Evelyn returned home and began packing the luggage she would take to Southport.

Meanwhile, Mason—who had said he would “be right back”—didn’t contact her for the entire afternoon.

It wasn’t until late at night that the landline in the living room finally rang.

Evelyn guessed it was Mason calling.

She glanced at the phone but didn’t feel like dealing with his excuses, so she let it ring unanswered.

Early the next morning, she was woken by a rapid knock on the door.

When she opened it, Mason was standing there, looking anxious.

“Evelyn, why didn’t you answer my call yesterday?”

There was a hint of grievance in his voice.

“I was too tired from packing and fell asleep.”

Mason’s gaze instinctively shifted past her shoulder, and only then did he notice the piles of packed luggage stacked in the middle of the living room.

A sudden unease rose in his chest.

He grabbed Evelyn’s arm and asked urgently, “You’re packing? Where are you going?”

Evelyn freed herself from his grip and replied calmly, “I’m going to Southport.”

Mason let out a breath of relief.

“So you’re going to visit your parents. When are you leaving? I’ll prepare some gifts for you to bring along. Give them my regards.”

“Tonight’s train.”

“Alright, I’ll drive you to the station. But come back soon, okay? I’ll miss you.”

The last sentence carried a faintly playful tone.

Evelyn smiled silently.

Once she left this time, she would never return to Westbridge again.

Mason didn’t think much of it and helped her close the door behind her.

“Perfect timing. There’s a high school reunion at noon today. Let’s go together.”

Evelyn didn’t refuse.

After she left for Southport, the chances of ever seeing her old classmates again would be slim. She decided to treat this reunion as a farewell.

Just as she was about to get into the car, she realized Anna was already sitting inside.

“We’re all old classmates, after all. Evelyn, you wouldn’t stop me from hitching a ride to the reunion, would you?”

Anna deliberately exposed the cut at the corner of her lip and glanced at her with a provocative smile.

Mason’s expression changed.

He quickly stepped in front of Evelyn, blocking her view as he explained, “Evelyn, don’t overthink it. Her foot hasn’t fully recovered yet. As her commanding officer, I…”

“I know,” Evelyn interrupted lightly. “You’re just giving her a ride as her commanding officer.”

She opened the passenger door and sat down. “Let’s go.”

Mason froze for a moment.

For some reason, even though that was exactly the explanation he had been about to give, hearing her say it so calmly stirred an uneasy feeling in his chest.

After the car started, Evelyn closed her eyes and pretended to rest.

Anna glanced at the woman in the passenger seat, a flash of jealousy crossing her eyes.

She cleared her throat and said with a smile, “I left an earring in the glove compartment last time. Could you take it out and pass it to me?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Mason’s grip tightened unconsciously on the steering wheel.

He glanced nervously at Evelyn beside him.

Evelyn opened the drawer.

Inside were three earrings.

Two pearl studs were hers.

And one tassel earring was identical to the one Anna was wearing.

When Mason first got his driver’s license, he had once looked at her with complete sincerity and promised, “Evelyn, from now on, the passenger seat will belong only to you.”

Now, clearly, there was a second person in that seat.

Evelyn’s face remained expressionless as she took out all three earrings.

She handed one to Anna, then slipped the other two into her bag. After she got out of the car, she would find a trash can and throw them away.

The unease in Mason’s chest grew stronger.

He wanted to say something, but when he saw Evelyn close her eyes again, looking unwilling to talk, he could only give up awkwardly.

When they arrived at the private room for the reunion, Evelyn and Mason immediately became the center of attention.

“Wow, after all these years, the two of you are still inseparable. The golden couple from our class really hasn’t changed at all.”

“Exactly! You two must already be married by now, right? Do you have kids yet?”

Before either of them could answer, Anna—who had been ignored by everyone—quickly spoke up.

“Don’t say things like that. Mason and Evelyn aren’t married. Right now, they’re not even together.”

The lively room fell silent in an instant.

The two people who had spoken first stood there awkwardly.

“W-what? I can’t believe it…”

Evelyn answered calmly, “No. We’re not married.”

And she never would marry him.

Mason’s expression darkened as he shot Anna a glance, then he wrapped an arm around Evelyn’s shoulders and smiled at the group.

“Don’t worry, everyone. We just haven’t gotten married yet because of military regulations. Evelyn and I have been together for so many years.

“We’ll definitely get married. When the time comes, make sure you all come to the wedding.”

The crowd let out a collective breath of relief, and the atmosphere quickly grew lively again.

“I knew it! If the two of you ever broke up, I’d never believe in love again.”

“Come on, you two, hurry up and get married so we can finally attend your wedding.”

At that moment, the class representative, Michael, mysteriously took out a glass jar.

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s see if the wishes we wrote in our time capsule when we graduated have come true.”

As soon as he said it, everyone became excited.

“Come on, let’s take them out one by one and have Michael read them aloud in front of everyone. That’ll be fun!”

The first letter was Mason’s.

“To marry Evelyn as soon as I’m old enough and make her my wife.”

The second letter was Evelyn’s.

“To marry Mason, have a baby soon, and become a happy family of three.”

When the last word was read aloud, their classmates began cheering with obvious envy.

“Even their plans for the future were all about marrying each other. What a beautiful love story.”

Mason’s lips curved into a smile as he looked at Evelyn with deep affection.

“Of course. Evelyn has always been the woman I wanted to marry since we were kids.”

But Evelyn showed no trace of a smile. A long-forgotten pain pricked at her heart.

Not because of the man in front of her who spoke such effortless lies, but because of the pure love she had once felt at eighteen.

In the end, it had changed somewhere along the long passage of time.

The third letter belonged to Anna.

“To stay by Mason’s side forever.”

“Well, it looks like I’m the only one whose wish came true. I’m already Mason’s aide, so I get to stay by his side all the time.”

Anna’s gaze swept across the room with open pride.

The others immediately looked at her with contempt.

“Seriously? She’s completely delusional. After all these years, she still hasn’t given up.”

“She’s just an aide. To Mason, she’s nothing more than a subordinate. Talking about staying by his side forever—Evelyn is the one who’ll be with him for life as his future wife.”

…

Only Evelyn noticed that when Anna said those words, the curve of Mason’s smile deepened slightly.

The mocking voices in the room grew louder and louder.

At that moment, a drunken man who had dropped out of high school years ago staggered toward Anna.

“Why would Colonel Hart ever want someone like you hanging around him? You should’ve given up long ago.

“Tell you what, why don’t you come with me instead? I’ll make sure you live the good life!”

As he spoke, he leaned forward, his alcohol-soaked breath reeking as he tried to move closer.

Mason, who had been watching Anna from the corner of his eye the whole time, suddenly stood up.

He kicked the man to the ground, then pulled the frightened Anna, whose eyes had already turned red, firmly into his arms.

Looking down at the man on the floor, his voice was cold as ice.

“Who said I don’t want her? She’s my woman now. No one touches her.”

Watching the scene unfold, Evelyn suddenly remembered something from her university days.

Back then, a classmate from her department had once confessed his feelings to her.

Even though she told Mason that she had clearly rejected the boy and explained that she already had a boyfriend, Mason still rushed to her university on the earliest train he could catch, risking disciplinary action.

Then he took her hand and deliberately walked around campus with her, making sure everyone saw them, staking his claim.

Now, that same possessiveness belonged to another woman.

Evelyn found it hard to breathe.

After saying goodbye to the others, she stood up and left the private room.

She hadn’t expected their final meeting to end in such a farce.

Outside the restaurant, she stood by the roadside waiting for her driver to pick her up.

Behind her came Mason’s voice, filled with panic.

“Evelyn, listen to me!

“What I said just now was only to help Anna out of an awkward situation. She’s my subordinate. I couldn’t just stand there and watch her get harassed. You understand that, don’t you?”

A few beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, and he spoke rapidly, as if afraid that if he slowed down even for a second, the woman in front of him would walk away.

Evelyn calmly pulled her arm free and looked at him with a faint smile.

“There’s no need to explain. I understand.”

She understood that those words had come from his true feelings.

Even though he had gotten the answer he wanted, Mason still didn’t feel reassured. The uneasiness in his chest surged again, and he reached out, trying to grab her wrist.

“Evelyn, what’s going on with you…”

Before he could finish, Anna hurried over, her voice still choked with tears.

“Mason, could you take me home? I’m afraid he might come after me again.”

Mason hesitated for a second.

Just then, the car that had come to pick up Evelyn arrived.

Without sparing the two of them another glance, she got into the car and drove away, leaving the man behind calling out her name.

After returning home, she shipped all of her belongings to Southport, leaving only a single suitcase.

Just then, a rapid knock sounded at the door.

Evelyn thought it was the new homeowner coming to check the place, so she got up and opened the door.

But the moment the door opened, Mason grabbed her wrist, his anger blazing.

“I’ve told you again and again that I’m going to marry you. Anna is just my aide. Why would you pay off her family to take her back home and force her into a marriage?!”

Behind him stood Anna, her face streaked with tears.

“Evelyn, I never fought with you or tried to take him away. I only wanted to stay by Mason’s side and watch over him. Can’t you even tolerate that?

“Do you know how hard it was for me to escape my family? I don’t want to be dragged back home and forced to marry some old bachelor!”

Evelyn was hit with the accusations one after another, but she had no idea what they were talking about.

“What pay off her family? I don’t know anything about that!”

Mason assumed she was lying.

The anger in his chest flared hotter, and his voice turned icy.

“You’re still denying it? Her family admitted it themselves. A woman with the last name Ward paid them to come. If I hadn’t taken her home and happened to run into them, they would have dragged her back home already!”

With that, he suddenly let go of her wrist.

Caught off balance, Evelyn stumbled and fell to the ground, the skin on her palm scraping against the floor.

But she seemed not to feel it at all. Instead, a faint smile tugged at her lips.

“Mason, after more than twenty years together, it turns out you don’t trust me at all.”

Mason’s hands clenched unconsciously at his sides.

But when he saw the tears in Anna’s eyes, his heart hardened again.

“I saw it with my own eyes. How do you expect me to believe you?

“It seems I’ve been too good to you all these years. I spoiled you so much that you actually thought you could go after someone under my protection.

“Now apologize to my aide. Right now.”

Evelyn let out a light laugh and met his gaze without the slightest fear.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?”

Seeing that she refused to admit fault, Mason’s expression turned even colder as he delivered his final warning.

“The Commander-in-Chief would never allow a vicious woman to marry me and become a colonel’s wife. Evelyn, you’d better think carefully.”

With that, he took Anna’s hand and walked away without looking back.

Evelyn staggered to her feet.

Looking at Mason’s retreating figure, she let out a deeply mocking smile.

“I don’t want to marry you anymore either.”

Her phone chimed. It was a message from her mother.

“Evelyn, the wedding has already been arranged, and the invitations have been sent out. All you need to do is come back and be a beautiful, happy bride.”

After turning off the screen, Evelyn picked up her suitcase and headed for the train station.

From now on, she would walk toward a new life—one that belonged to her alone.

And in that life, there would be no Mason.

…

Meanwhile, Mason brought Anna to the base infirmary to treat the scrapes she had gotten while struggling with her family earlier.

One of Mason’s close friends happened to be a doctor there.

After hearing the news, he rushed over.

When he saw a nurse bandaging Anna’s wound, he pulled Mason out into the hallway.

“What exactly are you thinking? Who do you really love? Evelyn or this woman?”

“Of course Evelyn,” Mason answered without hesitation.

“But all these years, I’ve always been the one chasing after her. It gets tiring sometimes. Anna is different. Her whole world revolves around me.

“After so long, I can’t help but feel sorry for her. I don’t want her to leave. I want to protect her.”

His friend sighed.

“Alright. But what if Evelyn gets angry? Have you figured out how you’re going to make it up to her?”

Mason fell silent for a moment before replying stiffly, “I’m not going to. She really went too far this time. It’s perfect timing anyway. She’s heading to Southport tonight. Let her calm down for a few days.

“Besides, I mentioned the marriage approval before she left. Her biggest wish is to marry me. When she comes back from Southport, she’ll definitely come to me to apologize.

“As long as she apologizes to Anna, we’ll let this whole thing go.”

Seeing that he couldn’t persuade him, his friend raised an eyebrow and changed the subject.

“By the way, have you heard? The youngest colonel from the Caldwell family in Southport is getting married. The invitation even made its way to me.

“Honestly, I thought that guy would stay single forever. Now I’m curious who managed to win him over…”

His voice abruptly stopped.

His eyes widened as if he had just seen something terrifying.

Noticing his strange reaction, Mason took the invitation from his hand and opened it curiously.

“Who is it?”

The next moment, the names of the bride and groom came clearly into view—

Groom: Julian Caldwell

Bride: Evelyn Ward.