Chapter 3

"If you want money so badly, fine."

"Sera and I are getting married. I remember you designed a wedding dress. How much do you want for it? I'll buy it."

Caleb tightly clasped Sera's hand, looking at me with absolute certainty.

My breath hitched, and my heart gave a sharp lurch.

That wedding dress was my first creation.

The day it was finished, Caleb held the design sketch, grinning like a kid.

He said he could picture how beautiful I'd look in it just by glancing at it.

Now he wanted that very dress for someone else.

Even though I knew deep down that I'd never get to wear it for Caleb, hearing him offer it to another woman still sent a pang of pain through my chest.

After a long moment, I finally managed to find my voice.

"Sure, it depends on how much Mr. Thorne is willing to pay. If the price is right, it's yours."

Caleb's expression was filled with scorn.

"Eleanor, you really are obsessed with money. I truly don't know how I ever fell for a woman like you."

With that, he didn't spare me another glance, pulling Sera past me.

I clenched the report so tightly my fingers ached.

I thought after that day at the fish stand, we wouldn't run into each other again.

But it turned out Northwood was a terrifyingly small city.

Caleb hated me, but even through my pain, I felt a flicker of perverse relief.

Hate was fine. If love was gone, at least there was hate.

That way, if I ever left, he might forget our past, but he'd remember this hate.

Hate lasts longer than love, doesn't it?

I forced a bitter smile, wiping away the trickling nosebleed, and slowly pushed myself up against the wall.

But before I could turn to leave, a familiar female voice spoke up behind me.

"Eleanor, I thought when you agreed to leave Caleb, you'd finally understood, that you'd be willing to let him go."

"I never imagined you'd remain so stubborn. Five years have passed, Caleb doesn't care about you anymore, so how dare you shamelessly show up again?"

"Don't think I don't know you've been secretly sending letters to Caleb all these years! Do you know that if I hadn't intercepted them, Caleb would have been ruined by a terrible person like you?!"

Without Caleb by her side, Sera was like a different person.

Her eyes were filled with hatred, her face twisted into a vicious sneer.

I wasn't surprised by her sudden change in attitude.

In fact, her previous pretense of being gentle and generous had always disgusted me.

When I first met Sera, she was already skilled at pretense.

Back then, I felt pity for how sweet and mature the girl seemed. Even though Caleb and I were just starting our business and funds were incredibly tight, I still set aside a portion each month to help her with her studies.

Sera would always sweetly call me "Ellie" back then, and I was fooled by her act.

Until Caleb fell ill, and she immediately cut off contact with us.

The next time I saw her, she was by Caleb's side, taking my place.

And I, due to the kidney donation, was deteriorating day by day.

I still remember what Sera said to me when she and Caleb were about to go abroad.

She said. "Ellie, in your current state, you can't be there for Caleb, and you can't share his burdens. You'll only drag him down."

"Don't you love him most? Can you really bear to see such an excellent Caleb dragged down by you?"

"This opportunity to go abroad is one Caleb has waited a long time for. Can you really bear to ruin it with your own selfish desires? I hope you won't contact Caleb anymore. Instead of having him fall from his pedestal with a burden, it's better to discard something useless, don't you agree?"

I hated her hypocrisy, and I hated how easily she took everything that belonged to me.

But one thing she said was indeed true.

I really didn't want such a bright and proud Caleb to become bogged down because of me.

If he were confined to my sickbed every day, worrying about my illness, that would indeed be selfish.

So I endured. For a long time, I didn't contact him.

Only during treatments, when the pain became unbearable, would I send him a letter.

For five years, I always hoped.

Maybe one day, Caleb would reply to me.

Even a word or two of concern? But there was nothing.

I thought Caleb truly hated me, but I never expected Sera to have interfered.

"Eleanor, why are you so persistent? Didn't we agree you wouldn't appear in front of Caleb again?"

Sera glared at me, as if I'd stolen something precious from her.

I just lifted my eyes, giving her a faint glance.

"Agreed? I don't recall us agreeing on anything."

"Sera Hayes, if your memory is failing, go get your head checked. Don't waste my time here. I don't think we have anything to catch up on."

I turned to leave, but Sera quickly grabbed my arm.

Seeing I wasn't budging, she clearly became exasperated.

"Eleanor, are you regretting it now? Seeing Caleb has money again, you want to snatch him back, don't you?"

"I'm telling you, don't even think about it!"

"I'm carrying Caleb's child now. His heart and his side belong only to me!"

Watching her agitated expression, I found it amusing.

"I don't recall ever abandoning him. Besides, if I hadn't wanted to avoid holding him back, you wouldn't be in the picture at all."

"You're so tense right now, could it be you're afraid I'll tell Caleb what really happened back then?"

Sera's face immediately stiffened as I hit a nerve.

After a long pause, she bit out, "Eleanor, do you dare to bet that Caleb won't care about you at all now? Between you and me, no matter what, he'll only choose me!"