Chapter 1

　　On the other side, Ted's voice continued.

　　"If it weren't for the fear of dragging Laurel down, I wouldn't have agreed to Alice's confession."

　　"But now that Laurel is back, of course, I have to give her a proper title and give her all my love."

　　Damien sighed heavily.

　　It seemed he found Ted too cruel, and his conscience couldn't bear it. He advised:

　　"This is too unfair to Alice. You can't let a woman who has been so good to you become the stepping stone between you and Laurel."

　　Upon hearing this, Ted became a little unhappy.

　　"But haven't I been with her for so many years?"

　　"Because of this, Laurel is very sad and thinks that I don't want her anymore. I owe her."

　　"I will find a chance to explain everything to Alice and give her some money to settle it."

　　I felt like I had fallen into an ice cave.

　　In his eyes, I was deceived by him, I lost a kidney for him, and ruined my body, but none of it compared to Laurel's single tear.

　　I closed my eyes, unable to stop the tears from falling.

　　I never expected that Ted, who had always fulfilled my every request and cared for me so much, had never loved me.

　　Once, he would run all over the city in the middle of winter to buy me grass-flavored ice cream when I casually mentioned it.

　　He would stay up all night rubbing my stomach when I had period pains.

　　To others, our relationship seemed sweet and envied by many.

　　But now I know, all of it was fake.

　　It was a beautiful dream that Ted had created for me.

　　When the discussion inside stopped and the footsteps grew closer,

　　I hurriedly turned around but accidentally bumped into a vase placed nearby.

　　The vase fell to the ground with a crash.

　　I lost my balance and fell, my palm landing on the shards of the broken vase.

　　When Ted came out, this was the scene he saw.

　　He was anxious and rushed over.

　　"Alice, are you okay? How could you be so careless?"

　　His eyes were filled with obvious concern for me.

　　Damien leaned against the door frame, watching me with an unreadable expression.

　　Ted originally wanted to take me to the hospital, but suddenly remembered that Damien was a doctor.

　　Damien said nothing, turning to go downstairs to get the medical kit from the car.

　　During this time, Ted kept looking at me with concern.

　　"Alice, don't be afraid, it won’t hurt for long."

　　"I'm not afraid, no matter how much it hurts, it’s nothing compared to when I had to donate my kidney."

　　When I said this, Ted froze.

　　I had never mentioned it in front of him before.

　　Because I didn’t want to put too much pressure or emotional burden on him.

　　Once, when he found out that I had sold my kidney for him, he hugged me and cried uncontrollably.

　　At that time, his emotions of gratitude and guilt were real.

　　But the truth is, he never loved me.

　　When Damien returned, the atmosphere in the room was still very awkward.

　　But he didn’t speak, silently opening the medical kit to treat my wounds.

　　Ted kept showing concern for me.

　　"Does it still hurt, Alice?"

　　I shook my head, but my eyes were growing more and more sore.

　　If I hadn’t heard those words from him, I might have been deceived by him for a lifetime.

　　Seeing my eyes turning red, Ted gently pulled me into his arms.

　　I, who once longed for the warmth of his embrace, now felt uncomfortable.

　　I struggled to break free, but Ted held me tighter.

　　He suddenly sighed.

　　"Alice, even if I'm not by your side in the future, you must take care of yourself."

　　"Why wouldn’t you be by my side?" I looked into his eyes.

　　His gaze faltered, and he stammered:

　　"It’s just... just a hypothetical."

　　I sneered inwardly but obediently nodded on the surface.

　　After Damien treated my wounds, he was about to leave, and I saw him out.

　　Just as Ted received a phone call, he didn’t follow me out.