With her mind in turmoil, she dialed her phone number: "Nora, why didn’t you tell me earlier about your trip? If I had some free time, I could have gone with you."

His voice on the other end was as warm and pleasant as ever.

"No, I saw a book at the last minute, and the place mentioned in it suddenly made me want to go, so I just set off." The woman’s voice on the phone showed no sign of anything amiss.

He reminded her to stay safe with a few words, but she said she was in a hurry to board her flight and hung up.

Jade Willow sat on the villa’s sofa, her beautiful and charming face wearing a crafty smile: "Nanny Johnson, how did the matter go?"

The voice of the middle-aged woman on the phone was a bit rough: "Miss Willow, I have already done everything as you instructed. You must keep your word."

"You took a lock of hair for a hundred thousand dollars; you’re really profiting well. Don’t worry, as long as you keep an eye on them, I won’t shortchange you. The position of housekeeper at the King Family’s old residence will be yours." Nanny Johnson was a servant at the King Family’s old residence. Mother King was very fond of Nora and felt uneasy about hiring outsiders, so she had Nanny Johnson go to clean once every other day. Poor Mother King probably still didn’t know that her obedient little daughter-in-law was still a virgin.

Apart from a good family background, what else did Nora have over her?

She had waited for so long, but he still ended up marrying someone else.

Originally she thought it was just a temporary expedient on his part, because she knew from Nanny Johnson that the two never stayed in the same room, and Alexander King had never touched her.

But recently, it had gotten stranger. The time he spent here became shorter, and his visits grew less frequent. Even when she used all her skills to serve him, he would become absent-minded.

All of this pointed to the fact that he was thinking of someone else.

So as long as she held a trump card, she could remain stable forever. But he never gave her such an opportunity; he was very cautious.

When Nora returned calmly, Tigeri was already waiting for her at the airport: "Miss, I have done everything you instructed. Would you like to review it?"

Tigeri spoke with some difficulty, saying that the master had been gloomy and a bit frightening while doing that thing, fearing that the young lady might cough up blood upon seeing it.

"Give it to me."

Tigeri took out a small item from his pocket. Nora looked exhausted, unwilling to say much, and simply commanded.

"Take me to the bank." She didn’t want to look at it even once more. It was something she needed only when the time came, a most advantageous weapon. He wouldn’t be able to ask anything of her, and she could divorce him easily.

The long vault of the bank locked away this nauseating secret, a secret she never wanted to see for the rest of her life, fearing it would become her lifelong nightmare if she did.

She still had a life ahead of her. She had promised her father to have two children, and if it was a girl, she would be named Zoe Tanner in memory of her grandmother, and her wise but prematurely deceased mother.

After finishing everything, Nora whispered, "Thank you, Tigeri."

Nora looked at the servant who had been with her since her youth. Had Tigeri not arrived a little late that day six years ago due to an accident while coming to pick her up, she never would have seen Alexander King, nor fallen into the emotional prison she was in ever since.

It was all the arrangement of fate, impossible to escape.

"Miss, if it becomes necessary, Tigeri can lay down his life for you." Tigeri looked steadily at the young lady, feeling there was no one more perfect than her since childhood. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

She was a wise person; only someone as blind as Alexander wouldn’t see it.

"No, Tigeri, don’t make others pay for their mistakes. We just need to live our simple lives. Even the finest life needs to go through hellish trials. This is my life’s trial, let me face it alone." Nora looked at her loyal servant, waved with a smile, and said no.

She had to make a sacrifice, letting go of her love for him in order to gain freedom, but how difficult was that? It was a sacrifice that bled.

Life continued at its unhurried pace.

He still came home at sunset as usual, watching movies and sipping tea quietly with her at home.

Nora often observed him from another angle. That scene in the alley those years ago had ensnared her hopelessly. The sunset that day was beautiful, casting its gold on his side profile, a face so stunning it seemed gilded, like a god in Greek mythology.

All beings are bewitched by appearances; it wasn’t just her fault, was it?

With this thought, she smiled lightly.

At that time, he hadn’t even noticed her. He had picked up that beautiful girl with the long hair. He was just another being led astray by appearances, so why blame him?

She simply wasn’t born with such a fortunate appearance.

Alexander felt something quietly changing. She had been more absent-minded recently, heading to bed in her room earlier and earlier.

Her contemplative demeanor annoyed him deeply. What was she thinking? He couldn’t delve into her heart; he didn’t know her thoughts.

Her intelligence might rival his; though outsiders said the Thompson Family’s young lady was simple, simplicity itself was a profound wisdom.

She was fluent in at least four languages. Particularly with minor languages like Sanskrit and Spanish, she had once stayed up all night reading original texts, finally falling asleep on the sofa at dawn.

The phone rang, and Alexander glanced at it before answering: "Joshua, what’s got you calling me so late?"

The man’s voice on the other end was trying hard to suppress a near-explosive fury: "Come out for a drink."

The brooding tone was like the impending storm over the sea.

As Joshua Hughes pushed open the door, he saw that little woman sitting blankly by the window, her small mouth exhaling white frost, writing the word "far" on the glass.

He needed to leave her immediately, as far away as possible, or he might not resist the impulse to crush her fiercely. This damn woman really deserved a harsh lesson, but he just couldn’t harden his heart.