Trapped in Love
“Aunt Rosalind, I’ve made up my mind. I think it’s time for me to leave the Irving family and go abroad to live with you.”
On the other end of the phone, Rosalind Solheim’s voice was full of joy.
She replied eagerly, “I’m glad to hear that, Adonis. I’ll start applying for your visa right away. It will probably take about a month. In the meantime, make sure to spend more time with your friends and classmates. Once you come to Naevaland and settle down, it’ll be hard for you all to see each other again. Take this time to say your goodbyes.”
Then, she added, “You should have a good talk with Meredith about this. She raised you since you were little. You must always be grateful that she brought you up all these years. Make sure to thank her properly.”
Adonis Solheim murmured faintly in agreement. After hanging up, he returned to the living room from the balcony. He instinctively glanced at the framed photo placed on the table.
In the picture, the evening sky was ablaze with colors, casting a warm glow on the faces of the two people in it. The 22-year-old Meredith Irving was sitting on a swing, smiling brightly. Behind her stood the 17-year-old Adonis pushing the swing gently. The hem of Meredith’s dress fluttered in the wind, brushing against the tulips in the garden.
Many years had passed since then. Even so, Adonis still remembered how happy he had been the day the photo was taken. Unfortunately, everything changed with time. He and Meredith could never return to how things once used to be.
As Adonis thought of this, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes. He looked away, his gaze drifting into the distance, searching for something far away and long gone.
The Solheim and Irving families had been close to each other for generations.
Meredith was five years older than Adonis. Both families went through with the arranged engagement that they’d agreed on when their children were still young. And that was how Meredith became Adonis’ sister-in-law.
When Adonis was 15 years old, his father, mother, and older brother all perished in a tragic plane crash. Victor Solheim, Jacqueline Dodson, and Alistair Solheim didn’t survive that air disaster. After Adonis became an orphan, Meredith brought him in and raised her as part of the Irving family.
Perhaps Meredith felt deeply sorry for Adonis due to his devastating loss. She took meticulous care of him and personally saw everything related to him.
Rain or shine, she picked him up from school every day. Whenever she stumbled upon something new and interesting, she bought it for Adonis without fail. Because of her attentiveness and how well she cared for Adonis, he gradually clung to her.
When Adonis reached the age when one naturally would develop youthful infatuation and affection for another person, he fell hopelessly in love with the woman who had accompanied him through his adolescence.
On the day Adonis turned 17, Meredith threw him a huge birthday party as usual. He got drunk during the joyous celebration, and she helped him back to his room to rest.
Upon seeing that the person he loved was right before him, Adonis couldn’t resist leaning down and kissing Meredith. In the next moment, she opened her eyes and pushed him to the other end of the couch.
Adonis didn’t understand why she reacted that way but thought it was a heaven-sent opportunity. So, he took the chance to confess his feelings.
But in Meredith’s eyes, everything he had said was utterly outrageous and immoral. She found it ridiculous and was furious.
“Adonis! Do you realize that I am your sister-in-law?”
“I know that. I’m a Solheim, and you’re from the Irving family. We’re not related by blood in the first place.”
Meredith’s expression darkened when Adonis stood his ground stubbornly.
“I’m five years older than you! You’re only 17 years old. You can’t even tell the difference between familial and romantic love at this age. You don’t understand what loving someone means!”
Adonis had always listened to Meredith. But on this matter, he was exceptionally obstinate.
“Are you rejecting me because you think I’m too young? That’s okay. I’ll grow up one day. I’ll prove to you that I know what love is and that I can tell the difference.”
Adonis couldn’t remember how that argument ended. But ever since that day, he confessed to Meredith every year on his birthday.
Meredith rejected him every time, but he never thought of giving up.
A month from then, he would be turning 21. However, he had no plans to confess his feelings again this year. Meredith had brought her boyfriend home and introduced him to Adonis a month ago.
Adonis had felt a wave of sorrow crash over him but still forced himself to ask through his tears if she was trying to use her boyfriend to make him give up.
Meredith gave him a faint glance, her voice as cold as ice as she said, “Don’t flatter yourself. Your brother has been gone for six years. I’m at an age where it’s normal to date and have a boyfriend.”
The calmness in her eyes deeply hurt Adonis.
He cried all night, his mind filled with chaotic thoughts as he replayed everything that had happened over the years.
At dawn, he received a message from Rosalind, who was abroad in a faraway country.
She wrote, “Adonis, do you want to come live with me overseas?
“I wanted to take you with me after the tragic accident happened. But at that time, my career was unstable, and I was dealing with postpartum depression. Therefore, I didn’t think I could take good care of you.
“Now that you’re grown up, staying with the Irving family is inconvenient. I’m in a good place now. Would you like to come over and reunite with me?”
Adonis didn’t respond to her message. He didn’t want to leave Meredith and planned to try harder to win her heart.
But in the past two weeks, it felt like she was deliberately flaunting her relationship. Her boyfriend, Nicholas Kerr, would show up wherever she was. They held hands, hugged, kissed, and did all the intimate things couples do.
She let Nicholas stay over the previous night and even took him back to her room.
Adonis sat downstairs until 3:00 am, only to see the lights in her room go out and hear faint, amorous sounds from inside. He put a hand over his mouth to stifle himself as tears fell silently, soaking into the couch.
At that moment, he decided to give up. He made up his mind that he would give up loving Meredith.
Footsteps coming from outside the doorway interrupted Adonis’ thoughts. He looked up at the sound and found himself meeting Meredith’s gaze.
Upon noticing him sitting alone at the dining table, Meredith instinctively glanced at the clock on the wall—it was almost 11:00 pm.
She frowned ever so slightly but didn’t say a word. In the next second, she turned and headed upstairs. From when she saw Adonis until she walked away, she didn’t even bother to say a simple greeting. She treated him coldly as if he were a stranger.
This caused Adonis to feel a pang in his chest, but he still couldn’t help but call out, “Sis, what about dinner—”
Without pausing, Meredith replied in a distant tone, “I had dinner with Nic already. I’ve told you many times that you don’t need to wait for me.”
The last of her words was drowned out by the sound of the door slamming shut.
Adonis’ heart shook with the impact, and he felt a stinging sensation in his eyes.
Meredith had never spoken to him so indifferently. She knew he was scared of being alone after losing his family and didn’t like eating by himself.
No matter how busy she was with her academics or work, she would always come back to eat dinner with him. Even when she traveled abroad, she’d make her trips as short as possible. She was worried that if Adonis didn’t eat well, he might end up with some kind of health problem.
For so many years, there had never been an exception to this unspoken routine.
But ever since Adonis confessed to Meredith, everything had changed.
She started keeping her distance and worked overtime more often. She would even go on business trips to avoid seeing him. Then, she stopped buying him gifts to surprise him. Mercilessly, she took back all the special treatment she had once showed him.
After Nicholas appeared, her gaze toward him grew even colder. She looked at him as if he was nothing but a stranger to her.
Adonis understood the reason, but there was nothing he could do about it.
He could only pick up his cutlery and force down the cold dishes. Soundlessly, he swallowed tasteless bites one after another—he felt like he was chewing through wax.
The table was filled with various dishes, but all he could taste was bitterness. When he was about 70% full, he cleaned up everything and walked to Meredith’s bedroom. He knocked on her door softly.
Meredith opened the door with a frown, her tone far from friendly. She snapped, “Haven’t I told you not to bother me if there’s nothing important?”
Adonis bit his lip, twisting his fingers together nervously. “I’d like to change rooms, Sis.”
A flicker of surprise passed through Meredith’s eyes, but she didn’t think much of it. She simply replied, “If you want to change, go ahead.”
Adonis nodded slightly and headed back to his bedroom in silence.
He looked at the large floor-to-ceiling windows, the elegant furniture, and the walk-in closet filled with clothes, shoes, and bags, taking in every detail of this room in a daze.
This bedroom was the largest and brightest in the entire villa. It had originally been Meredith’s room. On the day he moved into Irving Villa, she had willingly given this room to him. She had ruffled his hair and said that since he was such a likable boy, he deserved the biggest and the best room in the entire villa.
Now that Adonis was leaving, Nicholas would probably move in sooner or later. After all, he was just a foster child living under someone else’s roof. What right did he have to live in the largest room—the master bedroom—meant for the real owner?
That was why he suggested changing rooms. He wanted to make room for the rightful person and also to sort through his belongings.
By noon the next day, Adonis had moved everything into a small room at the end of the hallway, which used to be Meredith’s study. After tidying up the room, he took his documents and headed downstairs. He had planned to sort out his visa application that day.
As he passed through the living room, he nodded slightly as a gesture of respect instead of greeting Meredith warmly like he used to.
Of course, Meredith was not used to seeing him so quiet and reserved. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he had changed a lot as she watched him walk out with his head bowed.
Instinctively, she called out to him, “It’s snowing so heavily outside. Where are you going? I can drive you there.”
It had been a while since Adonis had heard her offer to take him anywhere.
He froze for a moment and mumbled, “Today’s Christmas. Don’t you have a date?”
Adonis spoke too softly, so Meredith didn’t quite catch what he said. She asked, “What?”
Adonis clenched his fists and lowered his gaze, saying, “I saw in the news yesterday that you bought a diamond necklace at an auction for tens of millions of dollars. You’re giving it to Nicholas today, right?”
Meredith froze for a bit and instinctively blurted, “That necklace was meant for—”
The ringing of the doorbell cut her off.
A moment later, a neatly dressed Nicholas walked in and took Meredith’s hand. He said, “Meredith, I’ve got you a present for Christmas. Can you guess what it is?”
Everything was exactly as Adonis had imagined.
He lowered his head. A faint, bitter smile appeared on his lips. As he had already decided to leave, it didn’t hurt him as much as it used to when he heard them talk about going on a date. He simply took a few steps backward to make way for them.
Meredith didn’t explain further. She hooked her arm around Nicholas’ and called out to Adonis as they headed out. “Don’t wander around. If you’re going somewhere, I’ll drive you there.”
Adonis was momentarily taken aback, but he nodded and said, “Thanks, Sis.”
He meant it sincerely this time when she addressed her as “Sis”. From the bottom of his heart, he regarded her as his sister-in-law and nothing more.
Adonis didn’t usually go out much and spent most of his time in the art studio. Hence, Nicholas wondered why he insisted on heading out when there was a blizzard.
“You don’t even have a girlfriend, Adonis. Why are you going out in this weather?”
Adonis didn’t know how to tell him that he was leaving the country and going abroad. He simply replied, “I… I have some errands to run.”
In any case, they’d probably figure it out once the car arrived at the immigration office.
Nicholas didn’t ask further and turned back to chat with Meredith about their plans for the day. The two of them chatted excitedly, almost as if they’d forgotten Adonis was in the backseat.
During a pause at a red light, Nicholas rubbed his eyes and asked Meredith to blow on them for him. She didn’t refuse and cupped his face gently, her movements tender and caring.
Just as their faces were almost touching, Adonis turned away and stared at the swirling snowflakes outside the window. When they were almost at their destination, Nicholas suddenly said he wanted to go back to grab a jacket.
There was one mile left before Adonis would reach his destination. Meredith didn’t even think twice and immediately said it was out of the way. She then suggested that Adonis catch another ride.
Adonis gave a bitter smile but didn’t argue. He got out of the car without a word.
In the next second, the black Cayenne sped off, kicking up a trail of snow behind it.
There wasn’t a soul or a car in sight. Adonis trudged through the snow for a whole mile until he reached the immigration office and submitted his documents.
When he finished and stepped outside, he unexpectedly ran into his senior high homeroom teacher, Cara Gilbert. They exchanged a few pleasantries.
Cara seemed surprised to hear that Adonis planned to immigrate. “Are you going to stay there and never return? Has your sister-in-law agreed to that?”
Adonis didn’t know why she suddenly brought up Meredith, so he quickly made up an excuse. “She agreed to it. After all, we’re not related by blood. I’m a grown man now, so I can’t keep troubling her. Going abroad to broaden my horizons would do me good.”
Cara nodded with a sigh, lost in thought for a moment.
“Even though you’re not blood-related, Ms. Irving really went above and beyond for you. I remember she had an appendicitis flare-up when you were falsely accused of plagiarism at that competition. But right after her surgery, she rushed to the competition site to stand up for you.
“Then there was that time you fell at school—she abandoned a multimillion-dollar deal just to take you to the hospital. And when those thugs started harassing you, she was the one who got someone to teach them a lesson…”
As Cara recounted those incidents, Adonis’ mind drifted back to the past as well.
When Cara was finally done reminiscing, she clasped Adonis’ hand and urged him to never forget Meredith’s kindness and to repay her properly.
Adonis nodded quietly. He had indeed thought about it long and hard. Before he left, he would repay her for all those years.
To Meredith, the best repayment that would most please her was probably news of his departure. If he left, she wouldn’t have to worry that he’d keep clinging to her and refuse to let go.
The moment Adonis got home, he changed out of his snow-soaked clothes and sat down at his desk to calculate everything seriously.
He had lived in Irving Villa for quite some time. Over the years, he had the habit of keeping track of his monthly and annual expenses, so it didn’t take long for him to come up with an approximate total.
In addition to that base value, there were countless hidden expenses that were hard to quantify. Thus, he decided to repay Meredith three times the estimated amount.
That morning, he had already sorted through all the gifts Meredith had ever given him and put them up for sale on an auction website. Next, he contacted a real estate agent to put the Solheim residence up for sale too.
After Adonis had done all that, he lay down on his bed and let out a breath of relief.
Then, his phone started buzzing. He glanced at it and saw that Nicholas had sent him a dozen photos and a message that read, “Adonis, Meredith, and I are going to Hevorn for a few days. Please take care at home.”
Adonis didn’t even need to tap in to display the photos. He knew that they were photos of Meredith and Nicholas showing off their relationship.
Since they went public, Nicholas would send a batch of these photos after every date they went on.
In the past, seeing these photos would upset Adonis so much that he couldn’t sleep. His eyes were always puffy the next day as a result of his bawling through the night.
But now, he had decided to view Meredith as nothing more than family. Hence, Nicholas’ actions didn’t trigger any adverse reactions in him anymore.
Whether Nicholas did it intentionally or not, Adonis didn’t care to figure it out.
He replied without much emotion, “Okay. Enjoy yourselves.”
Five days later, Meredith returned home with Nicholas. Adonis’ gaze was drawn to the dazzling necklace around Nicholas’ neck as soon as they walked in.
Adonis looked at it briefly before lowering his eyes. He hadn’t been wrong about the necklace being meant for Nicholas.
This piqued Adonis’ curiosity. What exactly did Meredith want to say in a moment of hesitation after Adonis asked if the necklace was a gift for Nicholas?
In front of Meredith, Nicholas always acted warmly toward Adonis. He stepped forward to pat his shoulder and say, “Adonis, you must’ve been so bored being home alone these past few days. I bought a bunch of stuff. Come take a look and see if there’s anything you like.”
As Nicholas spoke, he took off his coat and led Adonis over to the pile of boxes.
Adonis shook his head to decline, but Nicholas shot him a playful look and said meaningfully, “Oh, stop acting coy. Just consider it a gift from your future brother-in-law, okay?”
Upon hearing Nicholas referring to himself as his brother-in-law, Adonis looked up reflexively and spotted the hickeys on Nicholas’ neck and shoulders. His heart clenched at the sight of that.
One of the photos Nicholas had previously sent him was of a large bed. At that time, Nicholas didn’t understand why he would send him a photo of that.
But as he looked at those intimate marks now, he instantly understood its meaning. He lowered his gaze and fell silent.
Nicholas, meanwhile, was busy unwrapping the boxes and chatting about tonight’s event. “Meredith, it’s Danny Shaw’s coming-of-age party tonight. Why don’t we take Adonis along? They’re around the same age, so they should get along well.”
The moment Adonis heard about the banquet, he froze. Ever since he moved into Irving Villa after his parents’ death, Meredith had never taken him to any social events.
This was mostly because some people liked to gossip behind his back and call him a parasite.
Once again, Meredith shook her head and didn’t agree to let him go. Nicholas didn’t give up and persisted. Finally, Meredith relented, giving in with a helpless yet indulgent smile.
Adonis observed their intimate interactions for a while. Then, he lowered his head as a faint smile tugged at his lips.
Nicholas was indeed a special presence in Meredith’s world. She was willing to let go of all her previous boundaries for him. It seemed that she truly loved Nicholas.
But as long as she was happy, Adonis could leave without regrets, even if the one standing beside her wasn’t him.
The banquet hall was bustling, full of toasts and laughter. Adonis stood alone in a corner, watching Meredith down countless glasses of wine for Nicholas. He quietly sipped on his fruit juice.
A few girls, who were giggling as they walked by, accidentally spilled their red wine all over Adonis. They apologized profusely for the mess they’d made.
Adonis didn’t make a big deal out of it and simply headed to the restroom to clean up. He handed his phone and bag to Meredith for safekeeping.
When he returned ten minutes later, he found Meredith frowning at him with an odd expression.
She said, “Your Aunt Rosalind called just now and asked if you were free. I told her you were busy, so she said she’d call back later.”
Adonis tensed up when he heard this. Fortunately, Rosalind hadn’t mentioned anything about his moving abroad, so he quickly relaxed.
Meredith noticed his unusual reaction and couldn’t help but ask, “When did you get back in touch with your Aunt Rosalind?”
“Two weeks ago. She asked me to send some pictures of Grandpa and Grandma,” Adonis lied, making something up on the spot.
Meredith let out a subtle sigh of relief, dropping the matter as she turned to fix Nicholas’ messy hair. Adonis retrieved his phone and bag. Then, he turned to head back to the corner he’d been standing in since earlier.
The next second, a tall champagne tower was knocked over. It toppled straight down toward Adonis and Nicholas.
“Watch out!” Meredith was the closest to them. She instinctively pulled Nicholas out of harm’s way, shielding him by her side.
The tower came tumbling down with a deafening crash, knocking Adonis to the ground before he could react. Shards of glass flew everywhere. Adonis lay on the ground as blood gushed out. Redness soaked through his white shirt instantly, making for a terrifying sight.
The sudden accident left everyone at the scene stunned. Although Nicholas wasn’t injured, he burst into tears out of shock.
Meredith looked at Adonis, who was lying on the floor with blood all over him. Then, she looked at Nicholas, who was sobbing in her arms. It took only a moment for her to make a decision.
“You, take him to the hospital,” she instructed a nearby bodyguard.
After that, she helped Nicholas up and led him away. It wasn’t until the two of them were out of sight that Adonis, under the pitying gaze of the crowd, managed to stagger to his feet.
By the time Adonis had his wounds treated and made it back home, it was already 1:00 am.
The doctor had given him over a dozen stitches and recommended he be admitted to the hospital, but he refused and went home with just some medication.
Meredith still hadn’t returned.
Adonis turned off the lights and lay on his bed, staring blankly at the dark ceiling. The burning pain radiating from his body made it impossible for him to sleep. He tossed and turned until 3:00 am before he finally drifted off to sleep.
Suddenly, the lights in the living room came on.
Meredith, reeking of alcohol, stumbled up the stairs. Instead of going back to her bedroom, she headed to the room at the end of the hallway—the one that used to be her study—and quietly pushed the door open.
Adonis didn’t sleep well. As he shifted, he tugged at his wounds and let out a soft groan in his sleep.
Meredith caught that faint sound. She followed the sound and walked to the bedside. Then, she leaned down and curled up against Adonis.
One of her hands slid under his shirt and reached for his firm waist. With her other hand, she lifted his chin and planted a kiss on his lips.
Adonis was a light sleeper, so he woke up very quickly due to those movements. He could tell who had gotten into his bed the moment he detected the familiar scent of Meredith’s perfume coming from her collar.
“Sis?”
Why would she suddenly barge in and start kissing him? His whole body went rigid.
Before he could react, he heard Meredith’s husky voice that was mixed with heavy breaths as she muttered, “Nic…”
Upon hearing that, his entire body froze. The strong smell of alcohol made him instantly realize what was going on—Meredith had mistaken him for Nicholas because she was drunk.
While he was momentarily lost in thought, Meredith’s hands began to move lower.
Panic overwhelmed him. He grabbed the hand that was wandering around his waist and tried to push her away, his voice filled with urgency. “Sis, you’ve got the wrong person. I’m Adonis!”
Either because Meredith was too drunk to understand or because his resistance triggered her need for control, her kisses only grew more intense. She sucked on his soft lips, nibbling lightly.
Adonis could barely breathe. His wound tore open, sending waves of sharp pain through his body.
“Sis, you’re hurting me… My wound hurts…”
Whether it was the effect of the alcohol wearing off or because his cries reached her, Meredith’s body stiffened, and she finally let go.
…
When Adonis opened his eyes the next afternoon, he saw Meredith standing before him with an unreadable expression. The events of last night came flooding back, and he jumped back a few steps in fright.
Upon seeing his reaction, a trace of coldness flickered in Meredith’s eyes. “Did you drag me into your room last night?”
Adonis was dumbfounded by her question and was about to explain when he saw her frown deepen.
Meredith warned, “Don’t ever have those kinds of thoughts again. If you do, I’ll make you move out.”
She looked so certain that he was the one in the wrong. So, Adonis bit back the words “You were drunk” that lingered on the tip of his tongue and chose not to argue.
After all, he had stolen a kiss from her that one time. No matter how he explained, she probably wouldn’t believe him. Thus, he gave up on explaining and shut his mouth.
Their shadows overlapped on the floor, and Adonis noticed the shadow opposite him seemed to raise a hand. He couldn’t help but look up.
Meredith’s hand hovered just above his head as if she were about to pat him.
Adonis froze, eyes wide in disbelief. When he was a child, every time he missed his family, he cried until he couldn’t breathe, and during those moments of overwhelming sadness, Meredith would gently pat his head and comfort him.
It had become an unspoken form of interaction that denoted tenderness and fondness between them. But ever since he turned 17, they’d had hardly any physical contact.
Adonis was so tense that he almost stopped breathing.
But in the next second, Meredith’s hand lifted a few inches higher and pulled a bottle of red wine from the cabinet behind him.
Adonis smiled bitterly at himself upon realizing that he’d just been imagining things.
As Adonis had been in a rush to sell, the items he put up for sale and the Solheim residence were all listed below market price. As a result, everything was sold quickly.
He had gathered over 90 thousand dollars but was still short by about 10 thousand of the amount he had planned to repay.
Adonis was leaving the country soon, so there wasn’t much time left. That shortfall would be hard to come by. Although he was just an art student and still a newcomer, he had won many awards over the years and was fairly well-known in the industry.
Therefore, he decided to hold an art exhibition to sell his paintings.
It would be difficult for him to organize it on his own in such a short time. Thus, he turned to Meredith for help.
Nicholas happened to overhear him. With a surprised look, he smiled and offered, “It just so happens that I’m having an exhibition too. Why don’t we hold it together?”
Adonis glanced at Meredith. Upon seeing that she didn’t hold any objections, he agreed.
Five days later, Adonis and Nicholas held their joint exhibition at the art gallery.
Nicholas, who had studied painting for over a decade, was holding his first major exhibition. Because of that, Meredith put a lot of effort into his art exhibition.
She secured the spacious main hall, which was about one thousand square feet, just for him. In addition, she carefully designed the layout and used all means to promote Nicholas’ art exhibition.
On the opening day, the number of social elites and renowned art figures attending broke the art gallery’s attendance record.
Meanwhile, Adonis’ art exhibition, which was held in the relatively small side hall, shared a different fate.
The cramped room, measuring about 100 square feet, was packed with nearly a hundred paintings. It was so crowded that people could barely move in there. Hardly anyone came in to look, let alone to bid on his paintings.
Adonis stood at the door, watching the bustling scene in the main hall from afar with crestfallen eyes full of sadness.
Some friends who had come to help out were about to comfort him when a scream suddenly came from inside the room.
“Adonis, come look at this! This is bad!”
Someone had exposed a plagiarism incident online. The people involved were none other than Adonis and Nicholas, who were holding their art exhibition that day.
Adonis compared the images of the two paintings on his phone. From composition and color scheme to subject matter, they were nearly identical.
Soon, the hashtag “New Artist Adonis Suspected Of Plagiarism” shot to the top of the trending list. This plagiarism scandal sparked widespread debate online.
Adonis’ friends crowded around him and spoke up in his defense anxiously.
“There’s no way Adonis copied someone else’s work! The school uniform in that painting is from our high school. Are these people blind?”
“Exactly! That boy in the painting is Adonis himself. We can all vouch for it!”
“It’s obvious that Nicholas was the one who copied Adonis’ painting. How dare he steal and still have the nerve to accuse Adonis of plagiarizing.”
Despite the chaos, Adonis managed to keep a grip on his rationality and rushed home. He was determined to retrieve the original draft to prove his innocence.
As he ran home, his mind was in a chaotic mess. Scenes from when he had painted the piece flooded his memory.
Adonis was 18 that year, and Meredith had stopped picking him up from school. He had come home with his results slip, which indicated that he’d placed first in his year. Adonis could remember clearly that he’d excitedly charged into her study, wanting to show it to her and make her proud.
The room had been silent. Meredith had been asleep at her desk, and Adonis had carefully walked up to her.
The setting sun’s golden light cast a soft glow on her brow and lashes, making her look like a celestial being beyond a mortal man’s reach.
Even so, Adonis had been determined to be the one to pull her down from that pedestal.
He had placed his results slip over her face and gently kissed her.
Upon being startled awake by Adonis’ bold move, Meredith had given him a thorough scolding afterward. Adonis hadn’t taken her scathing words to heart. Instead, he painted that scene and preserved the painting. He had held on to the painting, cherishing it for years.
Now that he’d finally decided to let go of Meredith and was in need of money, he had included that painting in his exhibition. He hadn’t expected it to become the source of a scandal that would smear his name.
Once Adonis got home, he turned the entire house upside down and searched every nook and cranny. To his dismay, he couldn’t find any trace of the original draft. Panic set in immediately. He racked his brain, trying to think of any place he might have overlooked.
Suddenly, his phone chimed. One of his friends sent him a link, urging him to check it out.
He tapped it open, and Nicholas’ face appeared on the screen. The moment he caught sight of the words “Press Conference” in the background, his heart sank.
On the live broadcast, Nicholas wore a serious expression as he addressed the accusations of plagiarism. He went on to describe the entire painting process in vivid detail.
Then, he pulled out a sketch and showed it to the reporters and cameras while saying, “I’m acquainted with Adonis Solheim, the other artist in question. He’s young, and I’m sure he didn’t do this intentionally—he’s just lost his way for a moment. I don’t blame him.”
As soon as the press conference aired, public opinion online shifted drastically and instantly. Many people swarmed into Adonis’ social media and bombarded him with insults. Within a short amount of time, over 100 thousand disparaging comments showed up on Adonis’ page.
Meanwhile, another hashtag began soaring up the trending news. And that was none other than “The Heir of the Kerr Family and the CEO of Irving Corporation Share a Sweet Kiss. Wedding Bells Going Off?”
Under the trending topic, a video started playing automatically.
Meredith had arrived at the press conference in a sports car. Nicholas ran up to her with a grin and pulled her into his arms. The couple embraced as they got into the back seat. Just before the car window rose, the camera captured them kissing.
Their relationship had long been exposed on the internet. Somehow, t
