Chapter 2

She said with a laugh, [Chloe was saved, wasn't she? Marcus must be so happy.]

My voice was nearly gone.

"Daisy died because you told me to save Chloe."

Evelyn was silent for a few seconds. Then she gave a soft laugh.

[How is that possible? Daisy is in a behavior correction camp in my time. If anything happened, the instructors would have called me.]

A chill ran through me. "What did you say? Why would you do that to her?"

Evelyn spoke lightly, as if it were nothing.

[Because you spoiled her. When she grew up, she kept going against Marcus. She became rebellious and vicious.]

[But since you saved Chloe, I might consider bringing her home this month.]

I didn't know whether changing the cause in the present would change the outcome in the future.

So I dug my nails hard into my palm and begged her. "Can you go get her now?"

Evelyn laughed softly. [Ryan, you need to behave.]

I heard the threat hidden in that smile.

Sure enough, her next words were, [Otherwise, I won't pay your parents' enormous medical bills in the present.]

"What?" I froze.

[You still don't know, do you? Your father had a heart attack after finding out I cheated.]

[Your mother was hit by Marcus's car. She's still in a vegetative state.]

[So you'd better not make a scene, or that will be the result.]

After a few stunned seconds, I snapped. I smashed my fists into the wall.

"I hate you, Evelyn!"

"If you didn't love me, why didn't you divorce me?"

Evelyn listened calmly to my collapse.

At last, she said flatly, [Strange. If I had heard you say that five years ago, it would have broken my heart.]

[But now, I don't feel anything at all.]

After she hung up, I slid to the floor, powerless.

The only thing I could do was protect my parents.

That night, I bought plane tickets and sent my parents back to our hometown.

Then I messaged Evelyn.

"Let's find a time to divorce."

At first, Evelyn thought I was throwing a tantrum like before.

But when I sent her the divorce agreement, she finally came home.

She snorted and tore the agreement to pieces in front of me.

"Ryan, what kind of joke is this? You want to divorce me just because I looked after an old friend?"

"Don't the living matter more than the dead?"

I laughed mockingly.

"Yes. I hate Marcus, and I hate you."

Evelyn lowered her eyes and looked at me with disappointment.

"When did you become this unreasonable?"

"I should never have helped you back then."

I had long since run out of tears.

So those words felt like sand rolling into my eyes, grinding them raw.

Back then, a project I had spent a year preparing was reported as plagiarism.

Evelyn had stepped forward in front of everyone and confidently cleared my name.

When my coworkers ostracized me, she would hold my arm and smile.

[They're the ones who are wrong. They don't know how amazing you are.]

When I felt insecure and thought I was not good enough for her, she never blamed me.

She even tucked little notes into the lunches she prepared for me every day, giving me tiny surprises.

After Marcus appeared, I never found another note.

All of Evelyn's patience went to Marcus.

Just like now, one call from Marcus could extinguish all her anger.

"I will not divorce you. Calm yourself down."

After she left, future Evelyn called me again.

Before she could speak, I said with a sneer, "A moment ago, you said you regretted helping me."

She paused for several seconds. Her voice remained as gentle as ever.

[Ryan, don't listen to her. No matter whether I regret anything, I will always help you.]

[After all, Marcus was the one who framed your project. I would never let him do something like that.]

I gripped the phone and went still.

My heart flooded with a crushing, grinding pain.

Now it all made sense.

That was why Evelyn had changed so suddenly.

It turned out I was merely an obstacle in her love story with Marcus.

Nearly ten years of love had all been a lie.