Chapter 2

In the accompanying photos, Claire was embracing a young man. Her head was slightly lowered as she kissed him.

For a moment, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I frantically swiped through the photos, trying to find some trace of editing.

There was none.

These were high-definition originals taken by a camera. Every detail was real.

Claire was kissing another man beneath the aurora.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her gaze was focused and tender. I had never seen that expression on her face before. She had never held my hand so gently, with such quiet warmth.

But why?

We were already married.

A sharp pain spread from my chest, and I felt like I could barely breathe.

“Adrian!”

Chloe cried out and hurried over to steady my trembling body.

I still hadn’t recovered from the shock when Chloe and I rushed to a variety-show recording that night to promote our drama. I did my best to maintain a professional expression and get through the first half of the program.

But my thoughts kept drifting out of control.

Where was Claire now? Was she still watching the northern lights with someone else? Would she think of me at all? The image from the photos kept replaying in my mind.

During the break, the production team suddenly announced that a new guest would be joining the game.

Chloe and I were chatting when I caught sight of a familiar figure from the corner of my eye.

It was Claire.

Completely unprepared, I watched Claire walk over while holding the college student’s hand tightly. The young man’s fingertips brushed slowly across her palm.

The conversation naturally turned to Claire.

The host immediately noticed the way Claire was touching the young man. He studied them with interest, then suddenly turned his gaze toward me.

“Adrian, you and Claire debuted more than a decade ago.”

“Everyone thought you two would get married. No one expected Claire to be the first one nearing marriage. What do you think?”

Claire smiled. “Adrian and I are just friends.”

My fingernails dug deep into my palm.

Just friends. What a joke.

After all these years of enduring the storms of life together, in her mouth, we were reduced to two weightless words.

“I could never fall for him, let alone marry him. Besides, Adrian is so much older than me… We have a huge generation gap.” Claire smiled openly at the camera, but every word struck straight into my heart.

The host nodded in agreement and praised Claire for being so genuine.

I gave an awkward smile.

The conversation continued to center around Claire.

As she talked, she brought up her trip from a few days earlier. She enthusiastically described all the funny things that had happened.

More than anything, she talked about the little details of how she and the young man had spent time together.

For example, she jokingly complained that they had drunk from the same bottle.

They had slept together in the same tent, reaching into each other’s arms for warmth.

When the college student had gotten sick with a fever, she had personally taken care of him all night.

They were so intimate that it seemed as if they were the real couple.

Then what was I?

Sometimes, whether someone loves you can be seen in the smallest details.

I tried desperately to ignore everything, but the host refused to let me off the hook. Every now and then, he called on me and asked for my opinion.

The mockery from Claire’s fans seemed to echo in my ears again.

No matter what I said or did, they believed I was wrong.

“Tsk, tsk. That old man needs to stop throwing himself at Claire. Let her shine on her own!”

“I’m dead. Claire doesn’t even give him the time of day. The way he humbly showed up with that cake made him look just like a dog.”

“He thinks about leeching off her popularity all day. Who knows how badly he’s been annoying Claire!”

“They debuted at the same time, but Claire is already an award-winning actress. She’s the ultimate career woman. What is that guy supposed to be? Does he really think he’s worthy? Is he trying to suck her dry?”

I instinctively clenched my fists, pressing my lips tightly together as my body began to tremble. I forced myself to hold back my emotions so I wouldn’t lose control.

Chloe noticed that something was wrong.

She took my hand and smiled warmly at the others. “Host… Adrian is my partner in this show.”

“If you keep asking him questions like that in front of me, I might get jealous.”

“And Claire should probably be more careful about where she directs all that pent-up need to share.”

Chloe’s voice was sweet, but there was no mistaking the sarcasm in it.

She was reminding everyone to understand who mattered most here.

The host immediately smiled ingratiatingly at her.

I turned to look at Chloe, only to meet her bright eyes.

Whenever another offensive question came up, Chloe seemed to have a machine gun installed in her mouth. She would politely shoot back before anyone else could respond, leaving them speechless and unable to attack.

The shippers rolled around screaming about how sweet they were.

Claire stared at me for a long time, but I looked away.