Marrying Without My Eight-Year Boyfriend Knowing novel Chapter 12

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, I couldn’t embarrass Benjamin.

I stepped aside, my grip on the champagne loosening as I handed it to Zara. She began pouring, the sparkling liquid flowing gracefully, filling the glasses one by one.

But before the tower was complete, Zara suddenly seemed to lose her strength. Her body swayed, and she was about to fall forward.

Benjamin noticed immediately, rushing to catch her. In the process, the champagne tower collapsed.

Almost instinctively, Benjamin shielded Zara in his arms.

A cry of alarm brought me back to my senses, and I felt a sharp pain in my exposed arm.

Looking down, I saw cuts from shards of broken glass. Thankfully, I was wearing a long dress today; if it had been a short one, my legs wouldn’t have been spared.

It was only then that Benjamin noticed something was wrong with me. He started to approach but was stopped by Zara, who whimpered,

“Mr. Smith, my foot hurts so much. I think I might have twisted it.”

“Do you think it could be broken?”

I stood still, watching as Benjamin bent down to carry her. He turned to me and said,

“You should get those cuts treated at the hospital. Don’t let them scar.”

In the past, even a small cut on my finger would have made him panic. He would hold my hand, disinfect the wound, and remind me:

“Don’t touch water for a while. Scars aren’t good for girls.”

“You have me. Why would you ever need to do anything dangerous?”

I had believed that once we were married, everything would go back to how it was.

But now, I realized I was wrong.

Annie accompanied me to the hospital for treatment.

That evening, I decided to talk to Benjamin. After all, avoiding the issue wouldn’t solve anything. A relationship takes two people to confront and fix its problems.

By 11 p.m., he still wasn’t home.

I called him, but Zara answered instead.

“Sophia, Mr. Smith isn’t available right now. He just went to shower,” she said, the sound of running water audible in the background.

Then she added, “Oh, and don’t misunderstand—it’s because Mr. Smith tripped while dropping me off, so he had to shower.”

But when I got to his office, the secretary told me he’d gone to a meeting.

Left with no choice, I went to the civil affairs bureau alone and waited.

When the clock struck the scheduled time, I called him. “You didn’t forget we’re supposed to register our marriage today, did you?”

What greeted me was a long silence.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke,

“Sophia, I feel like our relationship has turned into family affection. Why don’t we take some time to cool off?”

“Is this about your secretary?”

He hesitated before replying,

“It has nothing to do with her. I just think we should approach this marriage more rationally. After all, marriage is about two people—”

“I agree.”

Excuses. Just excuses.