Chapter 4 Pretend To Be Fine

Braydon's face completely darkened.

With gritted teeth, he spoke without any hint of mercy. "You sure have no shame, Joyce."

Her former gentle lover was now humiliating her with words so callous.

Although Joyce stood there unfazed, all she could feel was the pain that was abruptly numbing her heart.

It took her a second to recover, but she pressed on. Her lips, as red as a rose, started to curve into a seductive smile as she slowly walked up to him. When she was closer enough, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Oh, Mr. Huo. You've already learned that seven years ago, remember?"

The faint smell of perfume that lingered in his nose made him frown in disgust. He couldn't bear standing so close to her, so he took two steps back and kept his distance. He then brought out a handkerchief and aggressively wiped the skin behind his ear.

Braydon looked at her with contempt and replied in a stern voice, "That's true. I do remember how shameless you were then. Yet today, you've given me quite a deeper impression of yourself. Miss Lu, you're as brazen as you were seven years ago, if not more."

As though there was dirt on his face, he wiped it clean with the handkerchief and disposed of it into the trash can next to him.

His eyes looked cold as he added, "Back then, I told you that you would never hear anything from me ever again, and I meant it. If it weren't for your kidney, there was no way I would have shown up today.

Now that you have no intention of accepting the deal, I hope you won't have the guts to appear before me from this day on. Not even if you're dead."

Joyce thought she heard her heart explode inside of her. She couldn't feel her legs, and she almost blacked out and fell to the floor.

It was excruciating for her to hear Braydon say those words. She realized that he really had no ounce of interest left in her that he wouldn't even want to see her dead body.

When she chose to abandon her love in exchange for money, Joyce knew she would suffer the consequence. Now, she was faced with perhaps the most tormenting punishment for what she did seven years ago.

After saying his piece, Braydon turned around and left without hesitation.

In no time, the sound of his steady footsteps faded away. Watching him disappear at the door, Joyce peeled off her indifference.

Her face was drained of color, her fists were clenched, and she could finally feel a shiver run down her spine.

After standing there for a while, she slowly crouched down and reached for the handkerchief in the trash can.

She carefully dusted it off and thoughtlessly buried her face in it, covetously breathing in what was left of its smell.

Braydon always smelled like fresh mint, which was his signature scent. In the past seven years, Joyce had been dreaming about this over and over.

The familiar smell caused her tears to roll quietly down her cheeks and wet the handkerchief.

She had been sitting on her heels for a while when Carly called to her. "Miss Lu, why are you squatting here? Are you feeling sick?"

Joyce was careful not to show others her embarrassment, so she hastily patted her tears dry with the handkerchief. "Oh, I just felt a little dizzy. I'll be fine in a bit."

Although she got rid of the tears, her voice still sounded nasal.

After calming herself down, she stood up with the handkerchief in her hand. "What's the matter, Carly?"

Carly held her arm and replied, "Miss Lu, Henrik has come back with Albert. They're waiting for you in the banquet hall."

Thinking of her son, Joyce felt much better. "I see. Thanks, Carly. Ask Henrik to take Albert upstairs."

"Yes."

In celebration of the ninetieth birthday of her grandfather, the banquet hall was filled with festivity since the Lu family had invited many influential people in both the political and business circles of the J City.

Seven years ago, Joyce had experienced the fickleness of the world. She didn't like having too much contact with those people, so she stayed in her bedroom. Her only appearance would be at the end of the night when she saw the guests out.

Joyce had been waiting upstairs for a while when a series of bouncy footsteps came from the stairs. Before they even reached the door, Albert shouted in his cheerful, youthful voice, "Mom, your smart and lovely sweetheart is back!"

He pushed the bedroom door open with his dainty hand. With a big smile, he slowly showed his head, revealing a face that closely resembled Braydon.