Chapter 3

Inside the restaurant, Adam and Max sat apart from their other friends. Meanwhile, Rose Fisher was surrounded by Sabrina and Claire—both trying to get closer to the rising star. Some of Adam's classmates tried to take photos with her and upload them to their social media accounts. This would surely make their followers jealous.

"Are you two officially engaged?" Max asked Adam, who was watching Rose taking photos with his classmates.

Adam just smiled. He took a sip of his wine and replied, "I have no choice but to be engaged to her. It's a condition before I go abroad."

Max was shocked. "Wait a minute!" Max stared at Adam more intently, his brow furrowed. Another question escaped his lips. "You... You're going abroad?"

Adam nodded. "That's right, I'm going to continue my studies there. One of the conditions is that I must be engaged to Rose Fisher first."

“Then what about that woman? For some reason, I feel like you have special feelings for her!” Max looked towards the door where Nora was being dragged away by security officers.

Adam laughed. He shook his head, not fully understanding what Max was saying. “Max, are you crazy? You... Do you really think I have feelings for that woman? Feelings from where? You know very well that I approached her solely because of our bet."

Max smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "For some reason, I feel like you really treated her sincerely." He sipped his wine and looked at Adam with a complicated expression.

"Sincerely? Sincerely from where? You're completely misunderstanding, Max. I really don't have any feelings for that woman. What you saw was purely to win her heart so I could win the bet. Otherwise, where else would I get tickets to a performance by Keanu Devlin, that legendary pianist?"

"If it weren't for Grandfather's birthday coming up, I wouldn't want to approach that woman. Her face alone makes me sick. I don’t know how you could see that I have feelings for her.” Adam placed his wine glass on the table.

“Now I ask you, is she as beautiful as Rose Fisher? Popular?”

Adam snorted in annoyance. "Not only is he not worthy of being my partner, he's not even worthy of being the person I hire to feed Miko—my beloved dog."

Max just chuckled. Having known Adam since kindergarten, he knew more or less how Adam felt. Perhaps outsiders couldn't see it clearly, but he was different. As Adam's best friend, he felt he could see deeper into the man's feelings.

"All right, let's not talk about it. We have to join them as soon as possible." Max immediately got up and was about to rejoin the crowd.

However, just as the two were about to leave, a security guard approached them.

"Young Master..." greeted the security guard.

"Theo, what's up?" asked Adam, a little surprised that Theo had come up to him. "Don't tell me you couldn't handle that woman!" Adam waved his hand irritably.

"No..." Theo quickly denied. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?" Adam's voice rose, but no one paid any attention to him because the music was quite loud.

Theo quickly replied, "When she was dragged away, the woman fell. There was blood flowing from between her legs. She has been taken to the hospital."

Adam narrowed his eyes. Something strange was creeping into the corners of his heart. However, he quickly dismissed the feeling.

"So, why did you report it? Do you think I should rush to take her to the hospital? Is that it?" Adam snorted irritably.

"No, young sir, I just reported it!" said Theo, not daring to raise his eyes.

Adam immediately dismissed Theo with a wave of his hand.

"Adam..." Max touched Adam's shoulder and asked in a small voice—just loud enough for both of them to hear. "It looks like that woman had a miscarriage. Don't tell me you slept with her!"

Adam took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. He nodded his head.

"Oh my God!" Max could only shake his head. He didn't know what to say. The bet Max had made only made Nora fall in love and then leave him. It didn't have to involve sleeping together and even getting her pregnant. This was really too far.

"It has nothing to do with me," Adam retorted curtly, "I gave her a card that was enough for her to abort the foetus. If she fell and miscarried, that would be even better. That way, she wouldn't have to go to any more trouble to get rid of the baby."

Max was about to respond, but Adam spoke first. “Don’t blame me for sleeping with her. If I could turn back time, I wouldn’t have slept with her. It's so disgusting. If only I hadn't been drugged by someone else and happened to meet her, do you think I would have given myself to her? Do you think I'm crazy for choosing her when there are so many beautiful women out there that I could sleep with whenever I want!"

"Max, aren't you joining us?" Claire suddenly approached and the conversation was cut short.

Max smiled. He nodded his head.

Seeing that Max didn't refuse, Claire immediately took Max's arm and led him into the crowd.

While Adam, Max, Rose Fisher, and the others started partying, Nora was currently in the hospital. The doctor had just examined her and looked at Nora with a blank expression.

"Miss, your pregnancy is still very vulnerable. So, please take care of yourself. Fortunately, your foetus can still be saved. If it had been any later, there would have been no hope." The doctor wrote out various prescriptions, including medication to strengthen the pregnancy.

Nora felt better and left the room. She returned to her rented room and packed all her belongings. She could no longer stay here. There was no point in staying.

The next day, Nora sent all the things Adam had given her—including a card containing some money—to Adam's home address, not to the flat where Adam had been staying while attending school. After that, she left for the airport.

In the airport waiting room.

"Nor, are you sure you want to send him that card?" asked Tamara, looking at Nora with a puzzled expression.

"I can understand sending the other things, but the card? The money in it could be enough for you and your little one to live on. Are you really sure?" Tamara looked intently at her friend.

Nora just smiled. "I don't need anything from him, Tamara. Besides, all this time I've just been used as a bet. A man like that, my child must not know him, let alone taste what he has to offer!" she said firmly.

Tamara immediately stretched out her arms. The two hugged warmly.

"I should have listened to you, Tamara. I should have listened to you!" Nora's tears fell again for the umpteenth time.

Tamara released the hug. She wiped her friend's tears. "I don't blame you, Nor. After all, we were raised in an orphanage. All this time, we lacked affection. And when someone came along and offered us affection, we immediately welcomed it. I don't blame you."

"Thank you." Nora held her friend's hand.

"Are you really leaving tomorrow?" Tamara still found it difficult to let her friend go to that remote place.

Nora nodded. "I'll leave my diploma with you. Please send it to my address. I'll follow you to college as soon as possible."

"I'll wait for that, Nora. I hope we can be in the same college someday." Tamara hugged Nora once more.

“I… I’m leaving!” Nora dragged her suitcase. She managed to turn around and wave to Tamara.

Tamara wiped her cheek. She would definitely miss Nora, her dear friend.

Just a few steps away, a loud call made Nora turn around.

“Nora!”