Part 3The Illusion of Vows

"Sebastian, I should get going then." I tried my best to maintain my composure, making myself look a bit more dignified.

"Don't. Why are you leaving? Caleb took care of you for so long, saying hello is the least you could do."

"My little sister is just spoiled. She insisted Caleb go take care of you. You didn't misinterpret anything, did you?"

Misinterpret what?

The time Caleb clung to me and whispered, "I love you"? Or when he whined and said I was the only person he liked?

Were these all just a game you guys knew about all along? And I was just the idiot being played for a fool.

Now that the truth was out, you just had to check on the mental state of the idiot you played. You people really have too much time on your hands.

I collected my emotions and lifted my chin.

"I didn't misinterpret anything."

"Sebastian, if you had told me earlier that Caleb was someone Vivienne specifically hired to 'take care' of me, I would have treated him better."

"At the very least, I wouldn't have made him squeeze into a cheap apartment with me."

Sebastian probably didn't expect me to pivot so quickly. He froze for a second.

From behind came Vivienne's voice: "Hazel, come here. Your brother-in-law and I want to toast you."

She walked toward me, holding a champagne glass. Mrs. Thorne, who was standing next to her, shot me a look of utter contempt before turning her head away.

Vivienne stopped in front of me. Caleb stood beside her, whispering a reminder: "Drink less, your stomach will hurt again later."

Looking at this display of deep affection, I sighed internally: Wow, you guys really are incredible actors.

The man who had been clinging to me for kisses when he left this morning could seamlessly shift roles in under three hours and carefully tend to another woman.

It was absolutely nauseating.

I raised my glass: "Wishing my sister and brother-in-law a century of happiness and a beautiful baby soon."

I couldn't stay a second longer. I turned to leave.

She called out from behind me.

"Hazel, all those cheap plushies and watches you gave Caleb... I threw them all away. Don't blame your sister, okay?"

I stopped in my tracks. I remembered when Caleb and I were together, he cared so much about ceremony. He would always act cute and beg for gifts on every minor holiday.

I didn't have much money, so I used the wages from my lab internship to buy him small things.

Scarves, flowers, watches. I carefully selected each one, hoping to see the happy look on his face when he received them.

But the gifts I gave him always seemed to disappear the very next day.

He lied and told me that he safely stored away everything I gave him. So, this was the real reason.

That woman who gave birth to me never taught me much, but I remember her telling me when she was at the peak of her glamorous life: "The more desperate your situation, the more dignified you must act."

Although she couldn't keep that promise herself in the end, I remembered those words.

Being stabbed right in the wound, I dug my fingernails into my palms and feigned indifference: "They weren't anything important anyway. If they're thrown away, they're thrown away."

With that, without looking back at their expressions, I forced my trembling legs to walk forward.