Chapter 2: When indecision led to chaos
After seeing Martina leave, the nanny immediately returned to the living room and reported to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth lazily flipped through the magazine in her hand and said, "If she wants to leave, just let her. My son needs a woman who matches our social status and background."
The nanny was a bit worried and said, "But the young master is coming back in a few days, what if he doesn't see Miss Martinez...'
Elizabeth didn't care about such things and impatiently shut her up. "How many times is this now? Where else can she go if she leaves here?" Her tone was filled with disdain.
...
In the taxi, the driver asked several times if the address was correct but got no answer.
He looked in the rearview mirror and saw Martina silently crying in the back seat.
The ride was smooth and uneventful, and soon they arrived at the apartment she had rented temporarily.
Leaving Benjamin was not Martina's impulsive decision. It took her two months to come to terms with it and ultimately decided to end this relationship of six years by herself.
In the past years, there was no room in her eyes and heart for anyone else besides Benjamin. Now, the final choice was like bringing closure to those absurd years.
The apartment was cleaned beforehand, and it had two bedrooms with 75 square yard. The location of this apartment was considered quite good throughout LA, and it was also close to the studio.
The basic furniture and appliances were all there, and it was also very clean. Though small, it had everything needed.
She put her luggage aside and prepared some food for herself.
After inserting with the new SIM card, she first called her father, Miguel Martinez.
It had been a long time since the father and daughter had contacted each other, but as soon as Martina's voice was heard, Miguel's mood instantly became very good.
To avoid worrying Miguel, Martina promptly fabricated a lie after changing her number.
After understanding the situation, Miguel began to worry about Martina's marriage. He still held a grudge about Benjamin's attitude towards marriage. After all, his daughter had lived in the Walker family for so many years.
"By the way, how is your relationship with Benjamin? When are you planning to have the wedding?"
Wedding?
Yes, she had been with Benjamin for six years. Naturally, they were supposed to get married and have a wedding. But Benjamin had never mentioned anything about marriage to her, not even once.
Miguel didn't hear a response and his tone instantly turned cold. "Could it be that their family wants to back out?"
Recalling some long-forgotten past events, Miguel couldn't help but get angry. "Your marriage was witnessed and blessed by the Moon Goddess, and no one can go against that promise!"
In the past few years, Miguel was consistently dissatisfied with Benjamin and frequently mentioned wanting to have a talk with him when he came to LA.
However, Benjamin was always busy and not even Martina could see him often.
Martina feared that delving further into the topic would only reveal distressing news, causing her father to worry about her situation if he were to find out. So every time, she would say that Benjamin was good to her and the other people in the Walker family treated her well.
Taking a deep breath, Martina withheld the fact that she left the Walker family from her father.
Six years ago, when she resolutely came to the Walker family, Miguel was already worried. Later, Benjamin never expressed his positive attitude towards their relationship, and Miguel had been asking to visit, but Martina had always refused.
If Martina were to say that she had left the Walker family now, her father would probably rush over immediately.
"Benjamin treats me well, and our relationship is stable. We're probably going to have a wedding soon. I'll talk to him when he comes back," Martina said, holding back the pain that felt like suffocation in her heart.
Miguel finally calmed down and said, "Okay, that's the right thing to do. We two should have a good talk."
Martina responded with an "okay". Miguel was probably happy to talk about Martina's marriage, and couldn't help but say, "When Benjamin comes back, bring him home. There are still many relatives who haven't met him yet."
Martina's family was very ordinary. Miguel was the director of the local Investment Promotion Committee, and in this generation, he happened to have acquired some family assets. Despite his success, the Martinez family had humble origins as common farmers in the previous generation.
Speaking of the fate between the Martinez family and the Walker family, it was really predestined.
When Benjamin's grandfather, Jack Walker, was young, he had a penchant for outdoor adventures and would go wherever the danger led him.
During one expedition in a mountain in the eastern region, he unfortunately got injured and became trapped in a trap halfway up the mountain. In a perilous situation, Jack prayed to the Moon Goddess, hoping for a heroic warrior to come and rescue him.
Coincidentally, Martina's grandfather, Antonio, was venturing into the mountains to hunt when he encountered the trapped expedition team, including the severely injured Jack. Antonio was the first to pull Jack out and carry him to the county hospital, before calling on local people to rescue the others.
Antonio was in good health when he was young, and he was able to carry Jack, who was heavier than himself, on his back for sixty miles up the mountain road, all the way to the county town.
This timely treatment of his injuries allowed Jack to keep his legs, and he was grateful to his lifesaver from that day on.
Jack believed that this was the arrangement of the Moon Goddess. The two families discussed and decided to arrange a marriage between the next generation of children, further deepening their friendship.
However, both families only had one son in the next generation, so the marriage had to be pushed back to the generation of Benjamin and Martina.
Martina had always known about the arranged marriage since childhood. After turning 16, she moved from New Mexico to LA for schooling, and thus the Walker family became her second home.
She still remembered the first time she met Benjamin. He was playing the piano upstairs, and the beautiful and melodious sound echoed in Martina's heart. The girl blushed and felt sweet inside.
Later, Benjamin came downstairs, and Martina nervously sat on the sofa.
That was the first encounter between the two after turning 16. With just one glance, Martina was unable to extricate herself.
Looking back now, in Benjamin's eyes over the years, it seemed that everything had always been calm, even their feelings for each other were as plain as when they first met.
After finishing the call with Miguel, Martina was about to throw away the old SIM card when a call came in.
She looked at it and her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes couldn't move away. It was Benjamin.
Thump thump... Martina's heart beat faster and faster.
More than half a year ago, Benjamin went to Berlin to develop foreign markets, and only returned twice in the first two months. She couldn't recall how long it had been since their last conversation.
Benjamin was very busy and almost flew to various parts of the world every day. His phone was mostly held by his assistant, so even if Martina called, she couldn't reach him.
As time went on, even Benjamin's assistant team had some complaints about her, sometimes even deliberately not answering her calls.
At first, when Martina was deliberately troubled by those assistants, she would be unhappy and then call to question them. Later, she got used to it, but there were still rumors that Martina was a clingy person with a bad temper, and that's why Benjamin deliberately didn't come back.
Martina cut the call expressionlessly and let out a sigh.