The next morning, Bowen finally managed to pull himself away and returned to our downtown apartment.
As he opened the door, a sense of emptiness greeted him.
The slippers were neatly arranged, but the warm water he usually drank was not on the table.
In the walk-in closet, more than half of my section was empty.
An inexplicable pang hit Bowen's heart.
He took out his phone to call me.
It rang for a long time before it was answered, but it wasn't my voice on the other end. It was Brice's.
"What's up?" Brice's voice sounded lazy and hoarse, with a hint of a morning nasal tone.
Bowen was stunned instantly. "Brice, why are you..."
"She's still sleeping," Brice replied nonchalantly. "She was exhausted yesterday."
His words left Bowen utterly puzzled.
"What do you mean? She stayed over at your place? You and she..."
The call was abruptly ended.
Bowen was furious and almost smashed his phone.
He rushed to Cloud Manor angrily and burst into the dining room.
I had sent my clothes for cleaning, so I had to put on Brice's white shirt. Its oversized hem barely covered my thighs.
The exposed part of my calf was strikingly attractive.
I was sipping porridge slowly.
Brice sat beside me. He was peeling shrimp with his long fingers and placing them naturally into my bowl.
The sight pierced Bowen's heart.
He strode forward and grabbed my wrist tightly. He seemed to be trying to crush the bones.
"Leyla!" Bowen gritted his teeth. "Are you so desperate for a man that you'd even go after my brother?"
Even though I had decided to move on from Bowen, his humiliating words still pierced my heart.
He cheated on me first, but now he was righteously accusing me?
Thinking about how I had devoted myself to him for seven years, I felt it was like a joke.
Just as I was about to retort, Brice beat me to it.
He stood up and gripped Bowen's wrist with a slight force. "Let go."
His voice carried an undeniable authority.
Bowen winced in pain and had no choice but to release his grip on my wrist.
He was annoyed and asked, "Brice, what do you mean? Leyla is my fiancée!"
Brice took a wet wipe and carefully cleaned my hands. He didn't even spare a glance for Bowen. "You are at Cloud Mason. It's not a place for you to act wildly."
Bowen glared at Brice with a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Although Brice often cleaned up Bowen's messes, the latter didn't dare act too recklessly in front of the former, the eldest son of the family, who still commanded respect.
Watching Brice attentively clean my fingers without any further intimate gestures, Bowen felt a sense of relief.
Brice wouldn't be with me, Bowen's fiancée.
He felt it must be me throwing a tantrum over yesterday's engagement party fiasco. It was just my way to draw attention.
With this thought, Bowen said in a softened tone, "Alright, Leyla. I was wrong to leave you yesterday. But it is too much for you to team up with Brice to upset me. I'll let it slide this time. Come back with me, and stop embarrassing yourself here at Brice's place."
Bowen, in a patronizing tone, reached out to take my hand.
Just as I was about to evade, his phone rang.
It was Rosie again.
"Bowen, I fell and bled so much..." Her voice, with sobs, came through the receiver.
Bowen's expression changed instantly.
He looked at me and then at his phone.
In the end, Rosie won.
"Wait. I'm coming right away." He turned to leave before warning me. "Leyla, I'm running out of patience. You'd better know when to stop. Don't forget that your family is counting on the Green family to save them financially this time."
With that, he hurriedly left.
Watching his retreating figure, I suddenly found it amusing.
He still thought that it was just my way of trying to get his attention.
Brice offered the last peeled shrimp to me. A hint of amusement flashed in his eyes. "It seems that he still doesn't know what was going on. No worries. He'll figure it out soon enough."
