Chapter 3

I furrowed my brow, not wanting any interaction with this so-called "pure love."

Because that day, I discovered this Scarlett wasn't the gentle and kind "pure love" from some novel.

She was a complete goody two-shoes through and through!

I raised my hand and pressed reject.

The next second, another friend request came through.

"Don't you want to know why there was broken glass in your dance shoes?"

Those words painfully stung my eyes.

Since injuring my foot, I'd been entirely focused on whether I could dance again, and on Chase's departure.

I hadn't even had time to consider why there was broken glass in my dance shoes.

An ominous feeling rose in my mind.

With trembling hands, I accepted her friend request.

As soon as I agreed, she eagerly sent over two pictures.

One showed Chase sitting by the window peeling an apple, the other showed him asleep at the bedside after staying up all night to care for someone.

The man's face was still so handsome, but he had abandoned his girlfriend and was instead tenderly caring for someone else.

Clutching my phone, an endless ache spread through me.

From the time I was injured until now, Chase hadn't come to see me, let alone send me a single text message.To lie and say it doesn't hurt would be false.

Chase and I did have a sweet period together. In passionate moments, he would hold me and say he wanted to be with me forever.

Why has everything changed now?

"Do you have time? Can we meet?" she asked.

She didn't say much else, just extended an invitation to meet.

I thought there were indeed some things I needed to clarify, so I agreed to her invitation.

My foot can now touch the ground and walk, but if I overexert myself it still hurts a bit.

Perhaps I should be grateful that it was glass shards in my dance shoes back then, not nails.

I arrived at the agreed upon location.

It was a coffee shop. Scarlett sat by the window wearing a white dress.

She was quite attractive, and I recognized her immediately.

Seeing my still awkward gait, her eyes couldn't hide a glimmer of satisfaction.

"I didn't think you'd actually come."

I sat down on the couch and got straight to the point.

"Why were there glass shards in my shoes?"

She smiled.

"Of course, I asked Chase to put them there. I said I wanted to see what a bleeding white swan looked like."

"I didn't expect him to actually have someone do it."

"At the time, I asked him if he was worried you'd be angry. Guess what he said?He said you're just his dog, loving him to death, how could you possibly get angry?"

Scarlett was in a great mood, like a triumphant hen.

Hearing this, my chest heaved violently, filled with more anger than sadness.

My tolerance for Chase, my kindness towards him, in his eyes was apparently just this...

"Did you come here specifically to gloat?" My voice was ice-cold.

She smiled and continued speaking.

"I advise you to be smart and leave Chase. You know my position in his heart, it's not something you can compare to."

Indeed, Scarlett will always be first in Chase's heart, how could I, Verona, ever measure up?

But thinking about this, I still couldn't help feeling sad.

"And when you got hurt, I only needed to pretend a little, and he would abandon you."

"You're so pitiful."

Trying to provoke me? She certainly succeeded.

Before she could react, I grabbed the coffee from the table and threw it at her.

She seemed not to expect me to suddenly take action, and instantly screamed.

Her face and dress were covered in coffee, as she lay on the couch, looking utterly disheveled.

Seeing this scene, I laughed.