Chapter 139: The dilemma of marriage and inheritance

"What?" Amie yelled, standing up abruptly.

She looked from Serena to Chris as though waiting for one of them to tell her it was nothing but a joke.

"You never said that before. You only said I had to be married."

Serena sighed as though she found the whole situation difficult herself.

"Dear, I never mentioned it because I thought you were deeply in love with your husband. I never imagined you would want to divorce him. The first day you told me about your marriage, you were so excited about it."

Amie stuttered. "But how come? What sort of condition is that? What does getting divorced have to do with my inheritance as your daughter?"

Serena glanced toward Chris and could tell he was fighting the urge to laugh.

"Let me explain," Serena began. "The Vassaris are a family built on traditions, and above everything else, they value family unions. Divorce has always been considered a disgrace to the family name. A daughter who willingly ends her marriage forfeits certain rights within the family."

Amie stared at her in disbelief.

What sort of bullshit tradition was that?

But apart from Serena, she knew almost nothing about the Vassaris. So she couldn’t tell whether it was true or not.

"Are you saying that includes my inheritance?"

Serena nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, yes."

Amie looked at Chris, her face still frozen in shock, as though expecting him to rescue her.

Chris nodded.

"Mother is right. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t rushed into marriage. Once you enter a marriage, the family expects you to take it seriously."

Chris’s statement felt like confirmation of everything Serena had said.

Still, Amie clutched Serena’s hand.

"Mother, I’m your daughter. There’s no way you would make me lose my inheritance because of a man. Haven’t I suffered enough?"

If Serena didn’t know better, she might have fallen for Amie’s attempt to gain her sympathy.

But staring at the girl in front of her, she felt absolutely nothing.

Serena carefully patted her hand.

"Don’t worry, dear. Even if you lose your inheritance, Mother will always take care of you. I’ll be there for you."

The words did nothing to comfort Amie.

Instead, it felt as though all the energy had suddenly been drained from her body.

She felt dizzy.

She lifted a hand. "Excuse me, Mother. I’ll be in my room."

It took effort for Amie to walk away from them.

The moment she was gone, Serena removed her glasses and scowled at the bowl of food Amie had left behind.

Finally, Chris’s lips curled into a smile.

"Since when does the family have a rule against divorce?"

Serena rolled her eyes.

"Since five minutes ago."

Chris chuckled, but his expression soon changed.

"But don’t you think it’s better for her to divorce Rauf? At least then June won’t have that hanging over her anymore."

Serena sighed.

"Yes. If I hadn’t received that call from Rauf, I would have thought it was the best thing too. But look at it from another angle. Amie has always clung desperately to the idea of being married to Rauf."

She paused, allowing Chris to think about her words.

"Then suddenly, she’s willing to accept a divorce."

Chris frowned.

"And it happened right after she met Dante," he said.

"Exactly."

A fresh wave of anger hit Chris.

He already knew Amie was a liar, but every day she revealed another side of herself that disgusted him.

"So you think Dante has something to do with her sudden change of mind?"

"I don’t know yet," Serena replied. "And that’s the problem."

Chris leaned back in his chair.

"Rauf isn’t going to like this."

Serena nodded.

"I know."

Chris chuckled as he imagined Rauf’s reaction if Amie suddenly decided to fight the divorce because of the inheritance.

Serena picked up her glass.

"I’m not trying to keep her married to Rauf forever. I need to know what Dante wants before Amie decides she has found something better and runs straight into his arms."

Chris twisted his lips.

Preventing Amie from getting access to their inheritance was one thing, but not at the expense of June’s happiness.

"And what happens if Rauf refuses to play along?"

Serena took a sip from her glass.

"Then I’ll deal with Rauf when the time comes."

Chris almost laughed.

The little he knew about Rauf told him that wouldn’t be easy.

As soon as Amie got to her room, she threw the divorce papers onto the floor and stepped on them repeatedly.

She had thought that once she became Serena’s daughter, her life would finally become easy.

Why did it feel as though it was becoming more difficult every day?

She picked up the crumpled papers again and read through every clause carefully before throwing them back onto the floor.

Rauf wanted to divorce her and make sure she walked away with nothing.

Now Serena was telling her that accepting the divorce could also cost her the Vassari inheritance.

Whichever direction she turned, she lost money.

And then there was Dante.

He seemed genuinely interested in her.

Why should she lose the opportunity to explore whatever was happening between them simply because Rauf had decided to make her life difficult?

Everything seemed to be going in the opposite direction from what she wanted.

It wasn’t as if she was the one who had actually lived as Rauf’s wife.

So why should she be tied down to him now?

Angrily, she picked up her phone and called her father.

Ever since he had accused her of bringing him unreliable information, Amie had stayed away from him.

To her, he was just another person who made her feel as though she wasn’t good enough.

But she couldn’t make such a huge decision by herself, especially when she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

Her father picked up almost immediately.

"Dad, Rauf sent me divorce papers."

"What?" Samir exclaimed. "Don’t sign anything."

"Of course I didn’t. I’m not a fool," she snapped into the phone. "Especially when he clearly stated that I’ll be walking away with nothing."

Then she told him what Serena had said about the inheritance.

Throughout her explanation, Amie never mentioned Dante’s name.

Whatever was happening between her and Dante, she had decided to keep it private.

Just between the two of them.

Samir cursed.

"Then you can’t divorce Rauf. Instead, we need to find a way for you to win him back."

There was a brief silence.

"I mean, he was once infatuated with you. He can be again."

But Amie doubted that.

Back in Kansas, she had done everything she could to lure him into bed, but Rauf had ignored every attempt.

She didn’t want to keep throwing herself at a man who no longer made her feel desirable.

Dante did.

Dante made her feel beautiful.

He made her feel seen.

Annoyed, she shouted, "Why does everyone care so much about whether I remain married to a man who doesn’t want me?"

"Don’t you want the wealth attached to the Vassari name?" Samir asked.

Of course Amie did.

But she also wanted her freedom.

"Just play your part," Samir said. "Remember, I have his mother wrapped around my finger."