Chapter 3

Vivian turned around.

This was her first time meeting Evelyn.

Sebastian frowned. "Why were you not resting and recovering?"

"Why did you care?" Evelyn curled her lips into a faint smile. "You did not care about me anyway. You still rushed back here to play the hero."

Sebastian walked closer and lowered his voice. "Do not start. Your injuries have not healed yet. I will have someone take you home."

That expression allowed Vivian to glimpse a side of Sebastian she had never seen before, a warmth and liveliness that did not belong to the distant "Mr. Hayes" she knew. She said nothing and quietly left on her own.

The next morning, Vivian received a call from the wedding planner.

"Hello, Miss Carter. I am sorry to bother you. Regarding some valuable items that were prepared for your wedding with Mr. Hayes, they are still stored in our hotel’s safe. We wanted to ask whether you had time to come and collect them."

Vivian rubbed her forehead. "Please arrange to have them delivered to me."

The woman hesitated. "Miss Carter, the items are quite valuable. According to our hotel’s policy, we recommend that items like these be confirmed and collected personally."

There was a brief silence. "Got it. I will pick them up."

The person in charge was a young woman. The moment she saw Vivian, she put on a professional smile.

"Miss Carter, this way."

She led Vivian into a private viewing room. On a velvet display table sat a collection of dazzling treasures.

At the center was the pair of diamond rings. The stones shimmered under the lights. Sebastian bought them at an auction. He once told her that the pink diamond matched her temperament perfectly. She had secretly been happy about it for days.

Beside them were two wedding gowns. The hems were embroidered by hand with delicate lily-of-the-valley patterns. Sebastian flew them in from Paris. Still, Vivian always loved baby’s breath flowers.

Then there were the matching jewelry pieces and the veil. Every item was priceless.

The woman looked at them with a hint of regret. Vivian only stared quietly.

"There is one more thing." The woman copied a video file from the computer and handed it to her. "This was the compatibility interview video we arranged. The planner said it turned out beautifully. It was supposed to be played during the wedding reception."

Vivian was startled for a moment. Then she remembered.

At the beginning of the wedding preparations, the planner suggested adding a fun segment. They were each asked five questions separately to test how well they knew each other. Their answers were supposed to be revealed at the wedding.

"Thank you." She reached out to take the file. Someone accidentally touched the computer. The large screen lit up and the video began playing.

Sebastian appeared on the screen.

He sat in a warmly decorated interview room and wore a simple white shirt. It was a rare glimpse of the man he was in private.

The planner’s cheerful voice came from behind the camera. "Mr. Hayes, are you ready? First question. When did you first fall for Miss Carter?"

Sebastian paused. "I think Vivian and I would give different answers to this question because she did not notice me at that time."

"Oh?" The planner sounded curious. "Could you tell us more? Was Miss Carter especially beautiful back then? Was it love at first sight?"

Sebastian let out a quiet laugh and shook his head.

"No. She was not exactly at her best. Her hair was messy. There were bruises on her face."

The planner sounded surprised. "Then what was it?"

"She had been cornered by someone threatening her and telling her what news she should write and what she should not. What did she do?" Sebastian’s smile deepened. "She looked at them, smiled, and said, what I write is what needs to be written.

"I remember thinking how there could be a woman who remained so fearless in a situation like that."

The planner gasped. "Wow. I never would have guessed Miss Carter, who always seems so gentle, could say something like that."

The video continued, yet Vivian could not bear to hear it anymore.

A ringing filled her ears and replaced the sound with another voice. It mixed with the noisy background of the bar. The bartender’s lazy voice echoed in her memory.

"Do not underestimate Mr. Sebastian. He was very good with sweet words. Once, they played truth or dare here. Someone asked him what he liked about Miss Evelyn. After all, her temper was explosive.

"Mr. Sebastian said it was because Evelyn had a kind of freedom and confidence that no one else had.

"Someone once kidnapped Evelyn just to humiliate him. They said they would only let her go if Sebastian got down on his knees. Evelyn refused. She looked at him and said, it was only life or death. What was there to fear. Then she used her own strength to slowly break free from the ropes.

"Mr. Sebastian said that was the moment he realized that even when completely alone and with no one to rely on, there was still a woman who could say something so fearless and effortless."