Chapter 6

Olivia POV

That evening, Adrian returned to the apartment with bandages wrapped around his head.

"Liv? Why'd you come back? Why not rest more at the hospital?" His tone was normal, as if those words from during the day had never been spoken.

I forced down the heart-wrenching pain and nausea, saying quietly: "I watched over you all night. I was too tired, so I came back to rest."

Adrian walked over and tried to put his arms around me, his tone aggrieved: "Look how badly I got hurt for you. Stop being mad at me, okay?"

As he spoke, his hands began wandering over my body again, trying to kiss me.

I shoved him away hard again!

Adrian's expression finally darkened: "Olivia, I've been coaxing and coaxing you. How long are you going to keep this up? Haven't I made it up to you already?"

"Is that the only thing on your mind when you're with me?" My voice carried tears and despair.

"Of course not!" Adrian answered quickly, his acting impeccable. "I like you as a person!"

I looked at Adrian and suddenly laughed—laughed until tears streamed down my face.

I said nothing more, just looked at him with those cold, desolate eyes.

Adrian felt inexplicably guilty and annoyed under my gaze. Finally, he grabbed his jacket with a cold snort and slammed the door on his way out.

Knowing he wouldn't return tonight, I finally had a moment to breathe.

The next day I went to school. The club president found me: "Olivia, the club's having a team-building dinner this weekend—barbecue. You have to come!"

I wanted to refuse: "President, I..."

"Don't refuse!" The president grabbed me and lowered her voice. "Also... could you bring your boyfriend Ethan Chase? His family company is so big, and lots of us are about to start internships. Everyone wants to build a good relationship with him... but we can't usually get close to him. We're counting on you..."

I knew that if I sent Ethan a message he probably wouldn't respond, but the club members had genuinely been good to me before. I had no choice but to steel myself and send him a message.

Unexpectedly, when the weekend dinner came around, Ethan actually showed up.

Except... Summer Bennett was with him.

Seeing me, Ethan merely glanced indifferently, his tone calm and emotionless: "When you texted me, I happened to be with Summer, so we came together."

My heart felt like it was being pricked with needles. I nodded silently.Throughout the entire barbecue, Ethan's attention was entirely on Summer.

He picked out the best-grilled meat for her first, carefully removed the fatty parts, inserted a straw into her drink before handing it over, and when sauce got on the corner of her mouth, he naturally took a napkin and wiped it away... That kind of meticulous care was something I had never experienced.

I couldn't help but think back over the past two years.

Because Ethan was the prestigious heir to a conglomerate, I had always been the one carefully managing his emotions, remembering all his preferences, and following all his habits.

I even thought he was naturally that cold by temperament.

Until today, when I saw with my own eyes that he wasn't incapable of caring for someone or being thoughtful—it's just that the person who could make him willingly set aside his pride was never me.

I even saw Summer naturally place vegetables she didn't like into Ethan's bowl, and he merely furrowed his brow slightly before actually lowering his head and eating them.

I remembered that Ethan had severe mysophobia. He never ate food that others had touched.

Once when I accidentally served him food with my own utensils, his face went cold on the spot, and he didn't touch another bite of that meal.

So it turned out all principles and habits could be broken for the person you truly liked.

During the meal, everyone started playing games.

The first person to lose was Summer. Her punishment was to drink three shots of hard liquor.

The moment Summer showed a troubled expression, Ethan directly reached for the glass, his tone decisive: "She can't drink it. I'll drink for her."

With that, he downed three glasses without changing expression.

Later I also lost. My punishment was to eat a meat skewer covered in hot sauce.

The spiciness made tears stream from my eyes and I coughed uncontrollably. I instinctively looked toward Ethan, but he was lowering his head talking to Summer, not even sparing me a glance, as if he hadn't seen my distress at all.

My heart went completely numb in that disregard.

Falling in love with him was the worst decision I'd ever made in my life.