Chasing What Can't Be Had

On the day of my ninth wedding attempt, my fiancé, Lucas Yearwood, leaves me jilted again. This time, I follow him. I see him holding his adoptive sister's hand as they walk into the obstetrics department. "Lucas, I dreamed that we're having a boy—he's definitely going to be as handsome as you." Watching the two of them laugh and chat like that, I feel my blood freeze. After I chased Lucas for seven years, I got a chance to use a debt of gratitude to force a marriage contract out of him. I backed him into a corner to make him marry me. Everyone thinks I can't survive without him. But this time, I hand the marriage contract back and leave him without looking back. On my wedding day, he calls me. "Viv! Where are you right now?" I'm in the shower. My new husband picks up the call for me. "Do you have business with my wife?" Later, I hear Lucas turned all of Riverville upside down, digging through every trash can to find our marriage contract. Chapter 1 In the evening, Lucas Yearwood returned home carrying a bouquet of nearly wilted roses. "Viv, I bought these roses especially for you. Do you like them?" he asked. I didn't even look up. I clutched the marriage contract I had once traded my life for as I sat—soaked—on the edge of the bed, my mind filled with the scene I had just witnessed at the hospital. He had also given roses to Anna Carter. Hers were fresher and more beautiful than mine. Lucas grew angry when he saw no reaction from me. "Viv, I had to leave abruptly because Anna was attempting to commit suicide by cutting her wrists. If it were you, you wouldn't leave someone to die either, would you?" I responded numbly, "Of course, we should save her..." After all, it would have been two lives lost. Seeing my docile response, Lucas raised his thick eyebrows and smirked. In a patronizing tone, he said, "Just keep being obedient like this. Look, I even bought you your favorite roses." We had held a wedding ceremony nine times, but each attempt ended in failure because of Lucas' so-called adopted sister. Yet each time, Lucas won me back with a bouquet of roses. He didn't know that roses were Anna's favorite, not mine. I loved him, so I loved everything he gave me. But now... "I'll put the roses in the vase..." Before he could finish speaking, I caught the scent of Anna's perfume on him. I then noticed the lipstick mark on his shirt collar. Perhaps it was from having been caught in the rain, combined with the shock, but my head spun, and I suddenly felt nauseous. I rushed to the bathroom and began vomiting. Lucas' smile froze when he saw my pale face. He rushed in and patted my back. "What's wrong? You're burning up. Should I take you to the hospital?" Just as he was about to say something more, his phone rang. Seeing "Anna" flash on the screen, he glanced at me before answering, "Anna, what's up?" Anna began crying on the other end. Her soft, childlike voice would make anyone feel bad for her. "Luke, where did you go? My stomach suddenly hurts so badly..." Lucas immediately panicked when he heard this. He told me, "Viv, something's happened to Anna. I need to check on her. "You can get to the hospital by yourself, right? You know Anna's fragile and needs constant care." I felt reluctant to let him go. I grabbed his hand and gave him our marriage contract. "You said you'd marry me. That promise still stands, right?" I looked at him with reddened eyes. There was a hint of pleading in my voice. Even now, I foolishly hoped he would change his heart for me. "You're still using this piece of paper to chain me down? Are two years of emotional blackmail not enough for you? I can't even look at this damn thing anymore!" Lucas' face contorted with disgust as he crumpled the marriage contract and threw it into the trash can. I stared blankly at the contract in the trash, my gaze darkening. In the end, he left anyway. My eyes filled with tears again as I watched his hurried silhouette disappear. Chapter 2 I had loved Lucas for seven years, but he had never loved me back. Lucas was swept away by floodwaters two years ago. I swam out to rescue him without hesitation, but a tree branch broke my leg during the rescue. Even though it was reattached later, as a rising star in the national swimming team, I could never compete again. I leveraged this debt of gratitude by obtaining a marriage contract from Lucas' grandfather to force Lucas to marry me. Even so, Anna would always interfere in the nine times we tried to get hitched. Not to mention, Lucas was always fooled by her poor acting skills. This repeated farce turned me into the biggest joke in Riverville, yet I never cared about that. It didn't matter to me what others said or how they criticized me. I only wanted to be with Lucas. Now, however, I was truly getting tired. I had a fever all night and only recovered the next morning. Even after I woke up, Lucas still hadn't returned home. I opened my phone and scrolled through my feed, coming across Anna's social media post. "I'm so happy! A mosquito bit me, and my brother was so concerned that he spent the whole night catching mosquitoes. Now, he's making breakfast for me." The caption accompanied a photo showing a man's back as he worked in the kitchen. I recognized Lucas immediately. The comments flooded in below. "OMG! Can I have a brother like that, too? My brother only treats me like a workhorse!" "That's so sweet! I'm so jealous." Anna replied to the comment shortly after: "He often rides me like a horse, too, especially when he's drunk. It always leaves me in so much pain…" No one understood the subtle meaning behind her words, but I did. My heart ached dully, and I found it difficult to breathe. Lucas and Anna had no blood relation. They appeared to be siblings on the surface, but their relationship transcended that. During my two-year relationship with Lucas, he would rush to Anna's side anytime she called. He would buy her feminine products, pills for cramps, blow-dry her hair, and sleep in the same bed holding her until she fell asleep. I had foolishly believed they were just close siblings. But thinking about it carefully, what siblings would go to such lengths? Lucas returned home at noon. Seeing me busy in the kitchen, he walked in and embraced me from behind, resting his head on my shoulder. "Viv, are you feeling better? Why are you cooking?" he asked while reaching to touch my forehead. "You're still a bit warm." As he spoke, his hands began to wander. He whispered with a smile, "Let me check if you're just as hot inside..." A wave of nausea hit me. I pushed him away and rushed to the bathroom to vomit. Lucas frowned, clearly displeased. "Do you need to reject me so dramatically? I noticed it last night, too. Why do you feel sick every time I touch you?" I avoided his gaze. After cleaning up, I skipped the meal and said quietly, "I need to go to work now." Lucas was startled by the coldness in my eyes. He quickly grabbed my arm, his voice softening, "Viv, what's going on with you? Why have you been acting so strangely these past two days? "It's not like this is our first failed wedding attempt. We can just have another one next time. It's just a ceremony! Is it really that important to you?" "I'm seriously going to be late!" I pushed his hand away and fled from the suffocating house. I had been working at Lucas' company after I left the national team, helping him manage it. I always worked diligently without ever asking for a promotion or raise. Plus, Lucas had always been cold toward me. Even though the employees knew I was his fiancée, they never respected me. "Did you hear? Vivian West got dumped by Mr. Yearwood at the altar again!" "She's been dumped nine times already. Can this marriage even happen? If it were me, I wouldn't want to live anymore after being humiliated so many times." Chapter 3 "Don't you know? Vivian has skin thicker than a rhino! She's been fawning over Mr. Yearwood for nine years without giving up. A mere runaway groom isn't going to make her quit." Before they could finish, I walked out of the bathroom stall and casually approached the sink to wash my hands. The women turned pale when they saw me. "Vivian, we didn't mean to talk about you..." I gave them a cold glance and left without looking back. I had been hearing gossip about me for nine years and had grown used to it. Perhaps loving Lucas had also just become a habit. In the afternoon, Anna came into the office carrying coffee and pastries. When she entered, she smiled and said, "You've all been working so hard. "Lucas asked me to bring everyone some afternoon treats. Please, don't be shy—eat and drink as much as you like." Everyone cheered immediately at her words. "Anna, you're too kind!" "Exactly! You're not only beautiful but also kind-hearted. Unlike certain people..." Someone stole a glance at me, their tone turning nasty. Upon hearing this, Anna smiled and placed a drink and a snack on my desk. "Vivian, you've been working hard, too. Why don't you have something to drink and take a break?" My eyes darkened as I raised my hand to decline, but she fell backward before I could even touch her. "Vivian, even if you don't like the drinks I bought, you didn't have to push me!" Anna's eyes reddened as she stared at me pitifully. The commotion immediately drew Lucas out of his office. Seeing Anna on the floor, Lucas's anger flared. "Who pushed Anna? Do you have a death wish?" Everyone turned to look at me. Lucas followed their gaze and met my eyes. I quickly explained, "I didn't push her. I didn't even touch her!" Everyone began speaking at once. "Ms. West! Stop making excuses. I just saw you push Anna!" "I can't believe Ms. West is this kind of person. I saw her shove Anna hard, and now she won't even admit it!" Amid the chorus of accusations, Lucas didn't hesitate to take Anna's side. "Vivian! Have I been indulging you lately? How dare you bully my sister!" Seeing this, Anna fell into Lucas' arms with teary eyes. "Luke, stop getting angry at Vivian. It's my fault for being so fragile, and also..." She placed a hand on her stomach, her expression suddenly contorting with pain. "Luke, my stomach... It hurts so much..." Lucas instantly panicked and scooped her up in his arms. Before leaving, he shot me a glance. "I'll never forgive you if anything happens to Anna!" I watched his retreating figure with reddened eyes, a bitter smile tugging at my lips. I hadn't touched Anna, nor had I insulted her, but Lucas still wouldn't investigate the truth. He was always like this. He was always unable to get me. That evening, my phone chimed. It was a message from Anna. "Sorry, Vivian. Lucas probably won't be coming home tonight." Two photos followed the text. They showed Lucas sleeping at her bedside. My hands trembled involuntarily, and my eyes reddened with tears. Lucas had been the campus heartthrob in high school—handsome and academically gifted. He saved me when troublemakers bullied me, and I fell for him from then on. That crush then turned into nine long years of devotion. Now, I'd finally come to my senses. I called Mr. Yearwood Senior to cancel the engagement, but he hesitated—invitations for the tenth wedding had already been sent out. After hanging up, it suddenly struck me—Lucas still had a young uncle who had never married. Clutching my phone tightly, I dialed another number. The next day, I spotted Lucas with Anna by his side while I was with a client, Caleb Lumber. They entered a baby products store together. When he saw Lucas, he immediately went over to greet him. "Mr. Yearwood, what a coincidence! What brings you here?" Caleb glanced at the store's name as he spoke, confusion flickering across his face. Chapter 4 When Lucas spotted me behind Caleb, he immediately let go of Anna's hand. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly composed himself. "Is... someone pregnant?" Caleb asked curiously. I walked over, staring directly at them as I waited for their answer. "Oh! I'm pregnant! I'm three months along!" Anna glanced at Lucas as she rubbed her stomach. She looked blissfully happy. Three months? My eyes darkened. Had they been together for three months already? Or perhaps it had been even longer? Caleb grew excited at the news. "So Mr. Yearwood's sister is pregnant. Congratulations! But where's the baby's father? Why is the baby's uncle shopping for things instead?" Lucas' face froze at these words. Seeing this, Anna laughed and said, "He's busy, so I asked my brother to come with me." Caleb nodded in understanding. "Then I won't be disturbing you guys. I have some business to attend to, so I'll be going now." He then said goodbye to me and left. I kept staring at Lucas once Caleb was gone, wondering what he would say. "Vivian, do you like children? Luke loves them. He tells stories to the baby in my belly every night," Anna said, looking at me smugly. "No, I hate children," I replied coldly. With that, I turned and walked away. Lucas immediately ran after me upon hearing me. "Why would you say something like that to Anna? She's pregnant now and can't handle that kind of stress!" I paused, nodding thoughtfully. "You're right. She's pregnant and vulnerable. Why don't you invite her to live with us? It would be more convenient for you to take care of her," I said, turning back to look at Lucas with a smile. Even so, the smile on my face couldn't hide its bitterness. "You don't mind?" "Of course, I don't mind!" Since Lucas was so fond of Anna, I naturally wanted to fulfill his wishes. Upon hearing this, Lucas smiled and pulled me into an embrace. "Vivian, thank you... I've wanted to bring Anna home to live with us for a long time, but I was afraid you would disagree..." My eyes darkened, and I fell silent. The piercing pain in my heart had left me speechless. In the following days, I persuaded Mr. Yearwood Senior to change the wedding from being between me and him to him and Anna. I approached Mr. Yearwood Senior several times, and he was beginning to waver. However, he still refused because even though Lucas and Anna had no blood relation, they were known publicly as adoptive siblings. This scandal would damage the family's reputation. But that day brought an unexpected turn. After returning from a business trip, Clayton Yearwood quietly sat beside me when I was chatting with Mr. Yearwood Senior. He sat very close—so close that I could smell the faint scent of his cologne. I'd heard Clayton was cold and distant by nature. Although I dared to make that call, I didn't dare move with him sitting so close. "Clayton, weren't you supposed to stay abroad for three months? Why are you back?" Mr. Yearwood Senior asked, looking puzzled. "I came back to get married," Clayton replied, his thin lips curving slightly. "Married? To whom?" Mr. Yearwood Senior's eyes instantly lit up. After all, he had been worrying about Clayton's marriage matters for ages. Then, Clayton took my hand and tilted his head slightly in my direction. He said in a deep voice, "Her." A flash of shock crossed Mr. Yearwood Senior's eyes, but he immediately agreed after just a few seconds of contemplation. "Sounds good! Then, Vivian, you will marry Clayton! As for Lucas, I'll give him my blessing to marry Anna since he's so fond of her!" Everything was developing exactly as I had hoped. But two days before my and Clayton's wedding, Anna came to find me. Chapter 5 "Vivian, don't you want to know whose child I'm carrying?" Anna asked. I remained silent, quietly sipping my coffee. "It's Luke's." I still showed no reaction. "He told me that once I have the baby, he'll throw you out of our home! He's even bought me a ring already." As she spoke, she flashed the diamond ring on her finger. My heart stung. In the two years I'd been with Lucas, he had only ever bought me a ten-dollar ring. I cried with joy when he gave it to me. I truly believed he wanted to be with me, so much so that I wore that ring for two years, never taking it off. Now, I realized that I was probably worth just ten dollars in his eyes. The next evening, I received a call from Lucas' friend, Adam Montgomery. "Vivian, Lucas is drunk. Aren't you coming to pick him up? Don't you want to marry him tomorrow?" What nonsense! They thought the wedding was for Lucas and me? Looking at the ring Lucas had once placed on my finger, I thought about returning it to him and simply replied, "I'll be there." But as soon as I arrived at the bar, I overheard his friends teasing Lucas about me. "Lucas, you really are charming. You've got a national swimming team prospect completely devoted to you. If Vivian hadn't injured her leg, she'd probably be a national champion by now, right?" "National champion? What a joke! I saw her working part-time teaching kids to swim recently. Looks like she hasn't given up swimming, but she fell because her leg got inflamed. "The parents even filed a complaint against her! Vivian's just useless now!" Lucas sneered. "She likes doing those menial jobs. She could only earn a few hundred dollars as a swimming instructor!" After being forced out of the swimming team, I had grown accustomed to all kinds of mockery. But Lucas, of all people, had no right to talk about me like that. Had he forgotten that I left the swimming team because I saved his life? "Lucas, are you really going to marry Vivian tomorrow? Married men can't go out and have fun anymore!" "No way! Lucas doesn't even like Vivian!" "Vivian is just Lucas' lapdog. If Lucas didn't pity her, he would have kicked her out long ago!" "Speaking of which, why hasn't Vivian arrived yet? Usually, she'd be here within 15 minutes to help Lucas with his drinks. She's so slow this time—should we punish her by making her bark like a dog while drinking?" Upon hearing this, I gave the ring to a server to deliver to Lucas and left. Shortly after I departed, Lucas' expression grew serious as he looked at the group. "Don't talk nonsense in front of her! And from now on, none of you are allowed to insult her, or I'll be the first to deal with you! "Just let her join us for drinks and enjoy ourselves tonight. After all, once I marry her, I won't have the chance to go out drinking anymore. "She knows about my stomach problems and is very strict with me. She'll definitely forbid me from drinking altogether after we get married." As Lucas spoke, he broke into a smile. His friends were shocked by the look of happiness on his face. "Lucas, you haven't fallen for Vivian, have you?" Lucas said nothing. He just smiled with a blush on his face and continued drinking. When they were all quite drunk, the server brought over the ring. Seeing that Lucas was completely intoxicated, she handed it to someone who seemed slightly more sober. "This is from someone called Ms. West for Mr. Yearwood. Please give it to him when he sobers up." Adam was too drunk to think clearly. He acknowledged with a grunt and stuffed the ring into his pocket. Tomorrow would be the wedding. I went back, packed up all my belongings, and left the villa I'd lived in for two years. Goodbye, my former home. Goodbye, Lucas.