Chapter 2

Isaac stood frozen in the shadowy corner for a long while, until his phone finally rang.

He answered without hesitation. "Mr. Olson, I promised I'd leave Mirfield for good. Just stick to your promise and help Evelyn go after what she wants."

Jayden Olson's voice carried the arrogance of someone who always got his way. "You don't need to tell me that. Evelyn is the girl I've chosen, and I'll make sure she gets everything she dreams of.

"But you... Why the sudden change of heart? You're not trying to pull some kind of trick, are you?"

Isaac let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh. "With the kind of power you have now, Mr. Olson, crushing me would be easier than squashing an ant. I'll book my flight for next week."

Jayden said bluntly, arrogance clear in his voice. "Name your price."

Isaac replied, "I don't want your money. Everything I've done for Evelyn, I did it because I wanted to." His thoughts were in turmoil, and he couldn't take it anymore. He ended the call abruptly.

When Isaac finally stumbled back to his cramped apartment, he found Evelyn was already home.

Seeing him drenched, she rushed over with a towel. "Isaac, it's pouring outside! Why did you go out?"

She said softly, "Isaac, I can support us now. You don't have to push yourself so hard anymore. The villa in Riverford is ready. We can move in next week."

Her gentle words and caring look only made the sorrow in Isaac's heart grow heavier.

He took the towel with stiff hands. "It's okay, Evelyn. I can do it myself. I don't mind living here at all. But you're different now. You're famous, you should be living somewhere nice."

Evelyn gave a playful pout. "Isaac, what are you talking about? Everything I have now is thanks to you. Whatever's mine is yours."

Yes, she truly was grateful. She treated him well. She just couldn't give him the same kind of love he gave her.

Isaac answered in a daze, "Alright."

Just then, Evelyn's phone rang. She rushed off, sounding thrilled. "Thank you, Mr. Olson! I just know this performance is going to be a big hit. The rehearsal's tomorrow night, and I can..."

Their lively, seamless chatter filled the whole apartment.

Isaac couldn't remember when it happened, but somewhere along the way, he and Evelyn no longer had anything to talk about.

Now, the person who could chat endlessly with her, who brought her all that glitz and excitement, all the fame and fortune, wasn't him.

The next morning, Isaac made breakfast for Evelyn like he always did. After all, he knew he wouldn't have many more chances to do this for her.

But Evelyn was already in a rush. "Isaac, I've got to go. I've reserved a VIP seat for you at the concert this weekend."

Isaac wanted to tell her that any seat would be fine, but Evelyn was already out the door.

After that, Isaac started sorting through his things at home, tossing out memories he no longer needed.

In the end, he held onto a single photo, one of him and Evelyn as kids. Even if they couldn't be together, at least they were still family.

He kept packing until late into the night, when suddenly his phone buzzed with a message.

[Evelyn has rehearsal tonight. I'll send you the address. Come over and see for yourself.] The message was from Jayden.

Isaac knew Jayden was still wary of him. This was Jayden's way of keeping tabs, just testing his intentions.

But Isaac had already gotten out of the way. It wouldn't hurt to go once.

When Isaac arrived at the venue by taxi, he saw a crowd of fans gathered outside, all there cheering for Evelyn.

"Evelyn is so gorgeous and sweet, and she's a total genius. She and Mr. Olson are just perfect together."

"I bet Mr. Olson is going to make it official after the concert. I can't wait for the couple of the century to finally happen."

"But I heard Evelyn has this clingy foster brother who keeps guilt-tripping her, always trying to stop her from being with Mr. Olson."

"Yeah, I heard that too. Her foster brother is just a total loser. Maybe he did help her out a bit back in the day, but now he's totally burned through any goodwill he ever had."

Hearing that, Isaac felt a pang of hurt and jealousy stab through his chest. He tried to skirt around the crowd.

Suddenly, a female fan called out to him. "Hey, hold up! Are you one of Evelyn's fans? You seem kind of off."

Isaac froze, panic written all over his face. He mumbled awkwardly, "Of course I am."

But the fans quickly surrounded him. "Where's your support banner? Do you even know our fan chant?"

One of them snapped, "Some antis snuck in earlier and stirred up a lot of trouble. We're not letting any suspicious people get past us."

Hearing that, a flood of bitter memories crashed over Isaac.

Not long ago, some of Evelyn's rivals had started spreading nasty rumors about her, bringing up the fact that she was an orphan.

They even accused her of sleeping her way to the top, saying she only got where she was by relying on men.

No one was more upset than Isaac. He was burning with rage.

Whenever he was out delivering food and came across those rumors, he'd stop right there and jump into the comments to defend her.

But the rumors just kept swirling, no matter what he did. He was so lost in thought that he had a bad fall while delivering orders.

Just when he was at his wits' end, Jayden called.

He said coldly, "I can make all those rumors disappear for Evelyn, but only if you leave her."

Isaac wrestled with the decision. But for Evelyn's reputation, he swallowed the pain and agreed, even though it felt like his heart was being ripped out.

Literally overnight, all the rumors disappeared, and instead, Evelyn's hype went through the roof.

She was rebranded as a resilient, pitiable girl who rose from hardship.

Isaac realized right then that he was no longer the one lifting Evelyn up. If anything, he'd just drag her down.

Lost in these memories, Isaac stood silent and unmoving, which only made the fans even more agitated.