Chapter 2

The villa was eerily empty and unpopular late at night.

Joanna took a hot bath, put on clean home clothes, and sat on the sofa in the living room to wait for Ethan.

Today is their third engagement anniversary.

On the coffee table were cakes she had made by herself, as well as a table of completely cold dishes.

She waited until two o'clock in the morning, but there was no movement at the gate.

She picked up her phone and opened her chat with Ethan. The last message was still the one she had sent that afternoon: [Come home early today. I made your favorite dishes.] There had been no reply.

Just when she was about to throw away the cold meal, her phone suddenly vibrated.

It's not Ethan's message, but a push that the social platform pays special attention to.

She clicked on the screen and what came into view was a high-definition photo taken secretly at the airport.

In the photo, Ethan, who has always been mysophobic and doesn't like to be touched by others, is holding a woman wearing a white windbreaker tightly in his arms.

His eyes were full of enthusiasm and lost treasure that Joanna had never seen in the past seven years.

The woman was wearing sunglasses, but Joanna recognized her at a glance—Serena Blair, Ethan's first love, and the old obsession in his heart that he couldn't touch or forget.

Three years ago, Serena dumped Ethan without mercy and went abroad to study in order to pursue her dream of dancing.

Ethan stood in the heavy rain all night with a high fever. Joanna took care of him sleeplessly for three days and three nights.

Later, he agreed to Joanna's proposal.

Everyone said that Joanna finally warmed up the iceberg after seven years of humility.

But only Joanna knew that he was just angry.

Now, Serena is back.

Joanna looked at the photo quietly, and there was no heartbreaking feeling in her heart as she expected, only a kind of numbness that finally fell to the ground.

There was a beeping sound from the door combination lock.

Ethan walked in with a chill, his suit jacket hanging on his arms, the collar of his shirt slightly open, showing a rare mixture of exhaustion and excitement.

Seeing Joanna sitting on the sofa, the emotion on his face instantly calmed down and returned to his frosty look.

"Why haven't you slept yet?" He said calmly.

"Waiting for you." Joanna stood up and pointed to the cake on the table, "Today is the engagement anniversary."

Ethan's eyes stayed on the cake for a second, then moved away, and said impatiently: "I forgot. I'm very tired, so I went to take a shower first." He didn't explain or apologize.

"Ethan." Joanna stopped him, "Serena is back, right?"

Ethan's steps suddenly stopped.

He turned around and his eyes instantly became sharp, as if he was examining a prisoner who had crossed the line: "Are you investigating me?"

"You guys have become a hot topic." Joanna raised her phone.

Ethan saw the photo on the screen clearly. Instead of being embarrassed by being exposed, Ethan sneered confidently: "Since you saw it, I won't hide it from you. Serena has just returned to this city and is not emotionally stable. I will spend more time with her during this time."

"What about our wedding?" Joanna asked the question she was most concerned about.

"The wedding is as usual." Ethan tugged on his tie, with a pity-like compensatory arrogance in his voice, "Joanna, you should be content. Mrs. Quinn's position is yours. For the rest, you'd better not expect anything else, and don't disturb Serena." After saying that, he went upstairs without looking back.

Joanna stood there, looking at the exquisite cake on the table, and suddenly felt a little funny.

She picked up the knife, cut a piece of cake and stuffed it into her mouth.

It's so sweet that it tastes bitter.

Ethan thought she loved him so much that she had no dignity, and thought she couldn't live without him.

But he didn't know that what she wanted was never his love, nor the position of Mrs. Quinn.

[Host, emotional fluctuation detected in the male lead. Please stabilize the plot and make sure the wedding proceeds smoothly.] The system's voice sounded at the right moment.

"I know." Joanna swallowed the bitter cake and poured the rest into the trash can.

As long as he didn't cancel the wedding, she didn't care who he accompanied or who he loved.

After washing and lying on the bed, Joanna closed her eyes, and Liam's gentle and jade-like face appeared in her mind.

"Anna, when I get better, we will go to the beach to watch the sunrise." Those were the last words Liam said to her before he died.

For this promise, she endured seven years in this cold world.

Come on, Liam.

Six days to go.