For seven years, I chased after Freddie Williams and for seven years, he turned me away.

Everyone had said that I, Bella Evans, cared for Freddie deeply and that Freddie’s feelings for me were only about the body.

But they hadn’t known that through those seven years, Freddie loved me like crazy in my bed.

Once I had been in bed, I had always turned like that fool.

Five years after we broke up, Freddie and I had sat side by side again at a class reunion.

Our class monitor, whom we hadn’t seen in a long time, had leaned near my ear and whispered, “Bella, are you still running after Freddie?”

“The reports said Freddie is still single. You should try harder and get him!”

Right as I had been ready to deny it, the room had burst into cheers again.

In a clean suit, a classy man took the seat beside me, giving me polite greetings and compliments.

“Bella, long time no see.”

“How have you been these past five years?”

I had smiled and lowered my eyes. “I’ve been good. Everything’s good without you.”

——

The spoon beside Freddie had dropped to the floor.

A sharp crack sounded in the private room. His normally blank face broke the silence as soon as I smiled and answered.

While the waiter came to switch out the dishes, he leaned closer to me, “Bella...”

I lifted my chair a little, shifting it so there was some space between us.

His pretty almond-shaped eyes suddenly dropped.

“I’ll take you home when we’re done.”

“No need.” I turned him down right away.

“It’s raining, you can’t ride your shared bike.”

The rain outside the window was coming down harder. I really couldn’t ride it; I would have to call someone to pick me up.

“If you had taken that payout back then, you wouldn’t be living like this now.”

I didn’t know if he meant breakup money or abortion money.

He had owed me too much over the years. Five abortions alone.

Feeling a bit bothered, I followed his eyes to the stain on the edge of my pants.

It came to mind that earlier, while coming here, a black Maybach threw dirty water all over me.

It turned out Freddie was the one driving.

He had changed cars again; it looked like he had too much cash lying around and bought one just to avoid taxes.

“I brought a raincoat, no need to bother.”

After glancing at me a few times, Freddie let out a long breath. “Bella, don’t always be so hardheaded...”

“Freddie.” A sweet voice cut off Freddie and everyone turned to look.

Standing at the doorway, the woman wore a light gray work suit and her clean makeup highlighted her well-defined face.

Looking around at each other, everyone tried to guess who she was.

As for me, I didn’t even look up and just kept eating from my bowl.

Lately, I had been sleeping longer than usual and when I opened my eyes, it was already afternoon.

I hadn’t eaten anything before the class monitor, Cindy Cole, kept calling me over, so I was really hungry.

“Bella Evans?” Imogen grabbed my hand in loud surprise, dropping the meat she was holding.

“What are you doing here? Freddie said it’s a high school reunion today, I wondered if you’d show up!”

I let out a small, awkward laugh and quietly pulled my hand back.

“And this is?” Cindy, sitting next to me, finally couldn’t hold back from asking and everyone looked at Freddie.

“My fiancée, Imogen Wright.”

With only a few plain words, Freddie didn’t reveal any emotion. So, even someone like Freddie would openly admit who his lover was.

Seven years of hiding our relationship, three years of a hidden marriage.

My ten years of being pushed aside turned into a huge joke.

At first, no one said anything. Then someone finally said, “Congrats,” and everyone started reacting again.

Imogen sat down beside Freddie and the two accepted everyone’s congratulations like a newly married couple.

“I came late, so I should take three drinks as a penalty. But Freddie hasn’t let me drink lately, so I’ll use a soda instead.”

Imogen was good at dealing with people.

Even though Freddie didn’t move, she raised her glass and greeted everyone at the table.

Instantly, the mood brightened.

In just a few minutes, everyone started complimenting her.

“By the way, I heard someone in your class chased Freddie for seven years. Who is it?”

“I really want to know who had that kind of patience.” Imogen looked around the room and asked with a wide smile.

I kept my head down, the smile on my face already gone.

No one answered and not a single person dared to look my way; they were scared I might flip the table in anger.

Since I was young, everyone knew I had an easily upset and never let things go.

Except for Freddie, almost no one could calm me.

Back when I chased Freddie, most girls didn’t even dare talk to him.

“She didn’t show up today.” Cindy stepped in to cover for me.

“Ah? Then I guess it really wasn’t meant to happen.”

“I even wanted to give her an invitation…” Imogen let out a fake sigh, then laughed and leaned into Freddie’s arms.

Cindy, with huge, round eyes, stared at her. “This woman has no shame at all!”

I watched Cindy turn her sadness into eating and I laughed, handing her a glass of water so she wouldn’t choke.

Cindy grabbed my arm. “Bella, my ship is actually sinking!”

“You really can’t end up with Freddie?!”

She tightened her jaw and stared at Imogen.

I laughed. “It’s not like we never dated before.”

Cindy’s mouth fell open in shock and even her eyes were shaking.

I looked at Freddie, waiting for him to confirm it. “You agree, right, Freddie?”

Freddie’s brow moved slightly and he nodded to show it was true.

“Seriously?!” Cindy jumped up quickly, suddenly way too excited, like she’d eaten bad candy.

The whole room reacted.

After all, during the seven years I chased Freddie, everyone thought he couldn’t stand me.

Even the thought of being physically turned off was mentioned by them.

Imogen’s fixed smile stopped in place.

She hadn’t expected me to admit I’d dated Freddie in secret and she definitely hadn’t expected him to confirm it.

“So Freddie’s ex-girlfriend was actually Bella!”

“Then I should thank Bella even more. Thank you for stepping back and giving me the chance to be with Freddie,” Imogen said as she picked up a glass to toast.

One glass of orange juice, one glass of liquor.

I pushed the liquor aside, my expression cool and said, “Sorry, I can’t drink.”

“How can you not drink?” Imogen didn’t give up and moved the glass closer to me. “I remember when you were the sales director, you could drink a lot.”

“Didn’t you show me how to build up my drinking back then?”

In our last year of college, Freddie started his tech company.

At that time, I turned down a job my family arranged for me and went to support him.

His startup company could hardly survive.

Freddie’s natural pride kept him from lowering himself for a small amount of money and in the end, I was the one who gave in.

Every deal, every partnership, every round of funding was secured by me, after countless drinks at business dinners.

Back then, Freddie was truly thankful for what I did, so he asked me to marry him.

After seven years of hiding our relationship, we had a secret marriage that lasted three years.

Back then, Freddie would make me hangover soup and cereal and when I was drunk and out of it, he would hold me and soothe me to sleep.

Even when he didn’t have much money, he still remembered every anniversary and bought me pricey gifts.

Aside from not giving me an official title, Freddie gave me almost everything.

This was one of the reasons why I valued this relationship so much.

I always believed that, in some way, he cared about me.

Later, the company slowly gained attention and Freddie secured his role with his strong skills.

His company also started to hire more people.

Imogen joined around that time; I was the one who hired her.

Freddie said, “I don’t want you going out in front of others. You can find someone to drink for you.”

From then on, I slowly stayed behind the scenes.

Imogen, young and bold, often drank until she couldn’t stand at business dinners.

I began teaching her how to talk people into drinking, how to build up her tolerance and how to close deals at the table.

She had talent and learned fast. Because she was cheerful and good-looking, she got several good-paying contracts.

Freddie cared for her openly, making no effort to cover it up.

Besides her normal bonuses, Freddie started giving her extra gifts.

Costly clothes, bags and jewelry poured into Imogen’s hands like running water.

They began showing up together often at the company, acting close as if no one else existed.

I caused trouble more than once, but each time it ended with Freddie walking off in anger.

“Bella, don’t use dirty thoughts to judge people.”

“Bella, if you keep acting out, there’s no reason for us to stay together.”

That relationship, with me as the one hurt, almost broke me.

Staring at the clear glass of white wine in front of me, I lifted my eyes toward Imogen.

“Didn’t I show you before? Don’t push a woman to drink.” When I finished speaking, I set my utensils down and poured my wine into Freddie’s glass.

“Freddie, if you can’t handle your woman, don’t bring her out and make things awkward.” Freddie’s expression changed at once.

He pulled Imogen back. “Stop causing trouble.”

“Sit down and eat. Even if you don’t want to eat, the baby in your stomach will.”

What he said made the food on the table suddenly taste like nothing.

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and stood. “Sorry, I’m going to the restroom.”

Once I stepped outside, the cold wind and light rain went into my coat, making it wet and cold.

I couldn’t stop shaking and the sickness eased a little.

A child. They actually had a child.

Freddie, who always said he didn’t like kids, had a child with another woman.

In ten years, Freddie and I had five pregnancies, but every time, we ended them.

Freddie had a bad habit: he refused to use condoms.

Each time, I took birth control pills and if I got pregnant, I had an abortion.

His reasons for not wanting kids were simple. He said he was focused on his career and he didn’t like children.

Every time I had an abortion, Freddie would buy me all kinds of things to make me feel better.

He often said we were still young and that all these years had been too packed for us to enjoy being a couple.

Perhaps since I loved him so much, whatever he said always moved me.

From drinking and taking birth control pills for so long, my body was already badly hurt.

During my fifth pregnancy, the doctor said that if I lost that one, I might never have children again.

On our third wedding anniversary, I prepared a table full of dishes, hoping to talk to Freddie.

I wanted to keep the baby, but I didn’t see him.

Instead, I walked in and saw him and Imogen wrapped together on the office sofa.