Simon was absorbed with Caroline’s disappearing figure when a man of the same height as him spoke up, jolting him out of his trance. “Simon, why are you standing here?” the man asked as he approached Simon and then patted him on the shoulder after reaching him.

Only then did Simon drift his gaze from Caroline to one of his close friends, Bradley Jones, who was now peering in the direction Simon was staring at a while ago.

Curious about what his friend was looking at, Bradley asked, “Who are you looking at? You’re totally obsessed.”

“Nothing, let’s go,” Simon answered, dropping off the topic, and turned around.

At last, Bradley remembered the welcome party for Simon. Resting his arm on the latter’s shoulder and grinning, he cheerfully said, “Anyway, you have to drink with us and enjoy a full-on night. Everyone misses you, dude.”

He then led Simon to their VIP room, where many of his long-time friends awaited him.

Just as Simon entered the room, everyone’s attention was drawn to him and showered him with greetings, making the room livelier.

“Simon, you are back! I can’t even remember the last time I saw you,” said Melvin Wright, one of Simon’s close friends for years.

Melvin strode over to Simon, wrapped his arm around Simon’s shoulder, and exclaimed, “I miss you so much, my love!”

Simon found his friend’s words nauseous, so he pushed Melvin away without affection and remarked, “Sorry, I’m not interested in men.”

Hearing his friend ridiculing him, Melvin complained, “You’re ruthless, man. We’ve been classmates since kindergarten, don’t you remember?”

However, Simon turned a deaf ear to Melvin’s complaint and sat on a sofa. It had been a long time since he had seen his friends, so they immediately began boozing as soon as he settled down.

As they enjoyed themselves, they didn’t forget to interview the celebrant. They first asked Simon how he had been in the past years and then asked about his future plans.

After clinking glasses with Simon, Bradley asked, “Are you still going to leave?”

Simon smiled casually at first and was about to open his mouth to answer, but before he could, Melvin said, “Don’t leave again, please. Until now, I can’t understand why you refused to inherit your family property and chose to be busy with that mobile hospital in the remote mountain areas...”

He stopped in the middle of his sentence as an idea dawned on him. “Hey, I knew it now! There’s a pretty woman you like in the mobile hospital. Am I right?” Melvin blurted out his hypothesis as he nudged Simon’s waist.

‘Pretty woman I like?’ Simon echoed in his head.

Out of the blue, a particular sexy figure flashed through his mind.

Remembering the exquisite body of that woman, Simon’s body heated up. He swallowed hard to get a grip of himself, but when he thought it was not enough, he quickly grabbed a glass full of whisky with ice and chugged it all at once. Just as he finished his whiskey, he heard a conversation.

“Hey, did you know there are artists next door? I’ve heard they’re having a party for their ongoing drama. I had a glimpse of a few of them earlier, and the female artists are stunning, dudes,” the man in a blue polo thrillingly said.

Simon’s grip on the glass tightened, nearly crashing the glass as he somehow had an idea of who his friend was talking about.

“Is Caroline Young one of them? I saw her at an event last time. She’s really breath-talking!” the other man in a red turtleneck tee said, confirming Simon’s hunch.

“Oh, how is she? Did you hook up with her? I heard lots of scandals about her private life. And I heard she was with...” the former hadn’t finished his sentence as the sound of shattered glass rang out in the entire room.

Simon couldn’t stand listening to them talking dirty about Caroline any longer, so he threw the glass on the floor, drawing everyone’s attention to himself.

“Si...Simon?” the man in blue polo stammered in shock.

“Don’t make these dirty jokes in front of me. It’s disgusting,” Simon reasoned, deadpanned, then stood up and left the room.

Melvin and Bradley knew Simon well among the others, so as they sensed something was up, they exchanged glances and then quickly followed Simon.

With that, everyone in the room felt the room’s temperature drop abruptly.

Simon was known for being irascible, but his reason this time was not something he would be upset about in the past, so the two people talking earlier were at a loss for words.

Simon, on the other hand, headed to the terrace, followed by his two close friends.

Finally, after minutes of chasing Simon, Melvin and Bradley caught up with him. Seeing Simon’s eyebrows furrowed, the two knew that the two men’s words earlier really got into him. Thus, Melvin tried to appease his friend’s exasperation. “Dude, just ignore them; they’re already drunk, so they’re talking nonsensically.”

Bradley then added, “He’s right. Besides, you just came back. You must be enjoying your night instead of getting mad over such things.”

“Don’t invite me to drink with those guys again,” Simon sparingly replied.

Noticing Simon’s emotion going better, Melvin simply noted in jest, “Got it, you are the boss.”

To pacify Simon more, Bradley apologized, “I’m sorry. I’m the one who put this party together for you and invited them despite knowing you don’t like women, and they’d undoubtedly talk about it there.”

With knitted brows, Simon asked, “What did you say?”

Catching sight of Simon’s furrowed brows, Bradley thought Simon was offended by his question, so he fidgety explained, “No, no. I mean, you’re aloof to women.”

Melvin chuckled as he agreed with Bradley, “Yeah. But seeing you so angry just now, I can’t help but think you liked Caroline.”

Hearing it, Simon’s expression, which had just softened, became stern again, and with a grim expression, he asked, “What are you talking about?”

They had just quelled Simon’s rage, so Melvin quickly defended himself and refuted not to trigger him again. “Well, it’s Caroline we’re talking about here. She’s gorgeous. So I don’t think any men dislike her.” But as realization dawned on him, he contradicted himself right away, saying, “On the second thought, you’ve been in remote mountain areas all year round, so you’re probably unaware of any entertainment news and have no idea who she is. Hmm... it makes sense now.”

However, instead of being pacified by Melvin’s explanation, the area’s temperature quickly dropped as Simon icily asked, “Oh, so you like her?”

Melvin didn’t sense the danger awaiting him and proudly responded, “Of course. Who doesn’t like a pretty woman like that? You will definitely fall in love with her if you meet her.”

“I’m not interested in her,” Simon briefly replied, which bewildered the two as they didn’t expect the irked Simon would only say five words.

Meanwhile, Caroline’s phone rang just as the party was over. She checked who the caller was first, and upon seeing it was her agent, Jana Lopez, she quickly picked it up.

“Hello?” she greeted on the phone.

“Hello, I’m at the underground parking lot; I’ll wait for you here, okay?” Jana informed.

“Okay, I’m already on my way,” Caroline replied before dropping the call.

With that, she and Lucien stepped into the elevator to go downstairs. They talked now and then, but Caroline had been preoccupied since she met Simon. After a few minutes, they were already at their destination, but she was in a trance to notice it. Therefore, when Caroline realized it and was about to step out, she was almost caught by the elevator door. Luckily, Lucien hurriedly pulled her out.

Noticing Caroline was not her usual self, Lucien couldn’t help but ask, “You seem distracted; what’s the matter?”

Caroline shook her head lightly and reasoned, “Nothing, I’m just drunk.”

Lucien seemed to buy it as he dropped off that topic and thoughtfully asked, “Where’s your agent’s car? Let me take you there.”

Caroline was about to turn down his offer when she caught sight of Simon and several people coming out of the elevator on the other side. And to worsen the situation, Simon also caught sight of her.

They were separated at a distance of about nine or ten feet, but it didn’t help Caroline not to feel his icy dagger-like gazes, making her break out in a cold sweat.

She was only snapped out of her stupor when Lucien repeated himself. “Carol? Come on; let’s go now to your agent’s car.”

Caroline forced a smile and nodded at Lucien. “Yeah, thank you.”

For no apparent reason, Lucien felt a warm hand touch his heart right after seeing Caroline’s sweet smile.

Much elated, he couldn’t restrain from complimenting her as they walked toward her agent’s car. “You look lovelier when you smile. You should smile more often.”

As he said that, they happened to pass by Simon, which the latter didn’t miss out on.

Suppressing the intense emotion that wanted to escape from his body, Simon balled his fists in his pockets.

Bradley also heard what Lucien had said. Knowing Melvin had a crush on Caroline, the former faced Melvin and made fun of him. “You’re so unlucky, man. Your love already had someone in her heart.”

Melvin also heard Lucien and saw the two walking side by side with his own two eyes, and they appeared to be a perfect match, so he felt blue. But his feelings were even more trampled when his friend said it aloud, crashing even the last glimmer of hope of ever being with her.

Since Bradley was busy teasing Melvin, who was lamenting his broken heart, they didn’t notice the change in Simon’s expression after hearing what Lucien and Bradley had said.

Continuing the chaffing, Bradley asked, “That man is Lucien Smith. Don’t you know him or even heard of him?”

“Is he that popular for me to know?” asked Melvin, dispirited.

Bradley was already laughing internally but managed not to and exclaimed, “Of course, he is! The survey even said that nine out of ten teenage girls are his fans.”

“With a famous and attractive man like him and a gorgeous rising star like Caroline, they make a perfect match, huh?” Bradley kept ragging, even touching his chin as if he was not doing it on purpose.

Suddenly, he was struck by a thought and soon blurted out his conclusion. “Oh, I suddenly remembered one of our friends mentioned earlier that some artists were having a party for their ongoing drama right next to our room. And from what I’ve heard, Caroline and Lucien are working together in that series. So, you know what I mean. They most likely fell in love while filming.”

“You know a lot about them, huh?” Simon spoke up out of nowhere, surprising Bradley and Melvin as he had been quiet for a long time and was not interested in such things, and now he suddenly joined the discussion.

“Why are you suddenly interested in artists?” Bradley asked, still quite shocked.

Upon recovering from the shock, Melvin smirked and teased Simon, “Come on, do you also like Caroline? She’s gorgeous like I told you, right? Do you believe me now?”

As the subject of mockery became him, Simon dismissed the topic as he sneered, “You really have bad taste.”

Melvin just laughed, but Bradley was rendered speechless as he felt Simon found Caroline displeasing. On second thought, Simon didn’t know Caroline personally, so it didn’t make sense.

Bradley was about to get an answer to his question from Simon, but the latter started to walk away and left them behind.

After minutes of walking, Simon caught sight of Caroline walking, and beside her was Lucien, whose arms rested on Caroline’s shoulders as he sent her to the car. Afterward, a woman got out of the car and welcomed Caroline. In his guess, the woman must be Caroline’s agent, but he noticed that she was not Caroline’s previous agent, which relieved him because her last agent was not treating her well.

Later, Simon saw Caroline smile and wave goodbye to Lucien, but the two hadn’t parted ways yet and had a long conversation in front of the car before they did. Anyone who would see them definitely assumed they were a couple.

Seeing that lovely view, Simon could only smile wryly as Caroline never showed him that side of her back when they were together. She just treated him as a pastime and then dumped him when she got bored with him. So, there was no way she would feel sorry for doing so.

Looking back on that bitter past, Simon’s eyes grew grimmer and colder as he stared at Caroline, who was in her agent’s car.

Meanwhile, Caroline felt sleepy as soon as she sat in the car due to exhaustion. So she snuggled down under a blanket and prepared to sleep. However, when she looked out the window, she noticed Simon was not far away.

Caroline hitched her breath and froze in her seat. Her hands clenched the blanket in agitation, even though she knew Simon couldn’t see her through the car’s heavily tinted window.

Fortunately, Jana saved her from flusters when she suddenly spoke. However, Caroline didn’t catch what her agent was saying, which the latter noticed, so she helplessly asked, “Did you hear what I just said?”

“What is it again?” Caroline asked, somewhat dazed.

Jana could only sigh deeply and repeat herself. “The event dinner for CR Jewelry will be held tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.”

“Am I required to attend?” Caroline innocently asked.

“It can’t be helped. You’re the event’s spokesperson. So, I contacted the stylist, and she will pick you up at noon tomorrow for your modeling assignment. Then our studio will issue your photos online so you can rest in the afternoon and prepare for the evening event.”

Hearing how hectic her schedule was, which she found uninteresting, Caroline could only reply, “Oh.”

Seeing right through her, Jana persuaded, “Don’t just say, ‘Oh.’ I’m telling you, this event is crucial. Many big shots will show up there. So, if you piqued their interest, you may be able to obtain additional endorsements.”

Caroline was exhausted and sleepy, so she ended their conversation simply by saying, “I see. I’m going to bed now.”

Afterward, she tucked herself up to her head and fell asleep.

At that time, Simon remained standing at his previous spot as he watched Jana’s car leave the parking lot and hit the road. That was when Melvin and Bradley caught up and found him staring at nothing again.

Nevertheless, since Simon’s driver had just dropped him off in H City that day, he didn’t have a car with him. Melvin soon realized this and offered him a ride since Simon’s house was along the way to the former’s.

On the way, Simon didn’t say anything or make a sound, prompting Melvin, sitting next to him in the back seat, to assume he was in a bad mood. Melvin wanted to complain to Simon about how the silence was killing him, but he couldn’t because a question consumed him.

‘Who made his hackles rise for him to be like this?’ Melvin pondered as he cast sidelong glances at Simon.

A few minutes later, the silence finally broke as Simon’s phone rang.

Simon picked up the call and heard his eldest brother, Hardy Johnson, say, “There will be a dinner party tomorrow evening. Come to my place, understand?”

“I’m not available tomorrow,” Simon reasoned.

But Hardy was unstirred by his younger brother’s rejection as he held the last card. “Do you know who the CR spokesperson is?” Hardy asked, arousing Simon’s interest.

Seconds had passed, but Simon had not responded and had not dropped the call as well. That was enough for Hardy to know that Simon was only hesitant to ask. Even so, he was not planning to tell him who the CR’s spokesperson was right away. Instead, he simply said, “You can check it after you hang up the phone. I’ll have someone pick you up tomorrow. Bye.”

As Hardy had already said goodbye, Simon dropped the call immediately and went to Google to do what his brother told him to. The moment he searched for it, his phone’s screen was immediately flooded with Caroline’s shot for CR Jewelry.

One of the images was an extreme close-up shot where Caroline was wearing a wedding dress and a wedding ring. With that shot, her exquisite facial features and alluring eyes were highlighted by her heavy makeup, intensifying her visual impact.

Somehow, Simon found the temperature rising, so he loosened his collar irritably to cool himself down. But then he felt his member jolted, so his eyes were automatically drawn into it.

He was much absorbed with Caroline’s images. Simon didn’t notice that they had already arrived at their residence.

Melvin, who was engrossed with his phone, also noticed that the car had stopped. Raising his head to face Simon, he asked, “Are we here? The gate...”

However, he froze right away the moment he saw Simon looking odd.

Simon, on the other hand, quickly pulled his act together and locked his phone screen, preventing Melvin from having a glimpse of what he was admiring.

Even so, Melvin still caught sight of his phone screen, and it was an image of a pretty woman, but it was not enough to recognize who it was.

“Just drop me here. I’ll get in myself,” Simon said, but the hoarseness of his voice was too evident for Melvin and even the driver not to know what was going on with him. The driver did as was instructed and pulled over just in front of Simon’s place. But before Simon got off the car, Melvin remarked, “Just get yourself a girlfriend already. Women’s pictures online won’t help you. You’re already thirty years old and have a strong desire...”

Simon didn’t let Melvin finish his sentence and roared, “Back off.” He then slammed the door shut, making Melvin chuckle.

As Simon stepped out of the car, he slid his phone into his pocket and strode to his apartment, taking deep breaths one after the other to try to cool himself down.

As soon as he entered, he put on slippers and directly headed to the bathroom.

He spent nearly 40 minutes inside to get rid of the heat in his body before wrapping himself in his bathrobe. He then stood in front of the mirror, his hands on the sink, and stared at himself in the mirror. His hair was drenched, water trickling down his chin and dropping to the floor. His eyes were bloodshot, and his mouth was partially open, gasping for air.

He remained in that position for a long time, contemplating his feelings for Caroline. Soon after, he punched the mirror, cracking it and causing his fist to bleed.

He lost control of himself and cursed loudly in the bathroom as he couldn’t fathom what was wrong with his body and mind.

In the end, the five years had been in vain because his desire for her had not faded even a bit.

Meanwhile, Jana was watching Caroline lying in her car, having a nightmare while sleep-talking. Carolina kept murmuring something in her sleep and contorting her face as if she was tormented in her dreams.

“Don’t touch him... I won’t let you off the hook… I hate you… Go to hell!” Carolina muttered, her head turning sideways and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Seeing Caroline crying while dreaming, Jana shook the latter’s shoulders to awake her.

“Caroline, Caroline? Wake up,” Jana called out, waking Caroline up.

Caroline got up a minute later, but her deep eyes were filled with confusion, which rarely appeared.

Her eyes also welled up with tears, making Jana worried.

She had just started being Caroline’s agent, but ever since, Caroline’s gorgeous face had never failed to amaze her. That was also why the media labeled the rising star “an incredible beauty,” because even Jana, who was also a woman, couldn’t resist Caroline’s charm.

Caroline only came to when she saw her agent and wiped the tears from her face when she felt something cold on her face.

Jana handed her a tissue before explaining, “You had a bad dream. You kept saying things like, ‘do not touch him,’ ‘I hate you,’ ‘go to hell,’ and so on. You were also crying earlier, so I woke you up.”

“I see,” Caroline only replied, looking down.

Worried, Jana tried to look Caroline in the eyes and asked, “What did you dream about? Have you recently been stressed?”

Refusing to discuss her dream, Caroline shook her head and replied, “No, nothing.”

Then she turned around and gazed out the window, taking in the scenery while ruminating on her dream.

‘Nightmares indeed not only appear in dreams; they also hunt one even after one wakes up,’ Caroline realized.

These past few years, she had frequently been hunted by past memories when pressure overwhelmed her. But she hadn’t had one in the previous six months, so she assumed she’d gotten over it. Unexpectedly, that nightmare reoccurred again, bringing back her anxiety.

‘Did Simon trigger it?’ she wondered, as she could only think of him as its cause.

Thinking of Simon, a picture of him looking at her earlier flashed through her mind. Recalling it, an ironic chuckle escaped from her mouth.

He used to be very gentle when he spoke to her. But now, he looked at her with dagger-like eyes, ready to stab her to death. He must have hated her so much after the event that even five years couldn’t wash it away.