Chapter 3

The car pulled up in front of the hospital.

In the hospital corridor, Edward lifted his arm. Leslie took a deep breath, put on a gentle smile, then linked her arm through his, looking every bit the loving couple.

"Albert, we're here to see you," Leslie said.

As they pushed open the door to the hospital room, the old man sitting up in bed looked at them, his eyes sparkling with sudden excitement.

Albert said, "Oh, sweetheart, you're here so early! Did you have breakfast yet?

"Edward, are you not taking care of Leslie? She's looking so skinny." Albert shooed Edward away and instead pulled Leslie closer to him.

"Why do you look so pale? Is your mother-in-law giving you trouble again?" he asked.

Leslie felt tears prick her eyes at Albert's concern. In the whole Fleming family, only he truly cared about her.

Just then, there was a commotion at the door. Leslie looked up and saw a group of people hurried past, wheeling a pale-faced woman on a stretcher.

As they passed, one of the medical staff grumbled, "Apparently, she's some minor celebrity who twisted her ankle filming. All this drama, you'd think it was something serious."

Leslie glanced at Edward. If she remembered correctly, that woman was the one Edward had splurged on last night. Sure enough, it wasn't long before Edward found an excuse to step out.

As soon as he left, Leslie got a text from him: [I've got something to deal with. Make up a story for Grandpa.]

Leslie silently deleted the message. Just as she was about to say something, she looked up and met Albert's gentle, loving gaze.

"Leslie, have you been feeling down lately?" Albert asked.

Leslie's nose stung, and she quickly turned her head away, wiping at her tears with her fingers.

"I'm fine, Albert," she said.

Albert took her hand. "Back then, you were so skinny, standing in front of me and promising you'd take care of Edward. I knew you were different from everyone else. Leslie, I may be old, but I'm not confused. I know exactly what my grandson is like."

He reached up and gently wiped the tears from Leslie's eyes. "Leslie, I don't have much time left. Life rushes by so quickly. If you're not happy, you don't have to stay."

Leslie couldn't hold back anymore. She threw herself into Albert's arms and broke down in tears.

"It's alright, everything will pass. Edward doesn't deserve you," Albert said, his hand warm and steady as he comforted her.

Leslie stayed with Albert for a while longer. When she finally left the hospital, it took her a long time to calm herself down and hold back the tears that threatened to fall again.

Just then, her lawyer called.

"Hello, Ms. Malone, your husband wants us to handle a property transfer. But Mr. Fleming already signed the house over to you. So, what do you want to do about it?" the lawyer asked.

"Who does he want to transfer it to?" Leslie asked.

The lawyer replied, "A woman named Joanne Kent."

Leslie did a quick search and realized Joanne was that minor celebrity. 'Seriously? Edward's been with so many women, but he's never given any of them a house. This Joanne must have some real skills,' Leslie thought.

None of this had anything to do with Leslie anymore. She ended the call with the lawyer and forwarded the market price to Edward.

Edward stayed silent, but soon enough, a hefty sum was transferred into her bank account.

Over the next few days, Edward was nowhere to be seen around Leslie. Instead, he was showing off everywhere the paparazzi could catch him. One day, the heir of the Fleming family was spotted with his girlfriend at a luxury store, and rumors were swirling that he was about to propose.

The next day, Edward showed up at Joanne's product launch, and people were already speculating that the two were living together.

Headlines like this kept popping up nonstop, and even Edward's friends in their private group chat were left stunned.

[Edward, is this for real? You're not just messing around this time?]

[Wait, isn't he still married to Leslie? He's out here flaunting his new girl. Doesn't he worry Leslie will go nuts and blow the whole thing up?]

[I think Edward's totally fed up with Leslie. Oh, and here's something you probably don't know. Back in school, he had a crush, the one he could never get over. Joanne's side profile? Total dead ringer for her.]

When Leslie saw the message, she paused in surprise. Edward had a crush back in school. But she couldn't figure out who that mysterious girl was.

[Edward was actually that sentimental? With his background, why didn't he go for it?]

Leslie couldn't help but wonder about that too.

[Guess it just wasn't meant to be. Edward only caught a glimpse of her profile that one time, snapped a picture, and when he tried to track her down, he ended up in a car accident.]

[You all know the rest. Honestly, I thought he'd forgotten all about her. If it weren't for Joanne showing up, I wouldn't even have remembered this story.]

The chat kept rolling, and Leslie almost wanted to laugh. 'Isn't this a kind of punishment? While Edward keeps ignoring everyone else's genuine feelings, I end up with none myself,' she thought.

It had been years, and now our old class rep was putting together a reunion.

Leslie had cut off contact with everyone as soon as she graduated, so she really had no excuse to skip this time.