Chapter 1He Offered Me to Another Man

On my 23rd birthday, Alex handed me a paper bag.

I opened it to find a set of incredibly revealing lace lingerie.

He kept his head down, avoiding my gaze, and said casually,

“That guy plays too rough in bed. Juliet won’t survive him. You just need to spend one night with him. Just one night, and when you come back, we’ll get married.”

Juliet was his first love, the one who had saved his life, and for her, he was, for the first time, swallowing his pride and begging me.

“I won’t look down on you. I’ll make it up to you, twice over.”

My fingers gripped the edge of the table so tightly my knuckles turned white, but I forced a smile. “Fine. I just had a full body treatment. You can have him come over tonight.”

Alex frowned at my words. “If you don’t want to, you can just say so. I’ll figure out another way. You don’t have to be so sarcastic.”

I paused, slightly stunned.

“I’m serious. The Velvet Club trained me well. Before a client, it was always a full beauty treatment so my skin would feel smooth and soft.”

I replayed my words in my head, not thinking I’d said anything wrong.

But Alex wasn’t pleased. He put down the shrimp he had just peeled.

“I truly see you as my partner, Elara. You don’t need to bring up that past again.”

I knew his words couldn’t be taken seriously. If he truly meant that, he wouldn’t have asked me to do something like this.

My senior’s warning echoed in my mind, “Once you walk through Nightfall’s doors, you’re Nightfall’s forever.”

Alex looked at me, then suddenly reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Elara, let’s get married. I’ll give you the grandest wedding imaginable.”

I understood why he was suddenly saying this. He was only offering the wedding as compensation.

I knew I should be happy. I had waited five years for this wedding. But at that moment, I wasn’t as joyful as I’d anticipated.

Still, I nodded hard, smiling at him. “Will you stay with me all day today?”

He didn’t know it was my birthday, or the anniversary of the day I first met him.

“I’m not going anywhere today,” Alex smiled back, stroking my head, about to pull me into a hug.

But his phone suddenly rang.

My hearing was excellent. I could hear Juliet’s tearful voice on the other end. Alex instinctively pushed me away, ready to leave.

Then he remembered what he had just promised me. He hesitated for the first time.

But Alex quickly made his choice. “Something came up at the office that needs me to go back. You should go to bed early too. Don’t wait up.”

He didn’t need to lie to me.

From the day Juliet returned, I knew that Juliet and I couldn't be compared in his heart.

But I just nodded calmly, desperately trying to ignore the needle-sharp pain in my chest.

I shouldn't ask for so much. Being with Alex should be enough.

We met at The Velvet Club. I sold myself to Nightfall as soon as I turned eighteen.

That was my first day of work.

I was wearing a revealing bunny girl outfit, trembling as I followed others into the VIP room to pour drinks.

My stockings were snagged, but I couldn’t bear to throw them away. Instead, it was taken as a clever trick to entice clients.

Just as I was being held in someone’s arms, about to be kissed, Alex, who had been silent, spoke up and told them to leave me with him.

From then on, I stayed by his side.

Alex always seemed cold and aloof, but he always had a faint smile just for me.

I thought I was special, but it wasn’t until Juliet appeared that I truly understood.

Only for her would Alex fight recklessly, get drunk, and wait below her apartment until dawn.

Only for her would he eagerly share even the sight of a flower blooming.

The childish behaviors he once scorned were simply because he hadn’t met *that* person yet.

Before, I might have still harbored fantasies, thinking that one day we would be together.

But now, I only wanted to repay his kindness.

I made a birthday wish alone. After this, I would no longer owe Alex anything.