He helped me up, looked me up and down and then noticed the several bleeding wounds on my calves. He felt so sorry that his tone began to tremble.

"How did you get it? How did you get so many wounds? Why didn't you call me?"

He seemed to have completely forgotten about what happened at the birthday party.

I remained silent, unsure whether I should remind him and uncover his mask of disguised affection.

"Be good, don't cry. I'll apply medicine for you."

He kissed me on the forehead and got up to get the medicine box.

"You're so bad at taking care of yourself, what will you do without me?"

I stared blankly at his back.

Yeah, what should I do without him?

I pursued him for twenty-two years, inseparable for six years.

However, what I wanted was never a false dream or a false you!

I could not sleep.

I woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, then I crawled out of Jarvis' arms and sat barefoot on the bay window to look at the moon.

I did not know when I fell asleep, but in the next morning, I woke up when Jarvis picked me up.

He smiled helplessly and asked, "Why are you sitting in front of the window instead of sleeping on the bed? And you're not even wearing any clothes ...."

Before he could finish his words, his expression suddenly changed. "Why is your body hot?"

I was in a daze, my mind was a mess and I did not want to answer.

I felt a cold sensation as he placed his palm on my forehead.

He furrowed his brows, then immediately wrapped me in the blanket and started to change his clothes without saying a word. He took my clothes and put them on me.

I weakly raised my hand and pushed him away. "I can do it myself, you, you help me get a cold towel."

I felt my tongue getting tangled as I spoke.

Jarvis easily pushed my hand away and said, "How many times have I helped you put on your clothes? Are you embarrassed because you're sick?"

After helping me change my clothes forcefully, he carried me onto the car and headed to the hospital.

Just when queuing for registration, Noelle walked in with red eyes and happened to meet Jarvis' eyes, speechless.

"Jarvis ...."

Jarvis' face changed and he immediately left the queue, holding onto her shoulders and asking nervously, "What happened?"

"I'm so clumsy, I burn my hand while cooking beef steak," she spoke as she lifted her sleeve, revealing the redness and swelling on her arm.

A sense of worry appeared in his eyes. He lifted her arm and blew it delicately.

"From now on, don't do this kind of rough work anymore. You can tell me whatever you want to eat," he said.

Noelle nodded, tears turning into laughter.

"Jarvis, you're the only one who will treat me so well."

The man raised his hand and rubbed her head. "Silly girl, of course, I'll treat you well."

She smiled coquettishly and glanced at me who was sitting on the bench.

But he seemed to have forgotten about me. He queued up for her to register and had a warm chitchat. He did not even look back at me until he left.

See, this was the difference between a substitute and the real person.

No matter how affectionate his attitude might be to me, as soon as Noelle appeared, I, as a substitute, would disappear into nothingness.

I smiled bitterly at myself, then I forced myself to stand up, lined up for registration and went to the outpatient department.

My fever was too high and my body was too weak so I needed IV fluids to get better.

I forced myself to endure the dizziness and went to get the medicine, then to the infusion point.

I was so tired during the infusion that I fell asleep.

I did not know how long I slept until I was woken up by a little boy next to me.

"Miss, why didn't your family or your boyfriend accompany you to the hospital? You just lost blood while sleeping. My mom called the nurse for you. But we have to leave now. It's very dangerous for you to be alone."

I thanked the little boy and his mother and I gathered my energy to look at the IV fluids bottle.

It was already afternoon when my IV fluid bottle was empty and Jarvis still had not contacted me, not even a single phone call.

I stood up and planned to go home by myself, but I fell back down because of dizziness and powerlessness.

There was nothing I could do, so I dialed Jarvis' phone number.

When he heard that I was still in the hospital, he was stunned for a long time.

"I'm sorry, Serena, Noelle was injured and crying in pain, also she couldn't bear the smell of disinfectant in the hospital, so I thought about sending her back first and looking for you then ...."

Before he could finish his words, Noelle's sweet voice came through the end of the phone.

"Jarvis, are you not done yet? I'm so hungry ...."

Although he immediately covered the audio receiver, her clear voice still reached my ears.

"Serena, it's not what you think. Go home first and I'll come back later to explain to you."

I pursed my lips.

I was not even interested in hearing his so-called explanation. It was just a repeated deception towards me.

I could only say, "It's okay, I can do it myself."

No one in this world who would not be sad and devastated to lose someone in their life.

So did I, Serena Collins, who lost my sweetheart.

After hanging up the phone, I called someone to help me pick me up at the hospital and take me home.

That night, Jarvis did not go home as he promised.

Late at night, my boss asked me to handle an urgent document and a notification suddenly popped up on my phone.

As soon as I clicked on it, I found that Jarvis reposted Noelle's X post.

A picture of shadows cuddling together, with a sweet caption attached.

[Who says no one will wait for you? The one who truly cares about you is the one who will always be there for you no matter how far you go!]

Just as I clicked the like button, the post had been deleted.

However, the next moment, another notification popped up again from his X account.

He blocked my main account and reposted it again, but he forgot to block my secondary account.

I laughed and unfollowed both his accounts.

That night, without Jarvis, I slept very well and felt much more energetic.

I rushed to the company on time and handed my resignation letter to the director.

She was actually reluctant to accept my resignation letter, but knowing that I would be going back to my hometown to get married, she could only give her blessing and hug me.

After completing the handover, my colleagues who were also reluctant to accept my resignation started making noise and asking me to treat to a meal.

Of course, I would not excuse myself, I had already booked a place for dinner and karaoke.

I did not know if Noelle and I had some kind of fate. Just when I went to the bathroom in the middle of our karaoke, I bumped into her again.

Facing my surprised expression, she appeared much calmer.

"What a coincidence! You're here to have fun too?"

I smiled at her politely. I did not feel like there was anything to talk about between us, so I planned to go back to the private room.

But she did not seem to think so. She blocked my step and said intimidatingly, "Do you hate me that much? Why? It's a pity, I thought we have a lot in common, Serena. We even have to dip beef in vinegar."

Her words made me tilt my head slightly to look at her.

I had always been curious why Jarvis always dipped beef in vinegar when he served it to me?

He told me that it tasted good this way, but I could never get used to it.

Now it seemed it was also an excuse. He dipped the beef in vinegar to continue the habit he always did with Noelle to me.

My stomach suddenly churned. I felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.

But she continued to chatter on.

"Besides, don't you think we look alike, Serena?"

This sentence completely shattered all my defenses, and in an instant, the strength and dignity I had put on collapsed.

"Really? That's quite a coincidence. I have something else to do. I have to go."

I knocked her shoulder away and ran away.

As soon as I got back to the private room, my hands and feet felt cold and I poured a glass of white wine to warm up.

My colleagues were urging me to sing a song. Just as I was about to choose a song, the door of the private room was pushed open forcefully.

Jarvis stood at the door of the private room. He froze for a few seconds when he saw everyone in the room and then his angry eyes locked on me.

I was about to open my mouth when he came over in two or three steps, grabbed my neck and yelled. "Who is that man you brought?"

I had never seen him so fierce before and my heart trembled slightly.

"What man? What are you talking about?"

Jarvis’ eyes turned red. Even though his colleagues surrounded him and pulled him, they were unable to relieve him of any strength.

His eyes were full of anger. Even though my colleagues surrounded him and pulled him, none of them could make him give up any strength.

"The man you brought into the bathroom to bully Noelle, tell me, who is he?"

As my breathing became more and more difficult, I threw a slap at his face.

He released his grip in surprise, but the suppressed anger in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

My colleagues immediately protected me and took me to the sofa. I coughed for a long time before I could regain my normal voice.

"Jarvis, what are you crazy about? How could I bring a man to the bathroom and bully Noelle?"

"If not you, who else could it be? You're mad at me for leaving you in the hospital for her and you're mad at me for taking care of her and not going home these past two days, so you're doing this kind of revenge. How can you be so vicious?"

I could not bear the bitterness in my heart, so I nodded with a bitter smile.

"Since you've already decided it's me, why don't you call the police?"

He pursed his lips, the disappointment in his eyes piercing me inch by inch.

"You dare to do such a shameful thing because you believe I won't call the police, right?"

I looked at him with ridicule and mockery.

He tried to strangle me to death, what else would he not dare to do?

He suddenly grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the private room.

My colleagues stepped in front of me to block him and I shook my head at them with gratitude.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you guys having fun, because of my personal reasons. Please continue. I'll be back soon."

With these words, they could only step back helplessly.

Jarvis took me to another private room.

In the private room, Noelle was huddled on the sofa, shivering, wrapped in Jarvis' coat, while several of her good friends surrounded her and comforted her.

He threw me in front of Noelle and gave a stern command. "Hurry up and apologize to Noelle!"

"You should be grateful that she didn't suffer too much harm today, otherwise, I will definitely make you pay the price you deserve."

My knee hit the corner of the sofa and I gasped in pain.

Noelle shook her head with tears in her eyes and said, "Jarvis, forget it. It's not her fault, it's just my bad luck."

She sobbed again.

But what did I do wrong?

I chuckled and stood up from the floor.

"I'm so curious, Jarvis."

"As the old saying goes, a dishonest person can often guess what another dishonest person might do. You are concluding that I have done something to hurt Noelle just based on your words. I'm sorry, I can't admit it and I don't have time to play this farce with you. If you cause trouble with me again, I will call the police."

We have been childhood sweethearts for twenty-two years and I thought that in his heart, my character no longer needed to be proven.

However, in front of Noelle, even twenty-two more years would become vulnerable.

His favoritism and preference were so obvious and I was just a substitute in this emotional game!