It's All But A Dream
Yvette Giles’ faint voice was loud and clear amidst the silent night. “I’ve decided to come home and go through with the arranged marriage, Sean.”
Her brother, Sean Giles, was on the other end of the call. A wave of relief washed over him after hearing that. He voiced, “So, you’re finally willing to break up with that boyfriend of yours, huh? I knew you two wouldn’t last. He’s always refused to meet me and our parents, even though you’ve dated for many years.”
Yvette lowered her gaze and let out a low hum at the former’s confident comments. “I was wrong back then. I’ll wrap things up on this end as soon as possible. I’m afraid you and our parents will have to deal with the wedding preparations. Give me half a month. That’s all I need.”
Sean replied, “Don’t worry about the wedding! We’ll get everything ready. You just need to get back home on time. Our parents and I selected your marriage partner with great care.
“The man’s perfect in every way. He has a good family background, a fine character, and is handsome. He’s definitely your cup of tea!
“Oh, right. Remember to invite Kade Dormer, my best mate from back in school, on your way home for the wedding. You lived with him for some time when you studied in Jurbane City, after all. It’s thanks to him that you were well taken care of. So, make sure to invite him to the wedding.”
Yvette didn’t know how to respond. After falling grimly silent for a long while, she answered, “He can’t make it.”
That was when the door opened.
Yvette ended the call with great agility before looking up at Kade, who had just come home.
Kade cocked a brow at her, a broad smile spreading across his ruggedly handsome face. “I can’t make it? Where can’t I make it to?”
“My wedding,” Yvette thought, answering his question in her mind. However, she maintained an unfazed demeanor and spoke with indifference. “It’s nothing.”
Kade didn’t think anything of her behavior. He casually undid the buttons down his black shirt. “Were you on the phone with your brother earlier?”
Yvette gave a simple hum before standing. She wanted to return to her bedroom when Kade suddenly pulled her into his arms.
His warm breath tickled her ear while sexual tension enveloped them.
“Did you tell him what our relationship is?” Kade asked.
A chuckle left Yvette’s lips, but her smile was half-hearted. “Didn’t you say you don’t want him to know?”
“It’s not that I don’t want him to know—it’s that I can’t tell him. Knowing your brother’s personality, I fear he’ll take an overnight flight to Jurbane City. He might beat me until I’m bedridden if he learns that I, his best friend, am seeing his little sister.”
Yvette’s eyes snapped up at Kade when she heard the former’s amused, joking tone. Even so, she maintained a steady, calm tone. “So, do you actually see me as your girlfriend?”
Kade arched a brow at the former’s sudden question.
“If I didn’t see you as a girlfriend, would I have lived with you for six years? Would I have hugged you the moment I came home? Would I do such things to you if I didn’t see you as my girlfriend?” While saying that, he brushed his warm lips against Yvette’s neck, causing Yvette to tense.
Yvette turned her head the other way to dodge his kisses. “I-I’m unwell today…”
Kade assumed she was shy and couldn’t help chuckling. “We’ve lived together for a long time, my little girlfriend. Why are you still so shy?”
Then, he tousled her hair and turned to go to the bathroom.
As his footsteps drew further away, Yvette murmured, “Girlfriend? Shouldn’t I be a substitute?”
…
The first time Yvette met Kade was eight years ago.
Kade and Sean were dormmates at university. Because they were good friends, Sean sometimes brought Kade home to play video games with.
It was puppy love. She almost instantly fell in love with Kade, who was older than her. He was aloof and lazy in an attractive way. Not to mention, he was so handsome that her heart fluttered.
Yvette graduated from high school sometime after. At the time, Kade graduated from university and returned to his hometown, Jurbane City. Because Yvette missed him, she ignored her family’s disapproval and secretly applied to study at the university in Kade’s city.
Yvette often received unwanted attention from delinquents in high school because she was pretty. Because of that, Sean didn’t want her living alone in a city she wasn’t familiar with. So, he entrusted her safety to his best friend, Kade, and allowed her to live in Kade’s apartment.
At first, Yvette and Kade didn’t interact much. She was busy attending classes while Kade occupied himself with race car driving and dating women. He would have a different girlfriend every three days.
That ensued until the second semester of Yvette’s first year in university.
Kade had returned home drunk, so Yvette hectically looked after him. It was late that night. She gazed at the deeply slumbering Kade while subconsciously reaching out to smooth his furrowed brows.
Yet, he awoke once she touched him.
Kade lazily opened his eyelids, his drawling, magnetic voice ringing out. “Do you have a crush on me?”
Upon getting called out on the spot, Yvette shot to her feet. “N-No…”
A smile gradually curved on Kade’s face. “If that’s the case, why do you always blush when you see me?”
Yvette didn’t think Kade was aware whenever she secretly gazed at him. In that instant, she froze and didn’t know how to react.
Kade chuckled while placing his hand on the back of her head, holding her in place as he kissed her.
Yvette sank deeper into the soft kiss that seemed to linger for ages. She couldn’t remove herself from it.
After sleeping with Kade that night, Yvette’s once peaceful life completely changed.
Kade retired from his womanizing ways. He became attentive and loyal to dating Yvette.
Yvette resisted when her parents and Sean told her to return home and get married. She insisted on staying in Jurbane City and being with Kade.
Sean often asked, “Who do you have in Jurbane City that could make you want to stubbornly remain there for six years and not return home?”
Yvette always wanted to tell Sean and everyone about her relationship with Kade. Yet, Kade would always stop her.
She never knew why until a few days ago when Kade drank too much at a meetup with his friends.
When Yvette arrived to pick him up, one of Kade’s friends was so drunk that he pointed at her and spoke with sympathy.
He said, “How could Kade ruin such a beautiful young woman? Say, little lady, you’d better not fall for Kade. He’s heartless. You and his other exes are nothing more than substitutes for Charlotte.”
That was the first time Yvette had heard of Charlotte Lowell. She would never forget that name since then.
Yvette asked around many times before finally learning the truth.
Kade and Charlotte were each others’ first loves. In the year when Kade’s love for Charlotte was at its peak, Charlotte broke up with him and went abroad.
Following that, Kade couldn’t move on from the past. He let loose and allowed himself to become a passerby when it came to love. Kade dated different women, and all his girlfriends were more or less Charlotte’s shadows.
Yvette was among such women.
Kade refused to inherit his family business after graduating. Instead, he insisted on being a race car driver. That was also because a younger Charlotte once said, “Race car drivers are so dreamy! My future husband has to be one!”
Yvette was shaken that her sincere feelings and the six years of youth she devoted to Kade were only illusions. At that moment, she decided to go home and follow through with her arranged marriage. She didn’t want Kade anymore, nor would she ever have feelings for him again.
Yvette’s biological clock awoke her at 7:00 am the next day.
She opened her eyes and saw Kade smoothing out his shirt in front of a mirror. Kade’s lifestyle and routine were always the opposite of the average person’s. Yet, today was the first time she had seen him up so early.
When Kade heard Yvette’s footsteps, he turned to meet her eyes and asked, “Do I look handsome in this?”
Kade possessed a body that could pull off any outfit. He looked incredible even when he picked a random top to wear most days. Naturally, he was much more attractive since he went out of his way to dress up today. Even a casual glance from him could captivate a woman deeply.
Yvette didn’t know why Kade suddenly cared so much about his appearance. She would have felt butterflies in her stomach from his good looks if this had happened in the past—but now? She only gave him a calm nod. “Yeah, you look very handsome.”
Kade smiled, not realizing the former’s unusual behavior. “I have to attend a reunion party today. Be a good girl and stay at home. I’ll bring you some dessert when I get back.”
He left after saying that.
Yvette watched him walk out the door. She wanted to pour herself a glass of water when she noticed Kade had left his phone on the table. She picked it up but accidentally pressed the power button.
The screen lit up to reveal a text from a contact named “Charlotte”. The message read, “We haven’t seen each other in eight years, Kay. I’m looking forward to today’s reunion. What about you?”
Yvette froze in her tracks when she read that.
Charlotte had returned to the country today. It was no wonder Kade had woken up this early and was extra attentive to his appearance. Even the corners of his eyes curved in delight earlier.
The door swung open in the next second.
Kade, who had turned back on his way out, suddenly came home to grab his phone. Before leaving again, he glimpsed at the notification on his screen, which caused him to pause.
He couldn’t help but look at Yvette, who was having breakfast. “Did you look through my phone?”
Yvette lifted her eyes to meet his, her gaze calm. “No. Is something the matter?”
Only then did Kade chuckle as if he were relieved. He gave a simple response, brushing things off before leaving.
For the first time, Yvette found herself unable to understand him.
Charlotte was the only woman in Kade’s heart, and he only dated women to substitute for the lack of Charlotte in his life. If that were the case, Kade wouldn’t have cared about Yvette. So, why was he so bothered about whether Yvette learned the truth?
Yvette wondered if he was afraid of losing her.
Yet, she didn’t want to be too optimistic. Besides, her defeat was inevitable.
…
After breakfast, Yvette sat in front of her computer and launched an illustration software.
Yvette was a comic artist. Yvette knew she couldn’t work for a long time because she would be busy with her wedding when she headed home. So, she planned to finish her remaining drafts while she had the time.
She worked hard all morning, sent the fruits of her labor to her editor at noon, and had lunch.
Yvette wanted to declutter some things since the weather was still nice. She got rid of her couple-themed mugs, keychains, scarves, coats, and many more. She had bought those over the past few years, and they now sat in a big box.
Upon seeing those things, she recalled how Kade would shrug whenever she asked him to use them. He would say, “Only girls like such trinkets. Do you seriously want me to carry these things on me wherever I go? My friends will laugh at me.”
At the thought of that, Yvette dragged the box downstairs. She threw everything, including the box, into the garbage disposal. While doing so, she coldly thought, “There. Now, nobody will laugh at you.”
Having smoothly dealt with everything, Yvette was about to head back upstairs. She turned but crashed into a firm embrace.
Kade, who had returned at some point, held Yvette’s shoulder with one hand. At the same time, he tucked Yvette’s sweat-drenched bangs aside with his other hand. “What were you throwing away? Why are you all sweaty?”
“Just some useless junk.” Yvette gave a random answer without batting an eyelash.
Kade didn’t find anything suspicious. He merely led her upstairs to his home.
The garbage truck happened to arrive when the elevator doors opened. It loudly rumbled as it collected the trash from the bins.
Yvette only retracted her gaze after the truck took the box full of things away. She sarcastically mused, “Junk? How could we possibly produce that much trash? He just had to take one look, and he would’ve realized something was amiss.
“Yet, he didn’t bother to question things. Clearly, it’s because he doesn’t care.”
A self-deprecating look flashed in Yvette’s eyes. That said, she slightly tensed when she noticed Kade’s smile, which never went away.
Kade had eyes that could charm others. His mere smile would make people unable to take their eyes off him. Perhaps Kade always wore a smile on his face because he knew this.
Others would always think Kade was affable, but only Yvette knew his smile was only for show. It wasn’t because he was truly happy.
However, his eyes lit up with genuine joy whenever he smiled today. It seemed he was sincerely much happier after meeting Charlotte.
Kade felt his home was much more spacious once he returned. He looked around before widening his eyes in surprise. “Has someone broken in? Why does it feel like a lot of things are missing? Where are our mugs? Even our pillows are gone.”
Yvette was about to answer when Kade’s phone chimed several times.
Kade glanced down at his text notifications and quickly forgot about the emptiness of his home. He strolled to his study and told Yvette before shutting the door, “I have to deal with something, Yvie. You should go to bed first. Don’t wait up for me.”
Yvette didn’t ask or say anything and only returned to their bedroom.
…
The clock on the wall showed it was midnight. Yvette’s phone, which she placed under her pillow, began vibrating fervently.
“Happy Birthday, Yvie!”
“Wishing you the best day on your 23rd birthday, darling Yvie! Remember to go out and have some yummy cake to celebrate!”
Yvette scrolled past the many notifications, all of which were birthday wishes. Her father, mother, brother, friends, classmates, and others from far away had all sent their wishes.
Only her boyfriend, who was the nearest to her, seemed to have forgotten about her birthday.
“Kade forgot my birthday because he has more important matters to deal with,” Yvette thought.
Yvette closed the tab with the half-played movie on her laptop. Then, she clicked on the WhatsApp app. It had been flickering due to constant incoming messages.
Kade was chatting with Charlotte. He didn’t realize he had logged in on Yvette’s laptop, which allowed Yvette to see all of his conversations.
Yvette watched as the two chatted about their past, present, and future. Among the long messages, Kade never once mentioned Yvette to Charlotte.
Then again, what was there to mention? Yvette knew she was only a substitute to console Kade’s wounded heart in his eyes.
She stared at the lengthy, ongoing conversation and eventually closed the tab.
Yvette had a dreamless slumber that night.
…
The next day, Yvette woke to the sound of the doorbell ringing. She rubbed her eyes while walking to the living room. That was when she saw Kade, who had woken up at some point before her.
Kade held a flower bouquet and a boxed cake as he turned to face Yvette. “Yvie, did you order a cake? Why are you suddenly craving a cake?”
The room fell gravely silent for a few seconds before Yvette spoke up. “It’s my birthday. My friends probably had those delivered to me.”
Every muscle in Kade’s body stiffened when he heard that. He instinctively looked at the calendar on the wall. Only then did he realize it was already the 12th of July. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten about Yvette’s birthday.
A tinge of guilt flickered in Kade’s eyes as he put down the things in his hands at once. He nudged Yvette back into their bedroom and said, “It’s your birthday today, so let’s go on a date. What do you feel like having for breakfast?”
“No, I’m fine. Let’s just celebrate it at home.” Yvette turned down his suggestion.
Still, Kade insisted on going out to celebrate. He even picked a dress from their closet and brought it to her.
Yvette couldn’t win against him, so she had no choice but to wash up and follow him out the door.
…
The two went to their favorite restaurant for breakfast. Then, they watched the latest film at the cinema and shopped at the mall.
Yvette went to the washroom halfway through shopping. When she returned, Kade was on a phone call. He seemed to ask his family to help order a ludicrously expensive necklace. It happened to be the necklace she liked from a magazine half a month ago.
Mixed emotions filled Yvette’s chest when she saw how anxious Kade was. She didn’t quite understand what he was thinking. He remembered how her eyes lingered on the image of that necklace in the magazine. Yet, he somehow forgot about her most important birthday.
Could he really not tell which was more important? Yet, Yvette thought about it some more and felt he probably could.
After all, he saw Yvette as a substitute to pour his feelings for Charlotte onto before Charlotte returned to the country. That was why he paid extra attention to Yvette.
Now that Charlotte was back, all his attention shifted back to Charlotte. That was why he forgot everything to do with Yvette.
Yvette couldn’t will herself to be energized all morning. She was uninterested in everything that she saw while shopping.
Kade noticed the former’s mind was elsewhere, so he tousled her hair. “Why does our birthday girl seem a little unhappy? Are you dissatisfied with the arrangements I’ve made for you today?”
Thinking back on it, Yvette realized Kade liked to tousle her hair. Perhaps, deep down, he had always seen her as a little sister and not a lover.
Yvette shook her head at Kade. She was about to say she was tired and wanted to go home, but Kade hailed a cab just then. He then gave the driver an address to a restaurant called Hillside Nook.
A confused expression shrouded Yvette’s face. To that, Kade arched a brow and said, “Didn’t you always want to meet my friends? Everyone’s free today, so I’ll introduce you to them. Would that make you happier?”
That sudden and surprising journey shocked Yvette.
Kade refused to meet Yvette’s family and friends before. So, Yvette insisted on meeting his friends instead. Yet, he would always come up with various reasons to turn her down. As time went on, she never brought it up again.
Kade was willing to introduce her to his friends because of the guilt in his heart now. Yet, Yvette had already made up her mind to leave Jurbane City. It seemed everything in this world occurred at strange and unpredictable times.
Yvette silently watched the scenery outside the window but said nothing.
…
The taxi stopped at the foot of a hill.
Kade held Yvette’s hand. He opened the heavy, front door to Hillside Nook while leading her inside.
A couple of loud pops filled the air as confetti showered on the couple. A group of rowdy people barged out the private room’s door to cheer, “Happy Birthday!”
Kade immediately pulled Yvette into his arms. While removing the confetti from the top of Yvette’s head, he shooed away his friends that warmly surrounded him.
“Hey, watch it! Don’t give my girl a fright. She tends to scare easily—” his voice faltered before he could finish speaking.
Kade’s expression tensed when he saw a familiar face in the crowd.
Meanwhile, Charlotte was unfazed as she smilingly approached the couple. “I haven’t participated in group activities in a long time since I’ve been abroad all these years, Kay. I heard you wanted to celebrate your girlfriend’s birthday this morning, so I wanted to join in. I’m not unwelcome here, am I?”
Kade coldly scanned his surroundings.
Everyone around lost the courage to look at him. They retreated, acting like the situation had nothing to do with them.
Sensing the tension in the air, Yvette politely extended an arm. She took the initiative to greet Charlotte. “You’re welcome to join. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Yvette.’
Charlotte stared at Yvette for some time. Eventually, her eyes widened as though she had understood something. She shook the latter’s hand with a half-smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte, Kay’s… friend. By the way, has anyone ever told you we look alike?”
When Kade heard what Charlotte had said, his arm abruptly tightened around Yvette’s waist.
Meanwhile, Yvette maintained a calm demeanor. “Is that so? It must be fate, then.”
Everyone around them began livening up after seeing the tension had eased up. The group gathered to play drinking games. They were unbearably loud while doing so.
Yvette didn’t know anyone there. She also wasn’t keen on joining the fun, so she sat on the couch.
Although Kade stayed with her, his gaze was always on the left side of the table.
Yvette looked in that direction and immediately saw Charlotte. The latter seemed like she was having the most fun among everyone there.
Kade resisted his urges at first. However, he couldn’t hold it back anymore when Charlotte picked up the glass of alcohol before her. He lunged toward her, snatched the glass, and spoke with a voice full of displeasure. “Why would you drink when you’re allergic to alcohol? Have you lost your mind?”
Because he had snapped at her, the entire room instantly fell silent. All eyes were soon on him.
Charlotte toyed with the dice in her hand, her lips curling into a playful smirk. “It’s been many years, but you still remember, huh?”
Before Kade could reply, one of his drunken friends suddenly approached them to announce, “How could Kay forget? He only had eyes for you back when you two were dating!”
Kade instinctively glanced back at Yvette upon hearing that. His expression turned grim as he thundered, “Go sober up if you’ve had too much to drink! Quit spouting your drunken nonsense here!”
A few people were so startled that all color drained from their faces. Only then did they realize Yvette was there, too. Right away, they tried to smooth out the awkward situation.
“You should slow down on the drinks. The game’s not over yet!”
“Come over here, dude. Let’s have another round!”
The tense atmosphere only returned to normal after that.
Having suppressed the surging emotions in his chest, Kade headed back to the side of the couch. He picked up a glass of fruit juice from the table and handed it to Yvette.
Yvette didn’t say or ask anything. She merely accepted the glass and had a few sips of juice.
Her composed mannerisms only made Kade feel more uneasy. He wanted to explain himself when a bunch of cheers sounded behind him.
“Charlotte lost! I’ll pick from the pile to decide your punishment!
“Let me see… Oh, I picked ‘truth!’ The question on the paper is, ‘Would you get back with your ex if you could?’”
Amidst the silence, Charlotte smirked and gazed at Kade. “Ab-so-lute-ly not!”
Once those two words left her mouth, the air inside the private room turned dense, suffocating everyone. Nobody dared to make another sound.
Yet, Charlotte didn’t seem to notice the awkwardness. She even insisted on starting another round of drinking games.
The group was busy putting up with her. At the same time, they occasionally peered at Kade, whose face had morphed hideously with rage. It was like he would trash the place in any second. Because of that, everyone was too scared to even breathe too loudly.
Charlotte lost again in the latest round of games. She was about to accept her punishment when Kade could no longer stand it. He grabbed her hand and rushed out the door with her.
Everyone at the scene seemed like they already knew this would happen. So, no one bothered to eavesdrop. They just went about their business.
Yet, Yvette could see the two figures and their inaudible but intense argument not far away through the ceiling-to-floor windows.
Complex emotions flashed deep in Yvette’s eyes when she saw that.
According to her memories, Kade never seemed to mind anything. He would always wear an unbothered, lazy smile. In the eight years she knew him, this was her first time seeing him lose control like this.
Alas, his outburst was because Charlotte had said, “Absolutely not.”
It seemed that everyone was equally pitiful when their love wasn’t reciprocated.
At the end of the argument, Kade seemed pissed beyond compare. He stormed off without bothering to look back once.
Everyone knew the party was over when they saw Charlotte return alone, so they made excuses to leave.
As for Yvette, the star of the party who had been left behind, she also stood amidst the chaos. She went to the washroom before leaving the premises.
She was outside the washroom when she heard some footsteps behind the door.
Then, the voice of one of the women, who cheered loudly at the table during the drinking games earlier, rang out. “I don’t get it, Charlotte. You still like Kade and even returned to the country for him. So, why would you say such a harsh thing? How will you get back with him now that you’ve pissed him off?”
Water briefly ran from the sink before Charlotte chuckled. “If I hadn’t started a fight on purpose, how else can I make him recall how things were eight years ago?
“I want him to remember how torturous it was to love me but not have me when we broke up. Only then will he never move on from me.”
Her other friend replied, “But it’s been eight years. Do you still need him to stay hung up on you? Look at those exes of his—they all look like you. Although he’s been dating the girlfriend he brought today for a long while, it’s clear that he’s unserious about their relationship.
“Think about it—You were the only person in Kade’s eyes and his mind, even though it’s his girlfriend’s birthday today. The pathetic birthday girl was practically invisible the whole time. It was hilarious!”
Charlotte let out some low chuckles as her best friends mocked Yvette. Eventually, she spoke with a grim tone. “You don’t understand. The Dormer family is a luxurious household in Jurbane City.
“Considering Kane’s exceptional looks and temperament, the Dormers will never approve of someone with an ordinary background like me. They’d undoubtedly arrange for him to marry a wife worthy of his stature.
“This is the only way to ensure his heart belongs to only me. We may have argued today, but his anger will blow over after a few days, and I can pretend to be sorry and ask for his forgiveness. He’ll definitely come crawling back to be regardless of our squabble.”
In the next second, the washroom door swung open. Yvette stood outside, staring down at the women.
The other women near the sink turned their heads upon hearing the sudden commotion.
Charlotte froze after seeing that it was Yvette. It took her a while to recompose herself and smile. “What are you doing here, Yvie? You didn’t hear what we chatted about earlier, did you?”
Yvette looked up at Charlotte, strolled toward the sink, and spoke with apathy. “I heard everything.”
Charlotte wasn’t expecting the former to admit it so outrightly. Her expression contorted hideously at once.
Her best friends, also in the washroom, sensed something was amiss and wanted to teach Yvette a lesson.
However, Yvette turned on the faucet and didn’t give them a chance to speak. “Those who rely on scheming methods to win over others will never be treated sincerely by others.”
That was enough to render Charlotte wordless.
Disdain infested Charlotte’s eyes. She noticed the mole in the corner of one of Yvette’s eyes. Just then, she felt relieved and no longer bothered to put on a facade. She scoffed before remarking, “You’re nothing more than a replacement. You’ve never actually won over Kay’s love, so what right do you have to talk about sincerity in front of me?”
“That’s right! You’re the one who got abandoned in the middle of nowhere by her boyfriend!”
“What a pitiful girlfriend you must be!”
The three women tauntingly cackled before leaving hand in hand.
Yvette didn’t bother chasing after the women. After all, Kade may have played with her heart, but Charlotte also toyed with his sincere love for her. Perhaps karma was real.
She headed out the door, wanting to hail a cab. That was when she remembered this was a hillside restaurant. As expected, several of her apps showed no available taxi services nearby.
There was no telling if Charlotte had intentionally planned everything with Kade’s other friends. However, about a dozen cars drove by Yvette, and nobody offered to give her a ride.
Yvette watched as Charlotte got into the last car to leave the premises. The latter even rolled down the window to smugly sneer at her. That made it clear to Yvette that this was Charlotte’s way of getting revenge against her.
A bitter chuckle left Yvette’s lips as she turned to walk down the hill.
The night breeze blew against her, causing her skirt to ruffle. There wasn’t a sound around her, save for the chirping cicadas that kept her company.
Yvette emptied her mind, allowing many memories to play in her mind like a movie. It felt surreal. She thought about her relationship, the fact that she was a replacement, Charlotte’s return, her birthday, and her genuine love for Kade.
She couldn’t help being a little curious. How could Kade feel if he knew Charlotte, the first love whom he tortured himself over these past eight years, was intentionally playing hard to get?
…
It was already 8:00 pm when Yvette got home.
She removed her shoes and saw the bloody scrapes caused by the friction between her feet and her shoes. With a sharp inhale, she grabbed the medical kit. She was exhausted after dealing with her wound, so she washed up and went to bed.
…
The next day, Yvette awoke in her bedroom, which looked the same as yesterday.
She wasn’t curious about where Kade had gone. Instead, she got up to reapply the medicated cream on her wounds and change her bandages. She had just done so when Sean phoned her.
“Did you sleep really early last night, Yvie? Why didn’t you reply to my texts? Say, let me tell you something—your fiancé has prepared many birthday surprises for you.
“He asked me to help transfer you a large sum of money, and he even sent a bunch of jewelry to our house. You can wear them once you get home.
“What do you think? This guy I picked out for you is pretty decent, right?”
Yvette turned on speakerphone mode and opened her notifications tab. True enough, there was a notification for a 50 million-dollar transfer.
She was about to respond when Kade suddenly came home.
He asked, “Guy? What guy?”
Sean perked up once he heard the former’s familiar voice. “Yvie, who was that? Is it Kade? What’s he doing at your place at this time?”
Yvette’s heart raced as she gave a random excuse before hanging up.
Kade’s smile returned when he saw the former so nervous. He deliberately pretended to be upset as he teased, “Why did you hang up? Aren’t you going to let me chat with my best friend? Am I such an embarrassment of a boyfriend that you don’t want to show me off?”
Yvette didn’t want to play along with his jokes. She calmly responded to his question with one of her own. “Haven’t you always been unwilling to tell him about us?”
Kade’s smile stiffened. He only realized Yvette might be upset after seeing her frosty expression. Then, he approached her side, took her hand, and placed a necklace in her palm as if performing a magic trick.
He said, “Sorry. I was rushing to get your birthday present. That’s why I left you at Hillside Nook last night. Could you forgive me this once?”
Did he seriously think he could gain Yvette’s forgiveness with such a flawed excuse?
Yvette stared him down without saying a word, nor did she accept the necklace.
After waiting a long time but not receiving a response from her, Kade sighed. He waved the necklace before her and asked, “Why do you seem like your mind is elsewhere these days? Is something bothering you?”
Only then did Yvette stop staring at him. She turned to look out the window, her bland voice ringing out. “Something is bothering me. My friend recently discovered her long-time boyfriend had always been lying to her.
“She found out the truth and ranted about it to me. She’s asking me whether she should forgive him.”
Kade was relieved that it was only a minor issue. He chuckled softly for a second, then gave a logical response. “What’s there to be frustrated about? Liars don’t deserve forgiveness. She should break up with him.”
“Liars don’t deserve forgiveness,” Yvette repeated with the same tone as the former.
Kade chuckled as he nodded and tousled Yvette’s hair. “That’s right. My darling girlfriend, here, had better not get lied to by anyone.”
A f
