Chapter 3

A few days before, photos from Sebastian's wedding had been blowing up our alumni chat.

The bride, as expected, was Chloe Davis.

My college best friend. My roommate.

She came from a low-income family. She was plain, always hiding behind thick-rimmed glasses.

But she was fiercely hardworking and even more fiercely proud.

I remember when our professor mocked her accent, saying it "carried the distinct scent of the countryside." She just flushed a deep red, but she never lowered her head.

I was the one who approached her.

I invited her to join the study group I had with Sebastian.

Maybe it was their similar backgrounds, their same stubborn grit.

They got along famously from the start.

Or perhaps... the connection was just instant.

The cheap food I found unpalatable, they both enjoyed.

I liked wearing bright, colorful clothes; they both preferred durable, dark shirts.

When given two choices for a project, they would invariably and synchronously pick the other option.

But all their interactions were filtered through me, maintaining a polite distance.

So, I never once suspected infidelity.

After we graduated with our master's degrees.

Chloe struggled in her career and came to me for help.

I wanted to give her a boost, so I pulled some strings and got her a job at Harrison Corporation. I even asked Sebastian to keep an eye on her.

Unlike our college trio, this time, I wasn't there to stand between them.

And in my absence, they grew close.

Why Chloe?

Perhaps it was because the man who had hidden his true self for so long could finally stop pretending around her.

I suspected nothing.

Not until our wedding day, when Chloe rushed into Sebastian's arms, her eyes shining with tears.

"You did it! Ten years of playing a part... you can finally be yourself again!"

It took ten years, but I was finally meeting the real Sebastian Vance.

He just watched me from a distance, silent and detached, as if he were profiling a suspect.

I had so many questions I wanted to ask.

What would happen to my dad? When did you and she start this?

And when did you start lying to me?

But he didn't give me the chance.

Leading Chloe by the hand, he walked over, saying coldly.

"He won't be detained during the investigation. Pack a few changes of clothes for your dad and send them to the detention center."

He looked at my tear-streaked makeup, his expression softening slightly.

I hurled my bouquet at his face.

Then I picked up a glass of wine nearby and aggressively splashed it over him.

The wine splattered onto Chloe's pink bridesmaid dress.

She whimpered, sounding wronged.

"Sebastian, don't go soft. Loving her was just an act; you wouldn't actually fall for your own performance, would you?"

Her single sentence snapped Sebastian back to reality.

He picked up a glass of wine too, and poured it directly over my head.

"An eye for an eye. I'm doing this for Chloe.”

"Talk to me when you're sober!"

He walked away, Chloe in tow, leaving me standing alone.

In the days that followed, sleep became a stranger.

Harrison Corporation was seized. Every asset my family owned was frozen and cataloged.

I dodged reporters while scrambling to find a lawyer for my father.

The final conclusion was that there was no way out.

Only then did I truly allow myself to understand, in the worldly sense, that my father was a bad man.

The worldview I had built over a lifetime shattered in that single moment.

Human nature is a tangled thing. No one is purely anything.

He committed many wrongs, yet he adored his daughter and was passionate about philanthropy.

Similarly, no one is perfectly good.

Like Sebastian Vance.

He was extensively covered by the media, bestowed with titles like "Shadow of Justice" and "Dawn Breaker of Darkness."

Yet, I found him kissing Chloe in our wedding-decorated home.

I had no strength left to argue.

I passed out.

"What happened to you after that?!"

Leo asked, urgent.

"After that... I don't remember much. I almost died."