Mason Lawson slowly reached out and caressed her tear-streaked cheek. "Evie, as long as you stay with me, I will never abandon you."

"Stay with you? How?"

Eve Vaughn said in despair, "The woman you went on a blind date with today is my roommate. If she ever finds out about... us, how can I keep living in our dorm? How could I possibly face her? Mr. Lawson, I love you. I really, really do. But I want to love with dignity."

Of course, Mason Lawson understood what she meant. And since things had come to this, he wasn’t going to hide the truth any longer.

The man lowered the car window, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and blew the smoke out the window.

His voice was raspy. "Evie, there’s more to this world than just love. There are many things I can’t give up. It might look like I have everything, being part of the Lawson family, but for people like us, reputation and wealth are valued even more than for ordinary people. For now, I can’t bring myself to throw away everything I have for one person."

A sharp pain pierced Eve Vaughn’s heart. The truth was ugly and painful, but it was better than a lie. At least it was a wake-up call, preventing her from wasting her youth on a relationship with no future.

She nodded and said to Mason Lawson, "I know. I understand. It’s true, we’ve only known each other a short while. Our relationship hasn’t reached the point where you’d be willing to give up everything for me."

Mason Lawson’s deep gaze fell upon her pale face. "But Evie," he said softly, "I can promise you this: I’m not getting married anytime soon. Not to anyone. What we have is a real relationship. I cherish you. There’s no shame in being with me."

Eve Vaughn wiped away her tears with her fingertips, mustering the courage to look at him. "But, Mr. Lawson... even though you won’t get married, if your parents keep setting you up on blind dates, you’ll still go, won’t you?"

Mason Lawson’s gaze flickered. He didn’t deny it.

A sad smile touched Eve Vaughn’s lips. "But the moment you went on that blind date, my dignity was gone. Our relationship was already being judged by the world."

Mason Lawson couldn’t argue, because she was right.

He was the one trying to have it both ways.

But in this world, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

A tense silence filled the car. After a long moment, Mason Lawson extinguished his cigarette. "I’ll take you back to school."

Eve Vaughn didn’t refuse. This area was remote, and it would be impossible to get a cab.

She was miserable the entire ride back. ’I’ll probably never get to see Mason Lawson again.’

’If they weren’t lovers, two people from such different worlds would never have crossed paths.’

So, before they arrived, she stole glances from the corner of her eye at the man beside her, his expression cold and his lips pressed into a thin line.

’I need to burn his face into my memory.’ 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

’Even though they hadn’t known each other long and their time together was short, at least she had been content and happy with Mason Lawson.’

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the drive.

When they arrived, Eve Vaughn turned to him before getting out. "I’m going to sell my family’s house soon. Then I’ll pay you back for my tuition and my mother’s medical bills that you covered."

Mason Lawson’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. He gave a cold grunt of acknowledgement.

Eve Vaughn blinked hard, trying to force her tears back.

She opened the car door, not daring to glance back, and left him with a final, "Mr. Lawson, take care."

With that, she shut the car door and ran toward the school.

Watching her stumble away, Mason Lawson’s brow furrowed deeply and didn’t relax for a long, long time.

...

「At the bar.」

Julian Lawson was dead drunk. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it. How could Eve Vaughn be with Mason Lawson?

The image of Eve Vaughn kissing Mason Lawson in the car replayed endlessly in his mind until Julian felt like his head was about to explode.

He downed drink after drink until he finally collapsed onto the table, out cold.

In the end, the bartender had to call the Lawson family, and Autumn Woods came to get him herself.

As he was being helped up, Julian Lawson blearily opened his eyes. "Mom... why are you here?"

Autumn Woods snapped, "Are you trying to kill yourself? You know you have a weak liver; you’re not supposed to touch a drop of alcohol! Your wedding is right around the corner! If something were to happen to you now, what would become of us?"

Julian Lawson grinned foolishly. "Wouldn’t that be perfect? Then we can just call it off! I’m not getting married!"

Autumn Woods’s face fell. Julian had never said such ridiculous things before.

But seeing how drunk he was, Autumn Woods dismissed it as just the liquor talking.

As she helped her son into the car, she said, "You need to sober up the minute we get home. If your grandfather sees you like this in the morning, you’ll never hear the end of it!"

But once they were in the car, Julian suddenly said to his mother, "Mom, I’m begging you, please take me to see Evie, okay?"

"Who did you say?"

Autumn Woods’s expression turned ugly. "The only person you should be thinking about right now is Charlotte! Don’t you ever mention that wretched girl, Eve Vaughn, in front of me again!"

But Julian Lawson burst out crying. "What am I supposed to do? I fucking love her! So what if she wronged me? I don’t care! I’m not getting married! If I marry anyone, it’s going to be Eve Vaughn."

"Shut up!"

Autumn Woods raged, "After drinking so much, do you even know what you’re saying?"

Then, she ordered the driver, "Drive faster!"

She had to get Julian home immediately and pour some sobering soup into him.

Otherwise, this would blow up into a huge disaster.

...

Autumn Woods had assumed that once her son sobered up, everything would go back to normal, and he wouldn’t repeat his nonsense about not getting married.

But to her surprise, the first words out of Julian Lawson’s mouth after he sobered up were, "Mom, let’s postpone the wedding."

"Wh-what did you say?" Autumn Woods stared at him in disbelief. "Is your head still not clear?"

Julian Lawson couldn’t get the image of Eve Vaughn kissing his uncle out of his head.

His tone grew firmer. "Mom, I’ll be honest with you. I can’t get over Eve Vaughn. She’s all I can think about right now. To marry another woman would be completely unfair to Charlotte."

He didn’t tell his mother about Eve Vaughn’s relationship with Mason Lawson. If she found out, she would undoubtedly take the matter straight to Old Mr. Lawson.

It wouldn’t matter if Mason Lawson was ruined, but Eve Vaughn would definitely be dragged down with him, and Julian Lawson didn’t want to see that happen.

He couldn’t bear to drag Eve Vaughn into this. All he wanted now was to win her back.

And so, Julian Lawson was dead set on postponing the wedding, determined to focus all his energy on winning over Eve Vaughn.

SLAP! A sharp smack landed across Julian Lawson’s face.

Autumn Woods was furious. "Get that ridiculous idea out of your head right now! I’m telling you, Julian Lawson, the invitations have already been sent out! If you call off the wedding now, the Lawson family will be utterly humiliated! We’ll become a laughingstock! Just see if your grandfather will forgive you then!"

Only after she brought up his grandfather did Julian’s hard stance begin to soften.

His cheek stung. It was the first time his mother had ever hit him.

During breakfast, Autumn Woods was a nervous wreck, terrified that Julian would impulsively bring up postponing the wedding in front of his grandfather.

Thankfully, Julian ate his meal in silence from start to finish, not mentioning the wedding at all.

Autumn Woods also noticed that, for some reason, her son’s gaze kept drifting toward Mason Lawson during the meal.

Mason, however, remained cold and impassive, not sparing Julian a single glance.

After breakfast, Julian Lawson stood up. "Grandfather, I’m heading to the office."

Old Mr. Lawson nodded, saying with a hint of displeasure, "I’ve heard from your supervisor at the company that you’ve been distracted during your internship lately. A wedding may be approaching, but when you’re at the office, you need to keep your mind on your work."

Julian Lawson bowed his head. "I understand, Grandfather."

After receiving his grandfather’s nod, Julian was the first to leave the house.

He didn’t actually go to the office, however. He was heading to the Vaughn residence to find Charlotte.

Since his mother wouldn’t agree to postpone the wedding, his only option was to approach it from the Vaughn family’s side.

If Charlotte were the one to suggest postponing the wedding, he figured his mother—with her usual fondness for Charlotte—wouldn’t be so vehemently opposed.

When he arrived at the Vaughn residence, however, Charlotte wasn’t home. It was Lana Chambers who opened the door.

Lana Chambers beamed. "Julian, you’re here so early to see Charlotte. Is something urgent? If it is, you can just tell me. I’ll be sure to pass along the message!"

Lana Chambers was riding high these days. Jason Vaughn had secured funding for his prime piece of land, and construction had already begun. Add to that her daughter’s impending marriage into a prestigious family, and she was all smiles, every day. It seemed there was nothing in the world that could possibly trouble her.