Chapter 3

“Go ahead, and after you finish, we’ll break up.”

I sat on the sofa and spoke softly.

The room was clearly warm, yet I felt like I had been thrown into a world of ice and snow.

I was so cold that the blood in my body could barely circulate.

Ethan Blake held me in his arms and pressed his forehead against my shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

“I just thought he looked too much like you when you were young, and I couldn’t help caring about him because of you. I will never do anything out of line again, and there will never be a next time! I’ll draw a clear line with him!”

“Simon, believe me, and give me one more chance.”

My eyes and nose stung, and tears rolled straight down.

Seven years—I had loved him with all my strength for so long.

How could I bear to cut off this relationship, and how could I bear to give up everything I had poured into it?

Removing Ethan Blake from my life was no different from cutting me in half.

My life was full of him, and in order to let him gain a foothold at the company, I transferred all my shares to him for free; in order to let him focus on his career, I handled every big and small matter at home by myself.

I was no longer myself.

Besides, Ethan Blake’s mother had died saving me.

“Noah Hayes came by.” Choking back sobs, I repeated everything Noah Hayes had said to him. “We’re both in our thirties now, so stop doing things without considering the consequences.”

“It wasn’t easy to get here step by step, Ethan Blake, so don’t forget the days when we huddled in a basement eating stale bread, and don’t destroy your own future.”

I was a useless coward, and I could not let go.

I did not have the courage.

Ethan Blake said every nice thing he could to coax me, and he promised me that we would hold the wedding right away.

Another promise, another agreement.

This time, can you make it happen?

But if you promised to draw a clear line, why did you still buy the tie clip I liked most and give it to Noah Hayes as a birthday gift?