After having sex, Dean Moore leaned against the headboard and lit a cigar.
He said, "Let's cancel our wedding for now."
The wedding was supposed to happen three days later, and Eliana Spencer was baffled by his words.
Dean explained to her, saying, "Erin has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Her only wish is to be my wife while she's still lucid."
Eliana remained silent, and the room was steeped in heavy, tense silence.
Dean was displeased with her silence and frowned slightly.
"We just postponed the wedding temporarily. When she completely forgets me, I'll come back and marry you. Besides, she and I were supposed to get married before. You owe her that," Dean said calmly, and it seemed to be something trivial.
Eliana lowered her head and gave a self-mocking smile.
He was right. Erin should have been Dean's wife.
She and Dean had grown up together, and their parents had arranged their marriage when they were very young.
But Erin fell in love with a foreign exchange student and bravely pursued her true love abroad.
So the arranged marriage by the two families became a joke.
Eliana still remembered her first meeting with Dean.
At that time, Eliana had sneaked out from home without telling her brother, Brenden Spencer. She was beautiful and brought quite a bit of money with her.
So she quickly attracted the attention of some ill-intentioned people.
Dean arrived like a hero when those people were about to take advantage of her, and Eliana fell hopelessly in love with him.
She even defied Brenden and refused the arranged marriage for her.
After she learned about Dean's past engagement, she repeatedly confirmed that their engagement had been cancelled.
But Dean told her that he and Erin were supposed to be married.
She said, "What about me?"
Dean sighed and gently patted her head. "The disease progresses quickly, and my marriage to her was in name only. It won't last long. Eliana, try not to be petty."
His voice was cruel and cold, and Eliana was heartbroken.
"I'll ask you one last time. Are you sure that you want to cancel our wedding?"
Dean nodded.
"Alright. I agree."
He was surprised at how easily Eliana agreed.
Just as he was about to say anything else, the urgent ringing of his phone interrupted him.
After the one on the other end said something, Dean quickly got dressed and was about to leave.
Before leaving, he planted a kiss on Eliana's forehead. "There's an emergency at the company. Wait for me."
As soon as Dean left, several messages popped up on Eliana's phone. They were from an unfamiliar number.
Normally, she would ignore such messages. But she clicked on them as if compelled by fate.
A photo of Dean in a compromising position appeared instantly before her eyes.
She recognized the guy immediately by the small red mole on his collarbone. He was Dean, whom she had loved for three years.
As she continued scrolling through the messages, she found not only photos but also videos.
She clicked on a video, where Dean and another woman were having sex. It was like a knife stabbing into Eliana's heart.
In the last video, Dean held a three-year-old girl and said gently, "Amy, be good and listen to your mommy. Wait for Daddy to bring you a gift. Okay?"
The woman embraced Dean's waist with affection, and the intimate sounds were heard again.
Eliana's stomach churned. She then checked the phone's location.
Both she and Dean had installed software to track each other's location.
After getting out, Dean hadn't gone to the company but instead headed to their marital home.
She clicked on the surveillance in that house and discovered that Erin had boldly moved in with a little girl.
Erin said, "Sorry. Amy insisted on seeing you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have called in at such a late hour. If Miss Spencer is unwilling to delay your wedding, then forget it. I am happy enough to be with you in my final lucid moments. "I only wish that Miss Spencer would be nice to Amy in the future."
Dean held Erin tenderly and said, "You gave birth to my daughter. I should have given you the title as Mrs. Moore. Eliana has already agreed to postpone my wedding with her. Don't worry, I'll marry you three days later."
Eliana was shocked and seemed to have been struck by lightning. She then continued to check the surveillance footage.
Dean and Erin had had sex countless times in the bedroom, in the kitchen, on the balcony, and even in the garden.
She and Dean had planned to live in the house after they got married.
Erin had even discovered the surveillance cameras a long time ago.
She had provocatively looked at them and deliberately called out loudly when Dean had sex with her passionately.
The high-definition footage was far more impactful than any video or photo.
Eliana numbly took out her phone and dialed her brother's number. "I've accepted the marriage you arranged for me with the Barton family. I'll marry the cold-hearted son of the Barton family, Asher Barton. Let him come to marry me three days later."
Eliana hung up the phone and watched intently at the surveillance footage.
Dean put a dazzling necklace around Erin's neck. "It's beautiful, Sweetheart. I want to wear it at our wedding. What do you think? You look great with it."
Eliana had seen that necklace long ago.
She had believed that it was a surprise from Dean and never asked him about it.
Unexpectedly, it was for Erin.
Erin raised her eyebrows charmingly and tugged Dean closer by his tie. "But I think it suits me better when I'm naked. Amy is already asleep. Do you want to see me with the necklace, naked?"
Dean's throat tightened, and he had blazes in his eyes.
He eagerly carried Erin into the bedroom and stripped off their clothes quickly.
They had sex passionately.
He chuckled softly and whispered in Erin's ear, "You are right. You indeed look better without any clothes."
As the sounds of heavy breathing came again, Eliana immediately turned off the surveillance.
She rushed to the bathroom and threw up.
Soon after, she contacted a real estate agent, Gerry Mason. "I want to sell that house as soon as possible. No one is living there now. You can bring those who want to buy it there right away. If you sell it within two days, I'll give you an extra commission."
Gerry was delighted and immediately agreed.
Eliana had already given Gerry the door code.
When Gerry opened the bedroom door with the clients, Dean and Erin were caught in passionate sex.
They were suddenly surrounded by strangers. Erin screamed and shrank tightly into Dean's arms.
Dean snapped out of his passion instantly and grabbed a blanket to cover their naked bodies. "This is my house. How can you break in?"
Gerry and the clients looked visibly disgusted.
But thinking of the double commission, Gerry held back his discomfort and kindly reminded Dean before leaving. "The owner of the house has already put the house up for sale. You'd better move out as soon as possible."
Gerry would surely bring other clients to check the house tomorrow. He didn't want to encounter such an eye-opening scene again.
Erin asked, "Dean, what's going on?"
Dean's face was grim as he called Eliana, but she didn't answer.
He quickly got out of bed, picked up his scattered clothes from the floor, and put them on.
Erin trembled and hugged him from behind. "Honey, I'm scared. What if those people come back again?"
Amy woke up, frightened. She ran out of the room to hug Dean's leg tightly.
His heart softened, and he planted a kiss on Erin's cheek to comfort her. "Don't worry. I can handle it."
When Dean returned home, Eliana was asleep in the bedroom.
Her phone was charging on the sofa in the living room. There were several missed calls shown on the screen.
Most of his anger dissipated instantly.
"Didn't you have work at the company? Why are you back so soon?"
Dean pursed his lips and asked coldly. "Did you put our wedding house up for sale?"
Eliana nodded innocently. "I had an expert check the house, and it will bring us bad luck. I'm planning to change another one. Since our wedding is temporarily canceled, there's plenty of time to buy a new house. Besides, the house is unoccupied now, so it doesn't matter if the real estate agent brings people to see it. Oh, I just listed the house. How did you find out so quickly?"
Her words were logical and left Dean speechless.
He didn't dare tell her that Erin and her daughter were living in that house, so he lied casually. "I happened to pass by the wedding house and went in to take a look. And I bumped into the real estate agent."
Eliana smirked to herself and recognized his flimsy excuse.
The house and his company were in opposite directions.
His excuse was truly flimsy.
"By the way, I brought you a gift. It was compensation after the canceled wedding." Dean took a maroon velvet box from his suit pocket.
He opened it, and there was a bracelet in it.
Eliana's lips curled into a mocking smile.
He gave Erin a necklace worth millions of dollars. But he gave Eliana a promotional item.
It was ridiculous.
"What's wrong? Don't you like it?"
Eliana nonchalantly closed the box. "It's nice."
Dean changed the topic. "Erin and I are going to get married, and it's inconvenient for Erin to keep living outside. I think she'd better temporarily move in until after the wedding."
Eliana's lips curled into a mocking smile.
So that was why he gave her the promotional item.
"Let her move in. I have no objection."
After all, Eliana would leave this place for good in three days.
She didn't want to engage in pointless arguments with Dean now.
But unexpectedly, her concession didn't earn respect.
Instead, it made Erin and Amy even more audacious.
When Dean brought Erin and Amy back home, Eliana was packing her belongings in the living room.
She had lived in the villa for three years, and there were many things to sort out.
As soon as Amy entered, she curiously picked up a small sculpture from the coffee table. "What's this? It's so ugly."
Eliana looked up and snapped, "Don't touch my stuff!"
Amy was startled and lost her grip. The clay sculpture instantly shattered into pieces on the floor.
She rushed into Dean's arms and wailed in fright.
Dean gently patted her back to comfort her. He looked at Eliana unhappily. "It's just a sculpture. Do you need to react so strongly? Amy is just a little girl. What if she got sick because you scared her?"
The sculpture was part of a pair, and Amy broke the one representing Dean.
It was the first gift Dean had given her, a couple's clay sculpture they had crafted together. But Dean had long forgotten.
Eliana forced a smile.
She was going to throw it away anyway, so why did she get angry?
Because of the incident, Dean spent the entire afternoon keeping Amy company.
Erin watched Eliana as the latter packed and sneered, "Can a pumpkin try to rise above your station by cozying up to Dean while I was away? You have watched those surveillance videos. Did you like the gift I sent you? We did it every night like that. We are truly a perfect match physically and mentally. And you're as boring as a dead one in bed. He only feels happy when he's with me."
Eliana couldn't hold back any longer and slapped Erin across the face. "You're disgusting."
She hadn't used much force, but Erin fell to the floor like a kite with a broken string.
She clutched her swollen face and said pitifully, "I'm sorry, Miss Spencer. I know you don't like me, but I only ask you to be nice to Amy in the future. She's innocent."
Eliana instinctively stepped back and was about to retort when she heard Amy's crying voice. "Mommy, what's wrong?"
Dean pushed Eliana aside and picked Erin up from the floor.
His gaze was fixed on Erin's swollen face, and his eyes were as cold as ice. "I thought you genuinely accepted them. Eliana, I'm very disappointed in you."
With that, he left without hesitation, carrying Erin with him.
When Dean returned from the hospital, Eliana was about to take out the trash.
He frowned as he noticed the packs at Eliana's feet. "Why are you packing up?"
"The house is not big enough. I'm clearing out some unused things to make room for the mother and daughter."
Eliana loved collecting little trinkets to display at home.
Now she was throwing them out for Erin and Amy, which meant she truly realized her mistake and wanted to make amends to Erin.
Dean noticed the house was noticeably emptier and felt a bit guilty.
After settling Erin back in her room, he went to see Eliana.
Her marriage was suddenly cancelled, so Eliana might be a little upset.
Dean thought he had been careless and had neglected Eliana's feelings.
When Eliana walked out of the bathroom, Dean wrapped his arms around her from behind. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I was wrong today. I shouldn't have yelled at you. Don't worry. Once Erin completely forgets about me, I'll send her to the nursing home. She won't disturb our life together."
As he spoke, his hands slipped under Eliana's nightgown.
He had been spending a lot of time with Erin recently and hadn't done it with Eliana, so he was a little longing for her.
But Eliana recalled the video she had watched earlier and felt disgusted.
She was about to push him away when Amy poked her head through the door. "Dean, my mom's not feeling well. Can you come and see her?"
Dean immediately released Eliana. "Honey, I'll go and check on her."
With that, he left the room without looking back.
Eliana breathed a sigh of relief, but Amy suddenly asked, "Eliana, can you take me to the terrace? Dean said I need your permission to go there."
Eliana had already intended to go there, so she agreed to take Amy along.
But as they reached the terrace, a sudden force hit Eliana's lower back.
She screamed and stumbled backward. Then she lost her balance as she tripped over a flowerpot.
"Bang-"