Chapter 6

As Willow opened the door to her house, she almost thought she'd walked into the wrong house. The place where she had lived during the five years of her marriage now looked completely different. Willow had already packed up most of her belongings the last time she left. And now, Laurel had obviously taken advantage of her absence to clear out more of her things. She slowly walked over to the master bathroom. There, on Chad's sink, sat a pair of matching pink-and-blue toothbrush sets. Willow glanced around and saw matching items all over the house—matching mugs, matching slippers, even matching pillows. Anyone who didn't know better would've thought this was the cozy home of a couple madly in love. Willow recalled the time when she'd excitedly bought a pair of matching mugs just after they got married. Back then, Chad merely eyed them indifferently and said, "What's the point of these childish items?" Since then, Willow had stopped asking for these things. She took a deep breath and ignored everything. She returned to her room and continued packing up the last of her belongings. Willow had grown numb to Chad's favoritism after experiencing it so many times. She packed up the last of her clothes and books, called a courier, and sent everything back to the Stanford residence. … That night, Willow and Chad both received an invitation to a dinner party from a mutual friend in their circle. As the invitations were issued to the Stanfords and Lawsons separately, they both arrived separately as well. As Willow arrived at the vineyard, she happened to see Chad helping Laurel down from the car. Upon seeing her, he walked over awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry. I should've sent a chauffeur over to pick you up." "It's okay." Willow smiled politely as she replied, "I have my own chauffeur too." As more guests arrived, someone asked curiously, "Since when were Mr. Lawson and Ms. Stanford this close?" Chad was momentarily at a loss for words. He remembered that he'd promised to formally acknowledge their relationship at a formal event, but the words caught in his throat as soon as he turned and saw Laurel clinging sweetly to his arm. However, Willow smiled brightly and replied, "Have you forgotten? Mr. Lawson is now my boss—of course we'd be close." "The daughter of the Stanford family is working as Mr. Lawson's assistant? Isn't that a bit beneath you?" the person teased. "Don't tell me you still haven't given up? He's already married, you know?" The people around them started joining in the banter. Almost everyone in the circle knew about Willow's crush on Chad—everyone except Chad himself. Chad was stunned to hear this. Before he could even react, Willow brushed it off and said, "That's all in the past. But I guess I got used to working with Mr. Lawson after so long. Now that you mention it, maybe I really should find something more challenging." The atmosphere warmed up once again after her light comments. A strange tightness rose in Chad's chest when he heard that Willow wanted to leave. He hurriedly laughed and said, "I'd hate to lose Ms. Stanford with how capable she is." Someone else asked, "Why didn't you bring your wife along, Mr. Lawson? Your wedding was so low-key back then…" Chad replied vaguely, "She's busy." Everyone tacitly changed topics. No one questioned why Laurel, who was no longer related to the Lawson family, was there at all. When Chad was dragged away for drinks, Laurel scooted closer to Willow. She then feigned innocence and asked, "Wil— I mean, Ms. Stanford, Chad said that you guys were just married on paper, right?" Willow stared at the woman in front of her—divorced, yet still pretending to be innocent—and replied without a flicker of emotion, "Yes." Suddenly, Laurel seemed relieved. She beamed innocently and said, "That's great! I actually thought you liked Chad." As soon as she said that, she seemed to realize that she'd said something wrong. She quickly shook her head and waved her hands, stammering when she explained, "I… I didn't mean anything… I just… I'm not used to seeing Chad as someone else's husband…" Laurel lowered her head, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her dress, looking as if she were a naive young lady. But Willow caught the glint in her eyes. She picked up her champagne and took a sip, letting the cool liquid slide down her throat. Looking at Laurel's clumsy act, she suddenly found everything absurd. It was funny how they'd both been married for five years, but now Laurel was claiming that she wasn't used to it. "Is that so?" Willow placed her wine glass down. Her lips curled up into a slight smile as she said, "You must have a really slow reaction time, then."