Chapter 4

I slept until I woke on my own, in the apartment I'd bought with my own money, and my mood was very good.

I made myself a cup of coffee and sipped it slowly to the last drop.

Then I opened my phone and started deleting photos, one by one.

The photo of us leaning against each other, watching the sunset. Deleted.

The one of us making DIY rings together. Deleted.

The one of us feeding each other ice cream. Deleted.

Looking back now, maybe we'd never really been right for each other from the start.

A sound from my phone pulled my attention back.

It was a message from my fiancé.

He'd sent a photo of an evening gown, blurry and hastily taken, with a voice note attached.

"Lorraine, do you like this dress?" His voice was gentle. "Last time, I saw you standing at the window looking at it for a long while, so I took it upon myself to buy it for you."

The gown was the short style I loved.

And the color was purple, the one I liked best of all.

A moment later he sent another photo.

In it, he was holding a bunch of purple baby's breath and smiling at the camera.

There was a line written across the flowers.

"Lorraine, thank you for agreeing to marry me."

Two short photos.

I played his voice note over and over, and didn't reply.

My eyes went hot and red.

I hadn't expected him to notice even something this small.

Chad had never been this attentive.

I was just about to reply when a message popped up.

It was a video from Chad.

In it, a pair of pink diamond earrings, and I could hear the auctioneer's voice calling out bids.

"Winston pink diamond earrings, opening price: one hundred million."

"These are the only earrings in the entire auction. I'm buying them back for you, to make up for it."

A moment later he sent another message.

"Olivia liked them, but I couldn't bear to give them to her. I'm still on your side, after all."

Reading that, I couldn't help a bitter little laugh.

Did he really not know that pink was the color I hated most?

The person he most wanted to buy that necklace for was Olivia Finch. Pink was her favorite color.

I deleted his messages.

The next second, one of Olivia Finch's new posts popped up.

The video showed her at the auction, her arm linked through some man's.

No need to guess who the man was. It was Chad.

Her caption read: "Diamond necklace from the person who cares about me. I'm so happy!"

I recognized at a glance that the necklace was from the same set as the earrings Chad wanted to give me.

So it turned out that what he gave me was only an afterthought too.

Then I turned off my phone.

As the sun was setting, I got a call from Grandpa Gilbert.

The old man's tired voice came through the receiver.

"Lorraine, Chad just called to confront me."

"He's convinced this marriage was something I schemed behind his back."

I looked at the sunset and said nothing.

"I let him believe it."

Grandpa spoke to me earnestly. "Lorraine, you're a good child. You shouldn't be trapped on Chad."

"You don't have to hold back. You deserve a better choice."

"I know Gordon Gilbert has always carried you in his heart. You kept refusing him, out of loyalty to what you had with Chad."

"I watched Gordon grow up. He's a man who takes responsibility."

"I'm very glad you can accept him."

"No matter who you choose, you're still the granddaughter-in-law of my Gilbert family."

Grandpa was truly happy for me. "He's a better match for you."

"Your engagement banquet with Gordon, I'll hold it grandly."

"In my heart, you're already my granddaughter."

My granddaughter.

My throat closed up all at once.

Grandpa's steady breathing came through the receiver.

He paused a while, then said softly:

"Lorraine."

"Chad won't own you."

"There will always be someone who takes you in."