Chapter 3Ten Chances to Keep Me: Why I Chose His Brother

My application to study abroad had been submitted.

Julian set the date for our engagement party for half a month later. Coincidentally, Julian also needed to go to New York to expand his market in half a month.

Expected duration: three years.

This perfectly overlapped with my schedule.

After hanging up the phone.

The 28-year-old Liam inexplicably appeared in front of me again.

"Who were you calling?"

I ignored him and turned to go inside the house. He persistently followed me, blocking the door:

"Nora—"

I interrupted him impatiently: "Don't worry, it wasn't Liam. He should be with Chloe right now."

He seemed a bit surprised, an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Didn't expect the 18-year-old you to be so sensible."

The 28-year-old Liam didn't look much different from the 18-year-old Liam. Their features were still just as handsome, but the man in front of me had a colder, more aristocratic aura, and a bit more maturity.

Suddenly, I couldn't help but ask: "Then what about the 28-year-old me?"

He unconsciously frowned, resting his hand on his chin. After pondering for a moment, he finally delivered his conclusion:

"No different from a shrew."

"If it weren't for the ties between our families and our years of history, it's just a divorce. I have plenty of ways to handle it."

"There are plenty of CEOs in our circle who keep mistresses. Why does Nora have to make it so difficult for me? If she were willing to turn a blind eye, I wouldn't have—"

Saying that, he patted his pockets.

I had seen this gesture many times. My dad did it too. Whenever he was annoyed, he wanted a smoke.

Not finding any, he gave up and sighed:

"I deeply regret choosing marriage at an age when I didn't understand love. And when I finally understood love, I met someone I couldn't be with."

"Nora, we are childhood sweethearts, that's true. But we don't have to get married, do we?"

"Driving yourself crazy, is it worth it?"

Crazy.

Suddenly, my heart spasmed.

I didn't know if I felt it wasn't worth it for my future self, or my current self.

The old Liam would explode and start a fight if someone unintentionally said a single bad word about me.

But his future self actually used the word "crazy" to describe me.

Ten years of childhood romance.

Time really can show you a person's true colors.

After a long time, I took a deep breath.

"Don't worry. This time, I'm letting you and Chloe be together."

He frowned slightly, but then grunted: "You better not be lying to me."

For the next three days, the 28-year-old Liam didn't appear.

And the 18-year-old Liam practically revolved around Chloe. Maybe it was the novelty, or maybe he truly agreed with his future self's words.

Until my best friend, Mia's birthday. She organized a dinner and invited a few close friends.

But when we got out of the car.

I was slightly surprised to see Chloe.

She was wearing a simple white dress, carrying a backpack, and holding an economics textbook that looked completely out of place. It seemed like every time I saw her, she had that book in her hand.

When Mia noticed my gaze, she immediately called people over and asked: "Holy shit, who invited her?!"

"I..." A girl silently raised her hand, then curled her finger and scratched her temple:

"I ran into her on the street, so I just exchanged pleasantries. I didn't expect her to actually come... my bad."

Mia looked at me. The fact that Liam and Chloe were getting close recently was already an open secret.

"Nora, what do you think?"

I smiled helplessly, patted her shoulder, and said: "Today, you're the birthday girl. Your happiness is the most important thing, understand?"

"Worthy of being my queen. Classy."

I smiled again.

But what we didn't expect was how clueless Chloe would be.

During the picnic, four or five friends gathered around to play games and eat.

Chloe alone took a folding stool and sat twenty feet away from us.

Mia kindly brought her some food and invited her over to play. Chloe immediately said self-righteously:

"I didn't buy you a gift, and I didn't chip in for snacks, so I can't take advantage of you."