I never knew a kiss could be so gentle.

Because Liam rarely kissed me.

Honestly, it's embarrassing to say, but I was the one who pursued Liam.

I saw him being beaten up at the bar entrance for not being able to pay, so I took him home.

He looked at me profoundly and suddenly smiled. "You like me?"

His smile was so bright that I was stunned.

Then, somehow, we ended up together.

I liked Liam a lot, even though his temper was a bit strange.

He would get angry for no reason and sometimes look at me impatiently. I thought it was because his parents had died when he was young.

We were the same kind of people.

In this world, we would be each other's only lover and salvation.

Looking at Liam was like seeing myself, yet we were so different.

I didn't want him to walk the path I had taken but to live in sunlight and love.

So, when he said he wanted to drop out of school, I immediately offered to support him.

Liam raised his eyebrow and said, "You'll support me? Do you know what you're saying? Do you have that much money?"

"No matter what, you have to stay in school."

He suddenly smiled and gently patted my head. "Alice, you're so good to me."

But I never expected to become such a big joke.

I was his doormat, just a joke for his idle moments.

Thinking this, I suddenly felt a destructive courage. I didn't care about giving myself to Adam since no one in this world loved me anyway.

My hands trembled as I tried to take off my clothes, but Adam laid me down on the bed.

His forehead touched mine as he said, "Sleep."

"You... You don't want to..."

"I'm not that bad," he said.

I thought Adam would leave, but he lay on the bed holding me.

I was not used to sleeping with him. Liam and I had never slept together.

Adam had a crisp scent. His arms were so tight around me, making me uncomfortable.

He said hoarsely, "Sleep."

I didn't know what would happen if I didn't sleep, so I quickly closed my eyes.

I didn't understand why Adam let me go. Maybe he had too many women and suddenly found me boring.

Even I didn't expect to fall asleep so quickly.

And that's how I ended up living in Adam's villa.

I didn't know what my status was and didn't dare suggest leaving. After all, I owed him a hundred thousand dollars.

I wasn't naive enough to think that sleeping with him for one night would clear my debt.

When Adam wasn't around, I cleaned his house thoroughly. I thought he would be happy, but he frowned and grabbed my hand. "What are you doing?"

"You... You don't like it? Or do you think I didn't clean well? I'm sorry."

I knew I was clumsy.

Although I came from a poor background, I was not good at housework and was always scolded by my dad as worthless.

Liam was very clean and needed his clothes washed every day, so I naturally helped him with that. One day, as usual, I ironed his clothes, and he suddenly got furious.

"Alice, did you do this on purpose? Don't you know this fabric can't take high heat? Do you know how much this costs?"

Although I didn't know what had happened, I quickly apologized and never dared to touch Liam's jacket again.

I didn't expect someone to care not if I did well but if my hands were hurting.

I looked at Adam's long eyelashes and suddenly understood why many women liked him.

I lowered my eyes, not knowing why my nose started to sting.

My phone suddenly rang.

I didn't expect Liam to call me.

I hadn't decided what to do and instinctively answered the call. Liam asked condescendingly, "Are you done making a scene?"

I was angry.

He deceived me but still felt justified in accusing me of making a fuss.

I didn't know how to respond for a moment. Adam grabbed the phone and said, "Don't call Alice again."

Then, he blocked Liam's number.

Adam's actions were so smooth, almost childish. I stared at him in shock. He shrugged and said, "You broke up, didn't you?"

Before I could react, he said, "I'll take you home."

"I'll walk myself," I said politely.

His expression changed but quickly returned to normal.

"Alright."

Adam had a driver take me home.

When I opened the door, I was stunned. I didn't expect Liam to be waiting at home.

I hadn't seen him in a few days. His clothes were wrinkled, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

He watched me cautiously and visibly relaxed when he saw I was alone.

He sat back down and waved me over. "Come here."

The Liam in front of me had shed his former facade and only showed the arrogance of someone in power. I couldn't understand how he dared to treat me like this.

Tears welled up again, but I just looked at him calmly. "This is my house. Please leave."

Liam frowned. "Why are you living at Adam's house? What did you do? Did you sleep with him?"

"He's not as shameless as you."

Liam suddenly sighed in relief, then impatiently said, "What right do you have to be mad at me? Didn't you know my identity and deliberately get close to me? We're all playing a part. How are you any better than me?"

"Playing a part?

So, this is what he thought of me all along."

Everything suddenly had a reasonable explanation, and I felt completely drained.

I looked at him tiredly. "I'll say this once. I never knew your identity. You overestimate me.

"I was foolish to think you were a poor student. I couldn't afford college before. It's my lifelong regret, so I didn't want you to give up on your studies.

"There was never any hope in my life. I hoped to be your power, but I was wrong. You don't need me.

"Liam, do you think playing with me is fun? Do you know how it feels to work every day, not being able to buy a new piece of clothing, and never daring to have lunch with colleagues? You even tricked me into selling my sister's only keepsake...

"You weren't wrong. I did sleep with him. He redeemed my sister's keepsake. I couldn't repay the money, so I had to do it.

"I'm not like you. I can't do such heartless things. Leave. We're done."

Liam glared at me angrily and raised his hand.

I thought he would slap me and instinctively took a step back. He paused for a moment, then stormed out angrily.

I knew we were completely over.

I was alone again.

I threw all of Liam's stuff out. I didn't think he'd care about these cheap things anyway.

With one less person to support, my finances suddenly improved a lot. I quit my part-time jobs at the KTV and convenience store and kept only my freelance artist job, which was enough to support myself.

But I didn't expect that one day my account would be suddenly banned.

I couldn't understand why. I kept appealing, but the platform company ignored me.

I had no choice but to look for part-time jobs again. But this time, for some reason, all the resumes I sent out got no response.

Even when I occasionally got an interview, no one contacted me afterward.

One day, after finishing an interview, I went to the bathroom. When I returned, I overheard the HR person answering a call. "Okay, I understand. I won't hire her..."

Just those few words made everything clear to me.

Suddenly, my stomach hurt intensely.

I forced myself to take a stomach pill, but this time the pain was different. It was unbearable.

I took a taxi to the hospital, but after paying my rent, I couldn't even afford the examination fee.

I was too embarrassed to delay paying the medical fees. I sat alone on a bench, feeling cold sweat drip down.

I took out my phone, not knowing who to ask for money. Suddenly, I saw someone post a photo.

In the photo, Liam showed his handsome profile, looking intently at something.

The caption read, "Mr. Smith is so generous. He bought my painting for a million dollars. I'm so happy."

I vaguely remembered that this was someone I met when I was doing part-time work.

The world was so small.

While I was at a loss over a thousand dollars for medical fees, he could spend a million dollars on a painting with no artistic value.

We were never from the same world.

I thought about it, feeling extremely miserable. Just then, Liam called me.

He said, "Are you done making a scene?"

We had been broken up for a month.

It was ridiculous. He actually thought I was just throwing a tantrum.

I couldn't contain my anger and asked with a trembling voice, "Did you have my account banned? Did you make it so I couldn't find a job?"

Liam chuckled. "You just figured that out?"

I was furious. "Liam, I never did anything wrong to you. Why are you destroying me?"

Liam suddenly softened his tone. "Alice, I know you're mad. But it's been so long. You should be over it by now. How can you be so immature? Was all your love for me fake?"

I was about to go crazy from Liam's gaslighting.

I hung up the phone, silently feeling the excruciating pain. Adam suddenly called me.

He asked, "Where are you?"