Caleb Hale and Hannah White were chatting when I brought the coffee to the balcony."It's just a string of sandalwood beads. Do you hate it that much?"Lighting a cigarette, Caleb narrowed his eyes as he stared at Hannah."I never fancied these things. I wouldn't want to see it every day after we get married."While holding a glass of wine, Hannah leaned forward and curved her lips."Are you perhaps reluctant to part with it, my dear fiancé?"I didn't say anything as I subconsciously held my breath and awaited Caleb's reply.What would he do?He seemed to be stunned.He frowned. Then, he touched his right wrist with his left hand out of habit.For an instant, I thought he would decline.However, he was expressionless as he said nonchalantly, "It's just an accessory. I've gotten tired of it, anyway."With that, he casually tossed the bracelet from the balcony into the building nearby.I bit my lip hard. After the painful sensation, the taste of iron began to spread in my mo
"She's not trying to put out the fire, is she, Caleb?""She's not an idiot."As soon as Caleb finished speaking, I dashed into the building."What! Is she out of her mind? Caleb, she's trying so hard to please you that she would even sacrifice her life for it!"Of course, I didn't notice Caleb's movements as Hannah's voice rang out.In that instant, he had a panicked and helpless expression on his face. He reached out as if to grab my wrist, but he missed it.…With all my might, I kicked down the door of the building.There weren't many things in the building, so I immediately spotted the sandalwood bead bracelet that was tossed in through the window.Fortunately, it was a small fire, so the fire hadn't reached that spot yet.I walked over and picked up the bracelet.I held it against my clothes and gave it a light rub.Hannah's voice rang out at the door."Caleb, if I'm not mistaken, she's the woman you've been keeping by your side, right? That bracelet was a gift from h
Caleb said that he never had any connections with me outside of work. Hannah was the one he loved, and he would only ever love Hannah in the future.A single tear rolled down my face.I knew that it was time for me to make a decision.I thought about many things.I recalled that Caleb seemed to have been very nice to me in the past.Once when I was away on a business trip, he had traveled halfway across the globe to celebrate my birthday with me.When I had a fever, he had not slept a wink throughout the night.But now, he had taken back the nice treatment and given it to another woman.Actually, it wasn't hard to tell whether he loved me or not.Since that was the case, I decided that we should part ways in peace and never contact each other again.…I went to the reservoir and flung the string of sandalwood beads into the distance.When I was leaving, it started to rain heavily out of the blue.Putting on a smile, I held my coat over my head as I walked back in the rain.
The air in the room was murky. Caleb had probably been smoking a lot.When he heard the sound of the door opening, he raised his head and looked in my direction."Are you moving out, Alicia?"I ignored him as I walked up to the cabinet. Pulling open a drawer, I retrieved my personal documents and my purse. Then, I stuffed them in my bag."What are you doing?"Caleb obviously sounded a little panicked, and he had a bitter tone in his voice."Why are you taking these things?"I said calmly, "You'll be marrying Ms. White soon, and you've also released a statement this morning. If I keep living here, it'll only cause harm to everyone involved."Just as I was reaching out to get the luggage on the floor, Caleb gripped my wrist."You're well aware of the funding issues in our company, and only the Whites can help me out. You know very well that I was just pretending. Stop making a fuss, Alicia."His eyes were red as he stared intently at me."Let's get along like we used to, alrig
"Don't worry, Ms. Lark. I may not be a saint, but I'm not that depraved, either."I shook my head as I followed Ryan inside.The house was large and clean, and almost desolately so.We didn't seem to have much to talk about.Ryan went to the kitchen while I hurriedly sat on the couch. I suddenly noticed a book placed in the cabinet beside the bookshelf. It looked quite familiar.It was a Paxford High yearbook.Caleb and I graduated from Paxford High, and the yearbook was from the year I graduated as well.Would this yearbook contain photos of me, and Caleb too?I was about to sneakily flip it open when Ryan came out of the kitchen.He had grabbed two bottles of water, and now, he placed them onto the cabinet. He pressed a hand against the book, halting my actions."Nothing interesting to see here."He was right. I shouldn't touch other people's stuff, anyway.I was a little mad at myself, so I changed the topic."Um, thanks for helping me and my brother out. I'll slowly pa
The discussion on Twitter gradually went off-topic as it shifted to me instead.The user who had encountered me back then had posted several photos and a video.In the blizzard, I was pictured kneeling on the stone steps with my hands clasped as I looked in the direction of Highspire Hall.Since Caleb had released a statement denying his relationship with me, I was certain that no one would assume that I was doing it for him.Even if someone made the connection, they wouldn't have any proof.I didn't want to scroll too much, so I turned off my phone. I decided to gather my things and go to Hale Group to complete the resignation procedures.Caleb wasn't in the office when I arrived.That wasn't a bad thing. I wouldn't have to get too involved with him again.Just as I was carrying my stuff out of Hale Group, I received a call from my best friend."Alicia, check this out! The users took no time digging up what you did back then!"I set down my stuff and held my phone in front o
Actually, I wouldn't blame Caleb for reacting like that.Back then, I had only told him that I got a blessed bracelet for him. I had never told him what I went through to obtain the bracelet."What did you just say? How did Alicia get the bracelet?"Caleb slowly repeated his question.The camera zoomed into his expression.His gaze was cold, but even through the screen, I could see a trace of disbelief and fear in his eyes.The journalist was unfazed.Taking out her phone, she held it toward Caleb."If you don't believe me, Mr. Hale, you can see for yourself. The photos and video of Ms. Lark getting the bracelet at Highspire Hall are making the rounds on the internet right now. Everyone is moved to tears!"The journalist's phone was probably displaying the scenes uploaded by that particular user.Reaching out, Caleb took the phone.I could even see his fingertips trembling a little."I…" He finally spoke up in a hoarse voice. "I never knew… I thought that it was just a comm
I thought Ryan would ask questions, but he just turned around and poured some warm water for me.When he handed me the cup of water, he asked in a casual tone, "When are we getting the marriage certificate?""Is it that urgent?""Yes. You should be aware that internal conflicts are quite intense in families like mine. If I hesitate for even a second, my collateral relatives might get ahead of me."Ryan spoke as if it were an extremely serious matter.He sounded like I was in control of his fate.He had helped me first, so I felt that it would be inappropriate to make further comments. So, I had no choice but to let him pick a date.…Ryan still hadn't settled on a date when I received a call from the hospital.As it turned out, a special medication was recently developed for patients like my brother.Unfortunately, the company that had developed this medication was a subsidiary of Caleb's company.Because of the high cost of development, only a very small amount of the medic