Chapter 7

In just a few seconds, Arthur called.

"Ella, didn't we agree to go to court today? Where are you?" Arthur's voice came through the phone,clearly pissed off.

Ella knew she was in the wrong and awkwardly explained, "Today was an accident. I got rear-ended on my way to court. The other driver didn't even have a license..."

Before she could finish, Arthur cut her off.

"Ella, are you kidding me? Who drives without a license these days?"Arthur's tone was fully impatient.

Even over the phone,Ella could picture his angry face.

"Making an appointment with me and then breaking it, Ella, are you playing hard to get with me?"

Hearing this, Ella sneered, "Arthur, you're so full of yourself.Anyway,I've told you what happened. Believe it or not."

She wondered why she hadn't noticed before how self-righteous Arthur was.

On the other end, Arthur was silent for a long time. During this time, he felt that Ella had changed somehow from before. But he couldn't pinpoint what was different. "Do you have time tomorrow? We can go to court again."Arthur snorted, "Do you think I'm as free as you? I don't have timetomorrow."

With that. Arthur hung up abruptly, not even giving Ella a chance to speak.

Staring at the disconnected call, Ella was stunned for a moment, then angrily threw her phone onto the bed.

She cursed to herself, 'Arthur, you bastard.'

After charging her phone, Ellawent straight to Worry-Free Studio.

Today, Worry-Free Studio had taken on many orders, and Lily and Emily were a bit overwhelmed.

When she arrived at Worry-Free Studio, it wvas already buzzing with people.

Seeing Ella come in, Lily and Emily looked at her like she was their savior.

With Ella's help, the two of them felt much more at ease.

After the busy period, Ella and Lily sat on the couch chatting.

"I'll take the car in for maintenance tomorrow. You'll have to walk for the next couple of days."

Lily waved her hand. "No big deal. Aren't you planning to buy a car? As orders kept increasing,we realized we might need to work separately, and just one car wasn't going to cut it,"Her words struck a chord with Ella. After the divorce, she left with nothing and couldn't afford to buy a car. "Let's wait a bit." Ella decided to put off buying a car for now. Lily understood her thoughts, turned around, and looked at Ella seriously."Are you seriously planning to divorce with nothing? Arthur's worth a fortune;you'd be losing a lot."

"I just want to get divorced as soon as possible. Besides, Arthur's money has nothing to do with me. It's easier to get a divorce without asking for anything. He wouldn't want to give it to me anyway."

She was eager to divorce Arthur. Besides, she was never with Arthur for the money.

Lily looked at Ella for a while, then sighed heavily.

"Why do you look so miserable? I'm the one getting divorced, and I've already come to terms with it." Ella pinched her cheek playfully.

Lily took Ella's hand away and looked at her wistfully. "You heartless woman, don't you know I'm angry for your sake?"

"Let's not talk about this. What did Arthur say about you missing today?"

Ella shrugged. Just thinking about it made her blood boil, and she repeated Arthur's words verbatim.

"He's so full of himself," Lily finally said after a long pause.

A phone call interrupted their conversation. Ella picked up her phone and glanced at it. It was Arthur calling.

After hesitating for a moment, Ella answered the call."Come back to the Smith Villa with me tonight. Grandpa wants to see you." Hearing Arthur's matter-of-fact tone, Ella rolled her eyes. Did you forget we're about to get divorced?" She had no obligation to go back.

Arthur uncharacteristically paused for a moment before continuing. "We haven't gotten the divorce certificate yet, and I haven't signed the divorce agreement. You're still my wife on paper."

"Grandpa's health is frail. Are you sure you want to tell him about this?Have you forgotten how he usually treats you?"

His words successfully silenced Ella.

She indeed couldn't refuse. Robert Smith was the one who treated her the best in the Smith family.

"If you want me to go back with you, we need to set another time for the divorce." Ella decided to take advantage of the situation.

Trading a meal for reschedulingthe divorce seemed like a good deal.

Unexpectedly, Arthur agreed after a moment of hesitation.

"The Smith Group has some matters these days, and I need to handle them. Schedule a time next week and let me know. I'll pick you up at six tonight."

Ella agreed, "I'm at Worry-Free Studio. Pick me up here."

With that settled, Ella and Arthur hung up without further ado."Was that Arthur?" Ella nodded and put her phone aside. "He wants me to go back to the Smith Villa with him tonight."You agreed?" Lily was incredulous. 'If they were getting divorced,why go back to his family?'

"Mr. Smith has been good to me. I should go back for his sake."

Lily still couldn't understand why Ella agreed. Even if she went back this time, they would still get divorced.

"How do you plan to tell Mr. Smith about the divorce? You can't keep it a secret forever."

"We'll deal with it later. Arthur will figure something out."

She remembered Ava's words about their plans to get married.

Robert would find out eventually.

By then, how to handle it would be Arthur's responsibility and would have nothing to do with her.

"Lily, there's a customer outside," Emily called softly from the door.

"I'll go check." Lily got up and went out.

After chatting forso long, it was almost time for Arthur to pick her up.Ella grabbed her phone and walked out.

At the office door, she could hear Lily introducing herself. Stepping outside, Ella saw a familiar figure. Before she could guess who it was,that figure turned around. It was the woman who rear-ended her car that morning, Sophia. "It's you!" Sophia glanced over and recognized Ella immediately. Thinking about the $3,000 she had to pay, Sophia was furious.

Seeing that Sophia had recognized her, Ella walked over.

Lily looked at her inconfusion. "Do you know this lady?"

Ella nodded helplessly. It was more than just knowing her.