Lakeisha Whitaker was reborn—back to the day of her wedding with Cedrick Gomez.

The first thing she decided to do was dump her groom at the altar.

"I love you." Cedrick gazed at Lakeisha, his eyes full of affection as if she were the love of his life.

But Lakeisha knew it was a lie.

Today, her makeup was flawless, her haute couture wedding gown a masterpiece that had taken months to craft. She was stunning—like a dream bride sculpted by the gods. And the man standing opposite her was the golden boy of Whitdale—rich, brilliant, and handsome as hell.

Everyone thought she was the luckiest woman on earth to marry into the Gomez family.

The officiant asked her with a smile, "Do you, Lakeisha Whitaker, take Cedrick Gomez, to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish him, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, and to be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

Holding a calla lilies bouquet, Lakeisha looked at Cedrick, saying nothing.

Her silence went for so long that the guests started to exchange glances and whisper.

Cedrick scowled.

Jerald Whitaker, Lakeisha's father, frowned, wondering what kind of stunt she was pulling this time. "Lakeisha, speak up!" he snapped.

Lakeisha smiled, the smile somehow adding a touch of sadness to her stunning face.

Looking up at Cedrick, she said, "No, I don't."

Gasps echoed across the hall.

Lakeisha threw the bouquet away, yanked the veil, and tossed it to the ground. "That's it. This wedding is over."

As she turned to leave, Cedrick caught her wrist and questioned her, his glacial eyes filled with accusation, "Are you throwing a tantrum now? Really?"

Marrying him had always been Lakeisha's biggest dream. He couldn't understand her sudden defiance. But he did know one thing—if she walked away now, his family would become the laughingstock of Whitdale.

"Let go," Lakeisha said.

Of course, Cedrick wouldn't listen.

Lakeisha looked at him, torn between a bitter laugh and raw heartbreak. Then she asked the question that had haunted her across two lifetimes, "Cedrick, do you really know who's the one you love?"

Cedrick's expression darkened even more.

Furious, Jerald sprung to his feet and spat, "Lakeisha! You better think carefully about what you're doing!"

Damien Whitaker, Lakeisha's brother, was sitting in front next to Jerald. Hearing her question clearly, he stood up, tugged at Jerald's sleeve, and said with a frown, "Dad, she was the one who insisted on marrying Cedrick in the first place. You think she'd back out now without a reason?"

"A reason?" Zelma Gomez, Cedrick's mother, stood up, fuming. "If she had second thoughts, she could have told us before the wedding. Why now? She must be humiliating us on purpose!"

Logan Gomez, Cedrick's father, stood up as well. "She's right. Jerald, your family has disgraced ours."

Jerald flushed with shame as Damien took a step forward to deal with Zelma and Logan. Out of the corner of his eye, Damien saw Lakeisha shaking off Cedrick's hand and running outside.

Lakeisha escaped the wedding.

She wished she could have been reborn a little earlier. Then she wouldn't have hurt Edmund Atkinson so deeply.

In her previous life, she had married Cedrick. And in return, she received nothing but his emotional neglect, betrayal, and infidelity.

On the contrary, Edmund had loved her with unwavering sincerity till the end of his life.

He had confessed his feelings for her countless times, standing by her through everything. Yet, she had never cherished his love, despising it and keeping him at arm's length, all to chase after a hollow illusion she mistook for romance.

On the day of her wedding to Cedrick, Edmund had watched her walk into the banquet hall. Totally disheartened, he left the country and ended up dying from severe alcohol poisoning.

She remembered that at a party, Troy Steele, Edmund's friend, had yelled at her after getting drunk, saying she was to blame for Edmund's death.

Since she had returned to the very day Edmund boarded a flight to Drateria, she gotta make a change!

She moved as fast as she could now, but it still wasn't fast enough. Then she kicked off her high heels and started to run barefoot.

Her dress swept up rose petals scattered along the red carpet. The petals whirled through the air, then drifted slowly back to the ground.

After running out of the banquet hall, she looked around, only to find Edmund gone.

Still, she wasn't in time to stop him.

As Lakeisha was in a daze, a flashy red sports car screeched to a halt, stopping while brushing against her wedding dress.

Matilda Kennedy flicked her curls messed by the wind and whistled at Lakeisha teasingly.

"Are you sure about this?" Matilda arched an eyebrow. "You're really gonna run away?"

Trenton Kennedy, Matilda's father, was supposed to attend today's wedding, but he had fallen ill and was in the hospital.

Matilda and Lakeisha had grown up side by side yet remained perpetually at loggerheads. When Trenton told Matilda to attend the wedding on his behalf, she laughed out loud as if he had told the biggest joke in the world.

She said, "You want me to show up at her wedding? That's rich. But I promise to dress up and show up at her funeral with a big grin."

Trenton was so pissed off that he almost was transferred to the ICU.

Yet, given the business collaboration between the two families, Matilda gave in and came here anyway.

But she deliberately showed up late just to protest. And just like this, she bumped into the runaway bride.

Lakeisha glanced at her before looking over at her phone in the passenger seat.

She was wearing a wedding dress and didn't know where her phone was.

Matilda wanted to leave. Obviously, something had happened, interrupting the wedding, and she had every reason to go back now. Not bothering to say anything, she started the car and was ready to go.

In the next second, she slammed on the brakes again.

Lakeisha was standing in front of the car with her arms spread open.

"What the fuck?" Matilda cursed. "Find another way to die! Don't drag me into your mess!"

"Do you have Edmund's number?" Lakeisha asked. "Can I borrow your phone to call him?"

Matilda was slack-jawed—it was the first time Lakeisha had acted so nice to her—and to think Lakeisha said this in a pleading tone! She thought of something, glanced at Lakeisha and then the banquet hall, and said with a gasp, "Don't tell me you did this for Edmund!"

"No."

"For fuck's sake, Lakeisha! He pursued you for eight years! And now it suddenly dawns on you that he's the one you should be with?" Matilda was so shocked that her sunglasses nearly fell off. She took them off while imagining the chaos inside, sneering, "Edmund and I aren't close. Why would I have his number? Gosh, girl, it's been eight years, and you're so heartless you didn't even save his number?"

Lakeisha didn't know what to say.

Indeed, she didn't have Edmund's number. The truth was, she had never given a damn about him.

"Could you take me to the airport?" she asked.

"Huh?" Matilda put her sunglasses back on, sneering. "I don't think we're that close."

"Take me to the airport. OK?" Lakeisha's voice was tinged with anxiety.

Sensing this, Matilda was even more at ease.

She sized up Lakeisha, her sworn enemy since childhood, and smirked, "Beg me, Lakeisha. Then I might say yes."

She knew Lakeisha would never beg her—Lakeisha would rather die.

"I beg you," Lakeisha said without hesitation.

Matilda was stupefied.

Meanwhile, Lakeisha had already opened the car door and sat inside.

Finally coming back to her senses, Matilda shrieked, "Lakeisha, you've lost your mind!"

No matter what, the Kennedy family was in business, and they honored their promises. Matilda put her personal feelings aside and stepped on the gas, and the sports car shot away like an arrow from a bow.

She glanced at Lakeisha's wedding dress. Though she said nothing, the ridicule in her eyes was more than obvious.

Lakeisha ignored it and said softly, "To the International Airport. Thanks."

"Stop. Don't make my skin crawl." Matilda couldn't help but shiver, clicking her tongue in disdain.

Lakeisha knew it was a long shot for her to catch up with Edmund.

But she'd still give it a go.

As she stood in the vast airport, watching strangers come and go, she realized how ridiculous she was.

She was too late. She had hurt the man who loved her the most and didn't even have the chance to say sorry to him.

Passers-by turned their heads around to look at her as the wedding dress caught their eyes.

"Is she filming for a TV series?" someone whispered.

"Maybe. But I don't see any cameras."

"Perhaps they've been hidden. Who is she? A celebrity? She's so pretty. How come I've never seen her on TV before?"

Lakeisha walked out of the airport dejectedly.

Then she realized Matilda was already nowhere to be seen.

She couldn't help but sigh—Matilda was as willful as ever, leaving right after taking her here.

She didn't have her phone or any money.

Hailing a cab, she planned on having her family pay when she got home.

The cab driver was chatty. Looking at her through the rearview mirror, he asked curiously, "Ma'am, why are you in a wedding dress? And where are your shoes?"

"High heels aren't designed for running," she replied.

His eyes lit up. "You had a change of heart, ran away from your wedding, and came here to chase after your true love? Or your groom ditched you, and you came here to get him back?"

"Sir, you've watched too many TV dramas."

He encouraged her with a knowing look on his face. "You don't have to be shy. Everything for true love, right? I get it."

He kept running his mouth along the way, and at the sight of the familiar villa, Lakeisha actually felt relieved. "Sir, wait for a second. I'll have my family give you the money."

She got out of the car, and it was Alia Becker, the family's maid, who came to open the door. She asked Alia to pay the driver while she came inside to get the money.

Before walking to the cab, Alia hesitated. Thinking that Lakeisha grew up under her watch, she braced herself and reminded Lakeisha, "Sir Whitaker is waiting for you in the living room. He seems furious."

Lakeisha nodded.

After pocketing the money, the driver exclaimed while gawking at the slowly closing villa gates, "So, it's not just some trashy romance. It's also a rich family soap opera!"

What an eye-opener.

Jerald was sitting in the middle of the couch in the living room.

Damien and his wife, Brittney Collier, were sitting on either side of him.

The tension in the air was palpable. All the servants gave the living room a wide berth, not wanting to become innocent victims.

Damien glanced up at Lakeisha as she walked in.

Meanwhile, Jerald took a drag of his cigarette. To her surprise, he didn't lash out.

He had scolded her more than enough.

After the death of his wife—Damien and Lakeisha's mother, Lakeisha had been increasingly difficult to control. There was not a single day of her adolescence that she wasn't angry or rebellious, as if he were her enemy.

And after she became an adult, she treated her family utterly indifferently.

It was like they owed her or something.

She fell in love with Cedrick and insisted on marrying him. Finally, Jerald relented and agreed, and today, she blatantly ran away!

Stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray, he said, looking exhausted, "Get out. I don't wanna see you again."

Hearing this, Brittney pulled Damien's sleeve anxiously.

Damien rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Dad, at least give her a chance to explain."

"Explain?" Jerald snapped, feeling both angry and disappointed. "Adults are responsible for their actions. Has she ever been responsible?

"She ruined our friendship with the Gomez family! I don't have time to deal with her! Besides, she's already out of my control.

"She says she hates it here the most, right? Then she can go wherever she wants! I don't give a damn anymore!

"Get out!"

Looking at Jerald seething with rage, Damien didn't speak up for Lakeisha because her behavior over the years was indeed disappointing.

Lakeisha stood motionlessly.

The wedding dress suddenly was so heavy that she could barely stand, and Jerald's words weighed on her mind.

In her past life, she hadn't run away from the wedding, so this had never happened.

But after three days of the wedding, she had come back and had a row with Jerald, who had told her to get out, too.

She did and never came back.

Till the day she died, she had never apologized to him for her years of willfulness.

It dreaded her to think how heartbroken and disappointed he must have been to tell her to get out.

As her gaze fell on the slightly gray hair at his temples, she said in a sobbing voice, feeling a lump in her throat, "Dad..."

Jerald was lighting another cigarette out of anger; his hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly.

It was the first time in these years she had called him "Dad" after their fallout.

"Shut up! Calling me 'Dad' won't change anything!" Jerald tossed the cigarette away and swept the ashtray to the floor, his chest heaving violently. "Luke! Throw her luggage out!"

Luke Benitez, the housekeeper, hesitated, but he agreed Lakeisha had gone too far this time. The second Jerald came back from the banquet hall, he immediately had the servants pack her belongings. Anyone could tell how pissed off he was.

"Ms. Whitaker, this way." Luke finally lifted Lakeisha's suitcase and put it next to the door.

Luke was being polite enough, and Lakeisha didn't want to rile Jerald up further. She said, "At least I can change my clothes before leaving, right?"

Jerald didn't stop her.

She went back to her room, where everything was exactly how she remembered.

But it was already another life, and she couldn't help but feel dazed.

Some of her clothes were unpacked, and she slipped into a black dress.

Jerald was still in the living room in the same position, smoking in silence.

Damien said, exhausted, "I'm afraid we have to concede some benefits to the Gomez family, or they wouldn't let this slide. I'll come to their door to apologize to them."

"I'll go with you." Jerald exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Lakeisha had just approached the door and happened to hear their conversation. She stopped and said without looking back, "Don't. You don't have to. If anyone's apologizing, it should be them."

Damien and Jerald looked over at once.

"You want me to explain, right, Damien? There's a woman named Henrietta Frey living in Lakewood Estates at Horizon Avenue." She was about to leave but hesitated. After a long time, she added, her eyes slightly red, "And ... I'm sorry, Dad."

Jerald's heart trembled.

Seeing Lakeisha out of the door, Brittney stood up quickly and chased after her.

Meanwhile, Jerald sat still motionlessly till the cigarette burned his finger.

Damien was annoyed. Compared to the trouble Lakeisha had made over the years, he'd rather deal with work in the company. He stood up, saying, "I'll have someone look into that woman she mentioned."

"Don't help her! I won't do anything even if she dies out there!" Jerald said sternly.

By the time Brittney caught up with Lakeisha, the latter had already walked out of the villa.

Sunlight filtered through the plane trees, casting dappled shadows.

Brittney called out to her, "Keisha."

Lakeisha turned around and looked at her coldly. "What?"

Brittney extended her hand. "You forgot your phone."

Lakeisha took it and asked, "Can you do me a favor?"

Brittney was flattered. "Yeah?"

"I wanna reach out to Troy. Could you check Damien's phone and see if he has Troy's number?"

For the first time, Brittney saw pleading in Lakeisha's eyes.

She nodded before she realized it.

After Lakeisha's figure disappeared around the corner of the tree-lined avenue, Brittney came back.

When Damien came downstairs with some documents, he saw Brittney fiddling with his phone he had set on the coffee table, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Where did you go?" he asked.

"I gave Keisha her phone back." Brittney was thrilled while clicking the button to send a message. "She thanked me! She's never done that before."

"Don't ever talk to her again. You're so over the moon just because she thanked you? Have you forgotten how she treated you in the past?" thinking of how harshly Lakeisha had treated Brittney before, Damien frowned and said irritably.

He took his phone back and glanced at the screen. Brittney had just sent Troy's number to Lakeisha via WhatsApp.

Brittney fell silent upon hearing Damien's words, visibly upset.

Noticing his harsh tone, Damien hugged her. "If she doesn't change, we'll move out."

Lakeisha was in a cab when she received Brittney's message.

After arriving at the destination, she got out of the car, her finger lingering on the screen. Utterly nervous, she finally pressed the button to call Troy, her heart pounding.

It rang three times before Troy picked up.

"Hello?" he sounded puzzled, his voice pleasant to the ear.

"This is Lakeisha."

In the next second, he hung up.

Not giving up, she called him again.

This time, he answered even sooner, but his tone also became much harsher and aggressive. "You're looking for Edmund, right? What do you want, Lakeisha? Did he owe you or what?

"It's been eight years, but you still don't have any feelings for him at all; you aren't even moved. No one could be as heartless as you! Now that you've turned him down, why are you still looking for him?

"So what if you get him back? Will you be with him? No, you won't!" Troy snapped. "You don't love him at all. Then, please! At least have the decency to stay away from him!

"Leave him alone!"

Being scolded harshly, Lakeisha clutched her phone. "Can you tell me his number?"

"Why the fuck should I?" Troy cursed. "I saw him coming to you before the wedding. He begged you so humbly, didn't he? Since he regards his pride as nothing, fine! Why should I care? But now that he finally decides to let go, you wanna find him? Dream on!"

After saying this, he hung up again, not giving her a chance to say a word.

She wasn't surprised by his reaction at all.

Troy was Edmund's best friend who had been persuading Edmund to stay rational in love.

Opening her phone wallet, she saw she had 1,500 dollars left. She had deposited it for daily expenses.

There was no money but clothes in the suitcase—she'd already checked.

As she tried to transfer some money from her bank account, she couldn't. Presumably, Jerald had already frozen her cards.

When she wanted to crash at a hotel, she realized she didn't have her ID.

With no other options, she called Brittney, but it was declined after a few beeps.

It must have been Damien who did this.

Then she opened her phone map and frowned at the sight of the words "Siverleaf Heights".

Matilda lived at Silverleaf Heights. She bought an apartment and lived there alone for a shorter commute.

Now that Jerald had frozen her cards, he must have told the others to look away when she asked for help.

She still vividly remembered everything about her so-called friends from her past life, knowing they wouldn't help.

Matilda had been her swornenemy.

But Matilda was also the one who had helped her up when she was a mess in her past life. "Cedrick is such a jerk. Lakeisha, you really have poor taste in men."

Back then, she had been a total wreck after learning the truth, whereas Matilda was so sassy in her woman's suit.

"Get up! Stand up, Lakeisha!" though Matilda had mocked her, she'd never forget the subtle concern buried deep down in Matilda's tone.

She stood at the door to Matilda's apartment for a while before knocking.

Soon, the sound of footsteps rang out, and the door was opened.

Matilda, who came to open the door, was in loungewear and drying her curly hair. At the sight of Lakeisha, she slammed the door shut right away.

Matilda wondered if she just had a hallucination.

If it really was Lakeisha outside the door, being insulted like this, Lakeisha would surely leave.

She heard that Lakeisha had been kicked out by her family, but she didn't care. The more miserable Lakeisha was, the happier she'd be.

Trenton had given her a day off because of the wedding. She watched TV and scrolled through her phone, and when it was dark, she was hungry and decided to go out for some food.

She opened the door.

In the next second, she saw Lakeisha sitting while leaning against the wall, and the silver suitcase was still in the same place as she had seen in the afternoon. Hearing the commotion, Lakeisha raised her head and looked into her eyes calmly and stubbornly.

Matilda was slack-jawed, cursing under her breath, "Fuck me!"

Matilda felt her head was going to explode.

"Sir Whitaker told my dad he didn't have to help you." She blocked the door, the annoyance and impatience on her pretty face undisguised.

"He told your dad but not you. Can you do me a favor? Can I stay here for the night?" Lakeisha looked at her.

Matilda was utterly irked. How come Lakeisha just wouldn't leave her alone?

"There're plenty of hotels out there. Get lost!"

"I don't have my ID."

She glared at Lakeisha. "Yeah, right. Can't you go back to fetch it?"

"I can't afford the fare."

"Ms. Shameless, you really are something!" Matilda angrily took out her phone, scrolled through her contacts, and pressed the call button.

The call was connected.

Matilda fumed, "For the sake of the two families' friendship, I'll let this slide. But, Mr. Whitaker, bring Lakeisha's ID here right now! Or come and take her away!"

So, it was Damien on the other end of the line.

Damien was Jerald's only son. Jerald found Lakeisha a lost cause, so he planned on letting Damien take over the company he had built through years of effort.

Damien had been familiarizing himself with the company business these few years and was pretty good at it. Jerald had high hopes for him.

As for Matilda—she was the only heiress to the Kennedy family, the apple of their eye.

It was perfectly normal that they had each other's numbers.

While Matilda was taking it out on Damien, Lakeisha had already entered the apartment with her suitcase.

"Where are your manners?" Hanging up, Matilda turned around, and the sight of Lakeisha changing her shoes further enraged her.

"It's been twenty-three years. My mom told me you and I have been at each other's throats the day we were born. Why would I need manners when around you?" Lakeisha took a glass and fetched herself some water.

Then she walked to the bathroom, washed her face, opened the cabinet, and pulled out a disposable face towel to wipe her face.

She did all this deftly and unerringly as if she had done it a lot of times. Looking at her, Matilda suddenly thought of something, and a cold sweat broke out down her back. "Lakeisha, how do you know which building and unit I live in?"

Lakeisha even knew where she placed the disposable face towels?!

Lakeisha walked out after wiping her face. "You took me here before."

"That's impossible!" Matilda said with absolute certainty.

"Then I guess it must have been a dream." Lakeisha sat on the couch.

Thinking back to Lakeisha's odd behavior today, Matilda couldn't help but wonder.

Maybe something big had happened, and Lakeisha had gone insane.

"You have nowhere to go, right? I have a suggestion," Matilda said. "Go to the hospital and get help. If you're lucky, they may check you in."

Lakeisha's eyes lit up as she saw the oranges on the coffee table. Picking on up, she said, "I can't afford to see a doctor. Could you lend me some?"

Matilda rolled her eyes at Lakeisha.

She no longer was in the mood to go out and eat; all she wanted was to get rid of Lakeisha as soon as possible.

For the first time, she doubted Damien's efficiency.

Neither of the two women sitting opposite on the couch said anything.

Matilda looked at Lakeisha as she peeled an orange unhurriedly, putting the segments into her mouth one by one, and eating it all up.

Then she stood up, walked to the fridge, and took out more.

"I don't think I have the obligation to treat you to fruit." Matilda crossed her arms around her chest. "These are imported and expensive. Cash or transfer?"

Lakeisha peeled another one. "The man coming later will pay you."

Finally, someone knocked on the door. Matilda came to open it, only to see Luke.

"Sorry to trouble you, Ms. Kennedy." Luke took Lakeisha's ID out of his pocket. "Ms. Whitaker, here's your ID."

"Thanks," Lakeisha said but didn't take it. Pondering for a few seconds, Luke nodded at Matilda before putting it on her coffee table.

"Get lost now," Matilda said in a threatening tone, squinting.

"Wait. There're two more."

Matilda felt speechless for a second.

Lakeisha stood up after finishing all the oranges.

As she reached the door, she turned around and said to Matilda, "They taste way better cold. Maybe you should consider storing all of them in the fridge."

Matilda's face twisted out of anger.

She slammed the door shut.

Luke held Lakeisha's suitcase as they walked out of Silverleaf Heights and gave it to her.

"What's your plan, Ms. Whitaker?" he asked. "Maybe you should come back in a couple of days. Sir Whitaker should've cooled off by then."

Lakeisha lifted her head, the neon lights at night cast a soft glow on her delicate face, adding a touch of tenderness. "Not for now. It's probably the best. Now that he's kicked me out, Elroy and Enrique no longer have any leverage to grill him about."

Luke was stunned at her words.

After all, she had never shown any understanding of the difficulties Jerald had faced.

The company Jerald had built wasn't as influential as Grandeur Group, but it was lucrative enough for Elroy and Enrique to covet. They had always wanted to dip their finger in the pie.

"Tell my dad to smoke less. Secondhand smoke doesn't do pregnant women any good."

Lakeisha took the suitcase and left.

Luke was stunned.

Pregnant women?

Who was pregnant?

Could it be...

Thrilled, he took out his phone and called Damien. Once the call was connected, he asked eagerly, "Mr. Whitaker, is Ms. Collier pregnant?"

"What?" Damien was puzzled. "Who told you that?"

"Ms. Whitaker just told me!"

Feeling a headache coming on, Damien pinched the bridge of his nose. "And you believe her?"

With that, he hung up the phone.

At night, Whitdale was brightly lit up, the streets bustling.

Lakeisha walked along the bustling commercial district, where bright shop windows, dazzling billboards, and colorful neon lights could be seen everywhere. Following her phone map, she finally found a mobile service store.

It was a bit late, and there weren't many customers in the store.

A clerk greeted her, "Ma'am, how may I help you?"

"I wanna print out my call records," she said. "Can I still print out the ones deleted on my phone?"

"Yes. I'll get you a detailed list." The clerk operated the computer for a while. "Your service password is?"

She shook her head. "I can't remember."

Otherwise, she could have checked online instead of coming here.

"I may have to see your ID then."

It took a long time before she finally had the list.

She walked out of the store.

The street was still bustling, and the bright streetlights stretched her shadow.

She checked the numbers one by one and finally fixed her gaze on one of them.

Then she dialed it.

It rang for a long time, but no one answered. She tried several times, and the result was still the same.

She bit her lip, lowered her head, and finally dropped her hand feebly.

After checking in a hotel, she took a shower and lay in bed. Immense fatigue instantly engulfed her, and she fell asleep with a frown.

Then she had a dream, in which she returned to her past life.

She dreamed of Edmund as well as herself in a wedding dress.

As white doves flew across the blue sky, she, wearing a pristine white wedding dress, looked at him in a white shirt in front of her. "Edmund, if you have anything else to say, say it all now. I'm getting married. Don't come to me again."

"Don't marry him." His tone was dripping with pleading.

She looked at him coldly. "Why not? Who else should I marry? You? But I don't love you."

Edmund pleaded with her.

Edmund loved her so deeply and painfully.

But she left anyway.

Under his gaze, she walked toward another man.

Edmund's eyes were filled with emotions that suffocated her even though she was asleep; the sadness, agony, and despair within were so immense that it seemed that he had lost everything and that he no longer had anything to live for.

Overwhelmed by great sorrow and remorse, Lakeisha jolted awake. She gasped for breath, her face drenched in sweat.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

It was Edmund.

The light from the phone screen faintly illuminated the head of the bed as well as Lakeisha's slightly pale lips.

She pressed the answer button in silence, half of her face hidden under her disheveled long hair.

"Lakeisha?" Edmund's voice was a bit hoarse. Perhaps he had just woken up, or perhaps he was drunk.

Not hearing her response, he grew anxious. "Lakeisha? What's going on? Talk to me."

Hearing his voice again, Lakeisha couldn't find any words to describe what she was feeling right now.

She parted her lips but was at a loss for words—maybe it was because of the dream from earlier or the impulse to find his number and call him was gone.

"Have you been drinking? You..." Her voice trailed off.

The harsh words Troy had said to her angrily on the phone about leaving Edmund alone echoed in her ears.

Would this call end Edmund's feelings for her or drag him into an abyss again?

What she owed him was simply too much. A few words over the phone could never repay him.

She said, her voice tinged with a trace of self-loathing, "Stop drinking."

Edmund was abroad.

The thick curtains completely shut out all the lights, and the entire room was dark, quiet, and reeked of alcohol.

Edmund thought he was so wasted and having a dream.

Or how come there was a missed call from her on his phone? How come Lakeisha called him?

Still dizzy from the alcohol, he sat up with difficulty and checked his call log again and again.

Though he had been rejected so many times, his heart was still lit up with a trace of hope.

Edmund came back to the country.

Troy had conflicted feelings when he knew.

"Didn't you say you were gonna expand the overseas market and settle abroad?" He called Edmund at once.

Edmund replied, "I've got more important business here."

Troy fell silent for a while, immediately realizing who was the reason that made Edmund have a change of heart. "Did Lakeisha reach out to you?"

"Yes."

Troy gritted his teeth. "What did she say?"

"Nothing."

"Yet, you rushed back at once? Haven't you learned your lesson? Wake up!"

Troy was furious.

"At least I still have a chance," Edmund said.

Troy took a deep breath and exhaled. "Edmund, sooner or later, you're gonna die at her hands!"

Lakeisha knew Edmund had come back from someone else's Instagram.

She didn't sleep a wink last night. Propping up the pillow, she was lost in thought all night.

Though she was physically exhausted, at least she was clear-headed. Fortunately, she thought through many things.

Then she texted Edmund, telling him to meet her at Laguna Dining in Beverly Square at noon today as she had something to say to him.

At around 11:00 a.m., she checked out and headed over, arriving about ten minutes prior to the agreed time.

Upon entering the private room, she saw Edmund at once.

It seemed he was a big fan of white shirts. He had rolled up his sleeves, revealing a watch on his left wrist.

He was waiting for her quietly for who knew how long.

His gaze falling on her was as gentle as ever; as far as she could remember, he had never shown impatience toward her.

Frankly, she had no idea why he loved her or why he loved her so deeply.

"Sorry that I'm late." She sat opposite him.

"You must be hungry, right? I've ordered something." His voice was tender and pleasant to the ear.

Lakeisha watched as the waiter put the dishes on the table; it was all her favorites with a light flavor.

Her eyes dimmed a little. In the past, she was used to ignoring Edmund, and none of the things he had done had mattered to her.

Even Cedrick, the man she had once loved so wholeheartedly, thought she was into spicy food.

Only now did she realize how foolish she had been.

"I asked you to meet me today..."

"How about we eat first?" Edmund interrupted her, his eyes pleading.

It seemed he was worried she'd leave decisively right after she finished talking.