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.”

Wendy couldn’t even be bothered to look at her.

Kyle, clearly irritated by her indifference, became flustered. Her eyes flicked with a calculating glint as she grabbed a nearby glass of water and splashed it onto her own face. Then, as if making a dramatic decision, she shattered the glass and drew it across her hand. Blood quickly surfaced.

With a triumphant look, she sneered, “Wendy, I’ll say you did this to me. What do you think, will Nathan believe me or not?”

Wendy looked at her, completely dumbfounded. The scene felt like something out of a cliché soap opera, yet she was living it and paying the price.

When Nathan returned to the room, what greeted him was the sight of Kyle soaked and tear-streaked, her hand bleeding.

His expression shifted instantly. Panic flashed across his face as he rushed to her side to check her injury, his voice lowering with concern. “What happened? I was only gone a few minutes and you’re already like this?”

Kyle leaned into his arms, looking pitiful and aggrieved. “Wendy is still holding a grudge over what happened on my birthday. She suddenly lost her temper, splashed water on me and even used broken glass to cut me…”

Her eyes were filled with tears, making her seem incredibly pitiful at that moment.

Nathan's expression turned cold in an instant. He turned to Wendy and said sternly, “Wendy, why are you so vengeful? I already told you that what happened that day wasn’t Kyle’s fault. Do you really have to hurt her over it? She’s never had to suffer any grievances since she was little. What right do you have to make her suffer? Then again, you’re an orphan, born without anyone to teach you any manners…”

He suddenly stopped, as if realizing how cruel his words had become.

Wendy just looked at him, looked at how easily he distrusted her, how he blamed her without distinguishing right from wrong, even using her background to hurt her.

She suddenly let out a cold laugh and said icily, “Yes, I’m an orphan. I grew up lacking proper upbringing, but I’m not stupid enough to do something like that in a hospital with surveillance cameras!”

Nathan was stunned for a moment. Kyle quickly clutched her hand and cried out in pain. He immediately turned to take her for treatment, striding out of the hospital room.

Wendy left the hospital alone and returned to their home. She gathered up every couple’s items from the past few years and threw them all out.

Right on top was a photo they had taken on the day they first got together, both of them smiling brightly, making plans for the future, even planning to get married this year.

Now, those memories were nothing more than garbage.

Just as she was about to head out and throw them away, she ran into Nathan coming back. His face was still cold. When he saw the things in her hands, he demanded, “What are you doing? Just because of what happened earlier, you want to throw away all our memories?”

He snatched the box from her without another word and placed it back in its original spot. But Wendy didn’t care.

She would be leaving soon anyway. All these memories would no longer have anything to do with her. Her feelings for Nathan would be wiped clean.

He grabbed her arm and said earnestly, “Wendy, I know you have issues with Kyle, but right now, I’m your boyfriend. Can you stop being so jealous and petty all the time? Kyle is very important to me. I hope you can be more tolerant of her.”

Wendy closed her eyes, feeling suffocated. It was that same line again, be more tolerant of her. She couldn’t help but retort, “Why should I always be the one to tolerate her? And how could you wrongfully accuse me without even checking the facts? Is it really that hard to look at the security footage?”

Nathan’s expression turned completely cold as he stared into Wendy’s eyes. “Kyle and I have been childhood lovers for over ten years. I trust her.”

That single sentence “I trust her” shattered every last defense Wendy had.

It became clear that both love and its absence were painfully apparent.

She quickly lowered her head, afraid her cheap tears would be seen. In the next moment, Nathan’s phone rang. It was a call from one of his close friends.

“Nathan, you’d better get over here fast! Someone dosed Kyle with an aphrodisiac and now she’s going crazy, screaming she needs to see you! Looks like she really needs a man to help her ‘detox’!”

Veins popped on Nathan’s forehead as he growled coldly, “Find out who drugged her and break their hand. Dare to touch my people? They must be tired of living.”

He strode quickly toward the door, glancing at Wendy and saying offhandedly, “I’ve been drinking and can’t drive. You take me.”

When they arrived at the bar, Kyle’s face was flushed unnaturally red. The moment she saw Nathan, she slithered over to him like a water snake, clinging to him.

She kept writhing, hands roaming all over his body. Everyone nearby looked toward Wendy, standing just behind Nathan, their expressions awkward.

Nathan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, a hint of desire flickering in his eyes.

Suddenly, he scooped Kyle into his arms and stuffed her into the car, then told Wendy to drive them home.

As soon as they entered the house, Kyle immediately began stripping off her clothes one piece at a time, gasping that she was hot, lifting her face toward Nathan, begging for a kiss.

Wendy stood still for a moment before speaking up, her voice calm, “I’ll step outside for some air. Take good care of her.”

She walked out the door and sat down weakly on the steps, choosing to torture herself by listening to the sounds inside.

Inside, Nathan’s voice came out hoarse. “You little troublemaker, who told you to go drinking at a bar? Now that you’ve been drugged, you come running to me?”

“Nathan, I want you… Please, help me, okay? Touch me, my body’s so hot…”

The sound of their breathless kissing grew more intense.

Outside, Wendy sat motionless at the door until she suddenly heard the crash of glass falling to the ground.

Then came Nathan’s quieter voice as if he’d finally snapped out of it. “Alright, I’ll get you some cold water to cool off. You need to calm down… Wendy will be back soon, we can’t do this here…”

The door suddenly swung open and Wendy found herself face-to-face with Nathan.

He blurted out, “Why are you sitting out here?”

Frowning, he added, “You don’t trust me with Kyle? Nothing happened between us, alright? Go inside and give her a cold shower. I’ll step out for a bit.”

Wendy staggered to her feet. Kyle, still inside, glared at her with eyes full of hatred, completely lucid, not at all like someone under the influence.

Then, in a sickeningly sweet voice, she said, “Nathan, it’s not like we haven’t slept together before. I’ve already been drugged, why not be my antidote one more time? Wendy won’t mind, will she?”

Nathan's expression shifted subtly. He instinctively glanced at Wendy to gauge her reaction, only to see her face calm and composed as if she didn't care at all about his past with Kyle.

For a moment, he felt suffocated.

Feigning a casual tone, he chuckled and said, “Yeah, Wendy, I’ll be Kyle’s antidote. You surely won’t mind, right?”

Though Wendy had mentally prepared herself, hearing Nathan say those words aloud still made her sway slightly. But she quickly regained her composure.

With a gentle and understanding smile, she replied, “Of course I won’t. You two grew up together, done everything together and clearly can still do anything. Just being her antidote once more? Why would I care?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Nathan’s face darkened like a storm. He stared hard at her, trying to read her expression, then nearly growled through clenched teeth. “Wendy, you said that.”

He strode over and shoved Wendy out the door, slamming it shut with a loud bang. The force of it stirred a fine layer of dust from the doorframe, settling it onto her face.

She finally couldn’t hold back anymore. The tears she had been bottling up came pouring down in heavy drops.

How could she possibly not care? After so many years together, thousands of days and nights entangled with each other, in countless late nights, she had fallen asleep in Nathan’s arms. They had become so entwined in each other’s lives as if they were already one.