Chapter 5: Illusions

"Write me the latest report on Experiment R-X000, the submission deadline is in two days." The brief and fluent voice made the intern straighten up instinctively and quickly respond, "Understood, Dr.!"

After assigning the task, Alice left the lab, removing her rimless glasses from her nose as she walked and gently rubbing her forehead.

Lately, the workload at the lab had been overwhelming, and for some reason, even though she had been apart from him for just two days, Alice found herself frequently dreaming about Louis. Every time she closed her eyes, he was there.

"Could it be that I love him without realizing it?"

Alice joked with herself, but she knew that was impossible.

After leaving the lab, Alice unlocked her phone and saw two consecutive messages from Silas.

[Are you free?]

[I’d like to invite you to lunch. I’ll be waiting for you at the school gate this afternoon.]

Alice’s eyes were devoid of emotion. While she felt that Silas was the most normal one among Louis's friends, the memory of him ruffling her hair that night made her uncomfortable. It seemed like she really needed to meet him and clarify a few things.

When Alice reached the school gate, she saw Silas standing across from her. As soon as he noticed her, he smiled and waved enthusiastically.

If this had been before, Alice might have smiled back politely, but now, she couldn’t be bothered to show any emotion. After all, she and Louis were divorced, and after today, she wouldn’t see Silas again.

"Let’s go." Alice said coldly.

Silas didn’t mind her indifference. They didn’t go far, just to a café near the university that Alice frequented.

"Order whatever you want, it’s on me," Silas winked.

Alice flipped through the menu without saying a word.

Silas spoke again, "I heard that you and Louis got a divorce."

Alice placed the menu on the table and looked directly into Silas’s eyes with her cold, beautiful green gaze. For some reason, in that moment, Silas felt as though all his thoughts had been exposed.

Even though he had feelings for Alice, he had always thought she was just a silly girl who only knew how to love. After all, there was no reason for Alice to still love Louis, especially after how poorly he treated her.

But now, he suddenly realized that he had never truly understood Alice.

Alice merely glanced at him and knew exactly what he was thinking. She spoke in a low, steady voice: "Let’s get to the point."

Silas swallowed, preparing to speak when a cold voice suddenly rang out: "What are you two doing?!"

Louis was striding toward them, lips pressed together as he glared at Alice. Without hesitation, he grabbed Silas by the collar and yanked him to his feet.

Alice also stood up, her face cold as she looked at Louis. "Louis, this is my business. We're divorced now, so I hope you won't follow me anymore."

Louis was enraged by Alice's words, but couldn't deny them. He swore he wasn't stalking Alice; it was just that, recently, his path had happened to cross with hers. He only stopped by the university because it was on the way, then went to the café he and Alice used to frequent. He wasn’t stalking her!

Alice didn’t know or care about what Louis was thinking. She turned to Silas and coldly said, "And I don’t want to be involved with Louis’s friends anymore. Silas, no matter what you think of me, I hope we never meet again. Don’t make me dislike you."

With that, Alice left.

Silas widened his eyes, about to say something when a powerful punch suddenly struck him, causing him to turn his face to the side. The pain hit him like a wave, and blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth, followed by Louis’s furious roar: "How dare you flirt with my wife?! Do you want to die?!"

Louis had never expected that Silas actually liked Alice and had been pursuing her. He felt as though there was so much he didn’t know, so many things that weren’t as he had thought.

Silas looked at Louis’s angry yet confused face. He sneered and then pushed Louis away with all his strength. "Yeah, I’ve loved her for a long time! Now that you two are divorced, what’s wrong with me pursuing her?"

After a pause, Silas smirked and said, "Or do you love Alice, Louis?"

Louis was taken aback and instinctively replied, "How could I love Alice? Never..."

He murmured, as if to confirm something to himself, yet his heart was wavering. Finally, he glared at Silas viciously. "You should be grateful we were once friends, but there won’t be a next time. Silas, don’t ever call me a friend again."

Louis left the restaurant, but Alice was nowhere to be found. Of course, Alice had no reason to wait for him.

Louis didn’t intend to look for Alice. Their meeting today had been a coincidence. He was waiting for the day Alice would regret and beg him to take her back!

Even with such thoughts, Louis’s heart was still filled with nameless anger.

At that moment, his phone rang. Louis frowned and looked at the screen. Seeing the name, his brow loosened slightly.

"Maya, what’s up?" he asked in a low voice, his eyes showing no affection as he had expected. After thinking about it many times since their last meeting, Louis realized that he probably just saw Maya as a younger sister, and the feelings from his youth had faded as he grew up.

However, in his eyes, Maya was still a little sister who needed his protection.

Maya’s voice on the other end of the line was hesitant. "Louis, I heard you and Alice got a divorce. I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault..."

Mentioning this made Louis frown again, his head aching slightly. Finally, he said, "It’s not your fault, Alice is just overthinking things."

After all, in Louis’s eyes, Maya hadn’t done anything wrong that day.

Maya sighed in relief, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Then, she regained her composure and said, "I heard there’s a big party tonight in the city, a knowledge exchange event with other cities. Professor Eslite, whom I’ve always admired, will be there. Could you take me with you?"

No matter how grand or formal the event was, Louis would definitely have an invitation, since it was being held in the city.

It wasn’t a big deal, so Louis nodded without hesitation. "Sure, I’ll have my assistant pick you up."

Maya smiled happily at the phone screen, her eyes full of pride and arrogance. She had said it—Louis would definitely choose her.

What did being married matter? As soon as she appeared, Alice was discarded like a rag!

Just thinking about it made Maya excited. She eagerly prepared for the party tonight, seeing it as the first step in claiming what was rightfully hers! Louis was hers, and only hers!