Usually, Chris's place had few guests, let alone at the deep night.

Therefore, people who rang the doorbell outside must be Brian.

Chris wanted to ask Joanne what to do, but unexpectedly saw Joanne's confused and helpless eyes. He sighed and decided to open the door for her.

Brian stood outside the door, and his long body cast a dark shadow on the ground, his handsome face gloomy. He looked like he was brewing a storm that could destroy the earth and sky, and people could not help but be afraid of him.

Since childhood, Chris had not been afraid of anyone. But at that moment, he subconsciously made way to Brian. "Joanne is in the living room."

Brian went into the door without words and walked past Chris directly to the living room.

In Chris's memory, Brian treated people with alienation, but always maintained basic courtesy.

It was the first time Chris had seen him in rage, and he even didn't care about the courtesy anymore.

It seemed that the situation was much worse than he imagined.

After a few seconds of silence, Chris decided to go out.

No matter how serious the situation was, it was a problem between Brian and Joanne. This was just the beginning of their trouble, and he needn't intervene.

...

In the living room.

Joanne only heard the familiar footsteps getting closer and closer, and each of them heavily stepped on her heart.

Her heart severely contracted, and intense pain spread all over her as if thousands of needles had been stabbing her body...

Soon, the familiar breath surrounded her.

She looked up and directly saw Brian's black eyes. He had a panic at the bottom of his eyes.

Having never seen Brian like this, she almost couldn't help but blurt out the truth.

Brian slowly handed out the agreement. "Why?" The corner of the agreement sheet had been folded from his grab, showing how hard he had been grabbing it.

He did not believe that Joanne really wanted to divorce him, but her signature was so clear in the agreement that it seemed to laugh at his persistence and stubbornness.

"I can't accept your that you've slept with Rosalyn, even if you did it for the company." Joanne stood up slowly. "Isn't the reason enough?"

"I told you, Rosalyn and I have nothing! Why don't you believe me?" Brian stared at Joanne with a burning gaze, and his anger was about to spurt out.

"..." Joanne turned aside her face and suppressed the sorrow she was feeling.

She did believe Brian's words, but she could not.

Brian added, "I can talk directly to Rosalyn."

"Well," Joanne smiled coolly. "I also want to know more details about your last night."

The phone only rang two times before Rosalyn answered. The moment she spoke, she affectionately greeted him. "Brian?"

Brian put the phone on the coffee table and said coldly, "Say it clear. What happened last night?"

"The deal between us has been completed, I am very satisfied, are you not satisfied? What else is there to say?" Rosalyn said with a few chuckles, "As we agreed before, if you accompany me for one night, Oscar will agree to loan Lambert Group, you needn't be responsible for it. Now, isn't the best part of Lambert Group' crisis solved?"

Brian squinted. "Rosalyn, tell the truth!" His tone contained a hidden danger like that before an imminent storm, obviously, he was warning Rosalyn.

Rosalyn wasn't concerned about his warning. "Am I not telling the truth! Oh, you are going to explain to Joanne, aren't you? Didn't she say she loved you, so she can at least accept this thing between us, right?"

"Rosalyn..."

"Enough!" Joanne hung up Brian's phone and looked at him. "How else do you want to explain?"

Brian shook his head. "Rosalyn was lying."

He did not know why Rosalyn insisted on lying. Looking at Joanne's disappointed eyes, he only felt that the sting in the stomach became sharper and sharper.

He knitted his brow and endured the discomfort, grabbing Joanne's hand. "Joanne, you go back with me first, I will prove..."

"How do you want to prove?" Joanne interrupted Brian. "I saw you in one room, and when I pushed open the door, you were hugging!"

Each of her accusations aggravated Brian's pain. He subconsciously covered the stomach. "Joanne..."

Words were swallowed up by the pain, and he closed his eyes in pain, his eyebrows heavily knitted.

Joanne knew that he must be having the stomachache again. Secretly clenching her fists, she decided to harden her heart and not look at him. "Don't say anything else. I will divorce you!"

"..." Brian's pupils contracted slightly. He looked so painful and incredulous when he gazed at Joanne, as if she had driven a dagger into his heart.

Joanne continued, "I know that you and Rosalyn really slept. And I don't deny that I and Shawn... oh..."

Her words were blocked back by Brian's sudden kiss.

With a fit of anger, he kissed her exceptionally violently. "Stop, Joanne, stop..."

He was so overbearing, and almost pleading to stop Joanne from continuing, just to not hear that Joanne admitted she had slept with Shawn.

He kissed Joanne without any affection and wanted to tell Joanne in this almost savage way that she was his, forever.

He hugged Joanne very tightly as if he had wanted to embed her into his body. Joanne struggled and gradually became unable to resist. The plundering offensive also became gentle and he kissed deeper and deeper...

Until Joanne couldn't breathe, Brian let her go, and then his ordering tone carried a trace of pleading. "Go back with me, I will explain it to you."

Joanne forced the tears in her eyes back and pushed Brian away. "I don't want to see you again, I also won't go back with you! Get out of here!"

Brian squinted. "What did you say?"

"I said, I will divorce you, I don't want to see you again." Joanne's words were heart-wrenching. "Brian, get out of here, now!"

Brian's face darkened. "Who do you want to see again? Shawn?"

"..." Joanne did not speak. "Let him take my silence as a yes."

Brian's eyes flashed with a trace of anger and he smashed the divorce agreement onto the coffee table. "You want me to sign? I'll tell you, not for the rest of my life!"

Chris did not lock the door, so he heard the hubbub getting louder and louder. Then he came in and saw that Brian and Joanne were in a deadlock.

He felt both sorry for them and troublesome, frowning and growling in a low voice. "Sit down and talk! If you have a misunderstanding, can't you explain to each other?"

"We don't have a misunderstanding." Joanne turned back. "Brother, send him away."

Chris pulled Brian to the corridor outside the room. He wanted to ask for the reason of their incident but found Brian's face white like paper, and it was obvious that Brian was having a stomachache again.

At this time, Gavin arrived and just came out of the elevator.

"Gavin, send him to the hospital." Chris thought it was more appropriate to go back and ask Joanne the reason, patting Brian's shoulder. "You can't take Joanne back tonight, I will help talk to her, you go to the hospital first."

"She admitted the thing reported in the news." Brian looked at Chris. "But I don't believe it. she must have hidden something, help to ask her."

Chris nodded. "Don't worry, I watched her growing up and I know her."

His stomach seemed to twitch severely, and Brian's face became paler. Gavin found Brian seemed unable to stand straight anymore. Gavin feared Brian would get worse if they dragged here. Therefore, Gavin hurried to pull Brian away. "I will send you to the hospital first."

Looking at the elevator door close, Chris returned to the room.

Joanne didn't look as indifferent as before and squatted on the ground, quietly sobbing in desperation, like a little beast facing the butcher but was unable to resist.

The last time Chris saw her like this was when their mother died.

He helped Joanne to stand up, and then, he saw the tears in her face. They signified she was on the verge of collapse.

"What on earth happened?" Chris asked.

Joanne shook her head and saw Chris's sad eyes through her blurry eyes. Suddenly, she could not suppress it, throwing herself into Chris's arms and bursting into tears.

She cried until she couldn't breathe. In the end, she could only gasp through heavy breathing, like a child who was greatly wronged. Her tears wet Chris's clothes, but she still gritted her teeth and refused to say anything.

Chris glanced at the divorce agreement on the table out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to the last page, he unexpectedly saw Joanne's signature.

"How did you get to this point?"

In doubt, Chris realized that something's wrong.

Joanne was reported to have an extramarital affair. While Brian certainly did not believe it, Joanne did not deny it. Moreover, she would even divorce Brian.

She loved Brian for so many years and did not leave Brian when he was in the most difficult time. There was no reason for her to divorce him now.

"Joanne, I don't believe you and Shawn really have something between you." Chris thought and tentatively asked, "Are you forced? What are you hiding from us?"

Joanne shook her head. "Brother, I must divorce him."

The word "must" was even more suspicious in Chris's eyes.

He knew Joanne well. If she said "must", that meant she was forced under some situation, not that she wanted to divorce.

"But why does she have to divorce Brian?"

"Joanne, tell me exactly what happened." Chris stared at her. "Don't you even believe your brother?"

"..." Joanne bowed her head and avoided Chris's eyes. However, she still had no intention to speak.

Thus, Chris had to threaten her. "Even if you don't want to say it, I can find it out."

"No!" Joanne suddenly grabbed Chris's hand and pleaded. "Brother, no..."

"So you really want to divorce Brian?"

Joanne looked at the divorce agreement that was almost tore apart on the table and felt heart aching. However, she nodded and said, "Brother, I will tell you what happened one day, and I will also explain it to Brian clearly, but not now. You have to believe me, don't tell him those things, okay?"

If Chris revealed some details to Brian, he must definitely find out the transaction between her and Rowdy, and all her work was done in vain.

Chris asked, "What you did was all for Brian, right?"

"..." Joanne looked down as a silent confirmation.

Chris shook his head helplessly. "You also need to promise me, don't do stupid things, otherwise..."

"Brother, don't worry! I won't be stupid."

Joanne's voice was very light, but not perfunctory.

When she drove to Rosalyn's home this morning, she really wanted to hit the road guardrail and ended it all.

Thinking about it now, she found it extremely stupid.

Chris helped Joanne to sit on the sofa and looked at the suitcase next to her. "How did you run out?"

Joanne rubbed away tears on her face. "The door of the Scott Family never shut me inside when I was young."

She knew that wheeling a suitcase out of the door was conspicuous, so she put the essential items into a small bag. When Simon was not paying attention, she put the bag in the trunk of the car in advance.

During one or two hours in the afternoon, everyone was busy. She said she was going out for a walk. When she went out, she took the car keys and naturally strolled near the garage. As long as she got in the car, no one could stop her.

She only had three days. If she did not move out but was entangled with Brian at home, Brian would probably be aware of the strangeness. Even if she could really fool Brian, she couldn't divorce him when she felt softhearted.

Only after moving the suitcase to Chris's guest room, did Joanne realize in a haze that she really left.

She'd left the home she worked hard to have and the person she loved the most.

She knew that this would not only hurt herself but also hurt Brian.

However, she had no choice.