Chapter 2

My legs felt like lead as I slowly dragged myself out of the restroom.

From a dim corner, a voice I knew all too well echoed, tinged with faint mockery:

“Alice still crying every day?”

The man’s figure was hidden in the shadows, indistinct. Yet, the moment Jake Morgan, Leo’s best friend, spoke, I knew it was Leo—the man who had ‘died’ a month ago.

“Leo, Alice has been heartbroken this past month. If we hadn’t stopped her, she probably would have followed you to the grave!”

“Are you… really going to abandon Alice for Chloe Miller?”

Leo’s tone was casual: “Just keep comforting her for me for now…”

Another friend, Mark Evans, whispered from beside him:

“Leo, you haven’t actually fallen for Chloe, have you?”

“You faked your death just to chase her back from abroad, and made us all go along with your charade.”

I clenched my hands tightly, my body trembling uncontrollably.

Leo’s voice cut through the air again.

“Whether I’ve fallen for her or not is none of your business. Just keep it from her.”

Jake frowned: “But Alice, she…”

“She relies on me too much,” Leo interrupted. “It’s not good for her in the long run.”

Mark tentatively asked, “So when are you planning to tell Alice the truth?”

“No rush,” he said, turning, his voice languid.

“I’ll tell her when I get bored of Chloe.”

“It’s not every day I get an opportunity like this. It would be a waste not to have some fun, wouldn’t it?”

The three men exchanged knowing smiles.

A chill seeped from the top of my head straight to my core, making me tremble uncontrollably.

I had prayed countless times for Leo to come back to life.

But never in this twisted way.

I didn’t rush out to confront them.

Instead, I turned and discreetly walked away.

But at the corner, I accidentally bumped into a woman.

She caught me before I could fall, asking softly, “Madam, are you alright?”

At the sound of her voice, my body stiffened.

It was her.

The woman who shamelessly engaged with Leo in the restroom, the same Chloe Miller that Jake and Mark had mentioned.

The moment I looked up, she visibly faltered. Then, she subtly sized me up, a faint sneer playing on her lips.

I knew she recognized me.

Feigning ignorance, I offered a quiet thank you and left.

Back home, I stared at the woman in the mirror. Dark circles under my eyes, bloodshot gaze, utterly ravaged.

I splashed water on my face, trying to wake myself up.

A month ago.

Leo’s company building was suddenly engulfed in flames.

When I arrived at the scene, glass shards rained down from the inferno, the entire building a giant torch. I clung to the barrier in front of the blaze, watching firefighters rescue survivors batch after batch, but Leo was nowhere to be found.

When Jake and Mark were finally carried out, their faces were etched with grief as they clutched my hands:

“Leo… he’s dead… it’s all our fault. If he hadn’t saved us, he wouldn’t have… gone.”

I tried desperately to rush into the fire, but firefighters held me back firmly. Even when they told me Leo had perished, a sliver of hope still clung to my heart.

Hours later, firefighters finally found a body in the rubble. It was burned beyond recognition. But the diamond ring on its ring finger, a symbol of our love, confirmed it was my Leo.

In that moment, I felt my world collapse.

Overwhelmed by grief, I fainted.

Now, they tell me it was all a charade.

My heartbreak, from start to finish, was just a cruel joke.

How utterly ironic!