Bertha’s serious gaze made Simon panic.

“Bertha, why are you suddenly talking about this?”

He did not know why Bertha would say such a thing. Frowning, he fell into deep thought for a few minutes before a possibility occurred to him.

“Bertha, did someone say something to you?”

Before she could reply, Simon’s expression turned stern, and he made a call. “Come to the restaurant now.”

Fifteen minutes later, his secretary rushed over and stood in front of him while gasping. With a dark expression, he said to his secretary, “Sign to Bertha all the business trips and all the things I’ve been doing at the company lately.”

His secretary frowned. After some thinking, he approached Bertha and started signing, “I went on a business trip abroad with Mr. Zimmer two months ago. When Mr. Zimmer heard that you fell ill, he abandoned a contract worth one million dollars. He immediately booked a plane ticket back so that he could take care of you. He watched over you as you fell asleep.

“Over the years, all sorts of women have tried to sleep with Mr. Zimmer, but none of them have ever caught his eye. Since he’s worried that you’ll misunderstand, he always asks me to chase them away.

“When Mr. Zimmer attended a social gathering last week, he got drunk and kept calling out your name. He stumbled back just so that he could fall asleep beside you. Whenever he joins a meeting in the company, Mr. Zimmer always reminds me to immediately tell him if you call because he doesn’t want you to wait for him.”

The secretary signed so much that his hands became sore. All the things he said pointed to how much Simon cared for and loved Bertha over the years.

When Simon saw that Bertha was still silent, he scowled, and fury raged in his eyes.

“Tell all the women who want to crawl into my bed to know their place. If they want to work under me, they need to understand what they should and shouldn’t do. If they dare gossip to my wife again, only one thing will happen to them.”

His secretary agreed to it and left. Just then, he heard the rhythmic clacking of heels from the stairs. Simon looked over and saw Luna, who was dressed in a red pencil skirt. His scowl finally let up a little.

“Sorry, am I bothering you two?”

Recalling what she just heard and seeing the tense atmosphere between them, Luna walked to Bertha’s side and signed, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Zimmer. Whenever Mr. Zimmer comes to me, it’s just to ask about your condition. Everyone knows that you’re the one he cares about the most. Mr. Zimmer doesn’t discuss anything aside from your condition with me.”

Bertha kept quiet and just stared at her.

Luna had a cheerful gaze, and she looked really dignified.

If Bertha had not heard those things with her own two ears, she would never have expected Luna to be in such a twisted relationship with Simon. It would be even less likely for her to realize that Luna loved looking flirtatiously at Simon from time to time. When Luna looked back at Bertha, her gaze carried a hint of disdain and mockery.

Bertha just kept staring at Luna, so much so that Simon grew restless and got up to stand between them.

“Why are you here?”

Luna smiled. “It’s Mrs. Zimmer’s birthday today, and I came here to wish her a happy birthday.”

She signed to Bertha, “There’s a new technology abroad that can install manmade cochleas into your ears. After that, you’ll be able to hear again.”

Simon was so excited that he hugged Bertha and teared up.

“Bertha, you’ll finally get to hear again!”

Perhaps she was imagining it, but she felt as if Simon was trembling.

“Once you’re better, we can go on a trip and fulfill your dreams. We’ll be together forever, okay? Bertha, promise me that you’ll never talk about disappearing again. I’ll get really scared.”

Bertha did not reply to Simon. Disgust crept through every part of her body. She could no longer feel warmth in Simon’s arms, only coldness.

He was such a good actor.

She had witnessed with her own two eyes how he cheated on her. If she had not, perhaps she would have believed him after he worked so hard to explain himself to her. But there were no what-ifs in the world, were there? The sight of his tears just disgusted her, and she found the entire situation ironic.

She pushed Simon away and smiled at Luna.

“Thank you for working so hard to take care of me all this while. Since you’re here, you might as well have a seat and eat with us.”

Simon could sense that there was something off about Bertha, and he signed timidly, “Bertha, are you still mad?”

Bertha shook her head and looked at the beach again.

Simon clapped, and the entire ocean of flowers lit up. A server then pushed a cart over. When he lifted the lid, Bertha found that the tray was not filled with food. Instead, it contained a set of emerald accessories.

Simon had spent a few hundred million dollars on the emeralds during an auction in Paris last month, simply because Bertha had said that she liked them.

She looked up and saw the burning love in Simon’s eyes.

Whenever she saw such gifts in the past, she would be surprised and weep. But all she did in the present was stare at him calmly.

“Bertha, do you remember the first gift I gave you? I gave it to you in this restaurant as well. When I first confessed to you, I gave you an emerald too. I spent half a month researching what you liked. Everyone told me that I would never win your heart and that I was an idiot, but I knew that you were worth the effort.

“When you said that you liked them, I bought them and hired someone to turn them into accessories. Our names are carved into the backs of each one. Once words are carved into something, they won’t disappear, just like how my love for you won’t disappear.”

Luna cast her an envious gaze.

“To think that after all these years, your relationship with Mr. Zimmer would still be so good, Mrs. Zimmer.”

Mockery flashed in Bertha’s eyes. Simon had indeed sworn to love her forever, and he had declared that his love for her would never disappear. All these things were a subject of envy for others, but only Bertha knew that their love had rotted away long ago.

She allowed Simon to put the accessories on her. The emerald made her skin even more radiant, and she supposed that she really did love emeralds. However, emeralds shattered easily, just like love.

While they ate, Simon busied himself cutting steak for her, but she noticed that he would occasionally reach for the car keys beside his hand.

She had never seen those keys before. Each time he pressed down on it, she would hear a faint buzz, along with a faint moan.

Right before her eyes, she saw Luna’s cheeks slowly turn red. Luna gnashed her teeth, as if enduring something. Just when things were about to go out of control, Luna trembled, and her glass of red wine toppled over. It accidentally spilled on Simon’s shirt.

Simon frowned before giving Bertha a troubled look as he signed, “Bertha, I need to clean myself up. I’ve cut your steak for you. Go ahead and eat it.”

He then left.

Soon after, Luna received a call. With the excuse that she had surgery in the hospital, she left the restaurant too.

As for Bertha, she did not eat her steak as Simon had asked. Instead, she got up and went to the other side of the restaurant. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, she saw Luna running strangely toward the car Simon had parked by the road.

Bertha got down quietly. The car window was partially rolled down, and it revealed the people inside. Simon and Luna were pressed flush against each other as they kissed.

Soon, the car started shaking.

Simon pinned Luna against the seat and said in a passion-filled voice, “Didn’t I satisfy you earlier? I told you before not to show up that often in front of Bertha.”

Luna giggled wantonly. Her moans grew louder as she crooned, “It’s your fault for putting that thing in. It was so tough for me…”

“It’s because you’re insatiable. I’ll satisfy you this time, but after this, respect my boundaries and stop causing trouble in front of Bertha.”

Bertha hid behind a tree beside the car. Even though she already knew about Simon and Luna, her heart still hurt. Before she realized it, tears filled her eyes, and the sounds of their passion grew louder. Sometimes, it sounded like water striking stone. At other times, it sounded like splashes. She clenched her teeth to silence herself. She tried to leave a few times, but for some reason, she could not find the strength to move her legs.

Pain filled her entire body. With trembling hands, she took her phone out and pointed it at the car as she pressed the record button.

She never felt time move as slowly as it did at this moment.

The moans from inside the car slowly came to a stop. Bertha checked the video time. It was an hour and forty minutes.

However, this was only the beginning. In less than ten minutes, the limited-edition Rolls Royce started shaking rhythmically again.

Luna’s voice also became weak.

“Simon, I… can’t do it anymore. But if you really want to do it, why don’t we change places? The ocean of flowers upstairs is beautiful, and you know that I love roses the most.”

Luna’s voice was delicate and charming. The desire in Simon’s eyes grew as he lifted her chin and chuckled. “Be good now. We’re doing it in the car today. Tomorrow, I’ll let you have fun in a sea of flowers.”

The car started shaking violently again. This time, Bertha could not bear listening to it anymore. She covered her ears and left looking pale.

By the time she got home, her tears had dried up. Even so, her heart still hurt.

Looking around, she found that every inch of the house was covered with something related to Simon.

On the bookshelf was a picture of them together on their first date. On the cupboard were the ceramic cups they had made together, along with plaster dolls they had painted at a stall. Everything represented a memory of their past together.

There was also the wedding photo above their bed. His eyes were filled with sincere love. In the walk-in closet was the wedding dress he had designed for her too.

Bertha removed her wedding ring and put all those things together. Then, she asked the maids to move everything to the backyard. In the end, she grabbed the wedding dress and went over as well.

She calmly picked up a pair of scissors and started cutting up the wedding dress. The lawn became filled with the white gown, reminding her of the day Simon had proposed to her.

The lawn had been filled with fresh, tender lilies at that time. While laughing, Simon picked her up and spun her around.

“Bertha, I hope that our love will be as pure as these lilies. This one-of-a-kind wedding dress is for you, the most special person in my life. You’re the only woman I’ll ever love, and I’ll give you all the best things in the world.”

“I’m the only woman he loves?”

Bertha sneered and put the cut wedding dress together with the things in the box. Without any hesitation, she lit them up with a lighter.

In an instant, fire rose and bathed the area in a red glow. The maids panicked, but Bertha remained still and unmoving. She coolly watched as everything that symbolized her relationship with Simon went up in flames.

In her mind, she thought, ‘There’s nothing left between us now, Simon.’

She returned to the room to pack up, but halfway through, she suddenly heard someone calling her name from outside.

“Bertha?”

Simon rushed in. When he saw Bertha, he immediately ran over and hugged her tightly. He only let go after a moment.

“Why did you leave on your own? Did you have any idea how worried I was? I almost lost my mind looking for you!”

He sounded like he was panicking. By the looks of it, he was truly worried about her.

Even so, Bertha only stared at him with a stony expression. Since she had not said a word for a long time, Simon finally realized what he had done wrong and signed to her.

Just then, he noticed the luggage bag behind her and froze. Multiple errors began showing up in his signs, and it took Bertha some time before she pieced together a sentence.

“Why are you packing up? Are you leaving me?”