Old Dreams Fade

After Bianca Vale and I were kidnapped at the same time, I watched Evan Pierce choose her.

Even the kidnapper stared in surprise. After a long silence, he took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

“How did you end up even worse off than me? Your own husband won’t save you. Damn it... why won’t this rope come loose?”

In the end, he bit through the knot with his teeth and mumbled,

“Forget it. You don’t have to go down with me. Just remember to run.”

With that, he shoved me toward Evan and jumped from the high-rise, resigned to his fate.

I thought I had been saved, only to meet Evan’s ice-cold eyes.

“Only if you die can Bianca become legitimate.

“Clara Shaw, you should have stepped aside a long time ago.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the engagement party where Evan and I first became engaged.

Ignoring the depth of feeling in his eyes, I walked straight to the corner, where Miles Langford was focused on playing a match-three game.

“Mr. Langford, how about we discuss a partnership?”

After all, I was the one who had once lifted Evan to the top.

Putting Miles in that same seat now would not be difficult.

Miles wore an ill-fitting suit, his eyes wide and round.

He looked at me in confusion, then pointed at himself, his mouth forming a perfect O.

“Huh?

“Me?”

I bent down and sat in the armchair across from him.

“Mr. Langford, you’ve been handling Harbor City’s fuel trades all this time, haven’t you?

“Don’t you want to scale it up?”

Miles froze, his finger still resting on his phone screen.

“You... you’ve got the wrong person, don’t you?”

As if he had only just come back to himself, he straightened in his seat.

He tried hard to fix his tie, but only made it more crooked.

All the while, he kept sneaking glances at me, a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead.

“Clara.”

There was urgency in Evan’s voice.

He strode over to my side, his brows drawn tight.

“You’ve never cared for Langford Group. Why the sudden change of heart?”

He paused, then lowered his voice.

“Whatever this is, we can talk in private. Don’t make a scene here.”

I did not look at him.

My gaze stayed on the man sitting across from me.

“I never paid much attention before. Now that I look at it, Mr. Langford’s business is actually doing quite well.”

My voice was calm.

At the same time, I quietly avoided the hand Evan reached out to grab mine.

His hand froze in midair, and his face went slightly pale.

But he recovered quickly and gave a soft laugh.

“Clara, you’re joking, right? Everyone in Harbor City knows Miles is just...”

Evan did not finish.

The whispers and laughter around us slowly rose in his place.

“Mr. Pierce is still trying to save the Langfords some dignity. He’s just an idiot.”

“Exactly. Just a useless son the Langfords keep around for show.”

Miles stopped moving.

His head lowered, and I could not see his expression.

The veins stood out faintly on the back of the hand clenched around his tie.

He had never been good with words. He could never win an argument.

In my previous life, on my wedding day, Bianca deliberately ruined my wedding dress.

While everyone stood by and watched coldly, only Miles silently took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

His face was filled with concern, but he turned red from holding himself back and still failed to say a single word.

“He only had a high fever when he was little.”

My voice was not loud, but the surrounding chatter fell silent at once.

“Who says that makes him an idiot?”

Miles jerked his head up, disbelief trembling in his eyes.

Evan’s face darkened completely.

“Clara, do you have any idea what you’re saying?”

I lifted my glass and took a small sip without answering.

Miles was still staring at me blankly. His lips parted, as if he wanted to say something.

But he was too anxious. When he stood, his foot caught on the coffee table.

He pitched straight forward.

A dull thud sounded, followed by a burst of laughter around us.

“Is Mr. Langford bowing to her?

“Still the same idiot after all...”

Miles braced his hands on the floor and tried to get up, his ears red enough to bleed.

He said nothing. He only clenched his teeth hard.

I stood, walked over, and held out my hand to him.

He froze, looking up at me.

“Get up,” I said.

His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing. He simply placed his hand in mine.

His palm was hot and lightly damp with sweat.

He did not dare grip me too tightly. His hand only rested loosely in my palm.

Evan finally lost patience. He strode over and clamped a hand around my wrist.

“Clara, enough! Today is the day we announce our engagement. What are you trying to do?”