Chapter 5

Then she turned to look at me. "Are you two still together?"

I smiled in acknowledgment, my gaze falling on Silva as he organized things.

Hearing this, Antonella frowned, her tone somewhat earnest.

"You should divorce him decisively. That kind of man is nothing but trouble."

"If Silva ever messed around behind my back, I'd definitely kick him to the curb the next second."

Behind her, Silva's movements stiffened. He put away his smile, his expression turning somewhat unpleasant.

Unfortunately, Antonella was facing me and didn't notice at all.

I nodded thoughtfully, then pulled out my phone and dialed a number in front of them both.

"You're right. I'll bring up divorce with him right now."

The examination room fell quiet. Even Silva put down what he was holding and looked at me.

Almost the instant the call went through, Silva's phone rang from his pocket.

Silva jerked his head up to look at me, then avoided my gaze and fumbled to pull his phone from his pocket with shaking hands.

Then he decisively pressed the disconnect button. Antonella looked confused.

"Who's calling you right now?"

A flash of guilt crossed Silva's face. He lowered his eyes and quickly darkened the screen.

"Unknown number. Probably a spam call."

I held up my phone and waited a while longer before an automated voice reported that no one had answered.

I smiled bitterly and shook my head.

"No answer. Probably busy with things I don't know about."

Seeing my low spirits, Antonella grabbed my hand and tried to comfort me.

"A week from now, Silva and I are having our wedding."

She pulled out an invitation from her bag and handed it over.

"I happen to have an invitation in my bag. Come to the ceremony and soak up some good fortune."

"May Dr. Alice only meet good people from now on."

Hearing this, I was somewhat surprised and instinctively glanced at Silva.

But I still nodded and readily accepted her invitation.

After the two left with all their materials, I finally removed my mask.

After rubbing my aching eye sockets, I looked at the recent call record on my phone.

When I dialed, I'd deliberately deleted the last digit of the number, so it hadn't actually gone through to Silva's phone at all.

Opening the invitation, I saw simple cartoon drawings of Silva and Antonella—clearly a thoughtfully designed piece.

I noted the wedding venue address.

My newlywed husband's wedding—I definitely needed to carefully prepare a big gift.

On the wedding day, I stood outside the hotel and saw Silva and Antonella greeting guests at the entrance.

Seeing me, Antonella stood on tiptoe and waved at me.

"Dr. Alice, over here."

I pointed to the mask on my face, my tone somewhat apologetic.

"I've caught a cold recently. To prevent spreading it to others, you don't mind if I wear a mask, do you?"

"Of course not."

She arranged my seat at the front of the banquet hall, right next to the emcee's stage.

The ceremony began quickly, with all the steps proceeding smoothly according to plan.

Until the final speech segment, when Antonella suddenly invited me up on stage.

Her hand gripped my arm tightly, as if afraid I would escape the next second.

I frowned, an odd feeling crossing my mind.

The next second, Antonella suddenly turned and yanked off my mask in front of everyone.

A beam of flashlight shone directly on my face. The intense light made my eyes sting painfully, and I couldn't help but tear up.