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.

Once again, Caroline’s past memories came to haunt her in her dream in the evening, preventing her from getting any rest. Her dream flashed back to how she first met Simon when she was trapped in a cave and on the verge of death due to the raging storm and a heavy landslide. Given her situation, she really thought her life would end there. Gradually, her hope faded away along with her consciousness. After an unknown time, she opened her eyes and saw Simon in a white gown. It was then followed by her memories of how they fell in love with each other in the past.

Having that thought, Caroline’s lips curved into an ironic smile as her dream ended the same way their relationship did. Caroline wiped her tears away and climbed out of bed. She then sat in front of her dressing table and looked at her reflection, whose eyes were puffy from excessive crying in her sleep and a lack of sleep. Seeing that, she sighed deeply and mumbled, ‘I have to apply more makeup to hide this in the afternoon.’

Meanwhile, similar to Caroline, dreams also haunted Simon one after another, ruining his night’s sleep. Upon waking up, he was panting heavily and sweating profusely. He also felt his chest tightening, making it difficult for him to breathe properly and his throat dry.

Since it was still early, Simon changed into his usual sportswear and went for a run outside. After running for miles, his shirt was drenched in sweat, but it helped him clear his mind. Soon, he decided to go home, and it was only then that he realized it was already 8:30 a.m.

Like usual, Simon cleaned himself up first, then brewed some coffee for himself. Suddenly, Caroline popped into his head while drinking his coffee, and his hand immediately searched for Caroline’s name on Twitter. Actually, Simon had never had an account before and only downloaded it yesterday for some reason.

To his surprise, Caroline’s name, photos, and even videos of her and Lucien were spread on Twitter with the caption [Attracted to Each Other Like in Those Fiction Stories.]

Those were shot when the latter sent the former to Jana’s car in the parking lot after their celebration party for their ongoing TV series.

Since Lucien’s gestures toward Caroline were too sweet, the media misconstrued their relationship and assumed they were a real couple.

While looking at the photos, his attention was drawn to a comment that said, [What a perfect match!] Reading that comment hurt his eyes, so he logged out right away.

Sure, the news spread like wildfire and quickly reached Jana. As soon as she saw the trending topic, she gave Caroline a call.

Caroline heard her phone ring. Seeing it was her agent, her brows furrowed for a moment, then she quickly took the call.

“Hello,” she greeted.

“Have you seen today’s trending news?” Jana asked.

Completely clueless, Caroline answered, “Not yet. What about it?”

“Well, better to see it for yourself. It’s viral on Twitter,” Jana said.

With that, Caroline ended the call and went straight to Twitter. Like what her agent had told her, it was indeed viral that she didn’t need to search for it anymore. Her photos with Lucien in the parking lot after the celebration party for their ongoing drama flooded her feed.

Caroline couldn’t deny the skill of whoever took the photos, as those were captured in the perfect angles, enough to pique the media’s interest and create a story out of them. It also amazed Caroline how creative the media could be to have interpreted their normal chatting as intimate whispering and Lucien’s thoughtfulness in supporting the drunk her as a “Public Display of Affection.”

Caroline couldn’t help but sneer thinking about it. Fortunately, she was used to handling such situations after being in the industry for many years.

She was thinking about taking care of the issue when her phone beeped. She picked it up again and saw that it was Jana again.

Jana: [Shall we tweet the truth?]

Caroline had already typed [Okay], but her instincts told her to take another look at the photos. Following her instinct, she was surprised to notice something on it. She zoomed in and saw a man standing nearby, staring at her. Although it was quite blurred due to the reduced quality of the photo, she couldn’t be mistaken: the man was Simon!

After staring at the photo for a minute, Caroline logged out of Twitter, deleted her supposed reply, and composed again.

Caroline: [No need.]

Not long after, Jana replied: [Okay. For sure, they will forget about it soon. BTW, try not to eat anything. Your dress is a bit tight.]

As everyone knew, celebrities had strict diet plans where they only ate a minimal amount to none, especially if they had some special event or project coming up. So, as a long-time actress, Caroline was already used to it.

However, boozing too much yesterday left her stomach empty today, so she ate a few toffees to avoid passing out, which was caused by a sudden drop in sugar level.

Afternoon came, and the stylist Jana had contacted yesterday arrived and picked Caroline up for styling. Upon arriving at the venue of her modeling assignment, she saw the black sequined dress. Jana was right; when Caroline tried the dress on, it hugged her body quite tightly, but it didn’t fail to make her look lovelier than ever, though she was trying to hold her breath to keep it fitted to her, even if she was already so slim.

Throughout the shoot, the photographer lavished Caroline with compliments. But Caroline, being a modest lady, simply laughed it off.

After the modeling, she then prepared for the CR Jewelry's evening event. And before the clock struck seven o’clock, Caroline had arrived at the venue. While walking on the red carpet at the banquet hall to sign in, camera flashes blinded her.

As someone who was already used to it, she stood there, smiling at the camera for perfect shots. Afterward, she proceeded inside and left the media in the hall, her hands pulling up her dress to avoid tripping on its hem.

A few minutes later, Simon arrived at the same event venue and walked in when he caught sight of Caroline turning around.

As a result, Simon could only catch a glimpse of her wavy hair and red lips and failed to see her whole face. Thus, his eyes landed on her dress, highlighting her bottle-shaped body. But soon, his eyes settled on her waist.

Hearing the praises of the fans and reporters for Caroline, a smile crept into Simon’s lips. Unbeknownst to the public, the person they praised for having a slim waist had been pregnant before.