Chapter 2

"Sadie," Ian said.

I stopped and looked at him.

He continued, "I think our relationship can go beyond the game."

"Huh?" For a moment, I didn't understand what he meant.

When I later left the cafe, my hand was in Ian's. I saw that the tips of his ears were a little red. Meanwhile, my face was as red as a tomato.

As we walked past Monica and Pansy, they stared in disbelief, not taking their eyes off us until we were gone.

Just like that, I, Sadie Gray of the nursing department, became a legend on campus. Everyone kept guessing at how Ian and I had gotten together.

I had to admit that no one could resist a man like Ian—myself included. I'd sneakily gone to the anesthesiology department a few times in the past to see what Ian looked like.

…

At the beginning of my senior year, Ian and my in-game guild were preparing for an offline meeting. He'd been busy with his graduation dissertation then.

"Let's go, Ian!" I'd clung to him and pleaded with him to attend. Unable to say no to me, he'd rubbed my cheeks before caving.

The other guild members congratulated us upon learning that we'd started dating in real life. They also wished us well. I was happy, and as expected, I got drunk that night.

It was already past midnight. Ian dragged me to a nearby hotel so we could rest for the night.

Once someone was drunk, it was hard to tell what they would do. All I remembered doing that night was shoving Ian onto the bed and tugging on his clothes. I'd also nibbled on his ear and collarbone.

Initially, he'd only laughed at my antics. Suddenly, he was the one pinning me to the bed.

When we woke up the following day, he'd given me an aggrieved look while pointing at his collarbone. There were two neat bite marks on them, courtesy of me.

"Well… I'll let you bite me back…" I mumbled in embarrassment while pulling the covers over my head.

Once these things were started, they couldn't be stopped. And so, we went at it again.

Later, Ian suggested I move to his apartment and live with him. I happily packed my things and moved in with him.

…

One day near graduation, Ian's advisor brought him to another city for an academic conference. I remained at home alone to stress over my graduation dissertation.

A woman named Connie Durban rang the doorbell and said, "I'm Ian's mother."

She didn't beat around the bush—she told me all about the Sadler family's background. It turned out the Sadlers had been in the medical field for over three decades and had upscale private hospitals all over the country.

I thought she was going to tell me to leave Ian because of the disparity in our social status, but she gave me an envelope instead.

"You're Tom Gray's daughter, right?" she asked.

"Yes." Tom was my father.

Connie chuckled. "Have fun reading those things, then. I'm leaving."

She put down her glass of water and elegantly left.

I opened the envelope in confusion, not understanding what my father had to do with the Sadler family. After reading the documents in the envelope, my blood ran cold.

In my memories, about 20 years ago, Mom and Dad had always been busy with work. At the time, our family had lived in a large house with a beautiful garden and a swing.

There was also an endless supply of snacks, various dolls, and princess dresses.

This all changed one day when Dad told Sasha and me that we were moving.