Stephan’s Adam's apple rolled and in just a moment, desire broke through his brain. He picked up Bianca horizontally and walked toward the French window.

The view from the top floor was nice and the sunshine was also good.

After an unknown amount of time, Stephan’s clothes were soaked and disheveled and he heard an unreal inquiry from the other side of the corridor.

“Scott, where is Stephan? I haven’t seen him since I woke up.”

“Mr. Marshall has a multinational meeting this afternoon, so he’s going to attend it first and he asked me not to disturb you.”

“Oh, okay. I have something else to do at the company, so I’ll go back first. Remember to let him know when he comes back.”

“Okay, Miss Martin, I’ll take you there.”

After the sound of the elevator door closing, the top floor returned to silence.

Bianca moved in Stephan’s arms. “Stephan~”

“It’s almost time. I have a meeting. You can go back first.” Stephan stood up, buttoned up his suit and handed over a card. “This card has no limit. You just returned to Lemure and need money for many things. No need to save.”

“Okay, thank you, Stephan~”

Before leaving the gym, Stephan stopped and reminded her again, “Bianca, you are very sensible, so I hope you don’t make a fuss in front of Vanessa about these things at the moment.”

“Don’t worry, Stephan. I will listen to you obediently.”

Bianca’s gentle smile was instantly broken after Stephan left. She threw the card fiercely to the ground. “Heh, Vanessa, I will make you pay the price!”

Jessica and I stayed up all night to finalize all the design drafts. The next step was for the organizing department to finalize the entire press conference process schedule.

I finally had a chance to catch my breath. I planned to go home and get some good sleep to adjust my state.

Another text message was received on the phone: [Want to meet and chat?]

It was sent by Bianca.

I thought for a moment and sent her an address, which was a coffee shop downstairs from the company.

We booked a private room. The waiter lit candles and aromatherapy, played some light music, poured two cups of coffee and dessert and then tactfully left.

I took a sip of coffee and said, “Miss Newton, if you have anything to say, just tell me. I have other plans later.”

“Oh, you are really patient. You didn’t come to see me during this period of time.”

“I’ve been busy with company matters lately and can’t spare the time. I was planning to have a chat with you, Miss Newton, when I have some free time.”

Bianca’s inquiring gaze swept over me. “Stephan and I have known each other for seven years and we were forced to separate for five years in between.”

“I know.”

“You know?” Bianca raised her eyebrows slightly. “Now that I’m back, shouldn’t you take the initiative to withdraw?”

My fingertips holding the coffee spoon paused. I raised my eyes and looked at Bianca steadily. “Stephan didn’t say he wanted to break up with me.”

For a moment, Bianca laughed out loud as if she had heard some huge joke.

“Vanessa, should I say you are naive or stupid? Didn’t I show you those photos? Why don’t you give up?” She said with sarcasm, “Your family suffered a misfortune and Stephan couldn’t bear to abandon you, so I can be the bad guy and tell you the truth. Or to put it another way, everything you have right now depends on Stephan. Do you think you are really worthy of him? Do you think he will really marry you?”

The harsh words stabbed into my heart like a knife and the suffocating pain spread.

I forced myself to stand up, not planning to continue the conversation.

“Vanessa.” Bianca stopped me. “Has Stephan touched you during the time I have been back home?”

My body trembled and a fact that I didn’t want to believe came into my mind.

Indeed, Stephan had been saying that he was busy with work recently and he rarely saw me, let alone touched me. Even if I took the initiative, he would find an excuse to leave...

It seemed that he really had no interest in me anymore.

A mocking voice came from behind. “When you looked in the mirror these days, didn’t you think you looked a little like me? Have you ever suspected that you were a stand-in? I don’t say too many hurtful words, but I also think that you are very dull.”

She emphasized the word “dull”, as if she was speaking specifically to me.

It was becoming difficult to breathe. I forced myself to hold on to the last bit of rationality and turned around and said, “Bianca, there’s no need to provoke me with these words. I know Stephan. If he doesn’t love me anymore, he will let go decisively and won’t bother me too much, but he treats me very well now.”

“You said he loves you?” Bianca obviously didn’t believe me, her eyes fell on my chest. “He gave you this brooch, right? He bought it for 4 million dollars.”

I glanced down at the brooch, confused as to why she had suddenly changed the subject.

“What’s wrong?”

“The designer of this brooch is me, BN.”

“What?”

“This brooch was designed by me in Zavine. It was sold at an auction in Lemure. When Stephan found out, he flew to Linkon overnight to attend the auction.” Bianca leaned back in her chair, looking at me with her arms crossed. Her eyes showed pity. “He raised the starting price of 40,000 dollars to 4 million dollars . Maybe he thought he could see me this way, but unfortunately, I didn’t come back from the auction. I guess he just gave it to you.”

In an instant, I felt like I was struck by lightning.

I bent down and took off the brooch. The intricate rose pattern and the tiny diamonds dotted it were so dazzling that I thought it was sparkling before, but now I just thought it was extremely blinding.

Roses, Bianca liked roses.

That was why there was a whole field of roses in the Marshall Family garden, that was why he gave me a rose brooch and that was why he habitually picked fresh roses and placed them at my bedside.

“I didn’t lie to you about this.” She chuckled. “If you don’t believe me, you can go check it out. It’s okay. I’ll give you enough time to think about it. Then I’ll leave first.”

The door of the private room closed and the tip of the brooch pierced into my palm, but I didn’t feel any pain at all.

When I returned to the Marshall Family, the familiar aroma of seafood porridge wafted out.

When I entered the living room, I didn’t see Audrey, but Stephan, wearing an apron, brought out two bowls of porridge from the kitchen.

Seeing me in a daze, he untied his apron and came over to hug me. “Where have you been? I missed you, Vanessa.”

I came back to my senses and forced a smile. “I go and relax and find some design inspiration.”

“Vanessa, you don’t have to work so hard, I’ll back you up.” He ruffled my hair and smiled dotingly. “Today I made crab roe and shrimp porridge. I peeled the crab roe and shrimp myself. You should try it.”

“Okay.”

Stephan naturally took my hand and a trace of pain came from the palm of my hand. I made a ‘hiss’ sound and pulled my hand back.

“What’s wrong, Vanessa?”

He opened my palm, his expression instantly worried. “How are you hurt? Does it hurt?”

“I accidentally scratched it…”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I accidentally hurt you.”

Stephan anxiously took out the medicine box and pulled me to sit on the sofa. He squatted in front of me and carefully disinfected it with iodine.

The blood in the wound had already coagulated, but when it was pulled just now, some blood came out again, stinging the nerves.

Looking at his anxious and worried look, which looked like a treasure, I was slightly distracted.

I had just hired a private detective and the information he gave me proves that what Bianca said was true.

Everyone envied Stephan for flying directly to Linkon to buy expensive jewelry for me, but only I knew that he was willing to do anything to pursue his childhood sweetheart. That brooch was just a small toy to coax me.

He wrapped my hand with gauze, stroked my wrist and asked softly, “Does it still hurt?”

I shook my head.

“I’ll arrange for the family doctor to come and see you later.”

“No need to arrange for a family doctor, it’s just a minor injury.”

“Okay.” Stephan stood up. “Then let’s eat the porridge first? You can try my cooking.”

“Okay.”

Stephan’s gaze paused on my chest. “Vanessa, did you forget to wear your brooch today?”

I paused and said, “I put it away. The summer new product launch is coming soon. It’s not good to wear jewelry from other brands. I’m wearing jewelry from ‘Fiery Summer’ now.”

“That makes sense.” Stephan smiled and said casually, “I thought you didn’t like the gift I gave you.”

My heart suddenly felt a prick of pain.

I changed the subject. “Let’s eat then.”

For several days in a row, Stephan stayed at the Marshall Family’s house and even for many matters that did not need to be handled at the company, he asked Scott to take the documents back to the Marshall Family.

He no longer smelled of roses.

I was a little unsure of what he was thinking.

But Bianca couldn’t sit still anymore and text messages came flooding in.

[Vanessa, what does it matter if you think you have kept him? His heart is not with you at all!]

[I don’t want to make things too ugly, you’d better be tactful and leave!]

[Do you remember the first few days when I returned to Lemure? He is with me every day, Stephan is still the same as he was five years ago, several times a night~]

[Oh, by the way, last time you slept in his office, do you think he was really attending a multinational conference? I have to say, it’s really exciting to be in front of the French window of the rooftop gym.]

At the end, she posted a picture of a gym that was a mess.

But I recognized the scattered tie on the ground at a glance. It was the one I personally selected for Stephan. I said that the dark blue color suit him very well, but there were unexplained stains on the tie in the photo.

On the stainless steel railing of the fitness equipment opposite, two intertwined bodies were vaguely reflected.

There was a buzzing sound in my head and blood rushed back.

“Vanessa, what are you looking at? Why are you so engrossed?” Stephan’s voice broke through his thoughts and he walked over with the documents.

I panicked and dropped my phone, the screen shattered and went black.

“Did I scare you by my sudden noise?” Stephan helped me pick up the phone and looked at it from front to back. “This phone is broken. It’s okay. I’ll ask Scott to buy you a new one.”

His doting expression was exactly the same as before, without any abnormality. If it weren’t for Bianca’s evidence, how much would I have believed him...

Taking the phone back from him, I looked away. “Okay, thank you.”

“Why are you so polite to me?”

Stephan chuckled and moved closer with his hormonal chest, rubbing his big hands around my waist and lowered his head to kiss my exposed neck.

There was a very bewitching whisper in my ear. “Vanessa, I miss you…”

I admitted that Stephan was very good at it. As long as he wanted, he could easily tease the other person’s body.

If it were in the past, I would have indulged in this joy, but now, his kiss and his closeness only made me feel resistant and disgusted.