had a bad feeling about it.

"Have you ever considered ending our marriage early?" Neera asked.

Jean was stunned. “No.”

Neera didn't expect his answer. “Our contract will remain valid excluding the marriage part. I won’t stop treating you. My relationship with your parents is ruined now. You know that they don’t like me and you’re under pressure too. If we continue doing this, we might only create more trouble for each other.”

Create more trouble for each other…

Jean was irritated. “I don’t agree with you. Two years means two years.”

Neera felt complicated but wanted to laugh when she saw Jean being tense.

“Why are you so stubborn all of a sudden? Our relationship wasn't real in the first place. There's no need to stick to this contract."

"Since it's a contract that you and I agreed on in the first place, how can we change our minds suddenly? Do you think that I'm doubting you?"

Neera froze. She recalled the way he said, “I believe you”.

"No." She shook her head.

"It’s because of my family."

"Yes. To be honest, if our relationship is real, I won’t be bothered by what other people think. But, our relationship is fake. Even if you believe me, your family is still prejudiced against me. They wouldn’t be satisfied with anything I do. There will be more and more troubles in the future. I don’t want to live like this anymore.”

Jean stared at her. His heart ached for her.

"I didn't handle it well enough. I thought they'd stop as long as I warned them. I made it clear with my actions to cut off ties with the Marks family. What I did was far from enough."

Neera was surprised. She did not expect that Jean had done so much.

"You've done enough. But, this matter does bother me a lot."

"That means, I’m not mean enough to them!” Since I couldn’t stop my parents, I had to cut off ties with the Marks family.

Neera didn't know what was going on in Jean’s mind, she thought it was funny.

"No, this is not a matter of being mean or not. It’s just that…we don’t have to persist in it. We can always be friends, right?”

Jean didn’t want to be friends with Neera. He was annoyed by her words.

He wanted her to stay.

He looked at her and asked, "Do you really want a divorce? You just said that if our relationship is real, you won’t be bothered by others' thoughts, right? Have you ever…considered being in a relationship with me?”

Neera's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. She was stunned and confused by Jean’s question.

“Stop joking,” she mumbled.

Jean was relieved. His negative emotions from these few days were replaced by determination.

"I'm not kidding." He said softly, "I'm serious."

Neera’s emotions were in turmoil. Her instinct told her to leave.

Jean took her hand and held it tightly.

“Don’t go. I was confused by what was going on between us previously, I wasn’t decisive enough during making decisions. Now, I’ve figured it out. I won’t let them mess with you a single bit, okay?”

Neera wanted to withdraw her hand but she could only stare at him blankly.

"What have you…figured out?"

Jean suddenly smiled. “My feelings for you, Neera. I like you. There’s only you in my heart.”

Neera froze. Is he confessing to me?

Jean continued, "I'm sorry, I've never been in a relationship. I didn’t figure out my feelings earlier. Now that I've made up my mind, I don't want to lose you. Our marriage started with a contract but I don’t want it to end this way. I want to continue our marriage differently. I’m not sure about you. What’s your answer?”

Neera was flabbergasted. My answer? I don’t have any answer! This is too abrupt for me!

Jean didn’t force Neera to answer him.

He stroked the back of her hand before letting go.

"There's no rush, we have a long way ahead of us. You can take your time to think about it. Go back now and serve your guests. Tell me your answer next time,” he paused and continued, “Just…don’t make me wait for too long. I can’t wait to be together with you.”