Mia Kane looked up at Chase Lockwood, her gaze cold.

"You’ve already wronged me once. Are you going to wrong me a second time?"

Chase Lockwood was about to say something, but her words caught in his throat.

Vivian Lynch pointed a finger at her nose, furious.

"You obviously pushed me on purpose this time."

"Then let me ask you, why would I push you? My phone is my private property. Why did you try to take it?"

"You were messaging my husband, you shameless hussy!"

"Chase Lockwood, you heard her. She took my phone without permission to read our chat history. If she wants to check up on someone, she can check your phone, not mine."

"My conscience is clear. Chase Lockwood, deep down, you know perfectly well whether or not I ever tried to seduce you!"

After speaking, she went straight upstairs without giving Chase Lockwood a single glance.

As she passed him, Chase Lockwood found himself subconsciously wanting to grab her hand.

But he did nothing, because the Mia Kane of today had absolutely no connection to him anymore.

He once held onto the fantasy that everything she did was for him, but now... even if he didn’t want to believe it, he had to admit that he no longer had a place in Mia Kane’s heart.

She didn’t care if he was with Vivian Lynch or Vivian Lawson.

She didn’t care about the little moments from their three years together. She stood by Adrian Preston’s side, unwilling to even spare him a backward glance.

Even though it was a blow to his male ego, he couldn’t keep deceiving himself any longer.

"Chase, why didn’t you stop her? She’s the one who pushed me this time..."

Vivian Lynch was still resentful.

"Here, look. Check up on me however you want. From now on... I’ll keep my distance from Mia Kane. I won’t be where she is, and she won’t be where I am."

Chase Lockwood gave her the phone. He had no choice now. He had once solemnly promised to marry Vivian Lynch, and even though he now saw she wasn’t perfect, that she had so many flaws, he had to endure it.

At the very least, their youthful adoration and the fact that they were each other’s first love was real.

At the very least, they had given their first time to each other.

At the very least, she loved him very, very much, and he had once truly loved her to the point where he felt he couldn’t live without her.

’That’s enough. With these factors in play, I can live happily ever after with Vivian Lynch.’

"Chase..."

Vivian Lynch hadn’t expected him to hand over his phone so readily.

"Vivian, I’ll give you a sense of security. I was outrageously wrong in the past. From now on, I only have you."

As Chase Lockwood said this, he felt a deep sense of irony.

He had actually already secretly instructed his secretary to select a suitable egg donor, planning to have a child via IVF abroad.

The Lockwood Family’s line couldn’t end with him; he had to continue the family name.

He wouldn’t have any involvement with the woman. Once the child was born, he’d pay her off and send her away.

He wouldn’t even have to have intimate sexual contact with her, which would also give Vivian Lynch some peace of mind.

From this day forward, no one would be able to threaten her position as Mrs. Lockwood.

"Vivian, let’s go home. The secret fertility remedies... we don’t need them."

"Why not? I want to give you a son as soon as possible. If our last child had survived... it was a boy..."

Vivian Lynch sounded wistful.

’It would have been great if that child hadn’t died.’

"The child isn’t important. You are. We’re still young; we’ll have a child sooner or later."

"Chase, you’re the only one who’s this good to me."

"Vivian, can we just live a peaceful life from now on? Can we not provoke Mia Kane and Adrian Preston, and just coexist peacefully? I’m tired. I don’t want to fight anymore; it’s meaningless. Mia Kane and I are in the past. My present and future are you. Let’s let go of all the past conflicts and start over, okay?"

Even though he hadn’t done much of anything today, Chase Lockwood’s face was etched with exhaustion.

Vivian Lynch met his gaze, feeling a pang of resentment, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse him in that moment.

’I can’t accept Mia Kane being with Adrian Preston, marrying better than me.’

’I can’t accept the Lockwood Group playing second fiddle, being suppressed by the Preston Group.’

’I still haven’t heard Mia Kane get on her knees and beg for mercy, admitting that she’s lost and is inferior to me.’

’I can’t accept it...’

Vivian Lynch agreed on the surface, but inwardly she was already plotting how to deal with Mia Kane.

’Didn’t Mia Kane claim she’d never stoop to being a homewrecker?’

’But now Adrian Preston and Charlotte are engaged; they’re a publicly known couple. Isn’t Mia Kane knowingly being the other woman now?’

’If the media found out about this, the public outcry would be enough to bury Mia Kane.’

Mia Kane visited her grandmother and ended up staying for dinner at the Lynch Family’s home.

Adrian Preston had a business dinner that evening, but he rushed over anyway.

"Weren’t you busy tonight?"

"I was afraid if I didn’t show up for dinner, the old lady would start introducing you to other men."

"That wasn’t it. You didn’t show up, and Grandma introduced me to them anyway."

Adrian Preston: ...

"The bank president’s son, a Ph.D. who studied abroad, Uncle Lynch’s colleague’s son who speaks eight languages and is also set to take over the family business. All three of them are quite the brilliant young men..."

"They aren’t right for you."

"Why not?"

"Mia, you’re attracted to power, and I am powerful enough. Now that you’ve met me, you won’t be able to settle for those men."

"Don’t be so narcissistic. I’m single, after all."

"Who says you’re single? Charlotte and I have already announced the end of our engagement to the foreign media. The news has just been suppressed for now and hasn’t reached the country yet."

"Hmm?" Mia Kane was surprised. ’He actually broke off his engagement to Charlotte.’

"Because she’s a woman, it was difficult for Charlotte to inherit the title. Unwilling to let her stepmother and stepbrother seize the family fortune, she joined forces with me. Now that she’s gotten what she wanted, even without the constraints of a marriage alliance, she’ll still be grateful to me and continue to help me gather information about what’s happening at sea."

"So, I wanted to end the engagement as soon as possible, because I know you’re not willing to be the other woman. Even if our consciences are clear and we know the engagement to Charlotte was just a transaction, outsiders don’t. I don’t want people to look down on you."

"I’ve been a bit busy lately. Once I’m done with this, we can make a public announcement—that I wasn’t good enough, so I wouldn’t hold Charlotte back."

Hearing this, a warmth spread through Mia Kane’s heart.

’He’s always known what I care about.’

"Let’s go home. I had some fruit wine and I’m getting a little sleepy."

She had tried some potent fruit wine during dinner. She wasn’t drunk, but she was a little tired, and as the alcohol hit her, she started to feel drowsy.

The car drove all the way to the villa.

She was feeling listless, so Adrian Preston simply swept her up into his arms.

Her slender, pale arms wrapped around his neck.

It was hard to say if it was because her frame was too slender or because Adrian Preston was more powerfully built than the average man, but their physiques formed a stark contrast.

She looked soft and easy to push over.

He looked like he could break the bed.

She had no idea that one of the maids was already writing fanfiction about the two of them, full of steamy, flesh-on-flesh encounters.

But who would have known that it was all just for show? They hadn’t done anything at all.

Adrian Preston carried her back to her room and placed her on the bed. He was about to get up and leave when he realized Mia Kane wasn’t letting go.

"Mia?"

He was a little confused and was about to ask what was wrong, but then she hooked her arms around his neck, pulling him close again, and pressed her red lips to his in a deep kiss.

It was almost always Adrian Preston who kissed her; Mia Kane rarely took the initiative.

Every time she did, it was immense encouragement for Adrian Preston, making his blood race and every cell in his body sing with joy.

He returned the kiss intoxicatingly, leaving Mia Kane breathless.

Mia Kane wanted to take things further.