Chapter 3

I followed her into the apartment. The familiar decor, the minimalist design with cool tones – just like her, elegant and aloof. Only this time, I felt not a trace of the fondness I once had.

She pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed it to me, then walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and lit a slender cigarette. White smoke curled, forming a hazy mist that seemed to separate us.

"Julian, I know you're upset," she began, her voice muffled through the smoke. "I didn't handle the situation with your identity well. But Brandon's mental state is very unstable right now. He… can't handle any more stress."

Always Brandon Montgomery.

I lowered my eyes, twisted open the cap, and silently took a sip of water. The cold liquid slid down my throat, but it couldn't quell the bitter surge in my heart. She'd said the same thing in my previous life. She'd said Brandon had a history of self-harm, that he was fragile, and asked me to be more accommodating after I was reunited with my family. I listened. I let him have all of Eleanor's favoritism. I even chose to back down and stay silent during his countless unreasonable provocations. Yet, he used a suicide attempt to condemn my marriage with Eleanor to a ten-year life sentence.

Seeing my silence, Eleanor assumed I was still upset about not being able to join the Montgomery family. She put out her cigarette with a sigh of resignation. She turned, walked over to me, and looked up slightly at me sitting on the couch, a hint of reassurance in her eyes.

"Please, don't be mad at me, okay?" Her voice was soft as she reached out and covered my hand holding the water bottle. "I admit, I messed up today. I gave you false hope."

"Whatever compensation you want, just name it. Anything I can give, I will." She paused, her voice turning earnest. "But the Montgomery family… let's just put that out of our minds for now, alright?"

Her guard was completely down; the love for me practically poured from her eyes. I saw it clearly: she was truly afraid of my anger, afraid of me leaving her. But this love came at the cost of my identity.

I looked up, meeting her gaze, and a sudden urge to laugh overcame me. "I don't want anything." I calmly pulled my hand away, a movement that dimmed the light in her eyes for a moment. "Don't worry. Even if the Montgomery family came begging on their knees, offering their entire fortune, I wouldn't spare them a glance."

"You don't need to apologize. You don't owe me anything. Let's just end this between us."

Eleanor's brows furrowed tightly. She suddenly stood up straight, her face instantly turning cold. "End this? Julian, are you playing games with me? Because I didn't let you go back to the Montgomery family, you're trying to force my hand like this?"

She leaned in close, hands braced on the sofa beside me, trapping me in her presence. "I only told you not to go back to the Montgomery family. I didn't say I was breaking up with you! We can be like before. No, I'll be even better to you than before!"

I looked at her and suddenly felt incredibly tired. She thought that by stripping me of my "true Montgomery heir" identity, we could return to square one, loving each other safely. But she didn't know that the root of our tragedy was never about whether I returned to the Montgomery family or not.

"Eleanor," I pushed her away, stood up, and widened the distance between us. "I'm tired. I want to go home."

With that, I walked towards the door, not looking back. This time, she didn't stop me.