Love Behind the Facade

Willow could tell that Rias was in disbelief. “You’re really going to come back? You’re also going to meet the man I found for you? What about the boyfriend you love to the core?”

Willow said softly, “I don’t like him anymore. I never want to see him again.”

Rias was delighted, but after he calmed himself, he noticed that something was wrong, and his voice turned cold. “Did he do something to you?”

The harsh words, the intimate videos Andrew had mentioned so casually, and his cold voice immediately rose to Willow’s mind.

Her heart ached, but she had to maintain her rationality.

Rias had always been protective of her. If he learned the truth, he would surely come straight to Northvalley.

She could not let Rias be worried about her anymore. She had to deal with these problems on her own.

“He didn’t.” She forced herself to calm down. “Once I’m done with my stuff here, I’ll come back.”

After telling her to take care of herself, Rias reluctantly hung up, and Willow went home.

She first went to the bathroom to take a shower and get rid of all the dirt and tears on her. Then, she went to the tea table, took out a piece of paper, and started listing out the things she had to do.

On the paper, she wrote down a list.

[Throw my things away. Pack up. Resign. Say goodbye to my friends. Delete the videos.]

These were the things she had to do before she left.

But her eyes lingered on the last few words on the list for a long time, and her hands trembled.

When she remembered that the people in the private room had talked about her birthday, she knew she had to leave before that.

At that thought, she picked up the calendar from the tea table and drew a circle around the date of her birthday with a red pen.

“Are you circling the date because you’re worried that I won’t remember it?”

The door to the mansion swung open, and she heard Andrew’s voice behind her. It had a lazy, amused tone to it. Willow’s hand froze, and the pen left a long scratch on the paper.

She turned around and saw Andrew leaning against the door with his suit jacket draped over his arm. His shirt was slightly unbuttoned at the top to reveal his collarbones.

His eyes landed on the calendar she held, and he smiled. “How could I possibly forget your birthday? I’ve prepared a huge surprise for you that day.”

Willow gripped the pen tightly before she looked up and met his gaze. She smiled. “I’ve prepared a huge surprise for you as well.”

Andrew was stunned for a moment, then he laughed. “Why would you prepare a surprise for me on your birthday?”

He went to her and caressed her hair as he said affectionately, “Will you be asking your brother to come here on your birthday?”

Willow’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the edge of the table.

She looked at him and feigned composure as she asked, “Would you like me to ask him?”

As Andrew met her gaze, a complicated look flashed in his eyes before he laughed and said, “Go on. It’s time for us to bury the hatchet. I’ve been fighting against your brother for years, and I don’t want to admit defeat, but I just love his darling sister too much. Giving up something for love is never shameful, anyway.”

Willow felt as if something was stuck in her throat, and she could not say a thing.

Andrew wanted to kiss her, but she turned her head to the side and whispered, “I’m feeling sick today. Let’s not do it.”

Andrew froze for a moment before he chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Alright. You should rest, then.”

He went to the bathroom.

Willow stood where she was. As she heard the sound of water running in the bathroom, she gripped the edge of the table again.

Her eyes landed on the phone Andrew threw casually on the couch, and her heart raced so quickly that it almost jumped out of her chest.

Quietly, she picked up the phone and tried a few passwords, but none of them worked.

Her hands trembled, and she felt helpless.

In the end, she could only put the phone back and force herself to calm down. She would think of a plan later.

The next day, when Andrew woke up, he found Willow packing her things.

By her feet were all of their matching items: their matching cups, slippers, pillows…

Andrew frowned and walked to her. He asked in confusion, “Why are you suddenly throwing these away?”

Willow did not even look up when she said, “I don’t like them anymore. We can buy more later.”

Andrew did not push further and just laughed. “Stop wasting your time on this. I’ll ask a servant to help you pack these up later. It’s almost time for you to go to your dance studio, anyway. Shall I take you there?”

Willow shook her head. “No need. I’ve already called them and told them I’m resigning.”

Stunned, Andrew frowned. “But I thought you loved dancing! Why did you suddenly resign?”

Willow looked up at him. With a calm face, she said, “I’m tired and want to take a break.”

After a few seconds of silence, Andrew patted her head. “Then, it’s a good thing for you to resign. Dancing can be too tiring. Also…”

He slid his hand across her waist and whispered, “I don’t want other people to see just how flexible your waist is.”

Willow avoided his touch and said coolly, “You should go to work already.”

Once Andrew left, Willow spent most of the day packing up and finally threw away all the matching sets of things.

As she stood in the empty living room, she felt as if something was pressing down on her chest, and she could not breathe.

At that moment, her phone suddenly vibrated.

She picked it up and checked it. It was a message from an unknown number.

[Meet me at Blue Mountain Cafe at 3 p.m. I’m Andrew’s fiancee.]

Willow gripped the phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white.