Chapter 3

I was awakened by my phone ringing. Dawn was just breaking outside the window. Last night's evening gown lay scattered on the hotel room carpet. The call was from my assistant, her voice panicked: "Evelyn, you need to see the financial news! Liam's interview from the engagement party last night was edited! The whole internet is saying you betrayed him for money back then and intentionally caused his mother's death…" I sat up abruptly, grabbed my phone, and opened the financial app. The pinned headline stung my eyes: "Sullivan Group CEO Liam Sullivan's Heartfelt Confession to Fiancée, Reveals Ex-Girlfriend Evelyn's True Nature." I opened the video. The segment where Liam had talked about "withholding treatment from her mother" was cut out, leaving only the part where he discussed me "leaking secrets." Paired with a photo of me drinking at the banquet hall last night, the caption vividly painted me as a vicious woman who would stop at nothing for profit. That's not how it happened. Yesterday wasn't like that. The comments section was exploding. "No wonder President Sullivan went bankrupt back then. He was stabbed in the back by his lover." "A woman like Evelyn is terrifying. She'd even harm her own man for money." "My heart aches for Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Hayes. I hope they find happiness." Staring at the deliberately cropped, grotesque photo on the screen, I thought, He is indeed this ruthless. My phone rang again; this time, it was an unknown number. "Miss Ms. Winslow…" The voice on the other end was tearful. "I'm sorry, I didn't know the news would turn out like this. Liam didn't mean to…" "Ms. Hayes," I interrupted, my tone calm, "Do you believe that yourself?" She was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Liam just hates you too much. He actually…" "He actually wants to drive me to my death, right?" I laughed softly. "Just like he drove my mother to her death back then." A busy tone sounded from the other end; she had probably been frightened by my words. I put down my phone and walked to the window, drawing the curtains. The street below was bustling with traffic. Sunlight broke through the clouds, reflecting blindingly off the glass curtain walls. On that snowy night seven years ago, the sunlight was just like this. I held my mother's cold hand, listening to the doctor say, "I'm sorry, we did all we could." I waited for him, from dawn till dusk. And Liam Sullivan never showed up. Later, I found evidence of his embezzlement. The day before his company's IPO, I anonymously sent all the materials to the Securities Commission. That night, he confronted me in the pouring rain. Soaked to the bone, he knelt before me, saying he knew he was wrong, begging me for another chance. "Evelyn, I know I'm a scumbag," he grabbed my ankle, his voice hoarse, "but just give me a little more time. Once the company is stable, I will make it up to you, make it up to your mom…" I kicked his hand away, rain and tears mixing as they fell on his face. "Liam Sullivan, my mom is already dead. What exactly are you going to make up for?" After that night, we became sworn enemies. His company went bankrupt, his reputation ruined. I left the city, changed my number, and never saw him again. Until two years ago, when I saw his name at an art exhibition abroad. Reports said he had married the heiress of the Hayes family, leveraged their resources to make a comeback, and became a rising star in the business world. In the photo, he wore a high-end suit, holding the sweetly smiling Maya, his eyes holding a gentleness I had never seen before. It was then I understood that some people can truly let go and move on, just like that.