Chapter 2

I simply smiled lightly and said, "Glad you liked it. Enjoy."

The crowd immediately whispered, "Wow, Caleb really has the patience of a saint. How could he still be smiling at a time like this?"

"What else can he do aside from putting up with it? If Leroy had never left in the first place, he would never even have had the chance to marry into the Dawson family!"

"Yeah, and now that Leroy is back, he's even more at a disadvantage than before. One wrong word and he'd get kicked out at once."

Leroy put his arm around Amanda and said with a wide grin, "Thanks for taking the trouble to get these delivered. Have some cake before you leave."

Amanda also opened her mouth as she spoke condescendingly to me. "It's your birthday in a few days. Why don't you stay back and celebrate with Leroy now?"

I nearly laughed out loud at how ridiculous her proposition sounded and how matter-of-factly she said it.

She was the CEO of a company with a net worth in the billions, and yet she couldn't even bear to buy her own husband a birthday cake, instead asking him to make do with a party she threw for her own side piece.

It was no wonder that the previous second male lead did everything in his power to ruin the plot and escape the book. This treatment and humiliation certainly wasn't something that anyone could easily put up with.

Fortunately for me, I wasn't just anyone else.

I put a smile on my face and went to the cake to cut myself a slice, thinking that I would just be treating this as dessert.

However, I hadn't even touched the cake knife yet when someone suddenly shoved me heavily from the back. I lost my balance before falling straight onto the table holding the massive birthday cake.

There was a loud crash as I fell right on top of the cake. Icing and cream were smeared all over my body in various colors, making me look like a clown.

Leroy's aggrieved voice sounded immediately. "Caleb! You should have just said that you didn't want to stay. Why did you have to go and ruin my birthday cake like that!"

Amanda immediately glared at me and yelled, "Caleb Valencia! Leroy was just being nice by inviting you for cake! Must you purposely do this to him?"

I wiped off the icing on my face and retorted, "So, tell me what's the benefit of me deliberately crashing into the cake and making myself a spectacle for everyone to ridicule again?"

She was stunned for a moment.

Leroy spoke up instead. "Don't you think that ever since I came back, you've been—"

I got to my feet and interrupted him. "That's enough, Leroy Blanchard. You've already achieved your goal for tonight. What's the point of the pitiful act again?"

Then, I hurriedly made my way out of the lounge.

I should have been lying in bed at home at this time, but they were the ones who woke me up with a phone call and got me into this mess.

Even a saint had a limit to his patience, and I was just about done with both of them.

After getting home, I rushed into the bathroom to take off my sticky clothing and took a thorough shower.

I'd only just changed into clean clothes and lay down in bed when someone suddenly kicked the bedroom door open, and two bodyguards marched in and dragged me out forcefully.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?"

Nobody answered my questions. Instead, they dragged me straight to the hospital.

I was forced down onto my knees before the emergency operating room.

Amanda's eyes were red with fury as she slapped me hard on the face.

"You damn bastard, Caleb Valencia! I swear, if anything terrible happens to Leroy, I'll make you pay for it with your life!"

My face immediately began smarting with pain, and yet, I still had no idea what was going on.

"What did I do this time, Amanda Dawson? Why are you doing this to me?"

She grabbed me by my chin and glared fiercely at me. "Still trying to play innocent, are you? Why haven't I realized in the past that you were such a great actor, hmm?

"You know very well that Leroy is allergic to peanuts! You purposely put peanuts in the cheesecake bites to kill him!"

I denied it at once. "That's impossible. I made a plain version that didn't use any nuts at all. There are no nuts whatsoever in it!"

The emergency light outside the room soon went off, and the doctor came out, taking his mask off and saying, "The patient's body went into anaphylactic shock. He could have died from the allergy, but fortunately, he was rushed here in time.

"If he were even 15 minutes late, I'm afraid that he would never have made it after all."

Amanda went over to Leroy's bed as he was wheeled out and held his weak hands, staying by his side. "I would rather die than have anything happen to you, Leroy."

He just looked back at her weakly and said, "I'm fine, Mandy. I'm okay now. You don't have to worry about me."

They then began whispering and giggling with each other as if they were the only ones in the room.

I felt a sharp, numbing pain in my lower leg, and it hurt so much that cold sweat began dripping down my spine.

"My leg hurts, Amanda."

Back when she had almost been involved in an accident, I quickly threw myself in front of her to shield her from the impact, and I ended up suffering from comminuted fractures in both my legs.

Ever since then, my legs and knees would flare up again every time they came into contact with something cold.

And now, the bodyguards were firmly pressing me onto the ground against the cold, tiled floor.

Obviously, Amanda recalled that incident, and a hint of pity flashed in her eyes.

She was just about to tell the bodyguards to unhand me when Leroy suddenly gripped her hand tightly and said, "Mandy, I don't believe that Caleb would be so cruel as to want to take my life. You must investigate this incident thoroughly. You mustn't wrong him."

Amanda's voice turned as cold as ice. "He was the one who made the cheesecake bites! Who else could it have been if not him?"

Then, she followed him as he was wheeled into his ward without another glance at me.

I finally collapsed and sank onto the ground, frozen in pain, finding it hilarious to even think that I used to love her in the past.

Amanda then came out of the ward.

"Leroy is being too kind and insists that I don't fault you for the matter. He said that there had to be proof of your innocence."

A few minutes later, Erica was also dragged to the hospital on" her knees.

I chuckled bitterly. I was about to leave soon anyway. If push came to shove, then I would just admit fault and say that I was the one who did it after all. I didn't want to drag the innocent Erica into this as well.

Amanda began grilling Erica for the ingredients used in the cheesecake bites, and Erica spilled everything.

"Cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, graham crackers, butter, and peanut butter."

I looked up at Erica abruptly when I heard her say "peanut butter".