<b>Chapter </b><b>203 </b><fn3d4f> Th?s chapter is updated by findnovel</fn3d4f>


    Alexci’s proposal was understated, but the wedding itself was magnificent.


    Before the ceremony, he signed an asset transfer agreement for her.


    “I’m not certain how long love’s shelf life truly is. Even though I’m confident our love willst forever, I won’t wager on the fragility of human hearts, not even my own. As the saying goes, interests are the most reliable allies. So I entrust to you everything I own, everything I am. If I ever betray you, you can walk away with this, leaving me penniless and utterly defeated. Natasha, from this moment on, you are the rightful master of the Turner family. I am merely your knight, sworn to serve you,” Alexei said.


    This was Alexei’s vow of loyalty, his binding covenant.


    If marriage were a gamble, then Alexei had wagered his entire being.


    Natasha smiled in response, “Aren’t you afraid I might regret it first?”


    <i>The </i>agreement was written entirely to bind him.


    “If you ever regret it, it will mean I have not done well enough.


    “But wherever you go, I will find you,” he swore.


    “Alexei,” she said, holding the contract as she sat in hisp, smiling as she pinched his face, “you could just say you won’t let me take it back.”


    Alexei let her have her way, affectionately brushing his nose against her cheek. He murmured, “Would you?”


    “No,” she answered solemnly. “Once the die is cast, there is no turning back. I would rather go all the way.”


    Alexei chuckled softly in response, “It seems we both have great faith in ourselves.”


    Only Natasha and Alexei could make this marriage endure.


    Natasha signed the agreement.


    Fortunately, through the decades they shared until the end of their lives, the contracty forgotten, gathering dust in a corner, never once needing to be brought forth.


    Alexei personally oversaw every detail of their wedding, obsessing over perfection in every respect.


    Shawn watched the exhausted wedding nners, run ragged by Alexei’s meticulous demands, and could not help but pity them.


    ‘Mr. Turner treated this wedding with even greater caution than deals worth hundreds of billions.


    ‘So much for those who said it was only business, not love, he pondered.


    With Alexei tirelessly managing every aspect, Natasha, the carefree bride–to–be, spent her days happily enjoying herself with Sadie and her friends.


    Yet, as the day drew near, Natasha noticed the man at her side bing increasingly anxious.


    One morning, woken again by a tight arm around her waist, she patted the head nestled against her neck and groggily asked, “What’s wrong with youtely? Are you not sleeping well?”


    Alexei loosened his hold slightly, kissed her forehead, and said, “It’s nothing, go back to sleep.”


    Natasha rubbed her eyes, turned to face him, and insisted, “Tell me.”


    Alexei no longer dared to be perfunctory.


    Hey on his side upon the pillow, stroking her face as though confirming her warmth. His voice was low and hoarse as he recounted, “I dreamed I never met you. I had ruined the Turner family, and life had lost its meaning. Every day, I drifted like the walking dead. One day, I abandoned everything and perished in an avnche.”


    Reality was far too good: waking to his beloved every morning, finding the lights on when he returned home, no longer wandering aimlessly or feeling hollow. He constantly feared it was all just an illusion.


    Perhaps a cold, solitary Alexei had always been his true destiny.


    Only after meeting Natasha did he learn the taste of sweetness. And the fearless man began to fear loss.


    Natasha pulled his hand down and kissed his palm.


    She then guided it back, saying, “This is my hair, this is my eyebrow, this is my eye, this is my nose, this is my mouth…”


    Finally, she ced it over her heart and uttered, “This is the real Natasha.”


    “Alexei,” she said softly, gazing into his eyes, “you have all of me. Hardship was never meant to define life; you were always destined for happiness.”


    your


    Alexei’sshes were damp. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. “Baby, I love you so much,” he sighed.


    It turns out that when people are loved, they truly feel so happy that they want to cry.


    It was true–when one is loved, happinesses so intensely it brings tears. Natasha gently stroked his ear. “I love you too. So don’t be afraid; we still have decades ahead of us to go on loving each other.”


    Their love willst longer than the hatred they once endured.


    From that morning onward, Alexei seemed to awaken to a new certainty, convinced that this was reality.


    He only grew more devoted to Natasha.


    Understanding his insecurities, Natasha had recently been apanying him to and from work every day while they nned the wedding together.


    Every time Sadie visited, she found the two practically inseparable, which made her roll her eyes and leave at


    once.


    In this way, Alexei even won a rare victory with the eldest daughter.


    On the wedding day, the entire city of Andphis buzzed with excitement, and luxury cars nearly filled the hotel grounds<b>. </b>


    At the grand venue, Natasha walked down the aisle herself, without her father, to stand by Alexei’s side.


    Rhea, acting both as a mentor to the bride and as an elder for the groom, delivered a heartfelt speech representing both families.


    The couple exchanged rings and sealed their vows with a public kiss, while Sadie sobbed uncontrobly in the audience.


    Beside her, Ramonaughed and smiled so hard she could hardly manage to grab tissues for her friend.


    ire sat with Michelle, the lead actress of her new film, and a bold neer to the entertainment industry. Together they watched their investor, Ms. Sadie, cry miserably while busy takingmemorative photos and cheering on the newlyweds, who lingered on stage, reluctant to part.


    Archer, who had flown back from Arnatar, sat at a table with the Turner family. Watching the chaos and warmth unfold, he smiled and apuded.


    The butterfly had finally found its perfect habitat.


    Outside the joyous venue, silence reigned.


    Andrew and Madeline, with brothers Thomas and Noel, watched from afar as the bride appeared and then departed, remaining until the ceremony ended.They had not been invited. Shame kept them from attending. so they apanied her only in this distant way.In just a short time, the couple appeared to have aged more than ten years.After Olivia was imprisoned, they recovered a fraction of the money from the patents she had sold, but it did not begin to cover the debts.


    They had not been invited. Shame kept them from attending, so they apanied her only in this distant


    way.


    In just a short time, the couple appeared to have aged more than ten years.


    After Olivia was imprisoned, they recovered a fraction of the money from the patents she had sold, but it did not begin to cover the debts.


    From morning to night, the family of four fretted over money.


    Once ustomed to grand vis, they now crowded into a small, dpidated three–bedroom apartment. Close quarters only fueled constant conflict and daily quarrels.


    Thomas and Noel even came to blows more than once.


    Their aristocratic arrogance had long vanished, reced with the humility ofmoners forced to take jobs and count every cent with painstaking care.


    The suffering Natasha had once endured living alone had now returned to them tenfold.


    Tears streamed down Madeline’s cheeks. She knew she could never make amends with Natasha in this lifetime. If granted another, she swore she would treat her daughter with love.


    Alexei held a grand wedding and did nothing to keep the media away.


    He wanted the world to witness their vows, and this once–in–a–century celebration remained a favorite topic of conversation long after.


    In a dimly lit room, Lucas sat watching the endless stream of media reports on his phone<b>, </b>congratting Mr. Turner and his new wife, before taking another heavy swig of alcohol.


    He had once held the chance to stand by her side, but he had squandered it with a grievous mistake.


    Even now, he still bore the empty title of Olivia’s legal husband.


    Margot pushed the door open and walked in. She said, “Your father and I are divorced. I’m leaving the country. Are youing with me?”


    The Wright Group had been on the decline. A short while ago, the production chain broke down, and at that critical moment, Wyatt absconded with the money.


    The Wright Group went bankrupt. With nothing profitable left, Margot saw no reason to stay in her decaying marriage with Emmanuel.


    Lucas did not answer.


    Margot did not press him. After the chaos of the wedding, where he had harmed Olivia and Roderick and then spent time in detention, he had returned to his bleak and empty room. Just days earlier, he had drunk so recklessly that he suffered a gastric hemorrhage andnded in the hospital.


    She ced a bank card on the bed and said, “This money will let you live decently, Lucas. Take care of yourself.”


    With those words, she turned and left.


    She had finally abandoned this son who had sunk into despair.


    Fortunately, Emmanuel was not the only one with an illegitimate child; she had one of her own.


    Moving overseas, with a world of opportunities ahead, she could finally be herself again


    Only the drunken Lucas remained behind. But this time, there was no young woman tofort him softly, nor his mother to pull him out of the abyss as she had done countless times before.


    Olivia, who had dragged Lucas into ruin, was not faring any better in prison.


    She would spend the rest of her life there, enduring endless torment.


    The news of Naomi’s triumphant solo performance and the mysterious, beautiful choreographer L had barely faded before reports of the Turner Group CEO’s new marriage swept across the world.


    The brightness outside only deepened Olivia’s sense of despair, for she had no visitors.


    Staring at Natasha’s radiant smile on the screen, her own tears streamed uncontrobly.


    She had even tried to reach out to the rk family, hoping to see them, but every attempt was rejected without exception.


    She wondered, ‘If I had not stolen her sister’s life back then, if I had only hugged the girl who once gave me candy and said “thank you“, would everything have been different?‘


    “What are you dawdling for? Get hot water for the boss, now!” the prison bully’sckey barked at her again.


    Olivia trudged toward the water room, her head throbbing from a fresh blow.


    Though she was still alive, her life was already over.