Chapter 3

That night, the birthday party was in full swing, but Eliza and Charles were nowhere to be found.

They didn't show up until the party was almost over and only my close friends of the same generation and a few close businessmen were left chatting.

Eliza had changed her clothes. Her face was flushed, and her lips were swollen.

Charles looked like he was on cloud nine, and there were faint red marks peeking out from his open shirt collar.

Everyone knew what they had done and kept looking at me, while my friends just shook their heads, looking like they wanted to say something but held back.

In my previous life, I would've stormed over and smacked Eliza. But this time, I just picked up a cup of coffee from the table and took a sip.

Charles stood protectively in front of Eliza, waiting for me to blow up. When I ignored them, though, he started scowling, clearly annoyed.

Eliza pulled Charles in and started kissing him right there as if no one else was around. Charles didn't stop her and even let her sit on his lap.

It was their business, and I couldn't care less.

But my best friend, Sienna Smith, couldn't take it anymore and yanked them apart. "Eliza, Charles is practically Violet's fiancé! You're so shameless."

Before Eliza could respond, Charles exploded. "Sienna? Last I checked, the Smith family has a bunch of projects funded by the Cameron family. How dare you lecture me? Violet hasn't said anything. Who are you to butt in?"

"Charles, watch your mouth," I shouted.

Sienna was kind to me, and I wasn't about to let him trash-talk her. "The leading man at the Cameron Group hasn't stepped down yet. What makes you so sure that I'll pick you and that you'll get that 20% stake?"

Charles stared at me, then burst out laughing. "Are you trying to play hard to get? Everyone knows you're crazy about me. Who else is there? One of my sisters has married off overseas, and the other has locked in her room making art all day. And my little brother's in jail doing time. You wanna join him?"

Then, he thought of something and added, "Look, Violet, whatever beef our families had is old news. Your mom's gone, and no amount of holding grudges will bring her back. Let it go, for everyone's sake. Eliza's innocent in all this."

Innocent? I almost laughed out loud.

When my mom, Amelia Macleod, was pregnant, Eliza's mom, Ivy Wilson, showed up at our door with Eliza. She claimed my dad, Blake Macleod, had knocked her up and ditched her, and she called Amelia a homewrecker.

During the fight, Ivy pushed Amelia down the stairs, and Amelia and the baby died.

But it turned out that Eliza wasn't even Blake's kid but was my deadbeat uncle's, and Ivy was just a cocktail waitress.

Amelia and the baby were the real victims.

Lost in thought, I didn't notice Charles grinning. He thought it was my acquiescence and happily said, "Oh yeah, happy birthday."

With that, he added, pulling off his tie and tossing it at me, "Here. It is for you."

Eliza said in a loud voice, "Charles, do you think she'll like it? She might blame me for stealing her gift again."

As she spoke, she tugged at her collar to show off a necklace.

Charles shrugged. "Don't worry. She doesn't like anything but what I've used. You didn't steal anything. Once I give something to you, it's yours."

They snickered as the tie smacked me in the face. It stung like a slap.

In my previous life, I had indeed enjoyed collecting things that Charles had used, including the ring he wore when we met, the tie from our wedding, and the watch from his big promotion.

I kept them in fancy boxes, thinking they were precious mementos.

He laughed at me and said they were all rags that were worn once and thrown away, and that I was the only one who considered them a treasure.

Mortal things were precious because they were endowed with feelings, and he didn't love me, so he naturally wouldn't understand.

I sighed, picked up the tie, and chucked it in the trash can, saying, "Trash belongs in the trash."

Charles went crazy. "Fine, Violet! Our wedding's getting put on ice!"