Chapter 6

I was no longer merely Nicole’s personal blood bank.

A little over a month passed.

During that time, Jayden donated blood to Nicole twice. After each donation, he would post about it on social media, along with photos of Nicole’s family treating him to dinner at an upscale restaurant.

I had heard of that restaurant. It was incredibly expensive. One meal cost about as much as two months of the Hayes family’s income.

Nothing was more expensive than something that was free.

To avoid paying for blood from the hospital blood bank, Nicole’s parents had first guilted me into donating for years.

Now they had turned to Jayden, who kept insisting he wanted nothing in return.

It was true that he had never asked for money. Still, the cost of treating him to those two dinners was higher than simply paying for blood from the hospital.

I did not say a word when I found out about it. It was not my problem anymore.

One weekend, while out with Jake, we unexpectedly ran into Mrs. Hayes.

The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up.

She grabbed my arm and immediately started complaining about Jayden.

“That nurse kept saying he didn’t want money, but he insisted we take him to Wilton’s for dinner every single time after donating blood. Once would’ve been one thing, but every time? We can’t afford a place like that!

“If I’d known he’d be like this, I’d rather you kept donating blood for Nicole. At least you made money from it, so we wouldn’t have to spend so much. Everybody wins!”

Before I could answer, Jake pulled my arm away from her.

“Madam, who do you think you are? Do you think you can just demand people to donate blood? You’re acting like some big shot when you’re nobody special.”

Mrs. Hayes’ face immediately turned pale. She frowned at me. “Evan, you’re just going to let your friend speak to your future mother-in-law like that?”

In the past, seeing Mrs. Hayes upset would have made me back down immediately.

This time, I only answered calmly, “What my friend said is exactly what I wanted to say.”

“Mrs. Hayes, let’s not talk about a ‘future mother-in-law’ anymore. The engagement is over, and our families have nothing to do with each other now. As for Nicole’s blood donation, I won’t be doing it again.”

Mrs. Hayes’ face turned white with anger.

I did not even spare her another glance. Jake and I simply walked away.

While we were on our way, he praised me. “I honestly thought you’d cave again. I figured she’d say a few nice words and you’d go right back to being Nicole’s personal blood bank.”

I smiled. “Back then, I couldn't let go of our years together. Now that I've finally moved on, I don’t care about them anymore.”

Jake gave my shoulder an approving pat.

After that, my health improved more and more. The traditional medicine doctor said I would not fully recover anytime soon, but aside from intense physical exercise, I could handle a normal work schedule and everyday life without any problems.

I successfully wrapped up several major projects.

Miss Warren happily submitted my performance for review. Soon afterward, I received a raise, and Mr. Yates officially handed me the new branch office project.

As my plane flew toward the branch office, I looked out the window at the drifting clouds and felt completely at peace.

The love I had devoted ten years to had betrayed me, but every step I had taken in my career still counted. Those efforts would never betray me.

I closed my eyes and slept soundly for the rest of the flight.

The moment I landed and turned my phone back on, I was greeted by dozens of messages from Nicole and her parents.

[Evan, that nurse disappeared!]