Pearl nodded, and she seemed very curious.
Tanner gazed into the distance.
"It all started with my marriage to her.
At that time, I only agreed to the marriage at the request of my family, but I didn’t like her..."
‘I first met Pearl at the dinner between the Hannigans and the Santiagos.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen Ms.
Santiago from the La Perla Group, and it wasn’t that I didn’t know her.
Pearl Santiago has always been rumored to be an arrogant and domineering b*tch, and the scandal
that took place at the socialite party a few years ago was the event that turned her into the target of
public criticism.
‘Because Maizie’s actions had implicated the Hannigans, in order to consolidate the Hannigans’ status
in Bassburgh, father asked me to marry such an unbearable and disgraced woman.
And I couldn’t help but find this whole facade ironic.
‘I met Pearl at that dinner, and that was the first time I really got to her"
‘She did not look arrogant at all.She looked just like any other dignified and elegant woman.I knew
Pearl had disappeared from the public’s eyes for three years since the incident happened.
If that were to happen to any other woman, the incident would most probably become a nightmare that
not even time could disperse, and some women would never be able to step out of that shadow for the
rest of their lives.
‘But she was different.She seemed to have stepped out of it, and she seemed to have been reborn.The
pride in her was still noticeable, but it had become less offensive and aggressive.
‘At that time, I wondered how could a woman with a disgraced reputation still put up such an arrogant
front.
Even if I were to really marry her, I would never recognize her as my wife, at most a woman who had
gotten herself married into the Hannigans.
‘She did not talk much that night, and we did not get t o interact with each other that much either.
The only interaction that we had was when my father asked me to send Pearl back.
‘She said something to me in the car, "You can reject i t if you want."
‘I was a little surprised but replied to her, "I have no reason to reject it.Isn’t that a mutual thing between
you and me, Ms.Santiago?"
‘She was just a disgraced and filthy lady.What reason could she put forward to reject this marriage
arrangement? If it weren’t for the resources that the Santiagos had up their sleeves, which my father
took a fancy to, why would I want to marry a woman who n o other men in Bassburgh would want to
marry? ‘
After that, due to the close relationship between the two families, I had a few more chances to get in
touch with Pearl, although I did not go to meet her voluntarily.
‘Pearl was a very tactful woman.The word suited her perfectly.Faced with any problem, she had never
once refuted a thing that I said.
She would understand whenever I came up with excuses to leave early when we were on a date.
‘Both families wanted us to cultivate our feelings for each other.Thus, I pretended to care for her when
we were in front of the elders.‘
And perhaps she understood how I felt about our relationship too.
But all I thought was that her concessions, considerations, cautions, and understanding were only
byproducts of her inferiority.
‘If I refused to marry her, would anyone else want her? And even if there were a man that would take
her in, it would only be her marrying someone of inferior family background.
But the Santiagos wouldn’t want her to marry aman from such a family.
‘All she had done was because she feared that I wouldn’t marry her, so she would be very satisfied
whenever I treated her kindly.
Recalling all those details now, even if such a woman were to get married to another family, she would
be the best facade for her husband because she would never go against his will.
‘But since when did I start to pay more attention to her? Maybe ever since Sandy came back to me?
‘Thad always thought that Pearl would only be submissive and that she wouldn’t object to anything that
I said.But I was wrong"
‘"We don’t have to get married."
‘"Tanner, you can dissolve the marriage anytime you want."
‘"You don’t have to tell me about your affairs with her.I won’t stop you, but I won't be the third party
between you."
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