"Don't move, Melanie, there's broken glass everywhere. Be careful not to get hurt."

But in the next moment, his gaze shifted to the crimson stain on Laura’s body. His hand tightened slightly, then slowly relaxed. In the end, he just irritably tapped the table.

"What are you doing here, Laura? Are you here to make a fool of yourself? Get out!"

Laura opened her mouth, but her throat felt dry, unable to speak.

“I... I'm sorry..."

She couldn't understand. Why was he always so gentle with Melanie, yet when it came to her, all he showed was disdain?

If it was because of the misunderstanding from before, she had already explained everything.

Laura was truly exhausted. She knew that the incident from back then was like a thorn lodged between the two of them. If either of them took a step forward, they would be pierced and bleed.

***

Her mother, fearing her own aging and fading beauty, obsessed over money. From the moment she married into the Bill Family, she constantly reminded Laura.

Her mother believed that the only way to secure a stable future was to seduce Darren. The Bill Family only had two brothers. If she married the elder and her daughter married the younger, they would never have to worry about poverty or illness.

Her mother wasn’t a wise woman, so she could only use the methods that had worked for her to teach her daughter.

It meant confessing love over and over again, constantly enduring and maintaining a delicate balance of being close yet distant.

She had done all of this in an attempt to win the man's heart.

But all of it was overheard by Darren, the very person involved.

From that moment on, no matter how much love she had, it was all twisted into something manipulative in his eyes.

The man standing before her had a dark and stormy expression, one that only grew more terrifying. Inside, he was filled with disgust and anger.

Under the gaze of those around him, he scolded, "What are you standing there for? Get out! Laura, stop using these tricks to get men’s sympathy!"

Laura trembled at his harsh words. An overwhelming sense of shame mixed with pain made it impossible for her to stay there any longer.

She wiped away her tears and turned to run out.

No one tried to stop her, because they were all Darren’s friends, not hers.

The group exchanged glances and soon someone started joking again.

“Darren, are you not going after her? What if your little arranged wife really runs away and gets lost?”

“Honestly, it’s ridiculous. Her mom was crazy to marry your brother. They both died and now she still wants to marry you? Just the thought of it is disgusting.”

Darren lit a cigarette against the wind, turning a glass in his hand.

Listening to their insults, his gaze darkened and a sudden wave of anger rose within him.

He burst out with a curse. "Everyone just shut the hell up! That was enough!"

Laura stumbled back home in a daze. She clutched a confidential notice tightly in her hand, leaning against the wall as she slowly slid down to the floor.

If it was fear of moral ethics, there was no blood relationship between them. If it was fear of the age difference, she didn’t care.

She had explained countless times before. She sincerely and passionately loved him.

Whether it was a ten-year difference or twenty, her love was simply love, not something to be trampled on or dismissed as worthless.

Laura looked at the confidential notice in her hand. It was about a national radioactive materials team experiment in an uninhabited zone, a secret project that would require six years of research.

Today, Laura had intended to share this news with him. Perhaps leaving would ultimately be the best outcome for both of them.

Silently, Laura began packing her things. By evening, she made her way to the living room.

"Miss Marsh, didn’t Mr. Bill come back with you? Do you still want me to keep the hangover soup warm for tonight?"

Brenda came out from the kitchen and, noticing Laura's red, swollen eyes, felt a pang of sympathy.

"Miss Marsh, those eyes of yours are meant for scientific research. It won’t be good if you cry them out."

Laura responded with a bright smile, thinking of how in the past, Darren would often be out for social events.

She would always ask the small kitchen to prepare some nourishing porridge and hangover soup for him in the evening.

Thinking about today... she wondered if Darren would return. After all, he was like an uncle to her, the one who had raised her for so many years.

After a moment of contemplation, she nodded.

"Keep it warm. If he comes back, he can have it. If not, just throw it away."

Laura stood beneath a large photograph in the living room, a photo taken when she was eighteen, where she had insisted on having a picture taken with Darren.

At the time, she had her own motives. She thought the large photo displayed in the living room looked like a wedding picture, so her one and only moment of stubbornness and insistence was to have this oversized photo taken.

Back then, Darren had simply smiled, assuming she felt insecure since she had just arrived and wanted to establish that he was the one in charge.

Laura gently stroked the photo, reminiscing about the past. A faint smile unconsciously appeared at the corners of her lips.

"Brenda, help me take this photo down."

Since Melanie had returned, there was no need for her to keep these things around and embarrass herself.

From now on, the owners of this place would be Darren and Melanie. And to him, she was nothing more than a scheming woman trying to seduce men.

"Miss Marsh, this isn’t..." Brenda looked at her in confusion.

Laura only smiled, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "As the saying goes, out with the old, in with the new."

Now that Melanie had returned, why should she stay here and be an eyesore?

By the time Laura had finished packing her things, it was already late at night.

She didn’t feel tired at all; she just sat on the sofa, waiting for Darren to come back, like the countless nights before.

Since she was leaving, it was time to say a proper goodbye.

As she was thinking this, the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Darren, reeking of alcohol, staggered in. His steps were unsteady and even his movements seemed more irritated than usual.

But when he saw her sitting upright on the sofa, a sense of inexplicable calm washed over his heart.

Thinking about everything that had happened today, Darren impatiently yanked at his tie, his tone harsh and dripping with sarcasm. "Did I tell you to leave? You only know how to go home? Laura, do you not know how to get to the hospital, or are you just pretending to be pathetic?"

Laura lowered her head, remaining silent. Her nails dug into her flesh as she inhaled the strong scent of alcohol from him.

She went over to support him, just like she used to, soft and gentle, like a little rabbit who never cried out in pain.

"Darren, there's hangover soup in the kitchen. You should have some to help with your stomach," Laura said softly.

Darren abruptly pulled his hand away from her grasp, his displeasure evident as he snapped, “Why didn't you fight back? Didn’t you have any temper? Why did you just let those people talk down on you like that?"

Laura swallowed the bitterness in her throat. She sniffled, feeling a wave of helplessness and grievance.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to fight back, but what they said... was the truth.

After all, it was Darren himself who had told them the truth.

They stood there, neither of them moving.

Laura’s heart was filled with a mixture of conflicting thoughts, unsure if she should speak or not.

Darren looked up and saw nothing but an empty wall.

He pointed at the wall, his face darkening and the moonlight only deepened his suspicion. "Where's the painting?"

"I took it for repairs. It hadn't been taken down and cleaned in a long time and it had accumulated a layer of dust," Laura replied, not wanting to say much more. After all, whatever she said, it would always be her fault. Perhaps Darren had long been dissatisfied with her.

She just couldn’t understand why, despite his usual control over his alcohol, he had drunk so much tonight.

It must be because of Melanie. She was the woman he had once dated, the only woman he had ever been involved with.

Darren collapsed onto the sofa, one hand shielding his eyes as he muttered to himself.

"Laura, you must be upset after seeing me kiss Melanie today, right? So why don't you get angry? Are you following your mother’s second lesson: learn to tolerate?"

Laura’s steps faltered as she was about to go upstairs, a chill spreading through her heart.

"Laura, your methods are inherited well. Persistent confession, pretending to be pitiful and wronged, all to seduce men. After all, your mother succeeded in this way, didn’t she?"

With each word he spoke, Laura's heart grew colder.

Darren wanted to see anger or jealousy on her face. He didn’t want to see that expression of indifference, as if nothing mattered to her.

His tone grew sharper, his hand trembling slightly in the shadows as he spoke, each word cutting like a blade. "Back then, when your mother married into the Bill Family, we all saw her true intentions. It’s pathetic. She couldn’t just climb the ranks for herself. Now, she wants you to cling to me? Are you really that desperate to hold onto wealth and status?"

Tears slipped from her eyes in the darkness, falling one by one before fading into the night.

Everyone could blame her mother, everyone could curse her mother—but not her.

Her mother had schemed everything for the wealth and prosperity of the Bill Family.

But Laura? She had done it for herself for the chance to enter the prestigious family and enjoy a better life.

Her mother had once told her that her talent and abilities should not be confined by poverty, which was why she was willing to do anything, even sleep her way to the top.

"Darren... I will leave, no one is irreplaceable..."

Her voice trembled, every word feeling like an immense struggle. It was as if her heart was being torn apart from within.

"Really? Then why haven't you left? Laura... you think just by acting like your mother..."

"Enough!" Laura shouted, her face pale as she walked back to Darren's side.

"You can't stand me, so I'll leave. It has nothing to do with my mother! I'll do as you wish and never come back..."

Under the moonlight, Laura seemed so fragile, as if a gust of wind could shatter her into pieces. She stood there before Darren, tears glistening in her eyes.

"If you don't even cherish my own love, then so be it..."

Darren's tousled hair covered his eyes. He lifted his head slightly, staring at Laura, his voice growing even more somber.

"A person who said she wanted to be my wife at eighteen, what does she even understand about love? Or is it just about using me? Stop pretending. It’s been seven years, haven't you pretended enough?"

"Darren, the one who truly lacks courage is you!"

Laura's eyes turned red, her tears falling uncontrollably in large drops. All the accumulated grievances transformed into anger and hurt.