Chapter 3

When I pushed the door open at home, the air was filled with an unfamiliar perfume.

Elara was lounging on the leather sofa, her face covered with the high-end facial mask Kael had once given to me.

Seeing me return, she lifted her chin arrogantly, deliberately showing off the diamond ring on her ring finger.

“Kael gave it to me. Pretty, isn’t it? He even said that once he secures the position of president, he will kick you out and marry me.”

A dull ache weighed down my lower abdomen and warmth trickled between my legs.

The bathroom door was pushed open, steam spilling out.

Kael came out bare-chested, several vivid red scratch marks streaking across his chest.

In the trash can lay a used condom.

Everything was telling me the same thing—Kael had cherished another woman in our home.

Blood dripped onto the floor with soft splats.

Elara covered her nose in disgust and hurried to Kael’s side. “Kael, do women become unhygienic once they get old? The whole place reeks of blood. It is making me want to throw up.”

She put on a show of dry heaving.

Kael frowned deeply and casually made a phone call.

The cleaning staff arrived quickly, scrubbing the house spotless, inside and out. Except for the blood between my legs, which kept flowing without end.

The Kael from before had been meticulous to the extreme. He could remember my menstrual cycle down to the exact day.

When I was younger, I neglected my health, which led to irregular periods.

Kael insisted on boiling traditional medicine for me for two whole years and he could even recite the dates by heart.

All he needed was one glance at the menstrual record posted beside the refrigerator to notice that something was wrong.

The cleaner stared at the blood beneath me and tried to ask me anxiously, out of concern.

“Miss, are you feeling unwell?”

Kael glanced at me, his lips moving slightly.

Before he could speak, Elara weakly collapsed into his arms. “Kael, you were too harsh just now. My back is sore and my waist aches—I cannot even stand. Hurry and carry me to the bedroom.”

Kael withdrew his gaze. As he brushed past me, he spoke with evident displeasure. “At your age, you really should pay more attention to personal hygiene. You should go stay somewhere else tonight.”

He handed me a room key card.

Suddenly, I remembered how I first met Kael— under a bridge.

His shirt had been soaked through by the rain, his body covered in mud.

Back then, I had handed him a room key just like this, telling him to go to the hotel suite I usually stayed in and take a hot shower first.

Under my guidance and protection, that once-fragile, helpless boy had grown into someone capable of standing on his own.

Even to the point of standing shoulder to shoulder with me.

My hands and feet turned ice-cold as I took the room card Kael handed over. He looked surprised.

“So, Lyra, you agree to move out and stay elsewhere?”

I looked at with bleak eyes and said nothing.

I merely numbly packed my luggage, slammed the door and left.

My chest ached in dense, crushing waves. Sitting in the car, I could no longer hold my emotions back and broke down into uncontrollable sobs.

The next day, when I returned to the company, everyone looked at me with barely concealed mockery.

In the pantry, was surrounded like the center of attention, a cluster of young girls fawning over her.

“Elara, was it Mr. Draven who pursued you? When you become the president’s wife, do not forget to promote us.”

Elara shot a smug glance toward me outside the door, her chin lifted high like a proud peacock.

“Of course Kael was the one who chased after me first. After all, I am young and pretty—unlike some people, old and faded and still shamelessly trailing after someone else’s boyfriend.”

I let out a scornful laugh and turned away, unconcerned.

At the corner, however, I ran straight into Kael.

He grabbed my wrist, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “Lyra, why are you not angry?”

I pried his fingers off mine one by one, a mocking smile curling at my lips.