Chapter 3

A flicker of panic crossed William’s face, and he immediately lowered the gun.

There was still a trace of concern in his eyes as he looked at me. “Honey, what are you doing here?”

I looked at him and forced the faintest smile, bitterness spreading through my chest.

“Shouldn’t you be explaining yourself first? Why is my fiancé standing here getting engaged to another woman?”

William didn’t answer. Instead, he instinctively glanced back at Laura.

Laura walked over and slipped her arm naturally through his, tilting her head as she studied me with open curiosity.

“Who are you?”

Before I could answer, Laura’s father approached.

His gaze swept over me once before settling on William. He seemed to have already sensed that something was wrong, and there was a clear warning in his voice.

“My daughter isn’t someone you can treat casually. You’d better explain this to me.”

William immediately smiled and stepped away from me.

“Please don’t worry. This lady is only a friend of mine. I’ll take care of it.”

A friend. Something in my chest trembled at those words.

After seven years together, after all the times I had helped him from behind the scenes, all I amounted to in the end was a friend.

I thought I would cry, but strangely, not a single tear fell.

William turned to Laura. “Go stay with your father for a while. I’ll handle this.”

Laura nodded. Before leaving, she even gave me an apologetic smile.

“Don’t take it personally. William is usually so busy that he hardly has time for anything else. When we get married, we’ll definitely invite you.”

Once she was gone, William grabbed my wrist and dragged me behind one of the nearby pillars, as though I were something that had to be kept out of sight.

When he saw how red my eyes were, he lowered his voice and patiently explained.

“Lilith, I was going to wait a little longer before telling you, but I desperately need access to Laura’s family port right now. I don’t have another choice.”

“I have too many enemies right now. If Laura is the one everyone sees beside me, you’ll be safer.”

He paused, and his tone softened.

“Be good and don’t make a scene here. Once this is over, I’ll cut ties with her completely, and then you and I will have our ceremony.”

I stared at him, my throat tightening.

Once again, it was supposedly for my protection.

For seven years, he had used those words to keep me away from every public occasion and deny me any recognized place beside him.

Now he was using the same excuse to justify getting engaged to another woman.

“Then what am I?”

William frowned. “You’re the most important person in my life. Isn’t that enough?”

He released my wrist and straightened his cuff.

There had been a time when William couldn’t bear to see me suffer even the slightest hurt.

When one of his enemies threatened me, he moved all of his men to protect me and stayed awake for three days and three nights.

Once, when I had nothing more than a low fever, he ended a family meeting immediately and rushed home to take care of me.

But now, every grievance I had was nothing more than unreasonable behavior in his eyes.

At that moment, several of William’s men passed nearby. They glanced at us and began murmuring among themselves.

“Who is she?”

“I think she’s someone William used to see. She never had any official place in the family.”

“The Don is about to marry Miss Laura. If she really cares about him, she should know when to step aside.”

“Exactly. She should know her place. The family never acknowledged her, so at the end of the day, she’s still an outsider.”

They kept their voices low, but not low enough to stop me from hearing every word.

William didn’t tell them to stop. He only looked at me with a detached expression.

“Go home first. I still need to explain things to Laura. I’ll come back and stay with you later.”

I forced down the discomfort twisting inside me and answered quietly.

“Okay.”

Then I turned and walked away.

Behind me, I heard William speaking to Laura’s father.

“It was just a misunderstanding. I’ve already taken care of it.”

The sea breeze hit me the moment I stepped out of the warehouse.

Throughout the years William and I had been together, whenever we argued, I would always go back to my mother’s place.

I hailed a cab and gave the driver her address.