I watched as Angela approached Carl and murmured something to him. Immediately, the manner in which Carl carried himself changed entirely. He looked unusually gentle.

I sifted through all the memories I had of Carl throughout the last two decades or so. He had never smiled at me the way he was smiling at Angela now.

Carl and I were childhood friends. We had played with each other since we were children. Being a rather carefree person myself, I often went around climbing trees and scampering outside with Carl.

When others bullied me, he would defend me and beat them up to chase them off. When I cried, he would patiently soothe me.

Even when we had grown up, Carl never bothered to put on any sort of pretense around me. I thought that meant he treated me like his soulmate, but as it was, he was merely treating me as if I were his pet.

When I saw the intimacy he shared with Angela, I finally realized just how worthless my love was to him. I didn't even know when he got so close to Angela, who had only just returned to the country.

Well, when it came to love, it didn't matter who came first. It was a matter of the right person at the right time.

Henry took me to his study before explaining on behalf of Angela, his niece, "Angela doesn't know about your relationship with Carl."

I nodded in response. I knew Angela grew up abroad. Henry only brought her back recently after her parents died in a car accident. Even after returning, she hadn't really mingled with the rest of us in the same social circle.

"Why did you come here to see me?" Henry asked with a puzzled look.

I glanced at him. Then, as I tried my best to stop my heart from pounding, I said, "I heard that Mr. Moran Senior has been urging you to get married. How do you feel about marrying me? I'm single, and so are you. We can easily make a good match."

Once I finished, I closed my eyes and waited for his decision.

When I heard a chuckle ring out beside my ear, I lifted my head and opened my eyes. Henry had walked up to me.

"Sure," Henry replied. "I'm a bit busy right now, but once everything is settled, I'll marry you!"

He gave me a hug before pulling an emerald bracelet out of his desk drawer. "This once belonged to my grandmother. I have one, and Angela was given the other one."

After putting the emerald bracelet on me, he escorted me home.

When I went back downstairs, Carl had already left the Moran residence.

Yet, even when I was lying on my bed that night, I was still a little perplexed. Why had Henry so readily agreed to marry me?

When I got out of bed and went downstairs the next morning, I saw Carl sitting in the living room.

"Things were a bit hectic yesterday, Iris, so I wanted to have a proper talk with you today," he said.

He didn't look too good. With how heavy his dark undereye circles were, it seemed like he hadn't slept a wink last night.

I nodded before taking a seat across from him.

Previously, whenever Carl and I were together, I was always the one who had an endless stream of things to say. Whenever he got annoyed, he would use his hand to cover my mouth.

My heart would pound whenever my lips made contact with his hand. I would turn bright red and sit beside him in silence.

But now, I no longer wanted to revolve my life around him.

My love for Carl was over.

"I'll give you a sum of money. Consider it a token of my apology. Let's call off the engagement. Even if you refuse, yesterday's situation will just keep happening. Nothing can make me show up to get engaged to you," Carl declared before transferring a million dollars to me.

He even took my phone out and tapped in the password with great familiarity to confirm that the transaction had been completed.

Then, he exhaled deeply before flashing me a relieved smile.

"Fine," I said.

Carl was just about to continue speaking when his phone started ringing. The ringtone was unique—it was his cover of a love song.

He was a great singer. I once wanted to make his cover of this song as my dedicated ringtone on his phone, but he adamantly refused to oblige.

Now, when I saw Angela's name flashing on his screen, my heart filled with bitterness that couldn't be put into words.

His refusal hadn't been because he didn't want to do it. He simply didn't think I deserved it.

Carl took the call and answered in an exceptionally gentle voice.

"I accidentally burned myself while I was making breakfast, Carl. Can you take me to the hospital to get it checked?" Angela asked. Her voice was sweet, and she sounded a little teary.

"I'll be right there! Wait for me. Don't let your wound come into contact with anything!" Carl cried out.

He shot up anxiously and ran for the door. Just as he approached the door, he remembered me.

"We're even now, Iris," he said in an extremely curt tone. Without even waiting for my response, he walked out.

It was just as well. It was time for me to give up on him anyway.

That night, Henry invited me over to have dinner at the Moran residence.

When I arrived, Angela was bustling around the kitchen.

"You're here, Iris! So, you're the guest Uncle Henry mentioned, huh?" Angela said as she shot me a teasing wink.

Chuckling, I rolled up my sleeves and lent her a hand in the kitchen. Henry was a germaphobe, so it seemed like Angela was the one in charge of all the house chores.

When Carl arrived, he was startled to see me. Acting as if he didn't know me all that well, he greeted me stiffly.

Almost as if we had come to a tacit agreement, none of us mentioned the whole affair with the canceled engagement.

Throughout dinner, Carl kept serving Angela.

"Angie, the doctor said you need to avoid spicy food because of your injury," Carl said before shoving the plate of buffalo wings—the only spicy food on the table—toward me.

Our eyes met, and he hesitated briefly. Carl knew I couldn't eat spicy food, but he didn't care. Angela was all he cared about.

I was just about to take one of the buffalo wings when Henry stopped me.

"Hang on. I'll make you a sweet and juicy fruit salad," he said as he swiftly took the plate of buffalo wings away.

Still, as I watched Carl and Angela interacting with each other, I felt unusually bitter about it.