No End Of Love

Joyce Lu was dreaming. Her dream played a scene she thought she had completely forgotten.

On a street by the school, the sun was shining brightly. While a tree provided her with shade, she didn't feel any better. It just made her feel stuffy.

By noon, the sun was directly overhead, scorching the pavement. Two lone figures stood under the tree. One was Joyce herself, and the other was the mother of Braydon Huo, her boyfriend.

The lady pursed her lips disdainfully.

"Joyce, I can give you three million to help the Lu family get out of their current predicament. However, there's one condition: l want you to leave my son." The lady waved a check wedged between her two manicured fingers in front of Joyce's face. "Break up with him," she said in a low voice, carefully enunciating each word.

Perhaps it was because the sun was dazzlingly bright that Joyce's eyes stung. But she smiled at the lady sweetly. "No, Aunt. I love Braydon. I'm not in it for the money."

"Love?"

The lady scoffed. Such sentiment was useless.

"Let me put it this way. What's more important, the Lu family's future or your love?"

Her biting words made all the color drain from Joyce's face. The lady smiled at her condescendingly and gently touched her hair. "Your parents have been good to you ever since you were a child. Doesn't that mean anything to you?

Let me make this easy for you. You can protect your parents' lifetime efforts by abandoning a dispensable relationship. This deal is actually worth it."

Joyce wanted to refute her words, but in that moment, she felt as though her throat was choked with cotton.

Her parents' sighs had not gone unheard. She knew the difficulties they were going through. Closing her eyes to stop her tears from falling, Joyce said calmly, "Okay, I'll do it."

When she took the check, the picture in front of her suddenly wrinkled into distortion. The lady's face transformed into that of Braydon.

She was no longer on the street by the school. Instead, she was in a club, wearing a figure-hugging dress. Sitting calmly amidst the chaos in the bar, she lit a cigarette. Standing in front of her was a livid Braydon.

"What's going on, Joyce? Explain, now!" He jabbed a finger at the unconscious man on the floor, whom he had knocked out seconds earlier.

It was her first time to smoke, but somehow, she was a natural at it. She took a deep drag on the cigarette and breathed out the smoke slowly. "Nothing. I just almost had sex with someone behind your back. But you found me out before we even got around to it."

"You almost had sex with someone else?"

With a crazed look in his eyes, Braydon fixed his gaze on the hickey on Joyce's neck. Gritting his teeth, he said in a sharp tone, "Oh, you're so honest. It makes me sick."

The slender fingers holding the cigarette trembled slightly. Joyce flipped her hair and smiled charmingly. "Thank you for the compliment."

Braydon couldn't believe his ears. He wanted to vomit. "Joyce, we're over. Never show your face to me again. I can't bear seeing a bitch who has slept with countless men."

Then he turned around abruptly and left the club.

The sound of the door slamming shut was deafening. Joyce choked, and the pungent smell of smoke made her cough violently.

There was a searing pain in her chest. She curled up and a tear silently made its way down her cheek.

The past felt like an old scar. It wouldn't hurt unless Joyce picked at it.

Tears streamed down her cheeks freely now. She seemed to hear a faint voice talking in her ear, and she was pulled away from the dream world and into reality. Her eyes fluttered open, and she found Carly Chen, a servant, looking at her worriedly.

"Miss Lu, why are you crying? Is your old wound hurting again?"

Her heart ached now that she was awake. Joyce quickly wiped away her tears and laughed lightheartedly. "It's nothing! Just a nightmare."

Faint music wafted into her room from the outside. "Is the party starting?" she asked.

"Not yet. It will start in half an hour," Carly answered. "However, Miss Lu, there is a gentleman outside who wants to talk to you."

Joyce frowned slightly. It must've been her private doctor waiting for her.

She glanced at herself in the mirror and saw her reddened eyes and tear-stained face. "Okay, you can go ahead. I'll fix my makeup first."

"Okay."

Carly closed the door gently. Joyce took a deep breath, picked up her brush and applied a little blush on her pale cheeks.

Eyeliner outlining her eyes and red lipstick adorning her lips, she smiled with satisfaction. The once-haggard girl in the mirror transformed into an enchanting party queen.

Done with her makeup, Joyce stood up and headed downstairs.

At the foot of the stairs, a familiar, tall man in an expensive-looking suit stood with his back to Joyce.

Joyce's heart skipped a beat.

Her elegant steps suddenly turned clumsy. She clambered down the stairs and approached the man.

It was really him, the man she had missed day and night for years.

The gentleman in the suit looked elegant and charming. For a moment, Joyce's mind was in a trance, and what appeared in front of her was the boy in school uniform, full of youth and hope.

They hadn't seen each other in seven years, but it was as though no time had passed. He still had the boyish good looks that she was so obsessed with.

All of a sudden, Joyce felt a lump in her throat. She couldn't stop herself from calling out his name. "Braydon..."

With a bright yet insincere smile, he greeted her politely. "Miss Lu, long time no see."

'Miss Lu?'

All the color drained from Joyce's face.

When did he start calling her that? He used to call her Joy.

They had started out as strangers, then lovers, then strangers again. The man was in a suit, the woman wore delicate makeup, no longer as innocent as she was years ago.

There was a severe pain in her heart, but she willed herself to stay calm. Forcing a smile, she greeted, "Long time no see, Mr. Huo."

She flipped her hair. "It's been years. What brings you here?"

"I want to make a deal with you."

She ran her slender fingers through her jet black hair, deliberately causing her delicious perfume to waft over to Braydon. However, the man only narrowed his eyes.

"A deal?" Joyce asked.

"I heard that you want to buy the land on GM Street from the Lin Group.

The Huo family and Lin Group are on good terms, so I can help you close the deal. However, in exchange, I want your kidney." Braydon pointed at Joyce with a calm expression, as though this was an ordinary request.

The fingers in her hair suddenly stiffened. In a light voice, she asked, "What did you say?"

"The land in GM Street in exchange for one of your kidneys."

He smiled nonchalantly. "That land is worth more than one hundred million dollars. This deal is actually worth it."

"This deal is actually worth it."

Seven years ago, Braydon's mother told her the same thing.

His mother used three million dollars to force her into leaving Braydon.

Right now, Braydon said that he wanted to buy her kidney with a hundred million.

Joyce's heart ached so much that she was so close to fainting. In the eyes of the Huo family, her life was just worth a mere sum of money.

"Why are you hesitating? You won't get a better deal than this." Once more, she felt as if she was slapped right in the face. However, the more pain she felt, the brighter her smile grew. This was the only way she could drown the agony that she was experiencing.

She then looked at him and said in an alluring voice, "But what should I do? As much as I want to help you, I'm not interested in this kind of business. After all, I cherish my life."

Moreover, she did not feel the need to sacrifice her own life just so Braydon could be happy in someone else's arms. Who in their right mind would? Hence, no matter how much he offered, she would not be interested at all.

Although they hadn't seen or spoken in the past seven years, she had actually been carefully observing him in the distance.

Therefore, she already knew that his girlfriend was suffering from kidney failure and that she was in urgent need of a replacement.

But because the girl had an Rh-negative blood type, it had been pretty difficult to find a kidney donor.

Fortunately, Braydon knew someone who also had an Rh-negative blood type that could be a suitable donor. It was no other than the woman facing him-Joyce.

It was such a bittersweet moment for Joyce to see that for the sake of Braydon's true love, he had appeared in front of her again, despite the fact that he had explicitly declared back then that he didn't want to see her ever again.

Joyce's tone sounded more like banter, which instantly made Braydon's face darken. "Miss Lu, did anyone tell you that your greedy face is so ugly? I can't even look at it right now. Is the land worth one hundred million still not enough for you? Then, what else do you want? Tell me! I will give you anything until you're satisfied!"

It was such a heartbreaking scene. The man that she had loved for nine years wanted to buy her life for the sake of another woman.

Joyce was at a total loss. She did not know whether to laugh or cry because it was all so ridiculous.

"Fine. I know what you mean, Mr. Huo. You love your girlfriend so much that you want to save her. Are you really willing to do anything for her?"

"Yes, of course! Anything!" Braydon answered without a shred of hesitation.

At the same time, his straightforward response was like a sharp knife that stabbed into Joyce's heart, and as though that wasn't enough, he stirred it so hard before he quickly pulled it out.

Ironically, this wasn't what hurt her the most. Even though she knew that Braydon didn't have any hint of love left for her anymore, she still loved him so deeply. In fact, she even thought of using this opportunity to get him back.

At the back of her mind, she hated herself for thinking like this.

She then touched the corner of her eye to wipe the drop of tear away. The delicate makeup made her eyes look even brighter while she shoved her anguish aside.

Slowly, she opened her red lips and said in an enchanting voice, "I want to bear your name. Marry me, Mr. Huo. Then, I will consider your request."

Braydon's eyes blazed in fury while his voice came out as cold as ice. "Miss Lu, I am serious about making this deal with you. Don't you dare seduce me the same way you did with other men. You disgust me."

Without mincing his words, he conveyed his repugnance towards her.

Although she still managed to force a smile, Joyce could not help but tremble as she took in all the mean words that were thrown against her.

She tried her best not to back down and raised her chin to provoke him further. "So, is that your final answer, Mr. Huo?"

"I haven't forgotten what I told you seven years ago. I have no intention of marrying a whore who does nothing but sleep with countless men."

He then looked straight into her eyes, raised an eyebrow, and uttered with disdain, "You are a filthy woman."

It was actually the middle of summer, and the weather was supposed to be sultry. However, Joyce felt like she was in a barren land where it was winter all year long. Every bone in her body ached because of the cold words spewed on her face.

Then, as she stared back at his apathetic yet captivating face, she mustered all her strength and said, "I see. Then, why are you here for a kidney of a filthy woman like me?"