Chapter 3

Everyone in the room was stunned, staring at us in disbelief.

Lucas stood frozen, frowning as if about to speak.

A handsome man in sunglasses rushed in.

"Honey, why didn’t you text that you got off early? I would’ve picked you up. The traffic’s awful—I worry."

"The manager said your reunion was here?"

He put an arm around my shoulder, took off his sunglasses, and smiled at the crowd.

"Hey, everyone. I’m Evelyn’s husband, Adrian."

"Tonight’s on me. You’re Evelyn’s friends, so order anything. Hope you all have a great time."

Jack, who’d tried to get me to drink, turned pale. The women could barely contain their excitement.

"Evelyn is married to Adrian?!"

"Oh my god, this is like a movie! This is too perfect!"

I just smiled without responding.

Adrian turned, his gaze sweeping over Lucas.

After a moment, he gave a faint, dismissive smile. "So you’re Evelyn’s college boyfriend?"

"I should thank you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have met my perfect wife."

Lucas didn’t answer, his eyes fixed on me. "Evelyn, are you lying again?"

"Did you hire some actors?"

I sighed, taking Adrian’s hand and showing Lucas the wedding ring on my finger. "He’s my husband, Adrian."

"I don’t lie. And I have no reason to lie to you."

Lucas suddenly panicked. "But you said you’d only love me forever!"

Worried Adrian might misunderstand, I quickly clarified, "I never said that. Never."

Those words drained the color from Lucas’s face.

He wanted to argue but knew he had no ground.

In our past life, I had vowed at our wedding to love only him.

But in this second chance, he’d chosen a different path. What right did he have to hold me to a promise from a life that no longer existed?

Lucas couldn’t accept it. "Even so, we loved each other once. How can you just move on? Did our past mean nothing?"

Beside him, Olivia had gone pale.

I glanced at the proposal photos still rolling on the big screen and sighed. "Aren’t you with Olivia now?"

"Half an hour ago, you were proposing to her. Now you’re accusing me of not cherishing the past?"

Lucas had organized this gathering, and almost everyone had come to butter him up.

When that guy harassed me, no one lifted a finger. Now that they knew who I was married to, they turned on Lucas and Olivia.

"Come on, Lucas, let it go. Evelyn’s happy. You should be happy for her."

"I mean, who wouldn’t want to be with a guy like Adrian?"

Olivia couldn’t take it anymore. She reached for Lucas’s hand. "Lucas, let’s go. I’m your fiancée now. You and Evelyn are over."

But the moment she touched him, Lucas shoved her away violently.

Olivia lost her balance and fell onto the broken glass. Her hands were cut in several places.

Her face flushed with humiliation, and she shot me a resentful look.

Adrian’s smile deepened. "Mr. Summers, you’re not having second thoughts, are you? Trying to win my wife back?"

"Evelyn is incredible, but she’s not interested. Don’t overestimate yourself."

Exposed, Lucas stammered, "No… I…"

I raised a hand to stop him, my tone cold. "Lucas, the past is the past."

"I have a family now, and you’re with the person you always wanted."

"Let’s not do this."

Our daughter was clearly bored. She tugged Adrian’s hand and pouted. "Daddy, I don’t wanna stay here for my birthday. I wanna go home and eat the food you and Mommy make."

Adrian asked the butler to take her to the car.

Holding my hand, he gave a meaningful look to the room. "I heard someone offered five hundred dollars for my wife to drink with him?"

Jack went pale, trembling as he stammered, "It was me… I was an idiot, I offended Mrs. Smith. Please… please forgive me."

He hung his head, shaking.

With a glance from Adrian, bodyguards stepped forward, lifted Jack, and dragged him into a side room.

Then Adrian turned to Olivia. "And I heard you offered my wife a cleaning job at your clinic?"

"Funny, I own the entire block in South District. If the clinic owner is personally hiring cleaners, maybe I should rethink the lease renewal."

The threat was clear.

Olivia forced a smile, hiding slightly behind Lucas. "I was just joking with your wife… Please don’t take it seriously…"

Adrian’s gaze swept over the others who’d disrespected me earlier.

They all looked down, not daring to breathe loudly.

Finally, he turned to me and gave a playful wink.

I knew what that meant—he wanted praise for standing up for me.

I took his hand and we turned to leave.

Just outside the door, Lucas caught up.

"Evelyn!"