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.

She suddenly recalled the promises they once made, their plans to visit Zurich, Venice and Jeju Island after the wedding. Back then, Nathan had carefully mapped out their future, telling her with unwavering seriousness, “Wendy, you’ll always be a part of my future.”

She wasn’t as carefree as she liked to believe. It still hurt. But she was already trying to pull herself away.

Letting the tears fall freely, she told herself. ‘When the day comes that love is auctioned off like a discarded item, I’ll finally be able to forget Nathan completely and walk away with nothing but peace.’

She didn’t know how much time had passed before the door creaked open.

Nathan stood there in a bathrobe, looking down at her from above. “Wendy, do you even have a heart?” he asked coldly. “I just slept with another woman and you don’t care at all?”

Wendy hurriedly stood up, flustered. Her legs were numb from crouching too long and she stumbled a bit. Nathan instinctively caught her in his arms.

Still, she remained expressionless.

His jaw clenched. He forced out a cruel laugh and sneered, “Since you’re so generous, how about going out and buying me some condoms? The more the better. I’m worried I won’t be able to stop once I get started!”

After saying that, he waited for Wendy to get angry, to curse at him or slap him. But instead, she simply nodded calmly, then turned and left to buy condoms for him.

He stared blankly at Wendy’s thin and fragile back, a sharp ache piercing through his heart. Suddenly, he punched the wall with such force that his hand bled, but he didn’t care at all.

Inside the room, Kyle watched the scene intently. Seeing Nathan subconsciously testing Wendy, she felt a tightness in her chest, a creeping sense of insecurity beginning to rise.

During all that time earlier, Nathan had thoughtfully prepared cold water for her, even laid out clean underwear, yet he hadn't touched her at all.

She finally understood. Even asking Wendy to go buy condoms was merely to provoke her, to try and get a reaction out of her.

She heard footsteps approaching and rushed to the door, tiptoeing to press a sudden kiss on Nathan’s lips while stripping off all her clothes.

She thought confidently. ‘Isn't it my body that Nathan loved the most?’

Sure enough, once she was bare, Nathan didn’t push her away. Instead, he stared at her intently, even reaching out instinctively to touch the red birthmark on her neck.

When Wendy walked in, what she saw was a completely naked Kyle and a gentle, intimate Nathan caressing her.

In that moment, she felt as if she’d been nailed to the spot, her blood rushing in reverse.

This was what it felt like to witness Nathan baring himself to another woman with her own eyes.

The moment Nathan saw Wendy, it was as if he finally snapped back to reality.

The laughable part was when his hand touched the red birthmark on Kyle’s neck, the person in his mind was actually Wendy.

It was absurd. All along, Wendy had merely been a stand-in for Kyle’s body. He pinched the space between his brows, feeling as if something was silently shifting inside him.

As he stared at Wendy obediently handing over the condoms she had bought, he didn’t take them. He simply stared at her coldly.

Wendy felt as if her entire body were ablaze, the pain unbearable. She still couldn’t act like an outsider, nor could she bear watching them commit such a shameful act.

Suddenly, she shoved the plastic bag into Nathan’s arms and fled in near panic.

She no longer cared about the reaction of those behind her. She walked alone down the street in the dead of night. The temperature was below freezing, her body was cold, yet nothing could compare to the chill in her heart.

Tomorrow was the day of the emotional auction, the moment she would finally leave this place for good. Nearly all the prominent figures in town would attend the auction, including Nathan.

In the early hours of the morning, Wendy’s phone was flooded with a series of provocative photos from Kyle.

Nathan was asleep, red marks dotting his neck, his bathrobe hanging loosely open. And Kyle, completely nude, was lying across his chest, the image of a pair of intimate lovers.