Chapter 6

Jane Young was a lawyer, and for the first twenty-five years of Nina’s life, she had been Nina’s closest friend.

They had met in high school and later attended the same university. After seven years together, they had become closer than family.

Everything changed three years ago, when Nina decided to marry James.

Jane had been fiercely against it.

She had told Nina again and again that James didn’t like her nearly as much as she thought he did. If Nina married him, she wouldn’t be happy.

But back then, Nina hadn’t been willing to listen.

She had been blinded by love and wanted only one thing.

To marry James.

She had thought a little affection was enough.

Even if there was none, feelings could be built over time.

She had plenty of patience.

She had plenty of time to wait.

When Jane realized she couldn’t talk Nina out of it, and she couldn’t bear to watch Nina marry James, the two of them had a terrible fight.

After that, they cut ties.

From then on, they never contacted each other again.

Now that everything had changed, Nina looked back and finally understood.

Jane must have seen the truth from the very beginning.

That was why she had tried so hard to stop her.

Unfortunately, Nina had been too blind to see it then.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time.

Nina thought the call might have dropped, so she tried again.

“Jane, are you still there?”

“Yes,” Jane finally replied.

Her voice was still cold, but the distance from the beginning was gone.

“Where are you now?”

Nina looked up at the sign for Lakeview Estates.

She didn’t want Jane getting too involved, so she gave her the name of a nearby street instead.

“Wait there. I’m coming over now.”

“No, you don’t have to. I…”

“Wait there,” Jane interrupted before Nina could finish. “I’ll be there soon, probably in about thirty minutes. Find somewhere warm and stay inside until I get there.”

“Okay.”

Nina’s eyes stung when she heard that.

Jane’s words sounded firm, and her tone wasn’t exactly gentle.

But Nina knew this was who Jane had always been.

Sharp-tongued, soft-hearted, and always the person Nina could count on when she was at her lowest.

Winter in Burgola City was bitterly cold.

Although she just stood outside for only a short while, Nina’s hands and feet started to go numb.

She searched for a nearby coffee shop on her phone and ordered a discounted coffee, planning to wait there for a while.

But just as she was about to head over, her phone rang.

It was James.

Nina answered, and his cold, impatient voice came through at once.

“You hit Liam and smashed things?”

She had left Lakeview Estates barely ten minutes ago, yet James was already calling to hold her accountable.

He really did care about Liam.

“Yes,” Nina said without trying to defend herself. “I did.”

“It seems I’ve been too lenient with you,” James said with a cold laugh over the phone. “Before you did all that, did you ever think about whether you could bear the consequences?”

The moment his voice turned cold, fear rose in Nina by reflex.

For the past three years, whenever James spoke to her in that tone, she would let him scold her.

Or she would immediately apologize and back down.

It didn’t matter how long it took.

She would wait until his anger passed.

A habit built over years could settle deep into a person’s bones.

Sometimes, it was more terrifying than instinct.

Nina forced down the frantic pounding of her heart and tried to keep her voice calm.

“James, don’t forget. That house is supposed to be our home, and Liam is the child you and I adopted. I was in my own home, breaking my own things and disciplining my own child. What exactly did I do wrong?”

The moment she finished speaking, the line went dead silent.

Nina didn’t say anything either.

She simply stayed quiet and faced him down.

She knew exactly how much those words would sting.

That was why she had said them on purpose.

Since they had set up this whole act, she might as well play her part.

“Nina, do you even hear yourself?” James’s voice was tight with anger. “Who gave you the nerve to speak to me like that?”

Even through the phone, Nina could feel his fury.

But she understood.

After all, she had never dared to say no to him before.

To put it bluntly, she had been James’s obedient dog.

Now that she had dared to talk back, of course he couldn’t stand it.

“My mouth belongs to me,” Nina said. “I can say whatever I want.”

“Nina Walker!” James snapped coldly. “Considering your mother is sick and you’re in a bad mood, I’ll let what you just said slide. But what you did to Liam isn’t over. You have to apologize to him.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not apologizing to him.”

“That isn’t up to you. It seems you still don’t understand.”

“James Gibson, are you going to use my job to threaten me again? Let me tell you, I…”

“I don’t care about your personal matters,” James cut her off before she could finish. “You know how I do things. Once I make a decision, I don’t change it. If you don’t want to apologize, fine. Just make sure you can handle the consequences.”

With that, he hung up.

Nina listened to the dead tone on the line and felt only irony.

How had she loved a man like this for so many years?

She had been about to tell him about her resignation.

But now, there was no need.

Jane arrived quickly.

She had said thirty minutes, but in reality, she arrived in less than twenty.

Nina stood by the road waiting for her. When she saw a beautiful woman in simple, sharp clothes step out of the car, her figure slim and polished, Nina couldn’t help feeling a wave of emotion.

It was good to see her.

Jane was still exactly the same as she had been three years ago.

She hadn’t changed at all.

But Jane’s expression was nowhere near as warm.

The moment she saw Nina, her brows pulled together. As she walked closer, the frown only deepened.

“Jane, it’s been a long time.”

“Didn’t I tell you to wait inside?”

They both spoke at the same time.

Nina greeted her softly, but Jane got straight to the point.

“It’s fine. It’s not cold outside,” Nina said. “If I came out earlier, I could see you sooner.”

Jane didn’t say anything else.

She opened the car door for her.

“Get in.”

“Okay.”

The heat was on inside the car.

As Nina slowly warmed up, the tension in her chest began to ease.

She turned to look at Jane and said, “You’re still the same as before. You haven’t changed at all.”

“You’ve changed plenty,” Jane said, not sounding pleased.

At the mention of that, Nina instinctively felt self-conscious.

Over the years, too many people had commented on her face and body.

Without exception, their words had been full of disgust or pity.

So when she heard Jane say that, Nina suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Jane glanced at her, and her tone softened a little.

“What? Did marrying James Gibson not give you a good life? How did you end up looking this exhausted?”

Nina was surprised.

When other people saw her, their first thought was that she must have pocketed plenty of money and gotten comfortable, which was why she had gained weight.

But Jane could tell at a glance that Nina hadn’t been doing well.

“Is it that obvious?”

“What do you think?”

“Everyone said I got fat because I must’ve been pocketing money and living too well.”

“What kind of blind idiot said that?” Jane snapped. “One look at you, and it’s obvious your body’s been wrecked by stress and long-term sleep deprivation. Did they not see the dark circles under your eyes?”

At that, Nina burst out laughing.

Because Jane was still Jane.

She was still the person who would always stand on Nina’s side, understand her, and defend her without question.

“What are you laughing at?” Jane’s face was still tense, but her tone had softened completely.

“Nothing.”

Since Nina didn’t explain, Jane didn’t ask.

The two of them fell silent for the rest of the drive, but the atmosphere was unexpectedly peaceful.

After a while, Nina finally remembered to ask, “Where are we going?”

“My place.”

“Your place?”

“What? You don’t want to?”

“Of course I do,” Nina said quickly.

She was only afraid of causing Jane trouble.

But after glancing at Jane’s expression, she decided not to say anything more.

“Can I go home first, though?”

Jane didn’t answer.

But at the next light, she made a U-turn and drove toward Nina’s home.