Chapter 2

During the thirteen-hour flight, I never slept.

All I could think about were the videos on Lance’s account.

Lance had been my roommate during my four years of university and my former best friend.

After his graduation, he vanished without a trace, and we lost contact with each other.

I never expected him to barge into my life again in such a mortifying way.

Once the plane landed, I headed straight to Saint Veronica’s Beach.

Lance had uploaded another video two hours ago.

[Last night, Jane said that she wants to visit Saint Veronica’s Beach, so we went together this morning!]

I immediately spotted Mandy through the crowd.

She had always found the idea of matching outfits childish, yet she was dressed in an outrageous outfit that matched Jane’s, her daughter.

Lance gave her the ice-cream he had partially eaten.

Mandy tilted her head away a bit and frowned.

I clenched my fists.

She hated sweet things the most. I would always remember this. Whenever I finished drinking a soda and wanted to kiss her, she would scowl and push me away without hesitation, claiming that the sweet smell would affect her thoughts.

Yet she only frowned and grumbled, “It’s too sweet.”

Even so, she still ducked her head down and ate the remaining ice-cream while Lance still held it.

Mandy had always kept to her boundaries, was calm, and restrained. Yet she could accommodate someone.

In my daze, I felt as if I was looking at someone else’s perfect life, and I was a shameful intruder.

“So, this is the special project you can’t walk away from, Mandy?” I asked from behind them.

They turned toward me, and their smiles froze.

Mandy instinctively took a step to the left to shield Lance and Jane behind her.

“Why are you here, Andrew?”

That instinctive act to protect them was an eyesore to me.

I sneered. “What’s wrong? Am I interrupting your holiday?”

Jane clutched Mandy’s hem tightly and asked with a choked-up voice, “Mommy, are you leaving?”

Mandy simply patted Jane’s head. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay here with you.”

Lance’s face turned pale, and his lips quivered. “Andrew, I can explain.”

I scoffed. “Explain what? How you spent your time and effort to seduce your friend’s girlfriend?”

Just like during his university days, he pursed his lips sadly, and his eyes grew dull.

Back then, when he lost his scholarship application form and the counsellor criticized him, I had to go back and forth to the office three times to help him get the process done.

Later on, when he could not pay rent, I had transferred all of my savings to him.

He had patted my shoulder and said that he did not know how to repay me.

After that, without a single word, he left the country.

I had been worried about him getting into some sort of difficulty and sent plenty of messages to him, but he never replied.

“Enough!” Mandy interrupted me. “Andrew, don’t run your mouth off. Lance never seduced me.”

I felt a sharp pain in my heart. “So, you two love each other? Am I the bad guy getting in the way of your perfect family?”

Lance hurriedly grabbed my hand. “That’s not it, Andrew. Listen to me.”

The sun shone on his hand, and his wristwatch stung my eyes.

I remembered the previous year’s Valentine’s Day.

When I was hanging Mandy’s jacket for her, I had touched a velvet box hidden deep in her jacket.

Very sneakily, I had opened it before putting it back quickly.

I had waited for the entire night, until the candlelight dinner I prepared meticulously turned cold. Even so, she never gave me the box.

Later on, when I asked about it in a roundabout fashion, she had answered coolly, “Oh. That one? That’s a custom product a client ordered.”

That sample was on Lance’s wrist.

I jerked my hand back and avoided his touch.

The force caused Lance to stagger, but before he could cry out in surprise, Mandy had already grabbed his arm and shielded him.

When she looked at me, her voice was full of reproach. “What on earth are you doing? Can’t you just talk properly? Lance is sickly and can’t handle you pushing him like this!”

So, by simply jerking my arm back, her heart was already aching for him so much?

What about me?

I stared at her. “Mandy, last year, I was in the ICU for two months because of an accident, and I nearly died. Didn’t you know that?”

Mandy frowned. “It’s already over, and you’re just fine, aren’t you?”