Chapter 2

The dense, fine pain came belatedly.

Originally, I would not have been this sad, and I could have just treated it as betrayal by someone who had been rotten by nature all along.

But after all, I had loved him for seven years.

On the day I decided to go abroad with Lucas Hayes to hide from the people chasing him, he took me to a club to drink and celebrate our escape.

The private room was lively, and our friends laughed and cheered, saying that once the storm passed, they had to witness our wedding.

I looked at the person beside me, my heart pounding wildly, and finally worked up the courage to ask softly:

“Lucas, after we arrive in the new country, let’s get married, okay?”

He hesitated for two seconds, then smiled gently.

“Okay. Once we settle down, we’ll get married.”

Cheers immediately rang out in the private room, and everyone congratulated us on our marriage in advance, making me blush with embarrassment.

I never expected that only two days later, I would hear Lucas Hayes personally shatter my fantasy of love.

I smiled, but tears slid down uncontrollably.

So his hesitation at that time was also because Lucas Hayes was coaxing me so he could drive me away as soon as possible for Chloe Lane’s sake, right?

The wind chimes in the bedroom jingled and swayed, drying my tears little by little.

My shattered heart slowly pieced itself back together too.

Lucas Hayes was wrong.

He was only a small gang leader, and an illegitimate son of the Hayes family at that.

And I was the Bennett family's only billionaire heir, so we truly should not have been together.

Because we were not a match.

The plane ticket in my hand was dampened by my tears.

But it was fine, because if this one was dirty, I could just replace it with a clean one.

The Bennett family was never short of backup options.

I booked a new plane ticket and called my mother:

“Mom, you were right. People’s hearts change.”

“I want to come home… I accept the arranged marriage with the Morgan family.”

The wind chimes in the room made a crisp and pleasant sound, as if celebrating for me.

I lowered my eyes slightly, and this time, the face that appeared before me was not Lucas Hayes’s.

A man whose features resembled Lucas Hayes by about thirty percent, but who was even more handsome and dazzling, smiled at me with the same certainty and seriousness he had shown two years ago:

“Hailey Bennett, sooner or later, you’ll give up on Lucas Hayes and choose me.”

Back then, I had thought Ethan Morgan was joking.

Now, I silently repeated it in my heart.

Lucas Hayes, I truly do not want you anymore.

After buying the new plane ticket, I let out a long breath, and my heart had already quietly calmed.

But the bedroom door was suddenly knocked on.

I froze, because I had always lived in this house alone, and the only person who knew the passcode would be…

I opened the door, and sure enough, I saw Lucas Hayes’s face.

His tone was as gentle as ever: “Hailey, why did you move out of our home and come live by yourself? It isn’t safe for you to live alone.”

“What if the people chasing me catch you when you’re by yourself—”

I tried my best to speak in a calm tone: “I want to be alone for a while.”

I was about to ask him to leave when, from the corner of my eye, I caught sight of an unexpected figure.

Chloe Lane’s petite body shrank beside Lucas Hayes, and the moment her eyes met mine, she flinched.

Lucas Hayes watched her every move, and when he saw that, he immediately pulled her loosely into his arms:

“Hailey, you scared Chloe.”

It was like this again; Chloe Lane always put on a fragile act, as if she was afraid I would bully her, making it seem like I was some unforgivable villain.

But I clearly had not done anything.

My expression turned cold: “I told you before, I don’t like other people coming to my home.”

Lucas Hayes frowned slightly, somewhat displeased: “Chloe isn’t an outsider.”

“Besides, she only came because she was worried about you.”

Before I could refute him, Chloe Lane’s eyes suddenly reddened:

“Hailey, I’m sorry. I know you’ve always looked down on me, but I shower every day.”

She bit her lip and added with tears in her eyes, “I won’t make your house dirty…”

Hearing that, Lucas Hayes immediately furrowed his brows and looked at me unhappily: “Hailey, Chloe has nowhere to go, so what’s wrong with her staying with me?”

“You treating her like this really disappoints me.”

Chloe Lane carefully tugged at the corner of Lucas Hayes’s shirt, tolerant, generous, and understanding:

“Lucas, I’m fine. Don’t fight with Hailey because of me…”

She sniffled and showed an aggrieved yet stubborn smile:

“After all, you two are the couple, and I’m just the little maid who follows you around. With my lowly status…”

“What nonsense are you saying? You are one of a kind.”

Lucas Hayes held Chloe Lane’s face with distress and coaxed her softly.

Then he turned to look at me, his face as cold as if it had frozen over, and he said heavily, “Chloe isn’t in the right state emotionally, so I’ll take her away first.”

“Reflect on yourself properly, and don’t forget your passport needs to be updated.”

I did properly reflect on my own inability to judge people.

Then I lifted my foot and went to change the front door passcode.

The stifled anger in my heart finally eased for a moment.