Chapter 3

The next day, I took the new application form to City Hall to update my passport.

As I watched the new passport that symbolized my departure being firmly stamped on the paper, my heart suddenly felt empty for a moment.

After standing there in a daze for a while, someone blocked my path.

Lucas Hayes frowned slightly:

“Hailey, did you change the front door passcode at your place?”

“Yesterday, after I sent Chloe home, I went to find you right away, but the door wouldn’t open…”

I interrupted him and said simply, “Yes, I changed it.”

He seemed a little unhappy, yet he still asked intimately, as if nothing had happened, “What’s the new passcode? It’ll be easier for me to go to your place and find you.”

I said calmly, “No need. After I go abroad, I won’t be living here.”

Lucas Hayes looked at the new passport in my hand, as if he had suddenly remembered something: “I almost forgot about this.”

“Don’t worry, Hailey. I’ll go pick up my passport and plane ticket later.”

Ever since Chloe Lane appeared, experiences like walking and chatting with Lucas Hayes had become fewer and fewer.

I closed my eyes, allowed the reluctance in my heart to surface, and tested him:

“There’s no need to talk about worrying or not worrying between us.”

Lucas Hayes was silent for a long time, then suddenly said, “Hailey, actually I…”

Chloe Lane suddenly appeared behind Lucas Hayes, holding a bag of fruits and vegetables, and complained to him affectionately:

“Lucas, didn’t we agree that you’d wait for me to cook for you? Why did you suddenly disappear?”

As she spoke, she handed the bag to Lucas Hayes:

“I saw that you’ve been hurt lately, so I’ll make chicken soup for you. I’ve also planned out your meals for the next few days.”

As she said that, she blinked playfully: “You won’t blame me for deciding on my own, will you?”

“Of course not…” Lucas Hayes smiled a little stiffly, and he glanced at me guiltily.

Seeing that I had no reaction, his expression actually showed a faint hint of disappointment.

So while pushing me away, you had already planned a future together with someone else.

It was just that your future had never included me.

I did my best to maintain my dignity on the surface, but deep inside, bitterness spread endlessly like a cup of coffee.

I pinched my palm and forced myself to stay clear-headed: “You two talk. I’ll leave first.”

Chloe Lane looked as if she had only just noticed me, and her whole body seemed startled by me: “Ha-Hailey…”

“Are you unhappy because I’m cooking for Lucas?”

“But I’m only helping you take care of him, since you’re usually so busy…”

As she spoke, she actually began to sob again.

I did not want to act along with her, so I said coldly, “Move.”

The thin guilt in Lucas Hayes’s eyes vanished, and he grabbed my wrist, his tone mixed with anger:

“Hailey Bennett, what kind of tone is that?”

Without letting me argue, he dragged me in front of Chloe Lane and roared, “Apologize to Chloe!”

The last piece of pure ground in my heart silently turned into scraps of ruin.

This time, without the slightest hesitation, I raised my hand and slapped Lucas Hayes hard across the face:

“Lucas Hayes, the person who should apologize most is you.”

“But not to Chloe Lane. You should apologize to me.”