On the other side, Ted's voice continued.

　　"If it weren't for the fear of dragging Laurel down, I wouldn't have agreed to Alice's confession."

　　"But now that Laurel is back, of course, I have to give her a proper title and give her all my love."

　　Damien sighed heavily.

　　It seemed he found Ted too cruel, and his conscience couldn't bear it. He advised:

　　"This is too unfair to Alice. You can't let a woman who has been so good to you become the stepping stone between you and Laurel."

　　Upon hearing this, Ted became a little unhappy.

　　"But haven't I been with her for so many years?"

　　"Because of this, Laurel is very sad and thinks that I don't want her anymore. I owe her."

　　"I will find a chance to explain everything to Alice and give her some money to settle it."

　　I felt like I had fallen into an ice cave.

　　In his eyes, I was deceived by him, I lost a kidney for him, and ruined my body, but none of it compared to Laurel's single tear.

　　I closed my eyes, unable to stop the tears from falling.

　　I never expected that Ted, who had always fulfilled my every request and cared for me so much, had never loved me.

　　Once, he would run all over the city in the middle of winter to buy me grass-flavored ice cream when I casually mentioned it.

　　He would stay up all night rubbing my stomach when I had period pains.

　　To others, our relationship seemed sweet and envied by many.

　　But now I know, all of it was fake.

　　It was a beautiful dream that Ted had created for me.

　　When the discussion inside stopped and the footsteps grew closer,

　　I hurriedly turned around but accidentally bumped into a vase placed nearby.

　　The vase fell to the ground with a crash.

　　I lost my balance and fell, my palm landing on the shards of the broken vase.

　　When Ted came out, this was the scene he saw.

　　He was anxious and rushed over.

　　"Alice, are you okay? How could you be so careless?"

　　His eyes were filled with obvious concern for me.

　　Damien leaned against the door frame, watching me with an unreadable expression.

　　Ted originally wanted to take me to the hospital, but suddenly remembered that Damien was a doctor.

　　Damien said nothing, turning to go downstairs to get the medical kit from the car.

　　During this time, Ted kept looking at me with concern.

　　"Alice, don't be afraid, it won’t hurt for long."

　　"I'm not afraid, no matter how much it hurts, it’s nothing compared to when I had to donate my kidney."

　　When I said this, Ted froze.

　　I had never mentioned it in front of him before.

　　Because I didn’t want to put too much pressure or emotional burden on him.

　　Once, when he found out that I had sold my kidney for him, he hugged me and cried uncontrollably.

　　At that time, his emotions of gratitude and guilt were real.

　　But the truth is, he never loved me.

　　When Damien returned, the atmosphere in the room was still very awkward.

　　But he didn’t speak, silently opening the medical kit to treat my wounds.

　　Ted kept showing concern for me.

　　"Does it still hurt, Alice?"

　　I shook my head, but my eyes were growing more and more sore.

　　If I hadn’t heard those words from him, I might have been deceived by him for a lifetime.

　　Seeing my eyes turning red, Ted gently pulled me into his arms.

　　I, who once longed for the warmth of his embrace, now felt uncomfortable.

　　I struggled to break free, but Ted held me tighter.

　　He suddenly sighed.

　　"Alice, even if I'm not by your side in the future, you must take care of yourself."

　　"Why wouldn’t you be by my side?" I looked into his eyes.

　　His gaze faltered, and he stammered:

　　"It’s just... just a hypothetical."

　　I sneered inwardly but obediently nodded on the surface.

　　After Damien treated my wounds, he was about to leave, and I saw him out.

　　Just as Ted received a phone call, he didn’t follow me out.

Before getting into the car, Damien suddenly turned around to look at me.

　　"Did you hear that?"

　　I didn't argue.

　　I knew Damien did it on purpose.

　　He intentionally let me hear that.

　　Damien was Laurel's best friend.

　　He had confessed to Laurel once but was rejected.

　　Since then, he had stayed in the friend zone, wholeheartedly protecting Laurel.

　　"You should know your place."

　　But no one knew that Damien and I used to be the best of playmates.

　　When we were kids, Damien was a child picked up by the neighbor's grandfather.

　　When he was eight, many people came to town claiming he was a lost child from the Li family.

　　The day he was taken away, he cried uncontrollably.

　　He said, "Alice, don’t forget me. I’ll come back to find you."

　　But he never returned.

　　Later, I fell in love with Ted.

　　Ted brought me back to the Shen family’s old house, and that was when I saw Damien again.

　　I saw him standing by Laurel’s side like a knight.

　　I was excited to recognize him, but he retreated as if I was a plague.

　　“How could I know you? You’re just a poor student from a mountain village. How could I know someone like you?”

　　From then on, I dared not speak to him again.

　　Maybe I really mistook him.

　　The Damien in front of me appeared polite and gentle, but his entire demeanor radiated a sense of detachment.

　　"I’ll leave, and then you’ll all be happy," I smiled and nodded.

　　Damien was at a loss for words.

　　I turned and walked back to the villa.

　　At the door, I paused, turned back to look at Damien.

　　"Sorry, I’ve always owed you an apology."

　　"I mistook you for someone else. I won’t do it again. Only now do I realize he’s already dead."

　　Without waiting for a reply, I walked into the villa without looking back.

　　Outside the villa, Damien stood still for a long time, unable to move.

　　My words echoed in his ears, causing an indescribable pain in his heart.

　　When I reached the hall, Ted was just arriving to find me.

　　He helped me up the stairs, carefully escorting me to the bedroom.

　　His meticulous care made me feel like a fragile item.

　　I felt a bit dazed but heard him say, "Alice, I plan to have Laurel as my model."

　　I instinctively tightened the blanket in my hands.

　　Ted doesn’t paint people.

　　To be exact, ever since he became paralyzed, he hadn’t painted any people.

　　Years ago, he was in a car accident while sketching in the car.

　　Since then, he had a psychological barrier when it came to drawing people.

　　Whenever he tried to draw a person, he would recall that car accident.

　　Because of that accident, he couldn’t stand anymore, and the Shen family didn’t want to acknowledge him.

　　During that time, I stayed by his side.

　　I worked hard to save money for his treatment and never left him, yet he had never drawn a single portrait for me.

　　Every time he mustered the courage to try to draw a human figure, he would sweat coldly, his hands trembling in weakness, unable to even pick up the brush.

　　He didn’t notice something was wrong with me and continued to happily share his joy.

　　"Do you know? Laurel can help me overcome the shadow of the car accident. She inspires me when I face her."

　　"She’s like the soul of art. With her, I can create artwork that has both form and spirit."

　　Even though I knew Ted loved Laurel, hearing these words still stung my heart.

　　What about me?

　　Are the things created with me just a pile of junk?

　　My face turned ugly, and finally, he noticed something was wrong.

　　He looked at me helplessly.

　　"Sorry, I... I was just so excited, I..."

　　"I'm tired. You can leave now."

In the end, Laurel became his model.

　　Laurel was already a somewhat famous online beauty, and once the news broke, it caused quite a stir online.

　　"Wow, my favorite painter is collaborating with my favorite beauty blogger!"

　　"So, the painter who can’t draw people broke his own rule because of Alice, the beauty? Let’s go ship them."

　　I was scrolling through the comments while talking to my aunt on the phone.

　　She was excited on the other end of the line.

　　"My little AIice, finally, you’re seeing the truth! I told you men can’t be relied on."

　　"Laurel, I bought a plane ticket for next week."

　　"Great, I’ll wait for you in the U.S."

　　After hanging up, my mind went blank again.

　　After my father passed away, my aunt had wanted to take me to the U.S.

　　But at that time, I had met Ted.

　　For him, I had turned down my aunt’s invitation.

　　Now that I had seen Ted for what he was, there was no reason for me to stay by his side anymore.

　　The next few days were spent handling my paperwork and packing my belongings.

　　The house was already quite empty.

　　But Ted hadn’t noticed.

　　He was always in the studio with Laurel.

　　On the day before I was leaving, I received a message from Ted.

　　"Go buy me some grass-flavored ice cream from the south of the city. I want to eat it."

　　I frowned.

　　The tone didn’t sound like Ted.

　　It sounded like Laurel.

　　And the south of the city was very far away. Even if I drove, it would take two or three hours.

　　And it was still pouring rain.

　　I didn’t want to respond, but the next day, another message came through.

　　"Go now, or I’ll throw away the starry sky necklace."

　　Along with a selfie of her wearing the necklace.

　　My pupils tightened.

　　The starry sky necklace was a keepsake my mother had left me.

　　Even when I sold my kidney to treat Ted, I couldn’t bear to part with the necklace.

　　How could Laurel have it now?

　　I didn’t have time to think much. I quickly searched for it.

　　Finally, in the corner of the closet, I found a box that had been opened and was now empty.

　　At that moment, my mind went blank.

　　Tears fell uncontrollably.

　　In the next moment, I grabbed the keys, ran to the garage in the rain, and drove straight to Ted’s studio.

　　I opened the door to the studio with a loud noise, but the two of them, laughing inside, didn’t notice.

　　Ted was painting on Laurel’s face.

　　Laurel gave him a playful wink.

　　Outside, the wind howled, and the rain poured down. The atmosphere inside was filled with an ambiguous tension that raised the temperature.

　　I shivered from the cold rain.

　　My face was wet, and I couldn’t tell if it was rain or tears.

　　"Laurel, give me back my starry sky necklace!"

　　Hearing my voice, they finally noticed me.

　　Ted's face flashed with panic.

　　But Laurel smiled brightly.

　　She jumped off the sofa, acting like a spoiled princess.

　　"Where’s my ice cream?"

　　"Give me back my necklace!" I repeated.

　　Laurel pouted in displeasure.

　　She turned to tug at Ted’s sleeve. "Didn’t you say she would listen and buy the ice cream? Did you lie to me?"

　　Ted’s expression immediately turned dark.

　　Laurel had used his phone to send me the messages.

　　Of course, he knew what was going on.

　　He looked at me with reproach. "What’s wrong with you? If you were already going out, why didn’t you just buy the ice cream on the way?"

　　I ignored him and kept looking at Laurel.

　　"Necklace."

　　Perhaps it was because I was soaking wet and looked so serious, Laurel seemed frightened.

　　She shrank her neck and hid behind Ted.

　　"Ted, she’s not as obedient as you said, is she?"

　　Ted was already very angry at this point.

　　He was mad that I wasn’t listening to him, mad that I disappointed Laurel.