Chapter 4

"I don't know what happened. The Bree family's affairs have nothing to do with me, and I never said a single bad word about Cadence in front of Gordon and Linda. I told you I would help you. I never go back on my word," I said.

Russ frowned. His sharp gaze landed on the chest, recognizing several of the things he'd given me over the years. Even the portrait he'd drawn for me was half‑burned.

His face darkened even more. "What are you doing? Trying to play some push‑and‑pull trick on me? I'm telling you—no matter what you do, I will never like you. Your petty theatrics only make me sick. And if anything happens to Cadence, I swear I won't let you off!"

He swept past me, holding Cadence—her forehead bruised from hitting the wall—and dragged me along as he rushed to a side room. On the way, she fainted in his arms.

In my past life, Cadence had no one to rely on and threw herself into the river in despair. This time, with Russ giving her everything he had, she still didn't intend to let me go.

Watching him panic over her, circling helplessly, my heart filled with a thousand tiny needles. My gaze dimmed.

Fortunately, the doctor said she was fine—just overly anxious these past days, and now overwhelmed, which had caused her to faint.

Russ let out a sigh of relief, shot me a vicious look, and said with absolute certainty, "This all started because of you. You'll keep vigil for Cadence tonight. Think of it as your apology."

Without waiting for a response, he walked out without looking back.

I stayed beside Cadence through the entire night.

Not long after dawn, Russ came in carrying a bowl of soup. Seeing how exhausted I looked, his expression softened slightly, despite himself.

"Why didn't you rest?"

"I'm not tired."

"You've worked hard. Go lie down for a while."

I never imagined that in this lifetime, I would hear anything comforting come from his mouth again.

I got up obediently.

My compliance seemed to please him; he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Tomorrow, I'll have someone from the tailor shop come again. The last design for the wedding gown was too plain. Try a few other styles.

"And… don't take what I said yesterday to heart. I spoke out of anger. I apologize.

"But Cadence is innocent. Don't make things difficult for her because of me, all right?"

I looked into his dark eyes. When it came to Cadence, anything I could've explained seemed unnecessary. As for my plan to head to Socalli City, he wouldn't care anyway.

I pressed my lips into a smile and said sincerely, "There's no need. As long as I can marry you, it doesn't matter what the wedding gown looks like.

"Russ… I wish you a happy wedding."

His expression tightened with suspicion, and he opened his mouth—but a movement from Cadence interrupted him.

She frowned and slowly opened her eyes. "What happened to me?"

At once, Russ forgot I existed. He helped her sit up, dutifully feeding her spoonfuls of the soup.

When he finally remembered me, I was nowhere to be found.

I had already returned to my own courtyard, quietly beginning to pack my belongings.

For reasons I couldn't understand, he actually had his personal servant invite me to Windmere Garden to watch a play.

It was "The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate". My favorite.

It told of a story of two people in love. Once, I'd shamelessly begged him several times to go with me, but he had always dismissed it with cold disdain.

I understood immediately—this was his attempt at an apology.

But I was leaving soon. It no longer mattered.

Besides, Russ had done so much for me. Taking care of the woman he liked was the least I could do.