Chapter 2

Hearing me say this, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

Grandma's eyes even reddened as she said "good" several times.

After driving my parents home, Mom called me into the study alone.

"Yolanda, there's something I've been holding back for a long time, but I need to tell you."

She hesitated, looking at me with eyes full of reluctance.

"Last month on your birthday, Fudge came to give you a gift but said he was busy and left after barely five minutes."

"But half an hour later, my friend saw him at a pet hospital in the south part of town, accompanying a woman in loungewear while her dog was being treated. It seemed to be that Secretary Shen of his..."

Mom pushed a photo toward me.

In the photo, Sharon was holding a bandaged puppy in her arms, looking up with a smile and saying something.

Beside her, Fudge had his head lowered, listening intently. The indulgence and affection in his eyes were almost overflowing.

Even without any intimate gestures, the two of them seemed connected by invisible threads, forming a clear boundary between themselves and everyone around them.

Looking at Fudge like this, I felt disoriented for a moment.

Once upon a time, he used to look at me with that same focused, passionate gaze every day, his emotions constantly swayed by my joys and sorrows.

Not like today, when my tears hadn't even dried before he demanded in a stern voice that I be considerate and mature, not to cause him more trouble.

"Yolanda, you and Fudge have been together all these years. If he wanted to propose, he's had plenty of opportunities."

"The way he's being forced into this today—Mom's just afraid you'll suffer later. Maybe you should..."

Before Mom could finish, I cut her off with a calm voice.

"Mom, I am getting married. But who says I'm marrying Fudge?"

By the time I got back from my parents' house, it was late at night.

I pushed open the door to find Fudge surprisingly still awake, sitting on the sofa in loungewear, watching the US stock market.

Seeing me return, he closed his laptop, removed his glasses, and gave me a searching look.

"Why so late today?"

I forced a smile. I originally wanted to say that he had plenty of nights when he came home even later than this, but when the words reached my lips, I felt it was pointless. I gave a perfunctory response.

"Nothing much. Just spent some extra time talking with Mom."

Fudge nodded, picked up a dazzling necklace from the jewelry box on the table, stood up, and walked toward me.

"Yolanda, thank you for helping me deal with the marriage pressure."

"You know, marrying you has always been my plan for the future. It's just that the timing isn't right yet. I only want to give you the most grand wedding..."

As he spoke, he tried to pull me into his embrace as usual and put the necklace on me.

Ever since we started dating, whenever Fudge did something that hurt me, he would give me gifts to compensate.

But in the past, no matter how expensive the gift was for him at the time, he would always feel guilty, carefully holding his sincere heart while apologizing, hoping to make me happy again.

Not like now, with his face completely calm, his eyes containing nothing but the composure of someone in complete control, devoid of any tenderness.

This version of him already felt sufficiently unfamiliar to me.

I tilted my head away, dodging his hand and avoiding his embrace.

"Fudge, there's no need for this anymore."

"Let's end this here."