No one knew how much time had passed when Nathan, still carrying the lingering scent of perfume, lay down on the bed and naturally wrapped his arm around Wendy’s waist.

He thought she had already fallen asleep, only to find their eyes meeting in the darkness.

A flicker of panic flashed across Nathan’s eyes, but he was the first to speak. “Honey, someone important came back tonight and asked me to a gathering, so I had to leave in a hurry…”

Uncharacteristically, Wendy didn’t pout or act spoiled. She simply nodded lightly and said in a soft voice, “When someone important invites you, of course you should go to them right away.”

She turned over, facing away from Nathan and closed her eyes.

A strange sense of unease crept over him. Something about Wendy’s reaction didn’t feel right, but he didn’t dwell on it, simply assuming she was sulking. Before long, he drifted into a deep sleep.

However, Wendy lay wide awake the entire night, staring at the anonymous video message on her phone. In the photo, Nathan and Kyle were kissing passionately in a three-minute challenge.

Early the next morning, Nathan put on his favorite suit, styling his hair meticulously in front of the mirror. His face was full of smiles as if he were about to see the girl he loved most.

He glanced at Wendy, picked out an outfit for her and announced, “Honey, my friend Kyle wants to meet you. It’s her birthday today and she specifically asked me to bring you along.”

Without waiting for her reply, he took her hand and pulled her toward the car, clearly in a hurry and impatient.

The moment Wendy laid eyes on Kyle, her entire body stiffened.

Both of them were dressed in strapless evening gowns, had a red mole on their necks, identical in size and placement.

Kyle’s gaze landed precisely on that mole, her smile tinged with mockery. “What a coincidence. Your mole is exactly like mine. Our skin tone, even our bone structure, are nearly identical too!”

The onlookers clearly understood what was going on. The air was thick with schadenfreude, the kind of crowd that delighted in watching drama unfold.

Nathan stared at Kyle deeply and blurted out, “How could she ever compare to you?”

The room fell into a momentary silence.

Wendy’s face flushed crimson. Her head dropped in shame.

Realizing his words had been too blunt, Nathan quickly tried to smooth things over. “Today’s Kyle’s birthday. She’s the star of the night. I didn’t mean to compare the two of you.”

Kyle let out a light laugh, then casually took Wendy’s hand and led her to the wine table. She handed her a glass and said with a smile, “Wendy, thank you for taking care of Nathan all these years. You know, I probably know him best. When he drinks, he gets clingy and won’t even drink hangover soup unless it’s fed to him. When his stomach hurts, he loves curling up in my arms and acting all spoiled…”

As if suddenly realizing something, she added with feigned innocence, “Oh, Wendy, Nathan and I are just like brother and sister. We’ve always been close like that. You don’t mind, do you?”

Listening to Kyle’s reminiscing, Nathan’s eyes actually reddened with emotion. At that moment, he was gazing at her with unfiltered affection.

Wendy’s heart ached with a dull bitterness. She let out a faint, pained smile and replied, “Anyone who didn’t know better would think you two were the real couple.”

As soon as Wendy finished speaking, Kyle’s tears began to fall like broken pearls, streaming down her cheeks. She choked up, “Wendy, are you mad at me? I must’ve crossed a line... it’s all my fault for making everyone upset.”

Nathan’s expression darkened. He turned to comfort her, “Kyle, there’s no need to explain anything between us. It’s your birthday today. No one should be upsetting you.”

Then, for the first time, he looked at Wendy with an impatient frown and said coldly, “Wendy, aren’t you going to apologize to Kyle? If I’d known you’d be this petty, I wouldn’t have brought you.”

Without giving her a chance to speak, he shoved the glass of red wine into her hand, forcing her to toast Kyle as a gesture of apology.

But he had forgotten that Wendy was severely allergic to alcohol.

“Wendy, just drink this glass and we’ll let the earlier misunderstanding go. It’s Kyle’s birthday today, her happiness is the most important,” Nathan said.

Wendy looked at him deeply, unable to stop herself from saying, “I’m allergic to alcohol. If I drink, it’ll cause serious problems…”

Before she could finish, Kyle’s eyes once again welled with tears and Nathan cut her off impatiently, “It’s just a small glass of wine, what could possibly go wrong? Stop being so dramatic, will you? Worst case, I’ll have someone take you to the hospital afterward.”

Wendy didn’t want to argue anymore. What was the point? Everyone was waiting for her to drink it, as if not drinking would make her a criminal.

She shut her eyes tightly and downed the wine in one go.

Only then did Nathan finally smile in satisfaction, reaching out to pat her head gently, as if offering comfort.

Everyone carried on as if nothing had happened, the atmosphere at the party growing lively once more. Nathan's eyes remained fixed on Kyle, full of affection and longing.

He didn’t notice that Wendy’s entire body had turned red, her face starting to swell and she was beginning to show signs of suffocation.

She rushed to the restroom, trying to clear her head with cold water. When she turned around, she found Kyle leaning against the doorway, waiting for her.

Kyle sneered, “You saw the kissing video I sent you last night, didn’t you? Do you know how much Nathan loves me? He even said he’d die for me. And you? You’re just a stand-in and a body double at best. Know your place and back off willingly.”

She kept on taunting, but Wendy could no longer hear her clearly. An uncontrollable sense of suffocation tightened around her throat.

Kyle noticed what was happening and smirked smugly. “Hahaha, you're swelling up like a pig’s head! What do you think? If I lock you in here, how long will it take for Nathan to even notice you’re gone?”

Like a demon, she stepped forward and shoved Wendy hard into the restroom, slamming the door shut and locking it tight.

Wendy was engulfed in unbearable pain so that she didn't even have the strength to bang on the door. She could only lean weakly against it, struggling to breathe.

Meanwhile, in the hall, Nathan was being encouraged by the crowd to play a mouth-to-mouth passing game with Kyle, who had just returned from the restroom.

The atmosphere between the two was charged with flirtation. Although they could’ve easily passed the item to each other, they deliberately drew it out to mimic a kiss. Their gazes lingered on each other with unmistakable intimacy.

Nathan seemed to be fully immersed in the gentle allure that was Kyle. But before long, he began to grow distracted.

His heart pounded uneasily in his chest, as if something was slipping away without a sound and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t grasp it.

He suddenly looked up, scanning the surroundings before abruptly asking, “Where’s Wendy? Where did she run off to on her own?”

The people around teased him, “Nathan, Kyle is standing right in front of you, why are you still thinking about that stand-in?”

Kyle caught sight of the worry on Nathan’s face and a flicker of resentment flashed across her features. She replied breezily, “She might’ve gotten upset earlier and gone home on her own. She’s a grown woman, what could possibly happen? Let’s keep playing.”

Not wanting to dampen Kyle’s mood, Nathan did his best to keep her entertained and happy.

By the end of the night, both of them were drunk. Kyle twisted in his arms like a snake and he instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist.

But as he held her, something felt off. For some reason, the moment his hand touched Kyle’s waist, a vivid image of Wendy came to mind, how she would lie in his arms each night, how her waist fit perfectly in his embrace.

An unsettling unease grew within him.

Abruptly, he pushed Kyle away and strode quickly toward the restroom.

He had been keeping an eye on Wendy out of the corner of his eye all along, so he vaguely remembered. After she entered the restroom, she never came back out.

He strode quickly into the restroom, loudly calling out Wendy’s name, but there was no reply.

Kyle hurried after him, trying to dissuade him. “I already told you, she probably went home. Nathan, it’s my birthday today. Don’t you want to spend more time with me? Or have you already replaced me with a new girlfriend and forgotten all about me?”

Inside the locked restroom, Wendy was nearly passing out. In a daze, she vaguely heard Nathan’s voice, but when she tried to respond, she found she couldn’t make a single sound. Her throat refused to cooperate.

The conversation outside fell clearly and unmistakably into Wendy’s ears.

She heard Nathan’s slightly helpless response. “Kyle, don’t you know what kind of feelings I have for you? Even Wendy… is just your substitute.”

Only then did Kyle smile, her voice soft as she asked, “Then now that I’m back, will you leave her and come back to me?”

There was a long silence outside the door. Nathan didn’t reply right away.

Then came a soft sigh from him. “Kyle… she loves me deeply. I…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. But Kyle’s eyes reddened instantly. She pressed him, voice trembling. “You’ve fallen in love with her, haven’t you? Didn’t you say you’d only love me for the rest of your life? If I hadn’t gone abroad to further my studies, wouldn’t we already be married by now?”

Seeing Kyle’s tears welling up in her eyes, Nathan finally relented and said helplessly, “Alright, I only love you.”

Kyle suddenly kissed him. He froze for a moment but ultimately didn’t push her away. Instead, he responded to her kiss.

In the quiet of the moment, a faint knock came from the bathroom door. Nathan snapped back to his senses and quickly unlocked the door. The moment he saw Wendy collapsed inside, barely conscious, his mind went blank.

Her entire body was flushed red and she was on the verge of fainting. That instant, it was as if his heart seized tightly and he could no longer think straight.

He scooped Wendy into his arms and rushed toward the hospital. His expression was as dark and menacing as if he were about to kill someone. The moment he saw the bathroom door had been locked from the outside, he understood that someone had deliberately trapped Wendy in there.

Fortunately, her life was saved. When Wendy opened her eyes, Nathan was sitting by her bedside. The moment he saw her wake up, he quickly brought a glass of warm water to her lips.

With guilt in his voice, he said softly, “I’m sorry, Honey. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have let you drink.”

Wendy’s heart twinged in pain. He had witnessed her allergic reaction to alcohol before, yet in front of Kyle, it was as if he had lost all sense.

Now, he was avoiding the topic of her being locked in the bathroom, but Wendy chose to confront it directly. “Nathan, it was Kyle who locked me in there. Do you believe me?”

Nathan lowered his eyes, avoiding her gaze.

It was obvious. He already knew Kyle was the one behind it, but he had no intention of blaming her.

Wendy suddenly smiled, but all she felt was an overwhelming sense of disappointment.

Nathan said in a hushed voice, “Alright, Wendy. Kyle just got back from abroad and it was her birthday that day. Could you cut her some slack? She’s just a bit childish, not a bad person.”

Wendy turned her gaze to the window, hiding her tearful eyes as if that alone could help her appear more carefree and more unbothered.

She would always remember what Nathan had once said, “As long as I’m here, you don’t have to back down for anyone. I’ll always be your support.”

Now, it all felt like a cruel joke.

The day Wendy was discharged from the hospital, Kyle came to visit her in person. Everyone knew the truth, but no one mentioned it.

While Nathan stepped out to pay the hospital fees, Kyle raised her proud chin and spoke in a tone that reeked of false modesty, “You don’t actually think that just because I locked you in the bathroom and almost killed you, Nathan would blame me, do you? How ridiculous. He even comforted me afterward, saying that if anything had happened, he’d take the blame for me.”