Chapter 3

After Yvonne left, Nathaniel began clearing out everything they no longer needed. The villa they were currently living in didn't belong to either of them. After Ferguson passed away, his estate was inherited by Yvonne. However, due to her lack of business experience, she was tricked by a business partner and lost everything—millions in assets vanished, and all properties under her name were sold to pay off debts. Fortunately, Nathaniel qualified for Shoretown's elite talent housing policy and applied through the local human resources department to obtain free residential rights to this villa. That was the only reason Yvonne hadn't ended up homeless. Now that he had decided to leave the country, naturally, the house needed to be returned. While packing, Nathaniel found a box of love letters he had written to Yvonne under the bed. In the beginning, Yvonne had high standards and looked down on Nathaniel for growing up in a rural place. She had long refused to accept his advances. Having never been in a relationship before, Nathaniel studied TV dramas and began writing Yvonne love letters every day. When Yvonne's business failed and she found herself millions in debt, Nathaniel gave her all of his savings to help her repay what she owed. At the time, she had borrowed heavily from loan sharks. When thugs came to the door wielding knives to collect the money, Nathaniel had shielded her with his body. He even transferred all of Yvonne's debts to be under his name. He had shouted at them, "I'll repay everything she owes. If I can't, I'll give you my life. But starting today, you're not allowed to threaten her again. I'll bring you down with me otherwise." It was then that Yvonne was finally moved. She kissed Nathaniel and tenderly whispered into his ear, "I used to have someone else in my heart. But now, I'll give you that place." As Nathaniel weighed the stack of letters in his hand, he gave a bitter smile. To win Yvonne's heart, he had written hundreds of love letters, which now added up to dozens of pounds. He boxed them up and brought them to the local recycling station. With the few dollars he received from selling them, he bought candy and gave it to some children playing by the roadside. Now that the love was gone, those letters were nothing more than scrap paper. That evening, just as Nathaniel was about to start cooking, Yvonne returned with bags full of seafood. She showed them off proudly to Nathaniel. "I ran into a new neighbor today who turned out to be my middle school classmate! I invited him over for dinner tonight. He should be here any minute." Once inside, she put on an apron. "I'll cook tonight. You can relax." Nathaniel watched as she stepped into the kitchen, the corners of his mouth curling into a bitter smile. In their five years of dating, Yvonne had never cooked for him. She used to say that she hated the smell of oil and smoke, so Nathaniel had always been the one to cook and clean. Now, he finally understood that it wasn't the smoke she disliked—she just didn't want to cook for him. That night's dinner was more elaborate than any holiday meal. With boiled crabs, ceviche, grilled shrimp, and fish chowder, there were 12 dishes in total, 11 of which were seafood. The twelfth was a basic stir-fried vegetable dish added just to round out the meal. Just as the food was being set on the table, the villa's doorbell rang. Yvonne hurried out to open the door and brought a man inside. She warmly clinged to his arm and announced, "Nathaniel, let me introduce you—this is my middle school classmate, Louie Lancaster. He just moved into our neighborhood." Louie smiled and greeted Nathaniel, "Mr. Stillman, I've heard so much about you. Yvie has told me all about you." Nathaniel smiled faintly. "I know him. He came to the hospital to see me." Yvonne's eyelid twitched slightly. "What for?"