Chapter 2
After what felt like forever, the sounds from the bed finally faded away.
Mia said in a wheedling tone, "Dr. Hawthorne, it's way past midnight. Can't I just stay over tonight?"
Simon never let any of them spend the night.
Once he'd had his fun, he'd just kick them out. "Get out."
"Do you really have to be so heartless? I mean, it's not like there's a woman living here anyway," Mia complained.
"Don't make me say it again," Simon said coldly.
Mia got dressed, looking disappointed.
Suddenly, her eyes caught something and lit up. "Can I have this, please?"
Her gaze landed on a ring.
It was the ring Simon had used to propose to me three years ago.
But the very next day after he proposed, I ended up drinking the invisibility potion.
Simon refused her. "This belongs to my fiancée."
Mia snorted. "Dr. Hawthorne, you're so sentimental. But your fiancée's been out of your life for years. What's the point of keeping that ring? Why not just let me have it?"
As she spoke, she tried to snuggle up to him, looping her arm through his.
Simon shook her off. "You're not even in the same league as her."
Mia tried to snuggle up to him, but got shrugged off, leaving her looking both embarrassed and defiant.
"At least I wouldn't just vanish without a word like she did, making everyone laugh at you! A guy like you deserves to be treasured, Dr. Hawthorne. I'm way better than her, hands down!" Mia retorted.
Back then, Simon warned me that the invisibility potion was seriously dangerous.
Ant if anyone ever found out about it, it would be a total disaster.
So to the outside world, it looked like I'd just left him behind and vanished without a trace.
"You have no idea how much I like you, Dr. Hawthorne," Mia pouted.
She refused to leave, climbing onto Simon's lap and reaching for the ring.
Simon didn't even blink; he just dumped her onto the floor.
"Get out," he snapped.
He meant he was done with her for good.
*****
Simon leaned back against the headboard and lit a cigarette.
He cupped the ring in his palm, holding it close.
"Emily, are you here?" he called out.
"I've told you before, none of those women I bring home could ever compare to you.
"From the very beginning, you're the only one I've ever wanted to marry."
After every hookup, he'd always start professing his devotion to me, acting like I was the only one who mattered.
I fell for all his sweet talk. Even with all those women coming and going, I kept blaming myself, thinking it was my fault that he became like this.
I was convinced I was the only one he ever truly loved.
But now, hearing the brutal truth straight from his own mouth, I finally realized just how real his performance was.
He wasn't some fallen man; he'd always been like this.
He'd been hooking up with woman after woman for ages. It was only recently that he started bringing them home.
"Emily, I really do love you. I miss you so much," Simon said.
Back then, whenever he said things like that, I'd be crying my eyes out, telling him over and over how much I loved him.
Now, I just crouched on the floor, staring at him, my gaze icy and detached.
As his cigarette burned low, Simon actually sounded a little nervous. "Emily, just wait for me a bit longer. I promise I'll make the antidote and marry you."
I couldn't take his performance anymore, so I left the bedroom.
He didn't even care about that tiny bit of panic.
Day after day, his life stayed the same.
After I lost all hope, I started searching for a way to save myself.
He wouldn't keep the antidote at home; it was probably hidden away in his lab.
Besides the antidote, I also needed to find the original data for the invisibility potion.
As a genius scientist who shot to fame at a young age, Simon had come up with countless inventions over the years.
Whether they succeeded or failed, he always kept the original data.
Every day after he left, I'd sneak into his cluttered study and start searching through everything.