I agreed to go abroad with my mafia boyfriend to hide from the mob chasing him, but the day before our flight took off, he changed his mind. His friend teased him: “Not bad, man. To trick Hailey Bennett into leaving, you pretended for this long that mobsters were after you.” “But you two have been together for seven years. Can you really bear to let her go to a strange country alone?” Lucas Hayes's tone was indifferent: “It’s just the neighboring country. How far away can it be?” “Besides, she circles around me every day. I got tired of it a long time ago, so this is perfect for getting some peace and quiet.” That day, I stood outside the door for a long time, and in the end, I chose to turn and leave. He did not know that I tore up the plane ticket meant for our “escape” together and boarded another flight. Later, when he knelt and begged me to come back, I was already about to marry someone else. The instant I heard the truth, my heart trembled violently. Over the past month, Lucas Hayes had been ambushed by another gang, beaten up, and left covered in injuries countless times. I did everything I could to help him avoid harm, but there were always moments when I missed something. Unable to endure it any longer, I suggested that he go abroad to take shelter. At that time, Lucas Hayes had suffered a gunshot wound on his arm and had lost a lot of blood. His handsome face was pale and pitiful as he helplessly grabbed my hand: “Hailey, I’m scared to go somewhere unfamiliar by myself.” I met Lucas Hayes seven years ago, when I was in high school, and he saved me from bullies when I was trapped in an alley. And from then on, I fell for him at first sight. Later, we got together. I thought we would always love each other. So in a moment of impulse, I promised him, “Don’t be afraid. Wherever you go, I’ll go with you.” But only now did I learn that everything was an elaborate show he put on just to get rid of me. I could not help wondering, did Lucas Hayes really hate me that much? The voices inside the private room continued: “Hailey Bennett is truly devoted to you.” “If you send her to another country right now, aren’t you afraid she’ll fall in love with someone else?” “Her?” Lucas Hayes let out a scoff, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world: “For me, she even dared to shield me when a gun was pointed at her head. You think she’d stop loving me?” Someone muttered quietly, “What if she does? Hailey Bennett doesn’t seem like someone you want to mess with.” Lucas Hayes's tone was lazy: “There is no what-if. Ever since she got together with me, have you ever seen her look at anyone else?” His tone was inevitably stained with contempt. “All she does is follow me around all day. Even a dog isn’t as clingy as she is. It’s annoying as hell.” Harsh laughter rang out in the private room, like a slap across my face. I wanted to leave, but my feet seemed rooted to the floor, forcing me to listen and to hurt. Someone clicked his tongue in amazement: “This is the first time I’ve seen someone personally push away a woman who loves him. I’m impressed.” “But if you don’t like Hailey Bennett clinging to you so much, couldn’t you just tell her directly? Hailey Bennett doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would keep pestering you.” Lucas Hayes clicked his tongue, sounding a little impatient: “She’s the Bennett family's heiress. If a breakup really turns ugly, I won’t be able to clean up the mess.” Then his tone shifted: “Besides, Chloe feels insecure and upset whenever she sees her, and she only feels a little better when I’m with her.” “For Chloe, I can only trick her into going abroad.” As soon as he said that, everyone instantly understood. If you counted the time, Lucas Hayes had decided to pretend he was being hunted by another gang exactly one week after saving Chloe Lane. Someone laughed and cursed at Lucas Hayes: “You’re something else, man. Don’t tell me you saved Chloe Lane because you had your eye on her.” “But Chloe Lane really does look delicate and pitiful, and her personality is so soft. It’s only natural for men to be drawn to her.” “She’s not like Hailey Bennett, who has such a cold, sharp personality and keeps a frozen face all day like she wants everyone to stay away. No matter how pretty she is, that won’t do.” After Chloe Lane was saved back then, she cried and said she had nowhere to go, so Lucas Hayes kept her by his side. He said he only treated her as his maid. The reckless comments about me in the private room rose wave after wave like a tide. And Lucas Hayes, the man I had loved for so many years, neither stopped them nor refuted them, and from time to time, he even agreed with them. I stood outside the door as my heart sank heavily into an abyss, empty and dull with pain. For an instant, I wanted to open the door and loudly question Lucas Hayes. I wanted to ask him why he lied to me. I wanted to ask him whether he ever felt a moment of guilt or softness when he watched me get beaten because I was protecting him. I wanted to ask him whether he ever thought about our seven years of love when he did all this. But in the end, my mother’s words echoed in my ears: Do not do anything unnecessary. People do not suddenly rot from the inside. I turned around and left that private room.
The dense, fine pain came belatedly. Originally, I would not have been this sad, and I could have just treated it as betrayal by someone who had been rotten by nature all along. But after all, I had loved him for seven years. On the day I decided to go abroad with Lucas Hayes to hide from the people chasing him, he took me to a club to drink and celebrate our escape. The private room was lively, and our friends laughed and cheered, saying that once the storm passed, they had to witness our wedding. I looked at the person beside me, my heart pounding wildly, and finally worked up the courage to ask softly: “Lucas, after we arrive in the new country, let’s get married, okay?” He hesitated for two seconds, then smiled gently. “Okay. Once we settle down, we’ll get married.” Cheers immediately rang out in the private room, and everyone congratulated us on our marriage in advance, making me blush with embarrassment. I never expected that only two days later, I would hear Lucas Hayes personally shatter my fantasy of love. I smiled, but tears slid down uncontrollably. So his hesitation at that time was also because Lucas Hayes was coaxing me so he could drive me away as soon as possible for Chloe Lane’s sake, right? The wind chimes in the bedroom jingled and swayed, drying my tears little by little. My shattered heart slowly pieced itself back together too. Lucas Hayes was wrong. He was only a small gang leader, and an illegitimate son of the Hayes family at that. And I was the Bennett family's only billionaire heir, so we truly should not have been together. Because we were not a match. The plane ticket in my hand was dampened by my tears. But it was fine, because if this one was dirty, I could just replace it with a clean one. The Bennett family was never short of backup options. I booked a new plane ticket and called my mother: “Mom, you were right. People’s hearts change.” “I want to come home… I accept the arranged marriage with the Morgan family.” The wind chimes in the room made a crisp and pleasant sound, as if celebrating for me. I lowered my eyes slightly, and this time, the face that appeared before me was not Lucas Hayes’s. A man whose features resembled Lucas Hayes by about thirty percent, but who was even more handsome and dazzling, smiled at me with the same certainty and seriousness he had shown two years ago: “Hailey Bennett, sooner or later, you’ll give up on Lucas Hayes and choose me.” Back then, I had thought Ethan Morgan was joking. Now, I silently repeated it in my heart. Lucas Hayes, I truly do not want you anymore. After buying the new plane ticket, I let out a long breath, and my heart had already quietly calmed. But the bedroom door was suddenly knocked on. I froze, because I had always lived in this house alone, and the only person who knew the passcode would be… I opened the door, and sure enough, I saw Lucas Hayes’s face. His tone was as gentle as ever: “Hailey, why did you move out of our home and come live by yourself? It isn’t safe for you to live alone.” “What if the people chasing me catch you when you’re by yourself—” I tried my best to speak in a calm tone: “I want to be alone for a while.” I was about to ask him to leave when, from the corner of my eye, I caught sight of an unexpected figure. Chloe Lane’s petite body shrank beside Lucas Hayes, and the moment her eyes met mine, she flinched. Lucas Hayes watched her every move, and when he saw that, he immediately pulled her loosely into his arms: “Hailey, you scared Chloe.” It was like this again; Chloe Lane always put on a fragile act, as if she was afraid I would bully her, making it seem like I was some unforgivable villain. But I clearly had not done anything. My expression turned cold: “I told you before, I don’t like other people coming to my home.” Lucas Hayes frowned slightly, somewhat displeased: “Chloe isn’t an outsider.” “Besides, she only came because she was worried about you.” Before I could refute him, Chloe Lane’s eyes suddenly reddened: “Hailey, I’m sorry. I know you’ve always looked down on me, but I shower every day.” She bit her lip and added with tears in her eyes, “I won’t make your house dirty…” Hearing that, Lucas Hayes immediately furrowed his brows and looked at me unhappily: “Hailey, Chloe has nowhere to go, so what’s wrong with her staying with me?” “You treating her like this really disappoints me.” Chloe Lane carefully tugged at the corner of Lucas Hayes’s shirt, tolerant, generous, and understanding: “Lucas, I’m fine. Don’t fight with Hailey because of me…” She sniffled and showed an aggrieved yet stubborn smile: “After all, you two are the couple, and I’m just the little maid who follows you around. With my lowly status…” “What nonsense are you saying? You are one of a kind.” Lucas Hayes held Chloe Lane’s face with distress and coaxed her softly. Then he turned to look at me, his face as cold as if it had frozen over, and he said heavily, “Chloe isn’t in the right state emotionally, so I’ll take her away first.” “Reflect on yourself properly, and don’t forget your passport needs to be updated.” I did properly reflect on my own inability to judge people. Then I lifted my foot and went to change the front door passcode. The stifled anger in my heart finally eased for a moment.
The next day, I took the new application form to City Hall to update my passport. As I watched the new passport that symbolized my departure being firmly stamped on the paper, my heart suddenly felt empty for a moment. After standing there in a daze for a while, someone blocked my path. Lucas Hayes frowned slightly: “Hailey, did you change the front door passcode at your place?” “Yesterday, after I sent Chloe home, I went to find you right away, but the door wouldn’t open…” I interrupted him and said simply, “Yes, I changed it.” He seemed a little unhappy, yet he still asked intimately, as if nothing had happened, “What’s the new passcode? It’ll be easier for me to go to your place and find you.” I said calmly, “No need. After I go abroad, I won’t be living here.” Lucas Hayes looked at the new passport in my hand, as if he had suddenly remembered something: “I almost forgot about this.” “Don’t worry, Hailey. I’ll go pick up my passport and plane ticket later.” Ever since Chloe Lane appeared, experiences like walking and chatting with Lucas Hayes had become fewer and fewer. I closed my eyes, allowed the reluctance in my heart to surface, and tested him: “There’s no need to talk about worrying or not worrying between us.” Lucas Hayes was silent for a long time, then suddenly said, “Hailey, actually I…” Chloe Lane suddenly appeared behind Lucas Hayes, holding a bag of fruits and vegetables, and complained to him affectionately: “Lucas, didn’t we agree that you’d wait for me to cook for you? Why did you suddenly disappear?” As she spoke, she handed the bag to Lucas Hayes: “I saw that you’ve been hurt lately, so I’ll make chicken soup for you. I’ve also planned out your meals for the next few days.” As she said that, she blinked playfully: “You won’t blame me for deciding on my own, will you?” “Of course not…” Lucas Hayes smiled a little stiffly, and he glanced at me guiltily. Seeing that I had no reaction, his expression actually showed a faint hint of disappointment. So while pushing me away, you had already planned a future together with someone else. It was just that your future had never included me. I did my best to maintain my dignity on the surface, but deep inside, bitterness spread endlessly like a cup of coffee. I pinched my palm and forced myself to stay clear-headed: “You two talk. I’ll leave first.” Chloe Lane looked as if she had only just noticed me, and her whole body seemed startled by me: “Ha-Hailey…” “Are you unhappy because I’m cooking for Lucas?” “But I’m only helping you take care of him, since you’re usually so busy…” As she spoke, she actually began to sob again. I did not want to act along with her, so I said coldly, “Move.” The thin guilt in Lucas Hayes’s eyes vanished, and he grabbed my wrist, his tone mixed with anger: “Hailey Bennett, what kind of tone is that?” Without letting me argue, he dragged me in front of Chloe Lane and roared, “Apologize to Chloe!” The last piece of pure ground in my heart silently turned into scraps of ruin. This time, without the slightest hesitation, I raised my hand and slapped Lucas Hayes hard across the face: “Lucas Hayes, the person who should apologize most is you.” “But not to Chloe Lane. You should apologize to me.”
I sorted through the things Lucas Hayes had given me in the past, one by one. This necklace was the seventh-anniversary gift he gave me, but not long after, I saw Chloe Lane wearing an identical one around her neck. She said shyly, “Lucas said that whatever others have, I’ll have too…” Only the box was left from the limited-edition teddy bear plush, because Lucas Hayes had taken the plush away and said he liked the scent of my perfume on it. But the next day, I saw Chloe Lane holding the plush. …… It turned out that the one-of-a-kind things I thought I had received had long since been given equally by Lucas Hayes to someone else. Or rather, not even equally. I thought of how Lucas Hayes cared for Chloe Lane in every possible way and favored her endlessly. A mocking smile curved my lips. Since that was the case, there was no need for these things to exist anymore. I checked the plane ticket for the next day again and prepared to spend my last night in peace. But at dawn, I was woken by a phone call. Still groggy, I pressed answer, but the other end stayed quiet, and just as I was about to hang up, Lucas Hayes’s voice sounded: “Hailey, I’m sorry.” My mind cleared instantly, and if he had decided to tell the truth… Lucas Hayes said in a deep voice, “Chloe hurt herself, and I can’t leave her alone, so I’ll go abroad after some time…” The heart I had lifted high slammed heavily to the ground, pathetic and ridiculous. I suddenly really wanted to ask Lucas Hayes what all the suffering I had endured because he pretended to be hunted by mobsters was supposed to count as. Lucas Hayes’s voice continued: “Apologize.” I suspected I had misheard him: “What did you say?” Lucas Hayes’s voice was firm: “Hailey Bennett, you really should apologize to Chloe.” “If you hadn’t always acted so arrogant and domineering toward Chloe, would Chloe have tried to kill herself?” I was suddenly speechless. Because I suddenly understood that with Chloe Lane around, every word I said was wrong. Lucas Hayes spoke again, his voice as if it had been dipped in ice: “Hailey Bennett, you really disappoint me.” “As long as you apologize, I can act like nothing happened and go join you in two months.” “Are you really going to be this willful and throw away all the years of our relationship?” I heard the threat in his words. But I no longer felt even a trace of unwillingness or sadness, only annoyance. I cleanly hung up the phone, blocked him, and deleted his number. I sincerely looked forward to tomorrow’s flight. It was still better to go home, and my suitcase was taken by a familiar pair of hands. I looked up and met Ethan Morgan’s eyes: “Hailey Bennett, long time no see.” I reached out my hand with a bright smile: “Long time no see, Ethan Morgan.” My phone ringtone interrupted our greeting. I swiped open the screen, only to discover it was the number of one of Lucas Hayes’s friends. I answered in confusion, and Lucas Hayes’s voice sounded from the other end, faintly anxious: “Hailey, did you get on the wrong plane?” “Why can’t the people I sent to pick you up find you?”
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