4

When I arrived at Aiden Asher's place, the table was piled high with ten pounds of raw oysters.

They were heaped into a small mountain, with a plate of Virility Scramble next to them.

The apartment was very tidy. Crucially, there were no traces of a woman's presence.

Aiden Asher tossed his car keys onto the coffee table, then grabbed an ice pack from the fridge and threw it to me.

I pressed the ice pack to my face.

Aiden Asher threw me an oversized shirt from his closet.

He squatted down to look at my suitcase and frowned.

"The lock on this suitcase is broken."

"And it's only got three wheels left. It's a miracle you managed to drag it here."

"Didn't your old man even buy you a decent suitcase?"

I took the shirt, stubbornly refusing to admit the truth. "It got damaged when my old man and I went camping."

Aiden Asher chuckled. "Oh? Sounds like the old man's still got some energy."

...

I walked straight to the bathroom. I was more familiar with Aiden Asher's place than my own home.

In the mirror, I could see my white dress was soaked through. The wet fabric clearly revealed the style of my underwear beneath it.

My hair was plastered to my head in strands, and my makeup was ruined.

'I just stood in front of Aiden Asher looking like this mess.'

I blushed as I tied up my hair, my vision blurring in the hot steam.

Just then, my phone rang. I wiped my wet hands and answered.

On the other end was my father's weary voice. "Zia, your engagement party with Mr. Linden is tomorrow. Your mother is still undergoing chemotherapy... I'm so useless right now, all I can do is watch you marry someone you don't love..."

As he spoke, my dad let out a deep sigh.

I bit my lip on my end of the line. "Dad, things will get better."

"How is Mom?"

My dad's voice was heavy. "Her condition isn't too bad. If you're being treated unfairly, you have to tell me. I'll go to the Linden Family and bring you back even if it's the last thing I do."

I murmured an affirmation and hung up.

After my shower, I changed into the oversized shirt and opened the bathroom door.

Just then, I saw Aiden Asher washing his hands at the sink nearby.

From behind, the line of his waist was smooth and strong.

He turned around, and I looked up, my gaze meeting his beautiful, almond-shaped eyes.

It felt as if my heart had started beating for this man all over again.

I nonchalantly averted my gaze. "I'm going to cook the oysters."

Aiden Asher walked over to the balcony and lit a cigarette. He spoke softly through the swirling smoke.

"These past three years... have you been happy?"

Something inside me snapped.

It wasn't that he hadn't begged me to get back together back then. But during that time, I blocked him on everything, making it impossible for him to find me.

But I forgot one thing: I never deleted my food delivery address.

Before we broke up, I had put on a flawless performance of a gold digger who despised the poor and worshipped the rich.

I rolled up the shirt's sleeves and fired back, the lie coming to me effortlessly.

"Of course I've been happy. The diamond necklace my old man gave me? It's made of pink diamonds air-freighted from South Africa."

Aiden Asher stubbed out his cigarette and spoke calmly, "That's your definition of happy?"

"I thought maybe the old man went to South Africa and dug them up for you himself."

I let out a small laugh, placed the clean oysters on a sheet of tin foil, and put them in the oven.

In reality, the one around my neck was just a fake I bought off some budget shopping app.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was dismantled from some old chandelier.

While I was waiting, I happened to spot an Armani 405 lipstick on the sofa.

And it had been used.