Chapter 2

Nadia didn't know when she'd fallen asleep, but it was the next morning when she woke up. "Thanks for getting the necklace for me yesterday, Caesar. I've invited all our friends to Lifeline for a party tonight to thank you—you have to come, okay?" A woman's voice rang out over the phone. Nadia opened her eyes blearily to see Caesar looking gentle as he held the phone to his ear. He agreed to Josephine's rather nonsensical request. "Okay." The look on his face was one he'd never shown Nadia. He only noticed she was awake after hanging up. He instantly dropped the gentle look and went back to looking aloof as always. When he spoke, his tone was wholly different from how it had been earlier. "Go handle the discharge procedures for me." Nadia remained where she was beside the bed. She looked hesitant. "You've just been injured. You should rest for a few days…" She meant well, but Caesar's expression turned frosty. "Are you learning how to disobey me now?" He sounded like he would instantly call off the wedding if she were to continue stopping him. Nadia didn't dare take the risk and silently got up to leave the room. She handled the procedures for Caesar's discharge. Soon enough, they got into a car and headed to Lifeline. Everyone had already arrived when they entered the private room. Josephine was all smiles as she pulled them both to the table and pushed some drinks toward them. "You're late, so you have to down three drinks each as punishment! Those are the rules!" The six glasses were almost filled to the brim. Everyone around them started cheering and egging them on. Nadia's alarm bells rang as Caesar reached out for a glass. She hurriedly snatched it from him. "You can't drink—you're allergic to alcohol. I'll do it for you." With that, she downed the drink. The cheers grew louder. "I didn't know you had that in you, Nadia! Do it again!" someone said. Nadia downed drink after drink, soon leaving the six glasses empty. However, everyone else seemed to have found a new toy. They kept coming up with excuses to make Caesar drink. The alcohol ultimately ended up in Nadia's stomach, of course. She'd attended many drinking parties with Caesar over the years and had built up a strong tolerance to alcohol because she'd drunk on his behalf each time. Still, she couldn't withstand such an onslaught of drinks, no matter how well she held her liquor. Soon, she felt her stomach start to turn. Nadia waved a hand and bolted to the restroom, where she heaved the contents of her stomach. She endured the burning sensation in her belly as she washed her face. When she looked up, she saw herself in the mirror—her face was as ashen as a ghost's. She took a deep breath and started heading back to the private room, not having the time to wait for the discomfort in her stomach to calm. She was worried about leaving Caesar alone there for too long—his allergic reaction to alcohol had always been severe; he would only be in worse condition if he ended up drinking because his friends kept egging him on. Their wedding was in a month; she couldn't let his health stand in the way of that happening. As expected, there were several glasses of alcohol before Caesar when Nadia returned to the private room. Josephine smiled at the liquor when she saw Nadia return. Then, she turned to Caesar and said sardonically, "I didn't believe it when I heard about this from others in the past, but I now know I was wrong. "She really does love you to bits and can't bear to have you drink, even if she pukes her guts out after drinking on your behalf." "Yeah, she's desperately in love with me." Caesar smiled slightly. "She does everything I say. Why else would I be marrying her?" Nadia was secretly relieved when she heard that. Thankfully, his words had just been sleep-talk. He wasn't going to call off the wedding. Her relief only lasted for a second, though. Caesar continued, "Still, she's just a doormat, no matter how much she loves me. We've been at this for so long, Josie. As long as you—" Josephine laughed and cut him off. "What a coincidence! I'm getting married, too." As she spoke, she pulled out a stack of wedding invitations from her bag and handed them out. She saved the last one for Caesar. She held it out to him with both hands. "I wrote this just for you. You have to come, okay?" Nadia glanced at him. As expected, his expression was hideous. He stared fixedly at Josephine before barking out a clipped laugh. "Fine. Fine! You're really something, Josephine." The gathering ended on that unpleasant note. Nadia hurried after Caesar as he stormed out of the private room and into the car. They were about to leave when they saw Josephine come downstairs and get into a car with a man in a sharp suit beside her. Nadia had seen him before. He was the boyfriend Josephine had picked up abroad. Now, he was her fiancé, Sebastian Hartnett.