Chapter 12

Watching someone else's wedding was surprisingly interesting.

Flowers piled high, balloons floating in a riot of colors.

It was the picture of happiness.

Except, it was stolen.

"System, that cake on the long table looks delicious."

"Host, you seem... happy?"

"Should I remind you, this is your... husband's wedding?"

I crinkled my nose. "Because I'm going home soon, of course I'm happy."

As for Julian, he couldn't affect my emotions anymore.

When I first found out he was straying.

I was heartbroken, resentful.

I even doubted myself.

I cried myself to sleep night after night, losing clumps of hair.

Closing my eyes, my mind replayed endless loops: him and her, hands intertwined; them laughing and kissing; even embracing in bed.

The world I had once protected collapsed.

Later, I realized such behavior was foolish.

I couldn't punish my kind self for a man who had changed his heart.

What I needed to do was find opportunities to live in the sunshine again.

"Host, look, there's the scumbag."

Julian, in a black suit, appeared at the end of the lawn.

Handsome, elegant, with an exceptional demeanor.

The bride, well, she was beautiful too, her makeup impeccable.

At least there wasn't a hint of the panic of someone who had hit and run three days ago.

I slowly floated over to Julian.

I heard him quietly ask Scarlett, "Where's my phone?"

Scarlett's eyes darted away for a moment, "In the dressing room. I put it away for you."

A phone stuffed into a perfectly tailored groom's suit certainly wouldn't look good.

"Did I get any calls?"

"I think there was one."

Scarlett paused, "Do you want to go get it? But... the wedding is about to start."

Julian hesitated, "No need."

He gazed calmly ahead.

I wondered if he remembered our wedding.

We were so poor we could only afford silver rings, but we were so happy.

"Audrey, do you regret marrying a poor guy like me?"

"No, Dr. Hayes is a rising star."

Indeed, he later had the means to buy me a huge diamond ring.

But I no longer had that same joy.

"Audrey, my junior is sick, she's dying. Can I fulfill one of her wishes?"

"She's only 26, so pitiful. Julian, go quickly."

"Audrey, her wish is to marry me."

I froze instantly. "Julian Hayes, that wish is unreasonable."

"But she's dying."

"Even if she's dying, she can't just steal someone else's husband, someone else's relationship."

"Darling, that wish is immoral."

That day, he stood on the balcony, smoking for a long time.

Finally, he flicked the ash, and said, with profound coldness:

"Audrey, you've changed. You're not as kind as you used to be."

He left me with a room full of silence.

"Julian Hayes, did you forget, I'm most afraid of being alone?"

I sat in the empty living room, turning on every light, one by one, but still felt something was missing.

Finally, I buried my face in my arms, curling into a ball.

It wasn't me who changed.

Julian Hayes, it was you.

When he was with Scarlett Reid, I called him.

"My stomach hurts."

"Julian Hayes, my stomach hurts."

That day, he was with Scarlett at the very top of the Ferris wheel.

Legend said that kissing there symbolized love and eternity.

I didn't actually have a stomachache. I was standing below the Ferris wheel, watching them sit intimately together.

My heart hurt.

Julian, of course, knew my body well.

His tone on the phone was distant and cold, "Audrey, I'm a surgeon, not a gastroenterologist."

In that moment, I felt like I was going to die from the pain.

When someone can't tolerate your occasional whims.

That's probably when they've stopped loving you.

Love and indifference are always starkly different.