From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 139- What exactly do you want?

To hell with it—shouldn’t it be the man who takes responsibility for the woman?

She wasn’t even making a fuss about it, so what on earth was he asking her to take responsibility for? Was he insane or what?

Catherine had known Riley for so many years and had never seen her look so helpless. She couldn’t help but feel anxious herself.

"What exactly happened? Don’t scare me like this."

Catherine valued Riley greatly as a friend and didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. Seeing Riley in this state made her worry sick.

Riley suddenly sat up in bed and looked straight at Catherine.

"I slept with Ford."

Catherine, "..."

Riley gritted her teeth and continued,

"And he’s been following me around nonstop, insisting that I take responsibility for him!"

Catherine, "..."

What kind of plot twist was this? The reversal was so sudden she couldn’t even process it.

It was already shocking enough that Riley had slept with Ford. Catherine knew Riley well—this should have been Riley’s first time. And now Riley was saying what? Ford wanted Riley to take responsibility?

"He even said he wanted to visit my parents at my place. I was so scared that I ran out to hide."

After saying that, Riley collapsed back onto the bed, looking completely drained, as if life had lost all meaning.

"Wait, Riley—"

By now, Catherine had more or less sorted out what had happened. She said carefully,

"If he’s chasing after you and asking you to take responsibility, doesn’t that mean he’s not the kind of guy who sleeps with someone and then refuses to own up to it? Isn’t that... a good thing?"

Catherine felt that Ford’s behavior proved he was a man with a sense of responsibility. She didn’t understand what Riley was so torn up about. And clearly, Riley thought Ford was excellent in many ways—otherwise she wouldn’t have introduced him to Catherine in the first place.

Since that was the case, why was Riley so resistant to a man like him?

Riley sprang up again, gritting her teeth.

"What’s good about it?! I’ve always treated him like a bro. How could I possibly be with him?"

Just talking about it was enough to drive Riley crazy.

Catherine didn’t want to strike her down, but there was something she had to point out.

"But if he’s going to visit your parents, even if you run away, he can still go anyway. He’s not going there to see you..."

Riley blinked her big eyes. Realization hit her, and she jumped straight out of bed.

"Oh shit!"

She grabbed her phone and hurriedly made a call. She’d turned her phone off to avoid Ford, but now she had no choice but to turn it back on—and to contact him herself.

Riley was on the verge of tears. She’d kept thinking that if she wasn’t home, there’d be no point in him visiting her parents. But Catherine’s words had jolted her awake. Right—whether she was there or not, he could still visit them.

As soon as the call connected, Riley snarled through clenched teeth,

"Ford, let me tell you this—if you dare go to my house, I’m done with you! We won’t even be friends anymore!"

If he went to her house and told her parents that they’d slept together and that she had to take responsibility, Riley was certain her mother would beat her to death—blood everywhere, no exaggeration.

"I never wanted to be just friends with you anyway."

Ford’s voice came from the other end, amused and utterly unconcerned, making Riley grind her teeth in fury.

Before she could start cursing again, he added calmly,

"I want to be your lover. Your husband."

Riley was so shocked she nearly dropped her phone. She shouted without restraint,

"Shut up!"

Lovers might still be understandable, but husband? Was he out of his mind?

"What exactly do you want?"

Riley was on the verge of going insane, clutching at her hair in frustration on her end of the line.

Her hairstyle had already been one of those trendy "just rolled out of bed" looks. After tugging at it like that, it was a complete mess—looking even more thoroughly sleep-deprived than before.

On the other end, Ford spoke calmly,

"You already know exactly what I want, don’t you?"

Riley, "..."

Yes, she knew perfectly well—but she didn’t want it.

He wanted them to start dating, to become boyfriend and girlfriend, but she only saw him as a buddy, a bro...

"Tomorrow morning at nine o’clock, I expect to see you standing in front of me—on time."

Ford gave her no room for hesitation or resistance. Mixing coercion with persuasion, he issued the order flatly:

"Otherwise, I’ll go straight to your house and let your parents decide things for us. I’ve already prepared all the gifts for the visit anyway."

After saying that, Ford decisively hung up the phone. On this end, Riley was so furious she wanted to strangle him.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t beat him even if she tried.

That night, after Catherine and Bert left, the two of them had originally stayed behind drinking together. By the time several rounds had gone by, Ford suddenly said to her,

"My family is based in Burg Eltz. We own two factories—one textile factory and one logistics company."

Riley stared at him blankly, blinking in confusion. She didn’t understand why he was telling her about his family background. She already knew his family was wealthy—people in their circle talked about it—but she had never looked into the specifics of what they actually did.

He continued, his sharply defined features looking especially striking under the lights,

"My parents want me to go back and take over the family business, instead of staying in this complicated scene."

"Oh..."

Riley nodded. She had already had a bit too much to drink, and her brain wasn’t functioning properly. She didn’t feel like thinking about why he was telling her these things—after all, this sounded like personal, private matters, especially details about how much business his family owned.

In her hazy state, Riley thought he was probably drunk too, and was just treating her like a buddy he could vent to.

After that, she couldn’t remember much of what he said. There might have been something about how many girlfriends he’d had before, but since she was already tipsy and hadn’t taken his words to heart, she didn’t retain any of it.

After dinner, since they’d both been drinking, he said he’d called a driver to take them home. She remembered giving Catherine’s address, because she didn’t dare go back to her own place—if she showed up like this, her mom would definitely scold her.

Later, after getting out of the car, she vaguely realized something was off. Catherine didn’t live in such an upscale complex. But Ford had his arm around her and practically lifted her straight into the elevator.

Riley was tall for a woman, but standing next to Ford—who was also a model—she looked small and delicate by comparison, with no height advantage at all. Struggling was pointless. Besides, she was drunk; moving too much only made her dizzy.

So she let him take her home just like that. She didn’t resist anymore, even thinking kindly of him—assuming he was just being considerate and offering her a place to stay for the night.

Who would have thought that he’d toss her onto the large bed and immediately lean over her, sealing her lips with a kiss? She was so startled that she sobered up halfway.

"Ford, what are you doing?"

And what did that shameless man say?

Biting her lip, he said he was going to—her.

What followed was beyond description. He was forceful and domineering, silencing her with kisses, teasing her with his hands. Half drunk and half awake, she resisted weakly and then gave in.

When his solid, masculine body pressed down over hers, when his deep, handsome face drew close, her whole body inexplicably went soft, and she unconsciously gave up part of her resistance.

When she woke up afterward, she felt like she wanted to die. In the heat of the moment, alcohol had fueled everything—but once she sobered up and calmed down, she realized just how outrageous what she’d done was.

The man beside her, however, pulled her into his arms, his voice lazy and sensual.

"Sleep a little longer."

"Sleep my ass!"

Riley sprang out of his embrace, yanked the blanket over herself, and lifted her leg to kick the culprit without mercy.