Chapter 3
She turned ovet, facing the other direction, while Sebastian watched her shadow curl up under the moonlight. A strange feeling crept into his heart.
It was the first time he wasn’t being clung to by Vivian with her usual intensity. He didn’t even like her, so he should be glad she wasn’t hanging onto him anymore. Yet, he felt a peculiar emptiness inside.-
He comforted himself, thinking he had just grown accustomed to her leaning on him, entirely dependent on him.
The next morning, Vivian woke up late. After getting ready, she went downstairs, surprised to find Sebastian still there. Her surprise was evident as she blurted out, “Aren’t you going to the hospital to see Miss Vandenberg today?”
On any other day, he might have been a little impatient with that question, but today, he felt a quiet sense of relief.
So, she was jealous of Vanessa yesterday.
“Vanessa is just a friend. She got into an accident shortly after returning home, so I took extra care of her. But she’s been discharged now,” he explained patiently, a rarity for him. After a pause, he added, “You wanted me to take you to see the sunset, right? I haven’t spent much time with you lately, so how about I make it up to you today?”
“No need.”
Realizing she had mistaken him for someone else and with the divorce looming, Vivian had no intention of doing anything so meaningless. Instinctively, she refused. But Sebastian, convinced of the plan’s reasonableness, had already arranged for the car to be brought around.
Once in the car, she didn’t persist in arguing, quietly resigning herself to the journey.
The car headed towards the countryside, and soon they reached their destination. But just as they arrived at the hilltop, Sebastian’s phone rang.
He picked it up, and she caught a glimpse of the name “Vanessa” flashing across the screen.
Whatever was said on the other end, it only took him a moment of hesitation before he got back into the car. Before leaving, he left her with a brief promise, “I’ll be back to pick you up soon.”
Despite his words, Vivian waited for a long time. As the sun dipped lower and finally vanished, he still hadn’t returned.
There were no taxis to be found on the hill, and she didn’t bother calling Sebastian to ask if he was coming back. Instead, she quietly began the long walk down.
The hill was high, and the path steep. Even though it wasn’t a muddy trail, by the time Vivian reached the bottom, her feet were blistered. She had just pulled out her phone to call a cab back to the villa when she received a message from one of Sebastian’s friends.
“Urgent. Come to Nocturne Lounge.”
Most of Sebastian’s friends looked down on her. They saw her as the woman who shamelessly pursued him for two years before finally marrying him, so they rarely contacted her. Seeing the message, she didn’t hesitate and hailed a cab straight to Nocturne Lounge.
It wasn’t out of concern for Sebastian, but rather a fear that anything happening to him might affect the divorce.
Upon arriving at the address they had sent, she pushed open the door to the private room, only to trip over a rope she hadn’t noticed. She fell heavily, her head striking a nearby stool.
The pain made her dizzy, and when she touched her head, her hand came away sticky.
1/2
10-13 m
Chapter 3
The group in the room watched her in her disarray, yet showed no intention of letting her off. The next moment, the door closed, and a bucket of water was upended over her.
“Whoosh!”
As the water splashed down, drenching her completely, laughter erupted in the room, filled with mockery and disdain.
“Look at her, doesn’t she look like a wet dog?” one of them jeered.
“Quinn, I have to admit, that’s a fitting description,” another chimed in..
Despite the harsh air conditioning, the cold, wet clothes clinging to her skin, and the chill that made her shiver, Vivian’s expression remained unchanged. She wiped her face with a calmness that belied the situation.
Seeing her lack of reaction, some found it boring, while others thought it wasn’t exciting enough and pulled out a phone to show her a video.
“Hey, you desperate fool, we called you here to let you know that Sebastian’s true love is back.”
She looked up just as the screen displayed a scene of Sebastian in another room, crouched down gently massaging Vanessa’s ankle, his expression filled with tenderness.
“See that? Sebastian left you today because he was throwing a welcome–back party for Vanessa. She just twisted her ankle, and he immediately whisked her away. Have you ever received that kind of treatment? You should just step aside gracefully, otherwise being thrown out would be embarrassing.”
The taunting continued, but Vivian stood up, struggling against the pain in her feet. Her eyes were deep and calm as she surveyed the room, her voice steady.
“Don’t worry, I’ll step aside. Because, truthfully, I don’t like him either.”
