Chapter 3

In the end, the wedding was still cancelled.

In order to salvage their dignity, both the York and Xander families announced that they would choose another date for the wedding. In order to resolve the rumor about me not being on good terms with Stanley, they wanted me to be the host for Stanley’s and Louise’s wedding.

Once we arrived back home, my parents immediately started yelling at me.

“You have to host the wedding, Nathan!” My father slammed his newspaper on the table. The headline on the paper was full of mockery. Right now, everyone is saying that we’re mistreating you and forcing you to turn against us because we keep siding with Stanley. You have to come forward and clear things up!”

I stared at him coldly. “Why should I lie against my conscience for your dignity’s sake?”

“You rascal!” My father was so angry that he started trembling.

Stanley immediately teared up and said sadly, “Are you still blaming me for stealing Louise, Nathan? I know that you still love her. That’s why you don’t want to see us being happy with each other, right?”

Without even waiting for me to say anything, he immediately ran to the railing on the balcony and turned around with tears falling down his face.

“I know that I’m the useless one here. I’m the thief who stole Nathan’s life. Will everything return to its original place if I die? I’m sorry, Nathan…”

Then, he made it seem like he was going to jump down the balcony.

In the next second, Louise rushed over and dragged Nathan off the balcony before hugging him tightly. Her voice was full of unprecedented panic and fear. “Don’t be stupid, Stanley! How could you be useless? You did nothing wrong!”

After she comforted Stanley, she glared at me with bloodshot eyes. “When will you stop with this, Nathan?! Stanley is kind. He never fights for anything and just wants to live properly! He’s not like you! You’re always so angry and won’t stop until you hurt everyone around you!”

My parents hurried over to stand beside Stanley to comfort him with great pity in their hearts.

“Don’t stay here tonight, Nathan. Go out and calm down. Don’t make Stanley upset again when he sees you.”

I watched this loving family coldly and said nothing. Instead, I just walked out of my supposed ‘family.’ When I was out on the deserted street, I took out my phone from my pocket. On the screen was a message I received a few hours ago.

[Have you thought things through, Nathan? Professor Lane and all of us look forward to your return.]

I sucked in a deep breath and typed one word on the screen. [Sure.]

The very next second, I received a phone call.

A familiar and delighted voice came through. “That’s great news! Nathan, you finally said yes! Professor Lane will be delighted once she hears about this! But you know that we need to be isolated from the world to carry out our experiment, and there’s no set time limit for this. Will your parents and fiancee agree to it?”