Hayden stiffened before pursing his lips and snapping in an annoyed tone, "Mel is right. Gifts are just a formality. If it really bothers you that much, I'll just compensate you with one later. But with so many people present right now, you'd better not make things difficult for me."

He shrugged my hand off his shoulder, his eyes full of warning.

"I was just kidding." Melissa's eyes curved in a smile as she smoothly went on, "Don't take it so seriously, Selina. Let's continue with the games, alright?"

After losing a round of dice, she urged Hayden to drink on her behalf, her body plastered against his back like it was the most natural thing in the world.

When playing Truth or Dare, she was dared to kiss a person of the opposite gender. She didn't even hesitate before turning around and kissing Hayden right on the lips.

Hayden flushed all the way to the tips of his ears and scolded her with a grin, "Hey, watch it!"

With a pout, Melissa retorted, "What? What's wrong with two best friends kissing each other? Selina doesn't seem all that bothered about it! Right, Selina?"

I heard her smug thoughts almost immediately. [As if she would dare to kick up a fuss in front of so many people! I bet she's bursting with frustration!]

Once again, everyone's gaze was on me.

I let out a soft laugh. "You already kissed him, so what's the point of asking me about it now?"

Meeting her gaze head-on, I added, "Or could it be that you're waiting for me to say that it's fine?"

The smile on her lips froze, and she subconsciously grabbed Hayden's arm tightly.

I found her behavior more repulsive than outright provocation.

An awkward silence spread in the room. Her eyes reddened, though she pretended to be unaffected.

"Selina, I really didn't mean anything by it. It was just a game! Don't overthink it."

With that said, she withdrew her hand as though she had been hurt by my words but was still putting on a strong front, fully playing up the pitiful act.

In her mind, however, she was mocking me. [Go ahead and continue pretending! Let's see who Hayden cares for more!]

Hayden instantly frowned deeply and turned to bark at me, "Selina Grant, do you have to be so mean? Mel has always been this straightforward! She doesn't have any ulterior motives!"

"Is that so?" I tilted my head to look at him. "So she's using my boyfriend to prove how straightforward she is?"

"It's just a game! Do you have to take it so seriously?" Hayden practically yelled at me. "When did you become so petty?"

How utterly ridiculous.

I had always thought that he was just loyal to his friends and simple-minded.

Only now did I realize that he was just pretending to be ignorant. He was greedy, wanting to have his cake and eat it too.

The others quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Melissa is just playing around. Don't mind it too much."

"Hey, now. There's no need to argue over something so insignificant, Lina. Show a little respect, okay?"

"We all know you're not the type to keep score over every little thing…"

Hayden glared at me, his hands curled into fists so tight that his knuckles had gone white.

He was this angry and hostile toward me, all for the sake of a woman who was supposedly just "one of the boys".

Once upon a time, he would drink on my behalf and shield me behind him as he took on anything and everything for me.

Now, however, he was treating me so coldly, so harshly, all because of Melissa.

A sense of helplessness slowly spread through me.

This relationship was rotten to the core.

For a moment, I simply met Hayden's furious gaze, not saying a word. Then, I turned and left, pointedly ignoring the sound of him gently comforting Melissa behind me.

It was pouring outside, so I hailed a cab to get home.

Suddenly, I recalled that Hayden hadn't taken an umbrella when leaving the house earlier today.

A tangled web of emotions swirled in me and fed my frustration, but I still couldn't shake the habit of worrying over him just yet.

"Forget it," I told myself. "I already endured this for the past three years, didn't I?"

In the end, though, I still spoke up.

"Sir, could you turn the car around please? I need to pick up someone."

Yet, as I stood there in the pounding rain, I failed to see any sign of Hayden. All I saw were his friends as they left the building, chatting with each other.

Forcing a smile onto my face, I approached them and asked, "Where's Hayden?"

Immediately, their expressions turned rather awkward before one of them answered me.

"Hays was worried about Mel getting a cold from being in the rain since she hadn't brought an umbrella, so he took her home."

I froze in surprise.

Realizing that something was off with me, they hurriedly tried to soothe me.

"Selina, weren't you already on your way home?"

"No need to panic, Selina. Hays is just taking Mel home. You know how close those two are, but in the platonic way, of course."

"That's right. If they really were interested in each other, would Hays have gotten together with you?"

"Don't be angry at them, okay? There really is nothing going on between them…"

By this point, I was practically soaked through, my teeth chattering from how cold I was.

In the end, I sought shelter at the entrance of a nearby hotel and dialed Hayden's number, unwilling to give up just yet.

The phone rang for quite a long while before he picked up.

"Hello? Lina, are you home already? Mel had a bit too much to drink, so I'm taking her home first."

"Thanks, Hays! You're the best! Sorry, Selina, but it looks like I'll have to hog your driver for now!"

With that, he ended the call abruptly, not even giving me a chance to respond.

[There, all set.]

My surroundings were incredibly quiet, so I heard the thought loud and clear.

Wasn't Hayden driving Melissa home? Could it be that they hadn't gone far?

At that moment, more of Melissa's thoughts reached me.

[Hays obviously cares for me more, considering how he can't bear the idea of even a drop of rain getting on me. As for Selina? Ha! She can continue standing in the rain! Serves her right! I'm sure she'll lose her mind when she sees my lipstick smeared across Hays' collar!]

A cold breeze swept past me, chilling me to the bone. My head buzzed.

I thought back to years ago, when Hayden first started his career. At the time, I spent three entire months eating nothing but plain bread with him, saving money to help him pay off his debts.

When he suffered from gastritis, I searched the entire city in the middle of the night for a pharmacy that was open to buy him medicine.

When his parents fell ill, I was the one who took care of them and handled all the dirty work. Not once did Hayden help out or spend the night by their bedside, looking after them.

He kept saying that Melissa was just a really good friend, one of the boys, and I had always believed him. I believed that he was just incredibly loyal to her as a friend, that he was just busy, and that he would always return home to me.

I believed that three years of effort and devoting myself to him wholeheartedly would earn me at least a modicum of sincerity from him.

Even when he came to see me less and less, even when he remembered all of Melissa's likes and dislikes but forgot that I was allergic to mangoes, even when he spent the day by his "friend's" bedside on our anniversary, I still believed in him.

I made excuses for him, lying to myself over and over again, until I finally carved myself into an understanding figure in his eyes.

And then I started to hear Melissa's wicked gloating.

I called Hayden's number again while I walked around in search of his car.

"Where are you?"

"Didn't I tell you that I'm taking Mel home?" Hayden replied impatiently.

Melissa's thoughts came to me immediately.

[This woman is so troublesome. But then, in the car earlier…]

The thoughts paused briefly, taking on a hint of satisfaction.

[Hays' lips were so soft…]

At last, in a corner of the hotel's underground parking lot, I watched from afar as Hayden headed toward the lift with his arm around Melissa's waist.

My hand holding the phone trembled faintly, and it took everything I had to sound calm. "Yeah. Have you reached her home yet?"

The call ended abruptly. I stared as the lift doors closed, and the number on the elevator panel climbed higher.

A few seconds later, it finally stopped on the 6th floor.