He smirked when he saw I was awake. “Even
better. Nora, it’s been a while.”
His breath was hot on my face. My stomach
churned, and I gagged.
He moved aside as I limped out of bed and
towards the door.
Another door opened, and Olivia was dragged
out by her hair.
Ethan saw this and roared, “What are you
Liam sneereu.
Sneaking into someone s peu
in the middle of the night? Maybe you should
ask her what she was doing.
“I don’t sleep with just anyone.”
Olivia sobbed, shaking her head at Ethan.
“Ethan, it’s not like that! I just went into the
wrong room.”
“The rooms all look alike. I’ve never been here
before, so I got lost.”
“He wouldn’t listen to my explanation and did
this to me…”
As she finished her explanation, a recording
started playing.
Olivia’s voice: “Liam, don’t you remember me?
I’m Nora’s sister. We used to play together.
Why are you only interested in Nora?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know you.”
Olivia’s voice, fake and sweet: “What’s so
great about Nora? She’s stiff and boring.
Liam, try me, I bet you’ll forget all about
مصطـ
་་་
Olivia paled, shaking her head at Ethan. “It’s
not true, Ethan! It must be fake! He’s mad
that I caused Nora to fall, so he’s trying to
frame me!”
Ashley walked out, wearing a robe, glared at
Olivia, then turned to her brother.
“You know what Olivia is like.”
“Ethan, don’t be delusional.”
Ethan’s expression shifted. He let out a sigh.
“I believe Olivia.”
“She’s always been kind. She wouldn’t do
something like this. Ashley, you know, she’s
the girl who saved my life when we were
kids.”
“I don’t believe she’d change like this.”
“Saved you?”
Ashley stopped, then pulled a jade pendant
out of her pocket.
“You mean like this?”
Ethan stared “How did you get that?”
Ethan stared. “How did you get that?”
Ashley suddenly found the whole scene
ridiculous.
She stepped back, threw the pendant on the ground, and stomped on it. “I’m smashing this for Nora. Ethan, you’re so blind! Completely
clueless!”
Ethan had a bad feeling. He knelt down and
pieced the pendant back together. It was
identical to the one he had as a child.
Memories he had pushed aside came flooding
back.
Olivia’s pendant, although similar, was crudely
made, a cheap imitation.
He’d assumed the wear and tear on his
childhood pendant was just from being
handled roughly.
But it was different. A fake is a fake. The real
thing is the real thing.
What had he done?
<
Olivia’s wrist was gripped tightly, and she
winced in pain.
“Ethan, I didn’t know! I didn’t know! My mom
gave me the pendant! It has nothing to do
with me!”
Ethan threw her to the ground and pulled out
his phone.
It went straight to voicemail.
“Nora, answer the phone! Nora!”
He turned to his sister for help, but she
pushed him away.
“I told you, I don’t have a brother.”
The farce was over. He left the beach house
and rushed back to their apartment.
The silence was deafening.
He opened every room, finally reaching mine.
A lot of my things were gone.
Our favorite photo, my clothes, my jewelry…
He stepped out and noticed something
gleaming in the trash. He rushed over and
<
saw my plain band.
He picked it up and held it in his palm. It had
long lost the warmth of its owner.
She had taken so many things with her, but
she left this behind.
Because it no longer mattered.
He remembered the security camera in the
living room. He hurried to his study and found
the recording from the day I came home.
He and his friends.
What had they said?
They talked about releasing my videos,
humiliating me to avenge Olivia.
And so much more…
He pulled at his hair in frustration. What had
he done?
He was about to push the girl he’d known
since childhood into hell.
No wonder he’d been drawn to her the
moment he saw her again.
<
His subconscious remembered, but he’d
refused to admit he was wrong.
I arrived at Grandpa’s and called Ashley to let
her know I was safe.
Liam visited me every day. He took me out,
showed me around the city, and even
introduced me to a new dance company after
learning I loved to dance.
He confessed, “I used to visit you often. I
loved watching you dance on stage. When I
heard you were going to ask your grandpa to cancel the engagement, I was devastated. I’m so glad you changed your mind.”
“Nora, I’ve never been in love, never even
considered it. But when I met you, I realized I
just hadn’t met the right person.”
“We can take things slow, adjust. I’ll give you
all the security you need. I won’t restrict you. I just hope that when you’re done doing what
You want. vou’ll look back and see I’ve been
L
waiting for you.”
His confession caught me off guard. But
seeing his blush, his sincerity touched me.
He felt safer than Ethan ever did.
I took his hand and pulled him along. “Let’s
get married. Didn’t you and Grandpa already
start planning the wedding? We can start with
marriage. I’ll learn to love you.”
The wedding wasn’t rushed. He gave me two
weeks to prepare. My cast came off.
Everything was looking up.
