Chapter 44: Uncle

Meryl didn’t pry any further; instead, she sent Anne her location.

Half an hour later, Anne pulled up, and Meryl hopped into the passenger seat.

“What’s with the hospital visit? Are you feeling unwell?” Meryl asked, glancing over at her friend.

Anne nodded slowly, then shook her head as if struggling to find the right words. After a moment of hesitation, she finally admitted, “Last night, I slept with Dante.”

Meryl blinked in surprise. “Wait, aren’t you two on the verge of divorce? Is this a reconciliation I’m hearing about?”

Anne wasn’t quite sure how things had spiraled into that situation.

When she got home last night, she had laid the divorce papers in front of Dante, ready for him to sign so she could head to the courthouse and finalize things.

But Dante had glanced at the papers and suddenly smirked.

“What’s that supposed to mean? No need to drag this out—just be a man about it?” Anne had asked, urging him to sign and get it over with.

But Dante just laughed, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Oh, you want me to sign? Ever heard of a ‘breakup hookup’?”

Anne had been taken aback, cursing him in her mind.

She thought, “We’re about to get divorced, yet here he is, wanting to sleep with me?”

The reality hit her hard: Dante really was that kind of guy. He took advantage of her while she slept, leaving her high and dry without signing a thing.

The thought made her blood boil.

In their two years of marriage, they had hardly been intimate, yet now, right before their divorce, he had to have her again.

Just two weeks ago, after a similar encounter, he had smugly declared, “Anne, as long as we’re not officially divorced, you’re still mine. Deal with it.”

That had led to a slap across his face and a standoff between them ever since.

Meryl listened to the whole story, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "So, your reason for going to the hospital is…?"

"I had some bleeding this morning, but it’s not my period. I need to get it checked out," Anne replied, her tone shifting to a more serious note.

Meryl nodded; this was definitely something that needed attention.

The drive to the hospital was a bit lengthy, and to pass the time, Anne tried to make small talk.

“By the way, the news about you hitting Dalton has spread like wildfire. I heard he’s in the hospital now.”

Anne had worried that Meryl might still harbor feelings for Dalton, but after last night’s incident, it was clear that Meryl had no love lost for him.

Anne continued, glancing at the traffic light ahead, “The entire Aniston family showed up at the hospital early this morning."

"Your husband, Chandler, is probably there too."

Meryl froze for a moment, her mind racing.

“Chandler went to see Dalton?”

Seeing the confusion in Meryl’s eyes, Anne realized that Meryl probably didn’t know about the connection between Chandler and Dalton.

It wasn’t surprising. Chandler had been elusive, only appearing in the public eye in the past year. Before that, people knew very little about him. Moreover, Meryl had spent the previous three years in a remote prison, cut off from the news.

The traffic light turned green, and Anne gently pressed the accelerator. The car started moving down the road.

She whispered, “Chandler is Dalton’s uncle. He never mentioned it to you?”

Meryl’s expression turned to shock.

She thought, “Am I hearing right, or is Anne just messing with me?”

She turned to Anne, swallowing hard. “Are you kidding me?”

Anne replied, her tone serious, “Do I look like I’m joking?

“Chandler is indeed Dalton’s uncle—his real uncle. And Galaxy Holdings Group? That’s all Chandler’s."

“Chandler and Dante are close. I’ve had dinner with Chandler before.”

Meryl’s mind was reeling.

She had always thought of Chandler as just another small businessman!

So many questions flooded her mind.

“If that’s the case, why on earth would he want to marry me?”

She thought, “It doesn’t add up."

"I've clung to Dalton for seven long years, yet here is Chandler, marrying a woman who has been with his nephew. If that gets out, won’t it just make him a laughingstock? Chandler is a top-tier businessman; surely, he should care about his reputation. Does he really want to be the butt of jokes?”

Anne had thought about this last night, too.

Chandler couldn’t possibly be unaware of the complicated history between Meryl and Dalton.

If he knew and still chose to marry her, the only explanation was…

“Is he really doing this to repay your life-saving grace?”

Meryl pressed her lips together in silence.

Besides that, there was another possibility.

Chandler might have feelings for Meryl, feelings strong enough that he was determined to marry her no matter what.