Chapter 4Twice Loved, Once Betrayed

The night before Lydia moved in, she came to me with a fruit basket.

I let her in. Her eyes were swollen from crying, looking desperate.

"Miss Ava, without Caleb, you still have family, better options. But without Caleb, I really have nothing."

I didn't touch her fruit, just looked at her calmly.

"You've been smart since you were little, good at calculating, never showing weakness easily. You didn't wrong me, nor Caleb. You only wronged yourself."

Lydia froze, her crying stopping abruptly.

I signaled Mia with my eyes. Mia reluctantly handed her a jewelry box.

"This is a gift I prepared for you before. I intended to give it to you when you actually got married. Now..."

I paused and stood up.

"Take it now. From now on, we don't owe each other anything. Take care."

Lydia stared blankly as she took the box, bowed deeply three times to me, and left holding the item.

The night Caleb brought Lydia in, because Lydia was a single mother with no relatives, he had to invite colleagues from the research station and university to scrape together a few tables.

Originally, Mia and I planned to hide upstairs and not show our faces.

We closed the door to pack. Halfway through, Caleb sent someone up.

He said some guests from London arrived suddenly and insisted on seeing the hostess, asking me to go down and deal with them.

Mia looked disdainful: "Someone came all this way just for a move-in? These people are too much."

My hands paused, suddenly realizing something.

Hurriedly changing into a decent dress, I pushed the door open and walked out.

The house was decked out with colorful lights tonight, brightly lit, shadows moving.

I walked quickly downstairs. Turning the corner of the stairs, I stopped abruptly.

The living room was noisy with chatter and clinking glasses.

And Ethan stood in the middle of the living room, in a perfectly tailored dark suit, cufflinks shimmering under the lights.

The light hit his face; his features were sharper than three years ago.

He was talking to someone but seemed to sense something. His gaze suddenly crossed the noisy crowd and locked onto me accurately.

Then, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. Very lightly, very slowly, he mouthed words to me.

I saw those five words clearly.

"I. Came. For. You."