The more he thought of his life, the angrier Preston became. It felt as if he was only a pawn his family used to get benefits.

He remembered the servants gossiping about him. They said that his mom was a homewrecker and he was an illegitimate son.

When he was little, he yelled at the servants every time he heard the gossip. He thought they were slandering his mom. They had to be. How could his mom possibly be a homewrecker? How could he be an illegitimate son? However, back then, every time, his mom would tell him to be quiet, as if he was really embarrassing.

He didn’t understand why his mom didn’t make a retort. Why did she just let them talk about her like that?

She was married to his father.

Now he had grown up,

no longer as naive as before. And his life wasn’t as simple as before either. He found out that in the adults’ world, even laughing and crying became complicated. And he became shrewd and deep, hard to read.

He learned how to disguise. He buried his feelings deep, as if he no longer had likes and dislikes.

Most often than not, he felt he was like a walking zombie, and his mom was the only reason he lived.

And he needed a reason to live.

He hated his marriage, because he didn’t love his wife.

In many ways, Preston was like Nigel, especially when it came to love.

He believed in love.

Preston had dated many girls. But he had severed all tied with them.

But none of his ex-girlfriends would complain about him.

They all thought he was a great guy. The reason they didn’t keep in touch was that they had been in love and couldn’t be friends.

Preston wasn’t a playboy. He had loved every girl he had dated.

Except for his mom, love was the one thing he most cared about.

He had been looking for the one. Instead of waiting, he took actions.

He had never been really happy in the past.

To find happiness, he had tried and failed many times. Every time he thought he had found it, he loved with all his heart and soul, but in the end, his heart was broken to pieces. Then he spent time healing.

Every time his heart healed, he became more timid. It took him a lot more courage to start a new relationship than last time.

It was not hard to be a good man,

but it was hard to stay kind-hearted after being hurt.

Preston looked like a tough guy, but he was actually sensitive and vulnerable, so once he was hurt, the scar would be deeper than the others’.

The dull pain lingered as if a cruel reminder taunting him for his foolish persistence in his principles.

Despite the pain, for so many years, he had believed in true love.

However, now, he had betrayed his belief.

He had married Madeline, for a ridiculous reason—money.

Every time he thought of this, it pained him so much he wanted to cry. The sadder thing was, he had been pretending to be strong for so many years he couldn’t even shed tears.

He had no one to talk to, so when it hurt too much, he could only go to a bar and get drunk. Only in this way could he make the pain temporarily go away.

Sometimes, he was too drunk to walk. Other times, he puked at the roadside in the dead of the night, but no matter how miserable he felt, he had no one to take him home.

Sienna had told him that a matrimonial alliance could not only save Hewin Consortium but also provide them with a powerful backer.

Besides, his father would value him more, and he would have a better chance to inherit Hewin Consortium.

She had also told him how beautiful Madeline was. She had even promised him that after he had gotten Hewin Consortium, he could divorce her any time.

Preston’s heart had tightened when Sienna had mentioned the word "divorce." At that moment, for the first time in his life, he hated his mom.

He had always thought he would marry the woman he loved and lead a happy life with her ever after. Divorce was never part of his plan.

He disagreed to what Sienna said. He told her that he could get Hewin Consortium on his own, and that he was capable of running the company.

Nonetheless, when Sienna heard that, she flew into a rage.

She said between sobs that he was the reason why she had tried so hard to get Hewin Consortium, and that she had done everything for him.

Just like before, she kept telling him that he was all she had.

And finally, he conceded.

He couldn’t stand seeing his mom in tears. To him, she was a vulnerable, helpless woman who needed his protection.

So he had agreed to marry Madeline. But there was another reason: he thought that even if he agreed, Qiao Group might turn down the proposal.

To his dismay, however,

a few days later, Qiao Group agreed to the idea of forming a matrimonial alliance.

Preston was shocked by Qiao Group’s decision. His disappointment was beyond description. But after they had gotten married, he never asked Madeline why she had agreed to marry him.

She didn’t seem to like him at all. They had slept in separate rooms on the night of their wedding.

That night he had hesitated for a long time in the living room. He didn’t want to sleep go into the bedroom and sleep with her. But before he decided to tell her that, Madeline walked out of the bedroom and threw him a pillow.

Clearly, she didn’t want to spend the night with him either. Preston was relieved.

Till now, they barely talked to each other, and maintained a nominal marriage.

It baffled Preston why Madeline had married him. She was so proud and aloof that usually she walked by him without even looking at him. Sometimes he wanted to ask her about the reason, but when he saw her cold face, he decided against it.

He felt that no one in this world understood him. It was like he was from a different planet.

Every day, he was surrounded by people. But he felt so lonely.

He was all alone on the path his mom had designed for him. He was tired, he staggered, he hurt. His heart was torn to pieces again and again. It never healed. He wore a mask every day, forgetting who he really was. He forced himself to do the things he didn’t want to. He made himself smile. Before, he had never known smiles could hurt so much.

His hate for Nigel was the only thing that helped him survive each of these painful days.

Over time, the hate had become a habit, which even Preston himself didn’t realize.

The hate became the sole purpose of Preston’s life.