Fool for Love

At the Swain family estate.

When Howard Swain, the head of the family, returned home, he found Fiona Bennett and Yolanda Swain, mother and daughter, in tears.

"Mom, I can't marry Ethan Benton. He's in a vegetative state! Marrying him would mean the end of my life. Please, I beg you. Let father go to the Benton family and cancel the engagement. If you insist on forcing me, I would rather die. I will jump off a building, hang myself, and slit my wrists! Anything is better than marrying a living dead man!" Yolanda blurted out, making a move to grab the fruit knife on the coffee table.

"Stop!" Howard, seeing his daughter about to hurt herself, quickly strode over to stop her. "Don't be so rash! What do you think you're doing?"

"Dad!" Yolanda sobbed, "I'm glad you're back. Today, I want to show you my determination. I would rather die than marry Ethan Benton."

"But we can't just let you do something foolish!" Fiona pleaded with Howard, "Howard, are you heartless? Yolanda is our daughter. Can you really bear to see her take her own life?"

Howard Swain felt helpless, "Fiona, you know our family's situation. We were already reaching above our station by arranging the marriage with the Bentons. If we renege on the agreement now that Ethan is incapacitated, it'll be the end for us."

Howard sunk into the sofa, "I don't want our daughter to suffer either, but I have no other way[1] . I hope you both can understand."

"What do you mean, 'no other way'?" Fiona saw that Howard was wavering and quickly offered a solution, "The engagement was with the eldest daughter of the Swain family. Now that Ethan is paralyzed, they won't care whether the bride is Yolanda or anyone else."

"What are you suggesting?" Howard was confused.

"Howard!" Fiona sat next to him, clutching his arm, "Did you forget that you have another daughter, two years older than Yolanda? She's the true eldest daughter of the Swain family. Technically, Yolanda is the second child."

"You mean Vivian? No way!" Howard immediately refused as soon as his wife mentioned their other daughter.

"Why not? If Vivian marries Ethan, Yolanda could be saved."

Howard glared at Fiona, "Have you lost your mind? Vivian is mentally challenged! You want to marry off a mentally impaired girl and make a fool out of the entire Benton family?"

"Howard! Vivian has been living in the countryside for years. Nobody outside knows she exists, let alone that she's mentally challenged. We could marry her off first, then make up some excuse about her becoming mentally impaired due to an accident. Nobody would know."

"Besides, Ethan is practically blind as a vegetable. He wouldn't know the difference. And with Vivian married, you won't have to take care of her anymore. Isn't that a win-win?"

Howard found his wife's reasoning compelling. He glanced at his precious daughter, who was threatening to take her own life, and finally nodded.

"Alright, I will send someone to fetch Vivian from the countryside."

…

In a remote village in Amorita.

William Johnson, the secretary, had fetched Vivian Swain.

Vivian was the daughter of Howard Swain and his ex-wife.

Back then, Howard was an unrecognized illegitimate child and a penniless young man. His ex-wife was a kind and gentle woman.

She not only bore him a child at a young age, but also helped him build everything from scratch. However, Howard, the unfaithful man, had an affair with Fiona Bennett after he made his fortune. After returning to the Swain family and being acknowledged as a legitimate son, he cruelly discarded his ex-wife and daughter.

Vivian had become mentally impaired because she had a high fever when she was young and they had no money to treat her.

In the excitement of Secretary William Johnson's announcement that they were heading to the big city, Amorita, to buy candy, Vivian Swain was so thrilled that she left behind her grandmother who had cared for her for decades.

Now, she was pressed against the car window, gazing at William with a giddy smile, her eyes as clear as a child's.

Feeling a pang of sympathy for the girl, Secretary Johnson handed her his cell phone, "Miss Swain, why don't you have a chat with your father, he's waiting on the other end of the line."　　

Vivian, however, was too busy giggling to respond properly. Encouraged by Secretary Johnson, she even put the phone in her mouth and bit down, "Tasty, can I eat it?"

Quickly recovering his cell phone, Secretary Johnson stepped away and informed Howard Swain on the other end of the line, "Miss Swain is still the same. She doesn't even know what a cell phone is. She only knows how to eat."[2]

What he didn't know was that Vivian, standing behind him, was smirking at his retreating figure. Her clear, defined eyes sparkled with intelligence, nothing like the simple-minded girl she pretended to be.

…

If this were before Ethan Benton's accident, his wedding would surely have been a grand event. But the car accident had left him in a vegetative state, unconscious in his bed, unable to attend his own wedding.

As such, the Benton family held no wedding celebration, instead simply bringing Vivian to Ethan's mansion.

Fiona fearing that the bride's mental state would be revealed, shamelessly moved in with them on the wedding night.

Ethan's bedroom was on the second floor of the mansion. Despite his current vegetative state, tradition decreed that the bride and groom would share the room.

Housekeeper Jean Thompson led Vivian and Fiona up to the room. To hide Vivian's condition, Fiona covered Vivian's head with a heavy veil.

With her vision obscured by the heavy veil, Vivian could see nothing. But Fiona had a clear view of the man lying on the bed, his complexion pale. Medical equipment littered his bedside, indicating his dire condition.

Fiona sighed in relief once more, grateful she hadn't married off her own daughter.

But Vivian had other plans. The more Fiona tried to hide the truth, the more Vivian wanted it to be known. She lifted her veil, salivating as she exclaimed, "Hungry, momma. Vivian is hungry. I want to eat something. I want meat."

Fiona didn't expect Vivian to act out so suddenly. She had promised her candy if she stayed quiet after entering the mansion. How could she behave this way now?

Frustrated, Fiona hurried to cover Vivian's mouth and replace her veil, "Don't you know the rules? You can't lift your own veil!"

"What's wrong with the young miss?" Jean Thompson found the new bride's behavior odd.

"Oh, nothing," Fiona quickly dismissed, "She's just being her usual self. That's her true personality! She's always been a foodie since childhood. She's just hungry. Could you perhaps prepare some food for her?" Fiona hurriedly sent Jean away.

But Jean found the young bride's behavior less than charming, more akin to someone with a mental disability.

Once Jean left, Fiona pulled Vivian into the bathroom, a more secluded area where she planned to implement her plan!

Neither Fiona nor Vivian noticed that, after they entered the bathroom, Ethan suddenly opened his eyes on the bed!

"Momma, why did you bring Vivian here? Are we going to take a bath?"

Vivian noticed Fiona locking the bathroom door and couldn't help but smirk behind her back.

She had overheard Fiona's scheme long ago.

This foolish woman didn't want the Benton family to know they had married a fool, so she planned to injure her on their wedding night and collude with the hospital to claim she'd turned foolish due to an accident after the wedding.

"Sweetheart, you must be tired after all the fuss today. Let me help you wash your face, come on, lower your head."

"Okay!" Vivian opened her innocent eyes wide, smiling as she lowered her head.

Fiona seized the moment and suddenly extended her hand.

She planned to bang this fool's head on the washbasin.

The washbasin in this bathroom was made of firm marble. It would bleed with just a couple of hits.

But just at this moment, Vivian turned around and screamed.

"Ah! Momma! A cockroach! There's a cockroach! I'm scared, Momma, protect me!"

As she spoke, Vivian crashed into Fiona, clinging to her waist, and slammed Fiona against the wall.

Vivian put all her might in this move, causing Fiona to bleed from the back of her head.

"Ouch! Let go of me, you fool!"

Vivian not only didn't let go but continued to slam Fiona against the wall.

She even played dumb,"The cockroach is on the wall. Squish it, Momma. Squish it! You're so strong, Momma!"

Fiona was so angry she could spit blood. She couldn't hit or scold her, and she had to coax this fool.

"Good girl, Mama has already squished the cockroach. Mama's hurt, and you're hurt too. Let's go to the hospital."

Suppressing her urge to kill this fool, Fiona smeared some of her own blood onto Vivian's head.

Vivian was quite cooperative, bursting into tears immediately, "Wah wah wah, Vivian is bleeding, Vivian is hurt, Mama. Take Vivian to the hospital."

"Good, Mama will take you to the hospital right now."

Fiona got what she wanted, but she never thought she would end up being the injured one!!

But Vivian found it funny. It was like shooting herself in the foot!　　……

Fiona took Vivian directly to the hospital she had prepared in advance.

Benton family sent only the housekeeper, Jean Thompson, from his mansion, not even a single elder.

The doctor announced the diagnosis in front of Jean and Fiona, saying Vivian's head was more fragile than normal people, and this collision could possibly make her a fool.

Jean was dumbfounded on the spot, and when she saw Vivian acting foolishly in the hospital room, playing with children's toys on the bed, she was even more speechless!

When Vivian saw Jean come in, she even sweetly called her “big sister”.

"Big sister, do you want to ride the car? This car can fit two people."

Jean was speechless, she hurriedly called Ethan's grandfather to explain the situation.

Ethan's father was not in the country at the moment, and Ethan's wedding was all arranged by his grandfather, Kaysen Benton.

With his son in a vegetative state, Ethan's father originally wanted to cancel the engagement, not wanting to delay the girl's life.

But Kaysen was old and superstitious, he firmly believed that marrying a wife for his grandson would bring him good luck, and he had calculated that Howard Swain's eldest daughter was the person who would bring the most luck to his grandson.

So, when Kaysen came to the hospital the next morning and saw that Vivian had “become” a fool, he still took her home.

Ethan's grandfather had been a formidable figure in the business world in his younger years, he was definitely not a gentle man.

Yet, when he looked at Vivian, whose mental age was merely a few years old, he couldn't help but soften his demeanor. Vivian was incredibly beautiful, even without makeup her face was breathtaking.

Her sweet utterances of "good grandpa" had Kaysen completely charmed. So when Vivian pointed to the toy store outside the window, expressing her desire to buy some fun things, Kaysen agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Once inside the toy store, Vivian looked around for a while before finally deciding on a Peppa Pig suitcase and a children's watch. After some thought, she stuffed the case with many toys. After all, she needed some props for cover.

When they returned to Benton”s mansion, Vivian coaxed Kaysen into giving her a room all to herself for her toys. After dinner, she dove right into her room to play.

Not much later, Kaysen left, and once Vivian was sure that no one would come, she closed the door. She opened her children's watch to reveal a sophisticated electronic screen. After inputting her fingerprint, it enabled her to make calls.

"Hey, Crocodile, you're finally online. I've been waiting for you. I have billions of resources at my disposal but I don't know what to do with them. I'm waiting for your guidance!" The moment the call connected, Nathaniel couldn't wait to voice his complaints.

'Crocodile' was Vivian's code name. Anyone involved in financial investments in the western hemisphere knew this code name. But it was just a code name. Vivian had never revealed her real name, or even gender, to any of her collaborators.

Hearing Nathaniel’s complaints, Vivian chuckled "You're not an amateur..." But before she could finish her sentence, she immediately hung up. The voice changer in her device had malfunctioned, and she had inadvertently used her real voice.

The communication device rang again. It was Nathaniel. But Vivian didn't pick up. Instead, she pulled out a laptop from the compartment in her Peppa Pig suitcase and logged into her account.

The moment she logged in, frantic voice messages from Nathaniel flooded in.

"OMG, Crocodile, you're a woman?"

"God, you sound so young, definitely not over 25."

"OMG, I heard you're in Valarna right now. I've been thinking about going back to Valarna too. Can we meet?"

Frowning, Vivian typed swiftly "Shut up. If you're so interested in prying into my privacy, I don't mind terminating our collaboration. I'll only say this once, so please watch yourself."

"NO! NO! NO! I understand, Crocodile. I swear I won't pry into your privacy anymore, let's go over the details now."

An hour later, Jean Thompson led Vivian from the toy room back to Ethan Benton's bedroom. Kaysen had hoped that the eldest Swain girl could bring luck to Ethan. At first, he was worried about whether the bride would be willing to share a room with a vegetable. But now, the bride turned out to be a simpleton, easily coaxed by a toy or a piece of candy into sleeping quietly next to Ethan.

However, in the middle of the night, Vivian found a figure standing by the bed. Instinctively, she reached out to turn on the light, only to find that the person standing by the bed was none other than Ethan Benton! What was going on? Wasn't he supposed to be in a vegetative state?

Finding Ethan scrutinizing her, Vivian quickly hid her brief surprise, instantly switching to an innocent and confused appearance.

"Mr. Handsome, are you getting up to go to the restroom? Vivian needs to pee too. Can you carry me?" She said, getting up and opening her arms to the man in front of her.

Ethan coldly smiled, "Huh, are you really a fool?”