In that instant, it felt as though my heart had stopped.
The next second, Lena's emotionless voice echoed in my ear.
"To wear the crown, one must bear its weight. Born into the Greene Family, a marriage alliance is a duty I can’t escape. Since I never had a choice, I can only accept it. Gavin is handsome and innocent. Compared to the other arrogant second-generation heirs, he’s the best option."
Tears slid from the corners of my eyes, soaking into the dirt.
Lena looked at Owen with tender affection, her eyes finally showing emotion.
"I once thought I’d live my whole life like this. But your appearance is a gift from the heavens. Thank you, Owen."
Every word pierced my heart like a knife.
I couldn’t tell what hurt more, my body or my heart.
The childhood memories we once shared were slowly fading.
What I thought was innocent companionship, what I believed to be a love deeply rooted, turned out to be nothing but lies.
How laughable that in my twenty years of life, my only wish was to marry her, to support her career, to help her rise effortlessly.
The girl who once broke a branch under the willow tree to make a ring for me has now faded into nothing but a memory.
My tightly wound nerves suddenly snapped and blood gushed from the wound on my abdomen.
Lena finally sensed something was wrong and snapped at the servant beside her. "What are you waiting for? Go check on him! If anything happens to Gavin, none of you need to work here anymore!"
In my daze, someone kept shaking me.
Then, I fell into a warm embrace.
The familiar scent of pine seemed to bring me back to those days when it was just the two of us.
But when I opened my eyes, I was already in the guest room.
Lena sat by the bed.
Her face was full of anger and coldness.
"Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt? Gavin, must you be this stubborn? When will you ever change your temper?”
Ignoring her emotions, I turned my head and looked around the room.
It was dilapidated and messy, worse than the servants’ quarters.
And the master bedroom that once belonged to me… well, it was obvious who lived there now.
A cold smile curled at the corners of my lips.
I didn’t spare her a glance.
“My temper has nothing to do with you. The one you should be most concerned about right now is Owen.”
I propped myself up and tore off the bandages around my abdomen.
“And one more thing—just a reminder—this is a house I bought. Kindly ask your lover to move out as soon as possible.”
Lena was completely enraged by my indifference. She stood up and shouted furiously. “Enough! Can’t you be a little more tolerant? I let Owen stay here so you two could take care of each other, not for you to throw tantrums!”
“Forget it. I still have eight months until I give birth. Use that time to calm down. When the child is born, I don’t want their father to be a madman!”
Throwing out those words, Lena turned and left without looking back.
Lifting the covers, I saw the wound on my knee had already been treated by the doctor.
I couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh.
Everything I’d suffered was because of her and now she’s trying to play the good guy?
The sound of laughter from downstairs continued. I pulled out my phone and lowered the selling price of the villa once again.
I didn’t want to see this place, soaked with heartache, for another second.
That night, the servants prepared a full table of food.
Most of it was seafood, exactly what Lena was allergic to.
Standing on the second floor, I glanced down and remembered the way she used to order food at restaurants, never willing to compromise for me.
So this was what love and indifference look like—so stark, so obvious.
Back in what used to be the master bedroom, all my belongings had already been thrown out.
At least it saved me some effort.
After booking a ride on my phone, I turned to leave.
