“What are you talking about?” Stephenie batted her eyelashes innocently. “I’m just worried about your health, okay?”

Edward pursed his lips as he stared at her. Without any word, he stretched out his hand, grabbed her waist, and pushed her back to the passenger seat.

“Why would I look for somebody else when this beautiful woman is already sitting in my front seat?” he teased.

The two stared into each other’s eyes and didn’t say anything.

After a while, Edward finally let her go. Stephenie felt her legs tremble as she climbed out of the car, probably from all the things they did today.

Edward stared at her while she limped her way to the apartment. “Are you sure you’re going to make it to your place with that pace? I can carry you upstairs,” he said.

Stephenie turned her head and glared at him. The man only shrugged his shoulders.

As soon as she arrived at her place, Stephenie’s phone rang. She answered John’s call and explained that she had a meeting with Monica at the coffee shop to revise some plans.

“You scared me there, Stephenie,” John sighed.

“I know. I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“I’m glad you’re safe and okay,” John replied. “I was just worried because you told me you just had your period, and Mom asked me to bring some medicine for you.”

Stephenie smiled. “Periods are a normal thing for us, you know. Tell your mother I said thanks.”

“You know my mother, Stephenie. She’s always worried about your health. She’s scared that a small illness can affect your body and chances of getting pregnant in the future,” John muttered quietly.

Stephenie fell silent.

Although he couldn’t see her expression, John thought Stephenie probably felt shy about his statement. A faint blush also appeared on his face. “I-I mean, I’m not insinuating anything. Don’t drink the meds if you don’t feel like it. It’s totally up to you.”

Well, this was not the first time that John’s mother hinted to them about having a baby.

A few years ago, she convinced the couple to get married, but John told her that Stephenie was still studying. He also didn’t want to pressure his girlfriend.

But recently, John’s mother always advised them that having a baby before marriage was okay.

With eight years of being in a relationship, no one would think that the couple had not done it yet.

Stephenie was a sophomore in college when she started dating John.

Stephenie was willing to be intimate with him, but it was John who insisted that they should wait until they got married. Not to mention that Stephenie was too shy to initiate things like that.

One time, they went on a trip with friends. They had to share one room, so Joyce, her not-so-good-influence friend, encouraged her to tempt her boyfriend a little bit. So, Stephenie went out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel around her body.

However, the brute didn’t do anything.

They spent the rest of the night just lying in bed and talking about random things.

“I want to be a responsible and honest man,” John told Stephenie once. He really treated such activity as sacred and promised himself that he would only do it on their wedding night.

Of course, Stephenie respected his belief. She even felt touched when she learned about this.

Unlike her, Joyce was not convinced of John. She warned her friend that no sane man would say no to temptation and desire. So, it’s either John was not interested in her or had some manhood issues. And his belief was just a made-up excuse.

Stephenie thought that Joyce was being ridiculous. She told her that she was just being judgmental and she believed her boyfriend.

For her, if there was only one good man in the world, it must be John.

But now, everything she believed in shattered in front of her.

She was crushed to the bone. Exhaustion had already conquered her system.

After she hung up the call, Stephenie sat on the sofa and started removing her clothes.

She stared at her reflection in the long mirror in front of her.

A small bruise formed on her forehead. She remembered how her head hit the window earlier when the taxi driver suddenly stepped on the brakes.

Then, earlier, Edward thought it was fun to poke her bruise, in which he earned a bite mark on the shoulder from Stephenie.

She turned on the shower. The warm water drizzled on her body like rain. Stephenie closed her eyes and recalled the conversation between Edward and John earlier.

‘Well, it’s really true that they were not exactly friends,’ she thought.

Stephenie spent the next few days busy with her drawings and designs.

But despite all the things she had been doing, the nagging feeling about her boyfriend didn’t leave her mind ever since.

Joyce had always seen Stephenie as the calm and trusting girlfriend. She was obedient and didn’t even think about flirting with other men. Sometimes, Joyce would even complain about her being too prudent and lame.

Joyce believed that women should have fun from time to time and not stay too faithful or clingy to their boyfriends. Or else the men would quickly lose interest in them.

According to her, Stephenie and John’s relationship was dull. They seemed like an old domesticated couple who acted like they had been married for years. Joyce sometimes asked her friend if she ever got bored of her relationship with John.

Stephenie, on the other hand, would answer the same thing over and over again. She would defend their relationship by saying they were comfortable with each other and simply going with the flow.

Unlike Stephenie, Joyce’s relationships had been eventful. She had witnessed her friend suffer from heartbreak and exhaustion, which made her feel sad and scared at the same time.

Although she admired Joyce’s fearlessness and courage, Stephenie felt like this type of thing was not for her.

One of the things that she learned from her parents was to be sure and careful with whatever she did.

Still, John cheated on her. And all she wanted was to give him a taste of his own medicine.

If he cheated on her with his best friend, she would cheat on him with his so-called friend.

‘You want to be with Alan? Well, I won’t make it too easy for you,’ she thought.

Later that night, Stephenie asked John to fetch her to the office. She told him he should do it every night since she didn’t feel safe going home alone.

She also asked for some popular snacks from Rita and then asked John to buy them for her.

Just like what Stephenie had expected, Alan was with John every night.

They worked together in the same company, so it wasn’t a surprise that they both leave from work at the same time. She also heard that Alan didn’t know how to drive, so John would always give him a free ride.

Before, Stephenie was cool with the idea. Of course, there was nothing wrong with helping a friend.

But recently, she would always notice things about the two. For one, John and Alan had the same phone model. Their clothes would also come from the same brand or wear the same color of shirts on the same day.

Alan always sat in the passenger seat. But for the first time, Stephenie wanted to sit beside her boyfriend.

Before, every time John would pick her up, she would automatically sit in the backseat.

“Thanks for warming the seat for me, Alan,” Stephenie said with a smirk. Alan only smiled at her.

The car slowed down as the traffic light turned red. Stephenie bit the snack she was eating before offering it to John.

“Try this, babe.”

John leaned closer to her and opened his mouth. While chewing, Stephenie suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled up on his chest.

John chuckled at her girlfriend’s sudden clinginess. “Hmm… You’re suddenly clingy these past few days.”

“Why? Can’t I hug you?” Stephenie pouted her lips. She secretly glanced at Alan over John’s shoulder. “I’m just stressed from work, that’s all.”

John listened to her talk about work. He softly rubbed her back and said, “I’ll talk to Edward later, okay? I’ll ask him if he can do something about your co-workers.”

“Is that okay?” Stephenie softly asked.

“Of course,” John answered and smiled. “Edward’s a playboy. His father thought it would be best if he trained him in that real estate subsidiary to tame him. So, Edward’s eager to finish his job as soon as he can.”

Stephenie chuckled. “You better work hard and marry me, Mister. That way, I can quit my job and depend on your money,” she joked.

John snorted at her statement. Knowing how workaholic Stephenie was, he doubted that she would really stop working.

“Are you willing to resign, though?”

“Of course! Why not?” Stephenie sat up properly and stared at him.

“I want to get married, John. I mean it.”

At that moment, Stephenie was enjoying the interesting expression on John's face, which helped her forget how boring it was to work extra hours for days. Still, the next day, Alan didn't come along when John came to pick her up from work, and because of curiosity, Stephanie tried to ask John about it carefully, "Why didn't Alan come with you today?"

"Alan had an appointment with clients," John explained plainly.

Stephenie looked at him and clearly felt he was a little bit spacey. "Are you okay? Why do you seem restless?"

"Really?" John tried to dispel her doubts, but then he said, "I do feel tired these days."

"Sorry, John. I know it was all my fault for being too cautious. I'm just afraid to go home alone because my colleagues say a stalker is lingering around, but you don't have to pick me up from now on since you are so busy. I'll take a taxi starting tomorrow."

"It's the boyfriend's duty to pick up his girlfriend from work, Stephenie. Don't think about it." John spoiled, patted her head, and added, "I just didn't sleep well last night."

The next day, Stephenie did what she had just said; she refused John to pick her up. Besides, Joyce finally came back to Woodlake after her half-month business trip.

It was Friday, and Stephenie made the final confirmation with Monica before 6 p.m. when she was usually off-duty. She then gave the new plan to Lily, who was in charge of the project, then started her weekend and went straight to the nightclub to meet Joyce.

Joyce always went to the nightclub to spend time with friends and have fun. On the other hand, Stephenie rarely visited the nightclub as she was not in an environment that was filled with alcohol and the smoke of cigarettes. But tonight, Joyce invited Stephenie to meet her at the nightclub, and Stephenie somehow accepted her offer.

When Stephenie arrived and sat on her seat, it didn't take long for Joyce to open her mouth and ask her, "You and John finally broke up?"

Stephenie thought she would receive greetings first, but it was far from what she had just expected. Stephenie didn't answer her but grabbed Joyce's glass and tossed it off the drink.

Joyce's eyes widened as she was surprised by Stephanie's fast-grabbing hand. She didn't even have the opportunity to stop her. "Hey, Stephenie! Careful! It is strong! Don't drink it off!"

Stephenie ignored Joyce's caution and drank it off, but she immediately felt choked and coughed because of the burning and sore throat.

Joyce panicked and said with pulled-up brows, " Are you okay?!"

Stephenie released air exaggeratedly from her mouth, then smiled; this girl felt fantastic. She quickly grabbed Joyce's hand and stood up.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?" Joyce reacted. Clueless in Stephenie's actions.

Stephenie turned around and walked toward the dance floor while holding Joyce's hand. "Teach me to flirt."

Stephenie asked the right person to help her because Joyce had a lot of experience seducing handsome guys. She was also good at finding high-quality guys and interacting with them.

Since her enlightened close friend desired to learn, Joyce was more than willing to teach her. So Joyce smiled and said, "Alright, if that's what you want, I will."

But this time, a woman on the dance floor was becoming the center of attention. Blurred radium spotlight, sparkling diamond miniskirt, and hot, sexy dance. She was surrounded by people who whistled and cheered for her.

Joyce stared at the woman who applied purple lipstick on her lips and whispered to Stephenie, "She looks familiar. Have we met her before?"

"She's Lily Millis."

"Damn! You were right. She completely changed from head to toe." Joyce was in shock but soon figured out why the woman looked familiar. "Stephenie, you were her plastic surgery sample, right?"

Stephenie was stunned. "What?"

Joyce raised Stephenie's chin and said, "Don't you know what you look like? I found that Lily's face was completely your lower version!"

Stephenie blankly looked back at Lily on the dance floor.

Then not long after, Lily was picked up by three men.

However, Lily ignored them and twisted her waist flexibility, rubbing another man's body up and down, causing the bystander to flush. The man also seemed interested in Lily, indulging Lily's explicit provocation with the usual Playboy smile on his lips.

The man was none other than...

"Edward?" Joyce didn't expect what she was seeing. "Isn't he in Australia?"

"He just came back last week." While talking, Stephenie saw Lily put her arms around Edward's neck and approached her charming scarlet, purple lips to his.