Hearing my familiar voice, my adoptive mother on the other end of the phone was so excited that she almost fainted.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t contacted her for a while.
"My dear, mom and dad have always treated you as our own daughter. We have always respected your choice and will never sacrifice your happiness for our own interests!"
"Don't talk about married or not for now. I heard from your brother that you have a boyfriend who you have been dating for three years and you love him to death, right?"
After a moment of silence, I couldn't control my emotions and cried out, "Mom and Dad, this should have been over long ago. Now I just want to be with you."
In the evening, I returned to the villa that Felix bought for me.
At the beginning, in order to prove my ability to my parents, I took the initiative to stop living expenses, but naively relied on Felix for support.
After being Felix's canary for three years, he gave me tens of thousands of rare treasures.
We went to more than a dozen countries for our honeymoon together, leaving behind more than a dozen thick photo albums. Keeping these now would only made people sick.
I personally sent the valuable gifts to the pawn shop and exchanged them for a long string of numbers in my bank card.
Then I threw the photo album into the fireplace and burned it to ashes.
At the same time, another call came in from Rockbottom.
"Alice, my parents said you are going back to Rockbottom. Did you encounter anything there?"
It was my brother William's voice. I didn't want my brother to worry too much, so I just used vague words to evade the question.
"I'm fine, I just miss home."
"By the way, brother, I have passed the bar exam. I want to work in our family's law firm in the second half of the year. Do you have any objections?"
William was surprised by my decision, but he agreed readily.
"Why would I have any objection? I'd love to have it. You're a top student at the University of Chevening Political Science and Law!"
After a few seconds of silence, William on the other end of the phone seemed to have noticed something was wrong.
"Alice, I heard from my parents that you decided to leave your current boyfriend. Have you been wronged? If so, you must tell your brother. Your brother will protect you."
My brother's concern made my heart astringent and tears instantly welled up in my eyes.
In an instant, the words I just heard outside the door and the countless times that Felix's camera was aimed at me flashed through my mind...
How could I be so confused that I became a joke among others and a tool for him to have fun.
"No, I'm fine. Leaving him is my own choice."
Hearing my answer, my brother's tone seemed to have relieved some of his tension.
"Alice, you are always the best in my heart. There are many excellent colleagues in our circle, all of whom have good family backgrounds and looks. If you want to meet them, the people chasing you can line up from China to France. But no matter what, we will respect your choice."
The moment I hung up the phone, the door of the villa was also pushed open.
Felix came out of the house in a suit and saw me squatting in front of the fireplace and the photos scattered on the ground.
"Alice, what are you doing?"
I picked up the photos calmly and threw them into the flames in front of him.
"Nothing, just some duplicate photos. It takes up too much space to keep them, so it's better to burn them."
Felix's eyes reflected the fire in the fireplace and he never suspected that I was different.
He hugged me tightly from behind, greedily sniffing the fragrance of my hair.
The hot and wet kiss went from behind the ear to the neck and Felix pressed down. Suddenly, his eyes were startled and his lips stopped on the empty neck.
"Where is the Heart of the Ocean I gave you? Didn't you always wear it around your neck before?"
I turned my face to the side, just thinking of a reasonable excuse.
"It rushed into the sewer when I was taking a shower today."
"Felix, I'm tired. I have to go to school to attend the graduation ceremony tomorrow morning. I'll sleep in the second bedroom tonight."
Felix rubbed my head and a gentle smile overflowed from his eyes.
I couldn’t tell whether it was deliberate or a show on the spot.
"Okay, go to bed early, I'll ask the driver to take you tomorrow morning."
