“Katie, it’s great that you’ve come to your senses! When are you coming back? Your father and I will set you up with someone.”

I rubbed my eyes. They had turned red from crying.

“Let’s do it in a week. I’ll wrap up my work here.”

My parents happily hung up.

When I returned to my apartment, I packed my personal belongings into my suitcase.

I planned to discard the excess.

I would also return all the things that Eden had put here.

I was not deep asleep at midnight when a pair of familiar hands pinned my wrists above my head.

“Katie, you haven’t wished me a happy birthday!”

When I opened my eyes, I saw that familiar handsome face.

My heart did not flutter anymore. I strongly pushed him away and subconsciously pulled my nightgown tighter.

“I’m not feeling well.”

Eden made me sit on his lap as his hand slid up the hem of my nightgown.

I was very uncomfortable. I could only hide it by pressing my hand down on his.

“No way, I’m exhausted.”

“But Katie, why can’t I get enough of you? I just want to be with you tonight…”

The unfinished flirtatious words were lost against my neck in his flurry of kisses.

One question lingered in my mind. Over the past three years, whenever he was with me, had he always thought of his little childhood sweetheart?

“In that case, would you stay tonight?”

He suddenly stopped moving and looked at me uneasily.

“But I still have work in the morning. Katie, don’t you feel bad if I have to get up so early?”

Really?

Was it not because he wanted to check in with his little sweetheart?

My heart sank. I pushed him away and curled back under the blanket.

“If that’s the case, you should go now.”

I closed my eyes and held back my tears.

Eden leaned down and wrapped his arms around me.

“Katie, are you angry? Tonight I’ll…”

He was cut off by an unfamiliar ringtone.

He reflexively gripped his phone and strode out of my room.

“Yeah, okay. Don’t panic, I’ll be there right away.”

I heard him softly comforting the person on the other side of the call.

“Katie, something urgent came up in the company. I have to go now. Take care of yourself.”

I waited until I heard the apartment door being slammed shut before I finally started crying.

The ringtone had been specific to one number. For him, it could only mean unyielding devotion.

It was not that he did not notice things, but he had already given all to someone else.

Lost in a daze, I cried myself to sleep.

But unexpectedly, when I woke up, I felt dizzy and lightheaded, and my forehead was burning with fever.

I initially wanted to find medicine, but I unexpectedly fell down the stairs and twisted my ankle badly.

“Katie! What happened? Come, I will bring you to the hospital!”

When Eden entered the house, he saw me crumpled on the floor. He anxiously lifted me up and put me into the car.

I endured the pain all over my body. Tears streamed down my face from sheer agony.

“It hurts.”

“Hang on, we’ll be in the hospital soon!”

Eden softly comforted me, but at that moment, June’s special ringtone rang again.

“Sob! Eden, I cut my finger while chopping vegetables just now!”

“What? Stay right there, I’m coming!”

Eden panicked, but after he saw me in the backseat, he pursed his lips and pulled over the car.

“Katie, take a cab to the hospital. Something came up.”

After he spoke, he carelessly dragged me out of the car.

I was too weak to fight back and could only watch him drive away without turning back.

Fortunately, a kind-hearted female driver was passing by. When she saw that I was about to collapse, she immediately sent me to the hospital.

The doctor immediately prescribed medication for me.

Setting my ankle was a very painful process. I bit my bottom lip hard, but I did not make a sound.

When the nurse saw my pale face, she could not help but offer me a reminder.

“Miss Caesar, you can’t move freely. Why don’t you contact your family or your boyfriend to pick you up?”

I shook my head.

“I’m all alone.”

“Katie, why are you here?”

Eden looked at me in surprise. When he saw my heavily wrapped ankle, he darted away guiltily.

He had anxiously taken June to the hospital, but he had completely forgotten that I was feverish and could barely walk.

“Sorry, I had been too worked up just now. I’ve handled it now. Let me stay with you!”

He squatted in front of me while cradling my ankle with concern.

I shook my head.

“No need. Go ahead with whatever you need to do.”

Eden wanted to say something else, but June White suddenly appeared in the treatment room.

“Eden, what are you doing here?”

Eden immediately got up, walked to her, and spoke with a gentle voice.

“June, why are you here on your own?”

June looked at him with a soft and vulnerable look.

“I got scared when I didn’t see you. Oh, is this your friend?”

I raised my head and looked at Eden.

He cut all ties between us without hesitation.

“No, she’s a sister of my brother’s friend.”

I heard the sound of my heart breaking.

Without hesitating, he had discarded our three-year relationship just to keep his childhood sweetheart in the dark.

Eden dared not look at me, but he was also afraid that I would expose our relationship, so he held June’s hand and tried to leave.

“June, you’re still hurt. I’ll take you home first.”

I was not that insensible.

“Yeah, I’m Kate Caesar. My brother and Nash are best friends.”

June smiled more brightly, and she looked at Eden in a coquettish way.

“Eden worries too much about me. I just came back from abroad, and I don’t really know anyone here. Kate, if you don’t mind, you can come and attend my welcome party.”

When I wanted to turn her down, June held Eden’s hand and acted coquettishly.

“Eden, I want Kate to come!”

“Okay, she’ll be there.”

Without asking for my opinion, Eden made the decision for me.

I smiled in resignation while looking at them.

To satisfy his beloved girl, he even forgot about my injured ankle.

“I don’t think I’m going.”

June pouted.

“Eden, does Kate hate me?”

Eden frowned before he turned around and forcefully pulled me up.

“Kate, don’t ruin the mood.”

I was choked with emotion. The words died in my throat.

I limped behind them. Pain spiked through my ankle.

Eden remained focused on hovering over June carefully.

“Be careful. You’ve always been clumsy. I’ve lost count of the times you almost fell down the stairs.”

June’s face had a beaming smile. She purposely punched Eden’s chest.

“But you were always there for me, weren’t you?”

“Little scatterbrain!”

Her face was smug and arrogant, but Eden was not impatient at all. He coaxed her softly and patiently.

I found this side of Eden very unfamiliar.

Even during our most intimate moments, he would always push me to surrender with his relentless stamina. He even refused to let me go even when I humbled myself and begged for mercy.

He had never been the dominating one. He simply pampered and carefully protected someone else.

June naturally slid into the passenger seat at the front.

I stood still while watching Eden carefully put on the seatbelt for her.

When he turned back and looked at me, he finally realized what had happened and tried to explain himself.

“Katie, June gets carsick, so…”

“It’s fine.”

I struggled to climb into the back seat.

I no longer cared about the things that I once begged for, even after I gave up my pride.

On the way, Eden glanced at me in the rearview mirror from time to time.

But he replied to June softly and attentively.

At the club, right when we stepped inside, many people rushed out.

Someone slammed into me, and I watched them swarm Eden and June inside.

“June, you’re finally back!”

“Exactly! Eden has waited for you for three years. He’s almost turning into a statue!”

Eden’s face froze, and he glanced across the crowd to look for me.

He was only relieved when I remained leaning against the wall with a lowered head. It was as if I did not hear it.

This crowd was made up of June’s old friends.

They played a game of truth or dare, and they forced me to join them.

I did not know whether they were doing it on purpose.

When the bottle landed on me, the dare was to ask me to kiss someone for thirty seconds.

I subconsciously looked at Eden.

But someone at the side chimed in.

“Do you need a volunteer, Kate? You can’t seek help from Eden because someone here will not allow it.”

Eden glanced at June and avoided my gaze.

A sleazy rich kid stood up.

“Maybe I can sacrifice myself to see what a thirty-year-old woman tastes like.”

I swallowed the humiliation. I just took the penalty and downed an entire bottle of liquor.

From that moment on, Eden and I were done.

The crowd started moving on, but the bottle unexpectedly landed on June.

She blushed while looking at Eden with an affectionate gaze.

“Eden…”

Before she finished her sentence, Eden took the initiative to lift her up.

“She’s shy. Don’t make fun of her.”

Then, he did not wait to kiss her. They were very passionate.

The atmosphere in the room was heated, and I could no longer take it. I rushed out of the private room.

It was disgusting.

I leaned over the sink in the washroom and threw up.

When I saw my embarrassed, pale face in the reflection on the mirror, I flashed a bitter smile.

I had finally gotten a clear view of the man I shared a bed with.

His heart had never been mine.

When I pulled myself together and stepped out of the washroom, Eden grabbed and dragged me into an empty room at the side.

“June, you finally said yes to me. I’m really so happy. I’ve been thinking of you over the past three years. You’ve always been the most important person to me. I’ll give you everything you want. Would you marry me?”

There was a strong scent of alcohol over him, and I knew that he was drunk.

His true words deeply stabbed into my heart. I could not breathe.

I could not hold it anymore. I slipped out of his arms.

“What about me? Eden, was I ever anything to you?”