Like a wild animal, Irvin lunged at me and grabbed my wrist. "What do you think you're doing, Emilia?"Seeing him, the smile on my face vanished instantly. I frowned and said impatiently, "Why are you shouting? We're in public. You're acting like a lunatic!"Irvin paused as if he couldn't understand how I was still acting so bold and guiltless when I'd refused to see him when he was hospitalized for gastric bleeding, opting instead to enjoy myself at the strip club.However, he soon realized that my words sounded eerily familiar. Then, it hit him—he had said the same thing to me after I had caught him shopping with Julianne and acting intimate with her. At the time, I had just recovered from taking a stabbing for him and was still suffering from physical and emotional torment from Julianne. I had lost my cool and yelled at them in public; in return, he had said those exact words to me coldly and callously.Irvin blanched.After a long silence, he finally said, "Emi, you can be a
After getting over the initial shock, Irvin looked hurt."Emi…" he barely managed to get the word out before his body collapsed to the side weakly.I watched him fall coldly, feeling nothing at all.Darkness crept around the edges of Irvin's vision, threatening to swallow him into oblivion. Everything was blurry around him. The only thing he could see clearly was me.I used to love him more than anything in the world, but now, I was just watching coldly as he collapsed. Then, without hesitation, without even the slightest reluctance, I walked away without looking back.It felt as though his heart was being slowly and painfully carved away with a dull knife. Overwhelmed by pain, he lost consciousness.…Unconscious, Irvin dreamed—a terrifying nightmare. He dreamed that I, who had once loved him, was looking at him with utter indifference.In his nightmare, he was utterly irrelevant to me. He could die right then and there, and he felt that I wouldn't care one bit. In fact, I wou
Shaun was a good man. Knowing how much I wanted to see Mr. Holland, he soon found an excuse to invite him out."Are you sure you don't want to join us for a meal?" he asked. He wanted me to meet Mr. Holland openly, but I did not dare.I felt scared and guilty.He had probably worked really hard to forget about me; I didn't want him to remember how disappointed he was in me or feel regret over what I had turned out to be."Don't overthink it. Mr. Holland has brought you up many times over the past few years. He did sound regretful about you, but I can tell that he still misses you," Shaun told me. "When a teacher genuinely likes a student, they wouldn't stay mad for long. Trust me, I'm a teacher now, too."After returning from a research institute aboard, Shaun had begun taking on his own students.I knew that he had only the best intentions for me, but I still declined his kind offer. Apart from gear, I also didn't know how to face Mr. Holland.All I wanted was to catch a glimps
Mr. Holland had trusted me so much and supported me wholeheartedly. For the sake of my research, he had lowered his pride and went around building connections to secure a lab for me, despite his usual dislike for dealing with people.But I had abandoned everything just as our research was finally showing some promising results. For Irvin, I had left everything behind, betraying my original aspirations and the trust and support Mr. Holland had placed in me.I owed him. I owed him so much."If you can get in touch with her, tell her that the lab is still here for her. If she wants to come back, it's not too late," Mr. Holland said.Hearing this, my tears began to fall in earnest.Long after Mr. Holland left, I still sat there, unable to lift my head from the table. Guilt and shame overwhelmed me, threatening to drown me.I had been so blinded by love back then. I had been so foolish. All that blind love was now turned into regret.How could I have been so stupid to have given eve
I looked at Julianne, whom Irvin was holding in his arms, disdainfully. I really couldn't stand people like them—always claiming innocence yet doing everything to prove otherwise.Irvin seemed to remember that he was holding Julianne. He quickly put her down, ignoring the dark expression on her face."Lianne sprained her ankle just now. I was just taking her to the hospital," he explained.In the past, whenever I questioned the closeness between him and Julianne, he would always get impatient, accusing me of being unreasonable and difficult, and of projecting my insecurity on him.He never bothered to explain himself.But now, when I no longer needed any explanation, he finally felt the need to do so."I don't care what you're doing with her, nor do I want to know," I said coldly. "I only mentioned it to remind you that you have no right to question me about anything!"I had lost enough to this scumbag. I didn't need to be accused of infidelity too.After speaking, I smiled apo
Julianne already felt humiliated when I asked her to help with my divorce. Now, she was convinced I was insulting her on purpose.The resentment in her eyes was so strong it nearly shattered her perfect delicate image."Irvin…" she forced down her anger and looked at him, ready to complain.However, Irvin didn't even spare her a glance. He just scooped me up and walked off.She was furious, and I was even angrier. Just being touched by him made me want to douse myself in disinfectant, let alone being carried like this.I struggled, desperately trying to break free, but he refused to let go. I didn't dare fight too hard, though. Just as I was about to explode, Shaun stepped in front of us. Tall and imposing, he stood his ground, matching Irvin's intensity without flinching."Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Quill may be your wife, but you should still respect her decisions.""Get lost!" Irvin growled, wearing a grim expression.Irvin isn't the calm, image-conscious, deeply composed type of CEO
Seeing Julianne sit upright and distance herself from him, a flicker of disappointment flashed through Travis' eyes."I looked into it, but found nothing. Her injuries were so severe she couldn't even get out of bed. She probably couldn't have done anything anyway. Honestly, I think she was just badly hurt and yet never once visited by Mr. Sawyer, so she probably gave up."Travis saw me as a brainless fool, someone far too useless to pull off anything strategic.Julianne's eyes darkened. She knew I had been seriously injured, completely incapable of doing anything. However, no matter how badly hurt or heartbroken I was, she believed I loved Irvin as deeply as she did. I shouldn't have been able to let go so easily!She thought that something was definitely off. Something must have happened during my hospital stay!She refused to believe that I had genuinely given up on Irvin. Instead, she suspected I was quietly scheming something.Julianne had instructed Travis to dig deeper int
I suddenly felt so irritated that I didn't want to hear another word from him. "If dying's what you want, then go faster. Just don't mess it up and end up crippled instead."I would rather die than go through the kind of pain I had endured before.Irvin, who had seemed ready to say something, fell silent. His eyes darkened, and he said nothing more.He simply slowed down.I let out a bitter laugh. What a pathetic man. Tell him to slow down, and he won't. Tell him to kill himself, and he eases off the gas.Just like how he treated me before—when I wanted him, he didn't care. Now that I didn't want him, he refused to let go.The car sped all the way to an estate that felt both familiar and strange to me.A high-end estate right in the middle of the city—crazy expensive, but the scenery was absolutely stunning. Back when the company was just getting off the ground, Irvin and I came here to visit a client. I casually mentioned how amazing the place looked.I had said that living he
"How could you take advantage of your position to seduce my husband! How could you knowingly become the other woman!" Grace accused.The photo she showed me on her phone was from when Irvin hugged me tightly after standing up from his wheelchair.When I first saw it, I was stunned. But then, it hit me—we had been watched this whole time!Based on the direction the photo was taken from, it could have only been taken from outside my work studio's window. And given that my studio was on the 10th floor, there was no way a random passerby snapped the photo by chance.Plus, the camera angle of the photo indicated it wasn't a coincidental shot. Someone had clearly been watching us from a floor above in the adjacent building.I also realized I had never closed the curtains in my studio. So, if someone had been watching us the entire time, they definitely knew Irvin had long since regained full use of his legs—which meant the Hardwells no longer needed my services.Thus, here came the poi
The young man's ability to stand again had filled his family with overwhelming joy. Coincidentally, it was also his 17th birthday, so they threw a grand birthday party and invited me to attend.I couldn't refuse. I was genuinely happy for him, so I went.Since his family was acquainted with William, they were undoubtedly influential figures in Lestoria. Therefore, the Hardwells were also invited.When I saw Grace pushing Irvin's wheelchair into the venue, attending the party as a married couple, I felt a sharp pain in my heart.I must really be a hopeless romantic.I had planned to use the time spent treating Irvin's legs to treat my withdrawal symptoms from him. I wanted my final decision to be cutting him out of my life completely.But instead of letting go—as I had hoped—the time we spent together only reminded me how good he once was to me.Even though I knew he had no choice, my heart still ached to see him with another woman.I truly…I really hated how I was. It made me
Because of Agatha's favoritism and stubbornness, Magnus had been growing increasingly impatient with her. "I think I've made myself very clear," he said, leaving no room for further discussion."Magnus, you can't do this! You can't just forget about Tim so soon! How could you treat him this way? Let me tell you—"Before she could finish, Magnus cut her off with a stern shout. "Enough! This is not up for discussion. I don't want to hear another word about it. Just leave!"Magnus' authority was absolute in the Hardwell family. Once he made a decision, Agatha had no power to change it no matter what.Though unwilling and displeased, she had no choice but to leave.As soon as Grace returned home, she was informed about the argument between Magnus and Agatha. She immediately rushed to find Agatha.The moment Agatha saw Grace, tears streamed down her face.Upon hearing that the argument had been about Irvin's hypnosis, Grace finally told her the truth, that Irvin had been faking it.
Grace had always wanted to stand at the pinnacle of power.The man beside her raised an eyebrow and suggested, "Then don't let her die. Force her into a dead-end and offer a hand, so she can be used by us."Grace chuckled but said nothing.Now that she had the picture she wanted, there was no need to continue watching. She withdrew her gaze and returned to the couch in the room.After taking a bottle of collagen, she finally looked at the man sitting across from her. "At the rate Irvin is recovering, he'll be fully healed in at most two to three weeks. Have you made all the preparations I asked for?" she asked."Of course! When have I ever failed to complete a task you gave me?" he replied confidently.Grace's lips curled into a smile. "Great."Seeing how she smiled so casually, completely without any hesitation or pain, the man couldn't help but comment. "Ms. Keller, you're ruthless indeed."Grace lowered her gaze and gently stroked her belly. She didn't respond.That night
Since Irvin had lost his memories, his behavior had regressed to that of his younger self.Although he had difficulty moving and had to avoid the Hardwells, he still prepared small surprises for me every time he came for treatment. Just like how he did when he was pursuing me.Just like when we were newlyweds.No matter how busy or exhausted he was, he always put in the effort to prepare something for me, whether it was a bouquet of flowers, a ticket to a movie I wanted to watch, or a dessert I loved.We were poor back then, and the things he gave me weren't worth much, but I was moved to tears every single time. After all, he was always thoughtful and affectionate. The eyes that were once cold and indifferent now burned with compassion and sincerity. Those naturally affectionate eyes gazed at me with so much love, as if I were his entire world.His one and only.That kind of love was irresistible, drawing me in.And I couldn't help but wonder, if none of it had happened, if
"I'm sorry, babe. Do you not like sunflowers? I… I saw online that…" Irvin stammered.He had searched for information about me online and discovered that I loved sunflowers, so he secretly hid one to give me. But I ended up crying instead of taking it with joy. Snapping out of it, I forced a smile and accepted the flower. "I do love it. Thank you."He stared at me, unsure if I was truly happy or just pretending."But don't call me 'babe' anymore. We're divorced." I couldn't bear to hear him say it in the same affectionate tone as before. That genuine, affectionate tone would only make me feel bad for him.And I didn't want to feel that way.Irvin, who was already anxious, panicked at my words. He grabbed my hands and said, "Babe, I couldn't find anything about what happened between us, but I know that it must have been my fault if we got divorced. "I'll make sure to be good from now on and listen to everything you say. Please, just give me another chance."Irvin had always
Adolescence was already a time when emotions are most unstable, making it easy to act impulsively and engage in risky behaviors. Being treated that way by my own family, I walked into the ocean, one step at a time.I wanted to die.I wanted them to regret, to suffer, to have everyone condemn them for killing their own daughter over an adopted one.I was so foolish back then, thinking I could punish them with my death. I completely forgot that they needed to actually care about me to feel remorse and pain for losing me. If they didn't care, it wouldn't matter if I died a thousand times.Using my own death to punish others is the most foolish thing in the world. I came to that realization when I was on the brink of death. I struggled, trying to make my way back to shore, desperate to survive. But then, a huge wave dragged me under, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stand up. I didn't know how to swim back then.Just when I thought I was going to die, a tall young man do
I comforted Mr. Holland for a long time before he finally felt better and ate some oatmeal.When I got home that night, I pulled out Irvin's medical records and the reports of his treatment with various devices. I analyzed his responses to the treatment to plan the next steps. I wasn't sure how I felt about Irvin, so I chose to ignore it completely and focus solely on treating his legs.If his legs could recover and function properly again, we would be even. No matter what happened in the future, I would take it one step at a time.Things would work out eventually.By the time I finished comparing all the data and finalized the device frequency settings for Irvin's treatment the next day, it was already past 1:00 am.I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep immediately.Ever since my injuries from falling off the cliff, I needed sleeping pills to fall asleep every night. When I lost my memory, I thought my insomnia was due to the pain. But after my memories returned, I realized
William recalled that at the time of his accident, Cordelia and I had also been vacationing on the island.Although he didn't think it was possible, he instinctively asked anyway.I had assumed that William's intimidating presence on the way here was because he was angry at me for not answering his question.I never expected him to suddenly ask such a thing.Although I didn't know why, my first instinct was to admit that I had saved someone while I was on the island.But before I could say anything, his phone rang. It seemed like an urgent call. After answering it, he hurriedly told me he would send someone else to pick me up before leaving in his car.Feeling bad for troubling him when he was so busy, I sent him a message. I told him that he didn't need to send anyone and that I would call my own driver instead.William didn't reply to my text.Instead, Noah called. "Emi, there's an emergency at home. I have to leave for a while. Wait for me, I'll be right back." he said.W