Chapter 3

Victoria paused, then slowly turned her head.

Blake stood quietly not far away, extending his hand to her.

"Honey, I've been waiting for you up here."

He pulled out his phone. "I messaged you hours ago to meet at the summit. I didn't expect you to take so long to come up. I was worried something had happened to you."

Victoria stared at me blankly, my words echoing in her mind.

So brief, yet so hurtful.

Seeing Victoria didn't move, Blake walked forward and took her hand, then whispered intimately in her ear.

"Who's this?"

Compared to three years ago, I had a few more lines of hardship on my face, but my looks hadn't really changed.

Blake, however, deliberately pretended not to recognize me.

Victoria stiffly introduced me. "This...this is Alex."

Blake gasped dramatically, covering his mouth.

"My God, Alex. What happened to you? You look...weathered."

His disgusted gaze fell on my faded T-shirt. "Adidai? Alex, really. If you can't afford the real thing, must you try quite so hard? Wearing such an obvious counterfeit...it's just sad."

Then he realized he'd said the wrong thing and shrank back behind Victoria, looking scared.

"I'm always blunt, I didn't mean any harm. Please don't hit me again. Victoria spent millions getting me a cochlear implant."

Blake's eyes were full of provocation, but I didn't react at all.

Victoria had always considered Blake's bluntness a virtue, but now it sounded grating.

"Blake, enough."

Blake rolled his eyes at me impatiently, then whined to Victoria. "Okay, my dearest wife, it's my fault, I spoke without thinking. But Alex really has changed so much from three years ago. I was just too shocked."

Blake pulled a premium black card from his pocket. "I just heard Victoria wants to help you, but your bank account must have been frozen three years ago, right? This card has five million in it. It should be enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life."

I reached out to push the card back, but Blake sneered, then let go.

The bank card slapped against the muddy ground.

Blake looked at me apologetically. "Oops, my hand slipped."

"I remember you used to be a germaphobe. But I guess after selling BBQ for so long, you wouldn't have that anymore, huh?"

"I heard street food from stalls is often unsanitary and disgusting. You don't mind selling this stuff for money, and you're quite hardy."

The customers nearby, holding their skewers, all looked disgusted, questioning their food.

My gaze instantly hardened, fixed on him.

Victoria thought I was about to hit Blake, and she nervously shielded him.

I picked up the mud-stained bank card and tossed it into Blake's chest.

"Every ingredient here passes inspection," I said, my voice calm and firm. "If you have proof of wrongdoing, feel free to report it."

My response seemed to tip the scales. Customers stepped forward to defend me.

"The lamb and beef skewers here are freshly cut and skewered by the owner early in the morning. We all saw it!"

"He even livestreams the whole process-from buying the meat at the market to marinating it. Everything's clean. There's nothing unsanitary about this place!"

Blake tried to say something else, but Victoria, her face hardened, pulled him back.

"Blake, that's enough."

Blake reluctantly shut his mouth, not daring to say more.

Victoria looked at my eyes, devoid of any warmth, and her fingers slowly tightened.

"I apologize for disturbing you today. It won't happen again."

"You...you've changed so much."