Chapter 2

I walked through the door, not even sure what I was feeling.

I had to fight the urge to wreck the place, so I just collapsed onto the couch and sat there for ages until I finally cooled off.

My gut told me Ethan was keeping his real identity from me. There had to be some other reason he got close to me.

If he just loved me, why would he be marrying someone else?

Once I realized that, I stuffed the wedding invitation back into the envelope, sealed it up, and dropped it in the mailbox.

I decided to act like I didn't know a thing.

He came home late that night. I was already lying in bed, about to sleep.

Like always, he leaned in for a kiss.

I pulled away and said, "I'm not feeling well."

He just smiled, like he got it, ruffled my hair, and handed me a cup of water.

There was this faint trace of perfume on him that I hadn't noticed before.

Maybe I was just being paranoid today, but I smelled it right away.

He took off his jacket and headed into the bathroom. Once I heard the water running, I fished his phone out of his jacket pocket as quietly as I could.

I tried a few passwords, but none of them worked.

Then it hit me that their birthdays were on the invitation. I input Judith's birthday, and bingo, the phone unlocked.

So that was how it was. He was not even pretending anymore.

His pinned chat on WhatsApp was with Judith.

The last message from Ethan read, [Her drug finally worked. Your illness can be cured. I'll file the patent under your name, and once it's approved, we'll kick her out.]

Just as I was about to scroll up, a bunch of group chat notifications popped up.

All his closest friends were there.

[Congrats, Ethan! Ten years of pining, and you're finally getting the girl in your dream.]

[So, when are you gonna break up with your stupid girlfriend?]

[Ethan should've dumped her ages ago. If Judith didn't have that genetic disease, he wouldn't have settled for Melina. Melina's family can't hold a candle to Judith's.]

[Ethan says Melina's a total pushover. Get her to fall for you, and she'll do whatever you say. Just feed her a few lines, and she'll hand over the research credit and patents without a second thought.]

[But won't Melina latch onto Ethan? Those drama queens who cry, make a scene, and threaten to kill themselves are seriously the worst.]

[Gotta hand it to Ethan for thinking ahead, acting broke while dating, so the gold-digger won't stick to him.]

My hands were shaking with rage. I'd been working day and night on those experiments, and he just wanted to claim it all for himself.

More and more messages kept popping up, and the more I read, the more my heart froze over.

I made a backup of the messages, marked them as unread, and slipped the phone back into his jacket pocket.

Maybe I'd already suspected it, but seeing the proof didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

Strangely enough, I actually felt relieved to see his true colors.

Without hesitating, I messaged Edward, [Still interested in stealing me away? This time, you have me and my entire lab. Just one thing. The drug's credit and patents are mine.]

He shot back right away, [Smart move, Miss Potter.]

The sound of running water stopped, and Ethan came out of the bathroom with just a towel around his waist. He slipped under the covers and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

I went rigid all over and pulled myself out of his arms.

He could tell something was off and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not feeling well," I said.

Ethan didn't push it. He shifted to the side and said, "Melina, my company's sending me out of town for a month. I won't be home, so take good care of yourself while I'm gone."

I joked, "A month? That's not exactly short, but it's not that long, either. Anyone who didn't know would think you were going on a honeymoon."

Ethan's eyes darkened, and he gave an awkward smile. "Looks like you're still in the mood to joke around."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Go sleep on the couch. I want to be alone tonight."

Ethan hesitated for a second, but in the end, he just picked up his blanket and headed out.

Just as he was leaving, he paused and added, like he was doing me a favor, "Oh, by the way, I already sent in the patent application. I'll let you know when I get the results."

I just muttered a half-hearted "yeah."

Honestly, if I had to spend one more minute in the same house as him, I might just snap and punch him.

Ethan left early the next morning.

It was not hard to guess. His wedding was just around the corner, so he, the groom-to-be, would be busy getting everything ready himself.

I reached out to Edward to seal the deal.

Instead of asking me to come to the Graham Group, Edward just dropped me a pin for a restaurant.

He was already there, sitting by the window with the city skyline and river laid out before him.

I walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "Mr. Graham."

He slid the contract across the table. "The drug patent is yours. It's all clearly written here. Plus, you'll get your own lab, no sharing."

I went over every line of the contract, making sure there were no hidden catches. Once I was sure, I signed my name.

"Mr. Graham, Bentley Group went ahead and filed for the patent without even asking me. Can you beat them to it and get mine approved first?"

"Bentley Group's no big deal. Don't worry about it. Just leave everything to me," Edward said, sounding totally sure of himself.

Edward looked pretty satisfied as he put the contract away and reached out his hand. "Three years late, but we finally signed it."

I shook his hand back. "Thanks for believing in me, Mr. Graham. But after waiting so long, what made you still want to work with me?"

Honestly, every single clause in this contract was stacked in my favor.

Once bitten, twice shy.

Businessmen always had their own agenda, and honestly, I couldn't help but think Edward would turn out to be just like Ethan.

Edward replied, "At our company, we've always put talent above everything else. When I first read your proposal, Miss Potter, I knew you had huge potential. You developed the drug even faster than I expected, which just shows my instincts were spot on."

I smiled. "Guess that's what happens when you're young and successful, Mr. Graham. Your instincts are always sharp."

Edward suddenly changed the subject, his eyes drifting past me to somewhere behind. "But some people just don't have an eye for things."

I turned to follow his gaze and spotted Ethan sitting with a woman at a nearby table.

She had a smudge of sauce on her lips, and Ethan reached out, wiping it away for her with a gentle touch.

Suddenly, I realized that the woman was Judith.