Chapter 2

Yasmine made up her mind and took Emma’s hand.

“Ms. Larson, you’re right. I shouldn’t give up on my future.

“As for this resignation letter, please just pretend I never submitted it.”

Emma breathed a sigh of relief and patted her shoulder.

“I’m glad you came to your senses.

“Yasmine, you’re about the same age as my daughter. Forgive me for saying this, but giving up your career for a man is never the right choice.”

Yasmine nodded, though bitterness lingered in her heart.

In her last life, it had taken her a whole lifetime to understand that truth.

This time, she would not waste her love and devotion on the Quinton family, who had never shown her any kindness.

When she glanced at the list in Emma’s hand, she suddenly noticed a familiar name.

Emma noticed it and smiled. “Quill is doing very well now. He’s a top host at the central station. I recall he was your senior, right? Once you’re abroad, you two can look out for each other.

“I’ll contact him now. On the day of departure, you can take the special flight together.”

Yasmine thought of the man who had always been gentle and elegant back in school, and she felt a flicker of anticipation.

She had not seen Quill Jensen in years.

When she returned home from the station, she was about to push the door open when she heard Yara’s voice inside.

“Leo, back then, you married me for mine and Noah’s sake. You even hid it from Yasmine with a fake certificate. I know you’re injured, but I can’t resign to take care of you and Noah. Just pretend that you’re physically and mentally unstable and make her quit her job.

“You’ve done so much for me. I really don’t know how to thank you.”

Then, a man’s low, steady voice cut through, and every word pierced Yasmine’s heart like a knife.

“There is nothing to thank me for, Yara. We grew up together. Just because you chose my brother back then doesn’t mean there was nothing between us.

“Now that he is gone, it’s only right for me to take care of you and Noah. The Quinton family’s estate will go to Noah in the future.

“As for Yasmine… I do love her, and I do feel guilty. But she is someone who’s easily satisfied. She won’t care about money or reputation. One day, when we’re both gone, I will be buried next to her. That will be my way of making it up to her.”

Yara’s voice sounded again. “But if you treat her like this, won’t she leave you if she finds out the truth?”

Leo chuckled and said confidently, “Impossible! She has always been careless and naive. As long as we keep it under wraps, she will never know. Even if she does, she loves me too much to walk away.

“My companionship will be yours, but my love is hers. That is fair enough.”

Yasmine’s fingers tightened around the doorknob.

Leo was shameless and far too sure of himself.

He believed she would accept every humiliation just because she loved him.

But she was no longer the Yasmine who had loved him blindly in her last life.

She wiped her tears, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

The room fell silent at once.

A man in uniform with sharp brows and striking eyes sat in a wheelchair. His lips were faintly flushed.

It was clear what he and Yara had just been doing.

For an instant, panic shone in Leo’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it under the same irritation he had shown these past few days.

“Yasmine, you came home this late? Do you want me to starve?”

Since the accident, his moods had become unpredictable. The gentle man he had once been was no longer present.

If Yasmine had not overheard his and Yara’s words, she would never have realized that it was all pretend.

He wanted her to feel guilty, give up her job, and stay by his side as nothing more than a caretaker.

When Yara noticed Yasmine’s face, she stepped forward at once.

“Leo, that’s enough! Yasmine already plans to quit her job and look after you. Maybe something held her up on her way home.”

The iciness in Leo’s face melted at once.

“Yara, don’t worry. I was only scolding her. She really doesn’t act properly sometimes.

“You’ve always had a weak stomach, and Noah’s still so young. I can’t let the two of you sit here hungry and wait for her to cook.”

Yara gave his wheelchair a light tap.

“It’s not that serious… Ahh!!!”

Her cry startled Leo so badly that he nearly rose from his chair.

“Yara, what happened?”

“It’s nothing. Just a splinter in my hand.”

Leo looked uneasy. He caught her hand and pulled her toward the bedroom.

“A woman’s hands are precious. How can this be nothing? Let’s put some ointment on it.”

The two of them were caught up in each other. The atmosphere between them was thick with intimacy.

Yasmine thought her heart had long turned to stone, but it still twisted in pain.

He said a woman’s hands were precious, but how many times had she told him her hands were cracked and raw from washing clothes and begged him for a simple jar of hand cream?

He had bought one but had given it to Yara instead.

He said, “Her work is more demanding. She needs it more than you.”

Yasmine never understood how a schoolteacher like Yara would need hand cream more than a TV host who always had to appear on the screen. She convinced herself that Leo was only showing appropriate concern for his widowed sister-in-law.

In this life, she finally understood.

He claimed that a woman’s hands were precious. It was not just any woman. For him, Yara’s hands were precious.

He had never cared about her. He cared more for Yara.

Luckily, in seven days, she would be on a plane flying across the ocean. She would be far from the Quinton family’s mess and would never return.