Chapter 2

"Those guys accidentally spilled a drink on Luke's friend, so Luke started fighting them."

"Luke's had a lot to drink tonight. I'm worried he'll cause trouble." Luke's friend quickly explained, rushing over to me..

When I heard the reason, I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

I remembered once accompanying him to a client dinner. When the business deal fell through, the client deliberately spilled wine on my face.

He didn't get angry then.

Instead, he blamed me for being naive, saying I ruined the cooperation.

Seeing Luke about to charge at the other group again, his friend quickly rushed over to stop them.

"Luke! That's enough! You're getting married soon, don't make a scene!"

Unexpectedly, Luke roughly shook off his friend.

"Who the hell is getting married?!"

"This jerk spilled a drink on my girlfriend! You think this is just going to slide?!"

"No apology? Nobody's leaving, damn it!"

Luke's eyes were hazy with drink, and he swayed as he walked.

His words caused an awkward silence among some of his friends who knew me.

Their gazes turned to me.

I gave a cold laugh, then stepped forward and slapped the man confronting Luke squarely across the face.

My slap silenced the entire room.

"You damn hag! How dare you hit me?!"

After a moment of stunned silence, the man exploded in fury, lunging at me.

I just wanted to see Luke's reaction.

Would he still protect me as he did back then, fighting for me without a second thought?

However, Luke actually shoved me by the shoulder, roaring:

"What are you doing here messing things up?! Haven't I had enough trouble today?!"

"You're useless and only make things worse!"

Luke's words completely chilled my heart.

He even looked at the other man indignantly and said, "We're even now! Get lost!"

The other man was somewhat rational and didn't continue the confrontation, eventually cursing under his breath and leaving.

After they left, Luke collapsed heavily onto the sofa.

Luke's friend awkwardly explained to me, "Chloe, don't overthink it. Luke was just drunk and running his mouth. This is Seraphina, she was Luke's high school classmate and just got back from abroad today."

I cast a cool glance at Seraphina. Tears still clung to her lashes.

She looked as if she'd suffered some immense grievance.

"Seraphina, this is Luke's fiancée-"

But before his friend could finish the introduction, Luke suddenly sat up from the sofa.

"Colleague! What fiancée?!"

This sudden stab made my whole body tremble.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became incredibly awkward.

After a long moment of silence, Luke's friend quickly tried to smooth things over, offering me a glass of wine:

"Today's a day worth celebrating! Come on, let's raise a toast!"

Unexpectedly, Luke, who had just slumped back, sat up again, glaring furiously at his friend.

"Don't you know she's allergic to alcohol?!"

He was indeed aware of my alcohol intolerance.

But what surprised me was Seraphina's reaction next.

"Luke, you're drunk. Mike is toasting Chloe, not me."

Luke then looked relieved.

"Oh, well, she can drink! She can drink a lot! Make her have a few more glasses."

Hearing that, I felt something in my chest shatter with a painful crack.

I remember years ago at a dinner, I told him before we went that I was allergic to alcohol.

But once we arrived, he immediately told me to toast each client one by one.

That day, I ended up in the hospital, and he even blamed me for being dramatic, for collapsing after so little alcohol.

Yet, despite such a harsh lesson, he still hadn't remembered my alcohol allergy.

It could only mean that he truly never cared about me.

I came here tonight still holding onto a last shred of hope.

But now, it was completely pulverized.

At this point, Seraphina stood up and said to me:

"Since you're here, you should take Luke home. I just got back to the country, so I can't take care of him tonight."

"Oh, and tomorrow when he wakes up, remember to make him a ginger-honey tea. He loves it. If he doesn't have it, he'll have a headache all day."

"Don't forget to cover him with a blanket at night, either. He always kicks off the covers when he drinks too much."

Every word from Seraphina told me that she seemed to know Luke better than I did.

Today, she was merely dumping this mess on me.

I stared at Seraphina's innocent eyes for a long time, truly wanting to slap her.

But in the end, I held back.

I wanted to see how long they would keep up this act.