Chapter 3

Adrian Blackwood’s voice rang out. “As long as she likes it.”

Ethan Hayes said, “Aren’t you afraid the one at home will find out? You finally got her out of the sanatorium, so don’t provoke her into going back in again.”

Adrian Blackwood answered, “If she knows, she knows. She’ll make a scene for a while, then behave. It’s the same routine every time, and she never gets tired of it.”

Casual and matter-of-fact.

The billiards room fell silent all at once.

I sat on the sofa, flipping through a book, my heart calm.

Ethan Hayes came out of the billiards room, walked to the sofa, sized me up, and curled his lips into a smile. “Miss Bennett, you look much better.”

I did not respond.

He walked over and sat beside me. “Honestly, I still remember that night last year. You look much thinner now, so I wonder if you still feel the way you did back then.”

Adrian Blackwood came out last, looked at me, and said, “There’s a party tonight. Get ready. You’ll attend with me. You’re my fiancée, understand?”

“What time does it end?” I asked him.

He looked a little confused, as if he did not know why I was asking that question, but he still answered, “Eleven.”

My flight was at one in the morning.

So I nodded, which counted as agreeing.

Ethan Hayes laughed.

At the party, Adrian Blackwood brought me around to socialize and introduced me to others.

In truth, he did not need to introduce me, because that farce back then had caused such a huge stir that everyone remembered I had once been a madwoman who slept with her fiancé’s friend and was personally sent away by her fiancé.

Those people piled smiles on their faces for Adrian Blackwood, but when they looked at me, there was something else in their eyes, as if they pitied me.

I smiled politely and did not care.

“Adrian.” Sophia Lane’s sickly sweet voice came over.

She naturally walked to Adrian Blackwood’s side, hooked her right hand around his arm, and the diamond ring on her ring finger was glaring under the lights. “Thank you.”

Adrian Blackwood’s expression was normal, and he even smiled gently at her. “As long as you like it.”

It was as if I did not exist at all.

I felt a little nauseated, so I withdrew the hand that had been holding Adrian Blackwood’s arm. “I’m going to the restroom.”

Adrian Blackwood lowered his voice by my ear. “If you really want to make a scene, wait until we get home. Don’t make trouble on this kind of occasion, understand? Come back quickly.”

I hummed in agreement and looked at my pale face in the mirror, overlapping with the shadow of myself in a hospital gown at the sanatorium in my memory.

I slowly pulled out a perfect smile at the mirror, then turned and left.

When I came out of the restroom, I saw Ethan Hayes smoking in a corner.

When he saw me, he started talking and blew out a smoke ring. “Look at you. Are you forcing yourself to hold it together? Jealous again, aren’t you? Sophia really is something. She had to wear that ring out to show off. If she provokes you into going crazy again later, she’ll be happy.”