Chapter 3

Yvette froze for a moment, her voice suddenly turning cold. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

I was about to explain, but she cut me off impatiently. “Do you really have to make a scene like this every time?”

“You’re twenty-five. You’re not a child anymore. Can you stop acting so immature? Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to keep having to comfort you?”

Suddenly, I did not feel like explaining myself anymore. I hung up the call.

Ever since I got together with her, our eight-year age gap had always been a knot in my heart. As such, I was always careful to make myself seem mature. I never let myself act childish around her.

Yvette wanted to focus on her career, so I stayed quietly behind her and supported her. She drank at business dinners and flirted with other men, and I pretended not to notice.

In the end, I had only succeeded in turning myself into a joke.

I did not know if it was because I never went to pick up my things, but Yvette actually came to my house herself.

She handed me a gift box. “I saw this on the way here. You’ve always liked this kind of thing. Keep it.”

“Thanks.”

I took it politely, went straight back to my room, and tossed it into the trash.

The sound of porcelain shattering reminded me that the box really did contain the cup I had left at Yvette’s place.

When I came back out, Diana had already made dinner. The three of us had just sat down when the doorbell rang.

Edmund stood outside with a bright smile. “Sorry I’m late.” He apologized, but his eyes never left Yvette.

Diana immediately understood what was going on and warmly invited him inside.

Yvette suddenly rose to her feet and moved to the seat beside me. “Can I sit here?”

Her eyes stayed fixed on mine, as though she were searching for even the slightest hint of jealousy or anger. However, there was nothing.

Diana brought Edmund toward the dining table, then froze for a moment when she saw where I was sitting.

She hurried over, pulled me to her side, and whispered to Yvette with a disgruntled look.

“What am I supposed to do, sitting between your ex-boyfriend and the guy you’re supposedly flirting with? It’s obvious Edmund came here for you tonight. Don’t screw this up.”

Edmund naturally took the seat beside Yvette.

“Lucas, do you like the gift box I picked out for you? I chose everything myself.”

His words were practically a declaration of war, a reminder that his place in Yvette’s heart was anything but ordinary.

I simply gave him a cool, “Thanks.”

Diana laughed. “You two still treat him like a kid. I’m just hoping he’ll start dating soon. That way, when he’s out…”

“Diana!”

I cut her off. “Weren’t you going to introduce me to someone before?”

Diana stared at me in shock. “You agreed to meet her? Then I’ll call and arrange it right now. You need to make a good impression on the first date. I’ll have a designer come over and make you two custom suits tomorrow. And we’ll need to book a stylist, too.”

Yvette’s expression grew darker by the second. She stared at me without blinking. “You’re going on a blind date?”

“Yeah. Do you know any nice girls you could introduce me to, Ms. Yvette?”

Yvette’s fingers tightened around her cutleries, trembling slightly.

Edmund noticed and casually remarked, as though it were nothing. “Actually, Eve is only two years older than Lucas. You two look pretty good together.”

Yvette shot to her feet. “Don’t spout nonsense. He’s my junior!”

I nodded. “Ms. Yvette is like an aunt to me. Mr. Edmund, that’s not really appropriate.”

I barely remember how dinner ended that night. All I remember is that after that day, Yvette never contacted me again.

Diana, however, told me something. “Edmund says he wants to win Yvette back. He asked us to help him. You’re not too busy these days, so come with me.”

I agreed without hesitation. “Sure.”

Yvette should be pretty happy that I was helping her get back together with her ex-boyfriend, right?