Stephenie hitched her breath when her back hit the cold wall. Their stare-down lasted about a minute until they heard a knock on the bathroom door, followed by a voice.

"Stephenie, are you in there?" John asked, knocking repeatedly.

In the cramped space of the bathroom, Stephenie pursed her lips and propped her arm on the sink countertop. She expected to feel no tension because she was prepared for it, but she was mistaken.

That feeling was heightened when Edward pinched her waist with his large hand.

In contrast to his aggressive hand, his face appeared so calm that his voice didn't waver as he uttered a watertight lie. "It's me," he said loudly enough for John, who was standing outside, to hear.

"Edward?" John asked, leaning even more to the door to confirm if he was right. But he didn't wait for Edward to respond and hurriedly fired another question. "Are you in the bathroom alone?"

"And if I say no, will you believe me when I say I'm here with a chick?" Edward teased, smirking while looking straight at Stephenie's eyes.

Stephenie was at a loss for words about how shameless Edward was. Vexed, she grabbed Edward's collar, ready to curse him.

Meanwhile, thinking that Edward was just fooling around, John only chuckled and replied, "You nasty man."

"Did you see Stephenie, by any chance?" This time, it was Alan, who was with John, asked.

Edward leaned over Stephenie, their chests touching, and kissed her nape before he lied again. "Nope."

Stephenie froze in place as his warm breath touched her bare skin, and the hair on her arms stood on end.

After a long time, Edward finally returned to his friends, but he was welcomed by Eason with his long face.

"Where the hell did you go and slack off? The bridesmaids were waiting, and I couldn't find you anywhere; I was so embarrassed in front of my wife!" Eason complained, looking stressed.

Edward creased his forehead and pointed to John and Alan as he asked, "They didn't tell you I was constipated?"

Eason was dumbstruck by the latter's reasoning, but he couldn't bring himself to refute it because he didn't know whether his friend was telling the truth since neither John nor Alan denied it.

While Eason was busy bandying words with Edward, John kept trying to connect with Stephenie's phone when his gaze fell on Edward's disheveled collar. His brow furrowed as his thoughts began to wander, but the phone was patched through, and Stephenie's voice came in, saying, "John, sorry, my phone was in silent mode. I just saw your calls."

"Where are you?" John asked worriedly.

"Shopping," Stephenie answered sparingly.

John was skeptical of her response but brushed it off because he was certain his girlfriend would never lie to him.

Five minutes later, Stephenie finally arrived at the event hall, where the wedding ceremony had just begun.

Naturally, the groomsmen and the bridesmaids sat at the same table, but since Stephenie was John's girlfriend, she was also there, and Edward, who sat diagonally across from her, chatted happily with several bridesmaids throughout the party.

When the party ended around 9:30 pm, John noticed Stephenie's strange walking posture, so he concernedly asked her, "Is there something wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine; it's just that I've been wearing high heels for too long," Stephenie reasoned, then secretly glanced at the culprit, who Eason instructed to send the bridesmaids home.

The wild scenes from earlier flashed through her mind, how Edward rough was to her. Due to that frenetic activity, her legs were still sore up until now, and she couldn't walk properly.

Alan, on the other hand, was more observant than John as he noticed her socks. "Stephenie, did you change your socks? The color appears to be different," Alan observed.

Stephenie licked her lips unconsciously, tucked her hair behind her ears, and lied through her teeth, "Well, it had a stain on it, so I asked the hotel waitress for a new one."

She clearly reminded Edward to be careful, but he didn't listen and tore her socks in the end. Fortunately, the skirt she was wearing matched the one she had worn earlier.

Stephenie leaned into John's ear and whispered, "My menstruation came earlier than expected. I have to buy tampons."

John bought her reason and sweetly scolded her. "You're careless; you've even drunk a cold wine earlier."

As always, he was like an ideal boyfriend, which was why Stephenie had been ultimately duped in the past.

"Sorry, darling, I forgot," she sweetly apologized as she wrapped her arms around John's neck and secretly glanced at Alan.

John was slightly stunned by her sudden embrace, for she rarely took the initiative to have intimate behavior with him in public, but when he noticed the change in Alan's expression, he immediately but gently pulled away from Stephenie's hug and said, "You should go back now for you to have a rest, okay?"

With that, Stephenie excused herself and said goodbye to Eason and his wife. Afterward, she left the hotel with John and Alan.

Just like before, John would drop Stephenie off at her place first. They weren't under the same roof. They had their own apartments. But Stephenie usually paid John a visit on the weekends. The reason for their set-up was that their workplaces were far apart, so staying in the same place together was not a wise decision. She used to believe that before, but now Stephenie knew that the real reason was for John to have private space with Alan.

John sent her door to door and was being considerate as usual. After confirming that John had already left, Stephenie went to a nearby pharmacy to buy contraception.

Upon returning to her place, she immediately took the pill and went to the bathroom to take a bath. When she finished cleaning herself up and exited the bathroom, her eyes were drawn to Edward's shirt in the laundry basket. She then picked it up as well as her phone and typed a message on Whatsapp.

She and Edward became Whatsapp friends an hour before she arrived at the hotel last night, but there was nothing special about their conversation.

To cut to the chase, Stephenie did not greet him and directly sent the message, [Netflix and chill?]

Five minutes had already passed, so she thought Edward had no plan to reply to her and was about to put her phone down on the bedside table when her phone vibrated. She opened the messenger right away, only to see a hotel room number, which was obviously Edward's hotel room number.

As such, they shared the same heat for the third time.

The intense, long night rendered Stephenie exhausted, causing her to wake up late and arrive late for work.

She had just graduated from Woodlake University with a master's degree in architecture last year and had just joined a famous local architecture firm named Margin.

Since Stephenie didn't graduate from a well-known architectural school, she was not qualified enough to be an official architectural designer. She was only hired as a junior assistant architect, whose daily work was doing clerical tasks and outlining the craft design.

When Stephenie arrived at the office, the routine Monday morning meeting had already ended, and she could only participate in the group A meeting of the design department, where she belonged.

After the group meeting, Monica Robles, her supervisor, summoned her to the office.

Thinking it was about her being late, Stephenie quickly apologized as soon as she stepped into the office. "Sorry, Miss Monica. I overslept. Last night's weather made me snuggle in my bed more."

However, that was not the reason for calling her. Monica had only wanted to inform Stephenie of something. "No, that's not why I called you. I just wanted to let you know that Vanloon Property's residential project has a new project manager. So, pause your work in the meantime as you'll be attending the meeting with the new project leader in the afternoon, but you can resume it after discussing the necessary modifications."

Stephenie was not bothered by pausing her work but with the new project manager instead. In that case, the modification would be that simple because she was certain that the entire design scheme would be revamped and they would begin from scratch.

That said, Stephenie only replied, "I see." Feeling helpless and stressed, she excused herself and was about to leave when Monica suddenly spoke up.

"Do you want to cover your nape?" the latter asked, prompting Stephenie to turn around and face her.

Having a slight idea of what her supervisor was referring to, she dashed to the bathroom to confirm her suspicion. When she looked in the mirror and turned her head sideways, she discovered a salacious pink hickey on her nape that Edward had left yesterday.

Well, she had a coat on when she arrived, but because the weather was sultry, she took it off. However, she forgot about her hickey and was wearing a round-neck blouse today, so her entire neck and her hickey were exposed!

To hide it, Stephenie applied powder to lighten its color before covering it with a band-aid so no one else could see it.

Afterward, she returned to her cubicle to start some of her tasks even though her supervisor had told her she could pause them. She was in her seat when Rita Ruschel, a colleague next to her cubicle, slid over to her and teased her, "Quite an intense battle last night, huh?"

Stephenie's hand automatically flew to her nape, and she whispered, "You saw it, too?"

Waving her index finger, Rita answered with a playful smile, "Nope, everyone in the group actually, and now almost the entire institute knows why you're late."

To extreme shame, Stephenie wished the earth would just swallow her whole right at that moment.

The construction employees were busy, but the designers, to whom she belonged, were even busier. So, it was challenging to find time to develop a serious relationship in this industry, leaving many people in that industry single. As such, if one found his/her love who worked in the same industry as him/her, he/she would try his/her best to work that relationship out for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not to slip away.

But in Stephenie's case, it was not rare to come as she resembled a goddess. In fact, when she entered the firm, she had already won the hearts of several co-workers even after she had posted a selfie with John on her social media on her first day of work. The latter even always came to pick her up from work, but the number of her admirers didn't cut down a bit.

They were probably under the impression that Stephenie and John were still dating and had not yet married. Furthermore, even married couples got divorced from time to time, so they thought they still had a chance.

Today, her hickey was a bombshell in the entire firm, so Rita couldn't help but be intrigued and asked her privately, "I didn't know that you two are such a lovely couple. So, when do you plan to get married? Haven't you both survived the seven-year itch smoothly and are now entering your eighth year?"

While the latter was speaking, Stephenie's gaze was drawn to the picture resting next to the pen holder. The photo was taken at her graduation ceremony last July, where she was wearing a degree suit and holding a huge bunch of red roses that John had given her in one arm and John's arm in the other. In the photo, she was grinning from ear to ear as if she were the luckiest person in the whole wide world.

"So? Do you want to see me step into the grave of love?" Stephenie jested, then took the framed picture and stuffed it into her table drawer.

The meeting Monica had mentioned earlier had finally arrived, and Stephenie and her supervisor arrived at Vanloon Property at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. However, because the new project manager was not yet present, they waited in the conference room for about ten minutes.

Afterward, a few people finally entered the room, and the secretary introduced the new project manager, "Hello, everyone! I'd like you to meet Mr. Smith Junior of Vanloon Property. He will be responsible for managing this project."

"Hello, Miss Robles. Nice to meet you," Edward greeted after stepping forward, reaching out his hand, and politely shaking hands with Monica.

Meanwhile, Stephenie, who was standing behind her supervisor, felt her feet root on the ground in great surprise.

Seeing Edward dressed well impressed Stephenie more than seeing him as a best man yesterday. Edward was wearing a good-looking suit, and his serious face made him more attractive.

Well, maybe because she didn't usually see Edward being dressed and acting like that. She hadn't gotten used to it because Edward didn't look like a womanizer at that point.

Stephenie was confident that their time spent together revealed Edward's genuine attitude. Edward was pretending to be someone who was not him. If Stephenie hadn't got a chance to be with him, she would not know the real Edward, his true colors.

He was obviously here to be a puppet and was constantly playing with his phone. The architectural idea was indeed communicated to them by the planning and design department director. The director was not the same as the last time, and his attitude was significantly worse. She was arrogant as if she were the world's ruler.

While Monica was taking minutes, Stephenie felt sad for her.

Monica was one of the Margin Architecture Firm's three significant partners. She was a senior designer who formerly played a vital part in A-Level Architectural Design Institute, despite being no better than the top leaders.

Many companies wanted to hire Monica when she decided to leave the institute. Until now, headhunters had been tenacious in their attempts to win Monica away with considerable compensation. Monica's design had now been criticized for nothing. On the other hand, Monica was mature and handled the criticism with gentleness. She attentively considered every suggestion from the director, meticulously examined the actual feasibility, and followed up on a compromise proposal.

Three hours later, the meeting ended. Edward ran out of patience and decided to end the session, "Okay, whatever the feasibility, you do what we desire."

While answering his phone call, Edward left without looking back.

"The meeting just ended. Don't be too excited. I'll be there later. You will have a memorable night." He said.

Without explanation, it was obvious that tonight he was going on a romantic dinner date.

On the other hand, Stephenie and Monica were ready to leave as they packed their things, but the director called Monica. The director suddenly shifted her attitude and served Monica dates, expressing her admiration and respect for Monica. She even requested that she not take the discussions and disagreements in the meeting too seriously. The director meant everything she said to help the initiative succeed.

"Well, Stephenie and I were university classmates; how could I purposefully humiliate my classmates in front of everyone?" The director said.

Stephenie was taken aback when she heard it. She studied the woman's face anxiously, trying to recall something about her.

"Did you forget about me? It's me." the director blinked her eyes. "Okay, I will introduce myself properly. Hi, Stephenie. I am Lily Millis."

-

Stephenie called Joyce and told her what had happened. Joyce was so surprised and couldn't believe what she had heard.

"Are you being serious? Lily Millis? Is she now the first party on your project?" Joyce asked and still shocked. It was true that one of Stephenie's undergraduate classmates was Lily. Nevertheless, there was a "blood hatred" between them for the unbelievable that happened in the past.

"Aw. That was sad. I am sorry to hear that, Stephenie." Joyce was making fun of Stephenie.

"I called you because I want you to comfort rather than mock me. Thank you very much." Stephenie replied irritably.

Joyce laughed as she heard Stephenie's accusation, "I see. You still have time to complain to me, and it appears that Lily didn't give you too many modification recommendations." Joyce wanted to end the call.

The truth was that too many adjustments nearly undid the original plan, so Monica said they wouldn't have to work overtime tonight. But, even if they don't need to work overtime now, they still have a lot of work to do tomorrow.

"Kidding aside, why didn't you recognize Lily immediately?" Joyce asked.

Stephenie massaged her head and said, "You must see her yourself. When you return from your business trip to Woodlake, let's see whether you can recognize her in person or not."

"Did she undergo plastic surgery?" Joyce curiously asked. Stephenie recalled Lily's appearance and realized that it went far beyond cosmetic surgery; she was transformed from head to toe. But she didn't answer and stopped talking about Lily.

"When do you plan to come back?" Stephenie asked to change the topic.

"Is there a problem you want to talk about? What's wrong?" Joyce realized something was wrong.

She was not sure where to begin discussing Alan and John's affair, so she mumbled her lips, "I will tell you when you come back."

At this point, the cab, which had been running well, instantly stopped. Sitting in the back seat, Stephenie was forced forward and landed roughly on the back of the front seat with her forehead. The driver pulled the window down and cursed at the person who caused the car accident, "What's the matter with you? Car racing is prohibited here! Go to hell!"

Stephenie felt dizzy and reached for her phone under the seat. She noticed three race cars around the taxi.

The driver of the lake-blue Bugatti Veyron opened the door, approached, knelt, pushed one arm against the window, and requested with a vague expression, "I was not able to hear you. Could you repeat it? In my face?"

His intimidating attitude so scared the driver that he quickly lost courage and displayed fear, "I am sorry. But no, I didn't say anything. I apologize again. There are still passengers in the back seat. Enjoy the race. Enjoy yourself."

After hearing what the driver said, Edward looked at the backseat, and then she saw Stephenie. Their eyes met unexpectedly. As if she didn't know him, she frowned and kept quiet. On the other hand, Edward didn't greet her either.

Edward turned his head away and looked at the driver. He handed the driver a significant amount of cash, "Here. For mental loss fee."

The driver rejected the money, "No, I am okay."

The drivers of the red and yellow cars beeped their horns and yelled at Edward, "Let's go! We are in a rush! The time is running out!"

Using his chin, Edward pointed to Stephenie and instructed the driver, "Just in case your passenger experienced trauma."

Stephenie didn't understand what he meant, "You're sick!"

Stephenie couldn't help herself but argue and curse Edward.

As he made his way to the back seat, Edward gently tilted his head. Without asking, he unlocked the door and dragged her outside!"