The Divorce Ceremony

Kenneth couldn't believe his eyes. Up until this point, he had only heard about that stone and how valuable it was. He had never actually seen one, let alone something that big.

This only meant one thing. The man in front of him was of a much higher rank than he thought.

This man was probably one of the top clans in Europe. That thing in his hand was basically a status symbol, and for him to just hold that around so casually . . . he must be making it big.

"You seem to be from a big family." Kenneth flashed him a smile. "We should come to the dinner together."

Jordan tilted his head, deep in thought. He felt like he should know this man. He had been living in this city for three years and he felt like they had encountered before. 

But more friends meant more paths, right?

"Thank you for the offer," he said, but he didn't feel like saying his name.

It didn't seem to matter to Kenneth. "My name is Kenneth Andrich. You can call me Ken. Wait for me here, I just have to check on something." 

With that, he walked away and started to think. Was there anyone with the surname West in the gemology industry in the north? 

Meanwhile, while he walked away, Jordan just watched him. These rich families surely were interesting. He was about to follow when suddenly, a sharp voice behind him spoke. 

"There you are, you idiot!"

Jordan wheeled around and saw a man approaching him. He searched his mind for the name of his man and finally concluded that this was Harold Brenner, Sienna's brother-in-law.

And the one following him was Sam Campbell, his father-in-law.

"Why the hell are you here?" Harold asked. "Were you talking to Ken? That's so inappropriate!"

Jordan wanted to point out that Ken was already away when he caught sight of Sam's displeased expression.

"Go upstairs and don't talk to anyone!" Sam scolded him. "Especially not Ken. He would be so put off when he finds out who you are."

"I can just leave," Jordan offered coolly. "There's no rule in this hotel that states I shouldn't be talking to anybody. Besides, what if he's the one who talks to me first?"

Both Harold and Sam were stunned by his words and the fact that he could string a smart sentence.

Not only that, he even challenged them!

"You little shit," Harold mumbled, stepping forward to slap him.

Jordan just looked at him. "Do you really think I would let you slap me?"

He stared at him coldly, and Harold backed down a little, looking alarmed. But just then, a female voice said, "You're going too far, Harold!"

All the men looked up, and there she was, Jordan's beautiful wife, walking down the stairs with a worried expression. She immediately wedged herself between him and her brother-in-law.

The look on Jordan's face lightened up and became gentle as he stared at Sienna.

Harold withdrew his hand. "Did you hear what he just told me and dad right now?"

She didn't hear anything, and even though she did, she knew that he would just make Jordan cry.

"Is it wrong for him to just stand there?" Sienna retorted instead.

"Is it good for him to be so rude to me and dad?" Harold asked back.

She just sighed. "Just don't provoke him, Harold. He means no harm."

The last thing she wanted right now was for Jordan to have a breakdown. Sam apparently thought so too, because he changed the subject. "Can we just speak with Ken?"

"Let's just wait for him." Harold checked his phone. "He said that he and an honored guest would be there at the venue."

"Honored guest?" Sienna repeated.

Her heart sank. She already knew that he would be here but she didn't like that it seemed that her father had a plan. And it wasn't good that he had some sort of an honored guest too.

Jordan frowned. "Ken is Kenneth Andrich, right?"

Harold whipped around to face him. "Don't talk about him like you know him."

He didn't sound angry. He sounded surprised like everyone was. 

Sienna herself couldn't believe that he knew Ken's name. In fact, he seemed to be behaving a little too normally now.

"Do you know him, Jordan?" Sienna asked.

"Well, he introduced himself to me just earlier," he said casually. "He invited me over, actually, and I think I'm the honored guest he was referring to."

They all froze in shock. "What?"

Was this actually true? Did they really meet and did Ken really invite him to the dinner that he would be attending himself?

It was hard to believe.

"Oh, okay," Harold said sarcastically, patting Jordan's head. "Okay, maybe you just overheard him talking to someone else and immediately assumed it's you."

Sienna couldn't bear seeing him being made fun of like that again so she just said, "It's nearly time. Let's go."

* * * 

After a while, the four of them entered the hall in the hotel, and as expected, everyone made fun of Jordan as soon as they saw him.

"Oh, he really looks like a fool."

"Look at his face. He's even smiling."

"He's also a big liar," Harold muttered beside Sienna.

Sienna sighed. "Don't lie next time, Jordan, okay?"

She sounded reassuring, but she felt disappointed. For a second there she really thought that he was becoming normal.

But by the looks of it, he was just a boy trying to sound smarter than he really was.

She just decided to ignore it and walk further, heading to their table and sitting. Nearly all the tables were occupied by the Campbell clan, and so Sam took this as his chance to go upstage.

"It's nearly time," he announced, "After fifteen minutes, our family and all of you other people wouldn't have to pretend to accept a certain someone in the family."

They all laughed, but Sienna just clenched her mouth. Something in her chest hurt.

The ridiculous marriage was about to end.

But why wasn't she looking forward to it?

For the past three years, she had been with Jordan day and night. He became a part of her daily life. 

That was why she felt a bit lost.

She looked at him once again and found that even though he knew he was the topic of ridicule, he still had a smile on his face.

And she had to question whether or not he knew what was about to happen.

Sienna sighed. Maybe it was a blessing to be this clueless sometimes.

Sam tapped on the microphone. "Jordan, you can still write your own name, right?"

"Of course," Jordan called out easily.

"Ten more minutes to go," Sam said, looking at his Rolex.

With that, someone handed sheets of paper to Jordan. He was about to pick it up when the doors opened and Rina Campbell entered the room, announcing, "Mr. Kenneth Andrich is here!"

Sam perked up. "Please, tell him to come in!" 

He wanted Ken to witness the divorce himself so he would be confident enough to marry Sienna.

She wasn't stupid. She already knew that this was the initial plan and she didn't really care. What she was scared about was the fact that Ken might humiliate Jordan after everything... 

That would be the thing that she couldn't take.

"Dad!" she hissed as Sam stepped down and sat beside her. "Even when I'm single again, I don't want to be with Ken!"

Just as she said that, her mother, Kris arrived and heard everything.

"What?" she hissed back. "We can't miss this chance, Sienna. That would be stupid!" 

Sienna took a deep breath and gathered her strength in the face of her strict parents. 

"I will sign these papers," she declared, "as long as I don't get any kind of proposal from Kenneth Andrich."