Chapter 15
“Avery, have you seen the news?” Nathan’s voice softened the moment the call connected. “Jake and Hannah… it’s really over for them this time.”
Avery’s calm voice came through from the other end: “I don’t care anymore. My coursework is quite intense here, so I probably won’t be able to come back to see you anytime soon.”
Nathan sighed, walking to the floor–to–ceiling window to gaze at the distant buildings. “…That’s probably for the best. Being away from all this drama is a good thing. By the way, how are you getting along with Alex?”
The siblings mutually avoided the serious topic as Nathan changed the subject.
“He’s great. Last week he took me to an art exhibition,” Avery’s voice relaxed, finally carrying a hint
of a smile.
“That’s good. He seems decent enough in all respects. But don’t feel obligated to force anything.”
“I know, don’t worry…”
Avery’s words were interrupted as Nathan heard an unfamiliar voice in the background.
Soon, Avery spoke again: “I have to go. I need to get to class. We’ll talk another time.”
After hanging up, Nathan stared at the phone’s wallpaper–a photo of him and his sister–for a long while. He could almost still hear Avery’s cheerful voice.
He lowered his eyes, his fingers touching the cold glass in front of him, the icy sensation reminding him of his sister’s equally chilling tears.
Finally, seeming to have made a decision, he dialed another number.
“Hello, this is Nathan. Regarding Landau Group’s financial issues, I have some information that
might interest you.”
In a bar, Jake was downing one glass of strong liquor after another.
His once close friends now avoided him completely, not even answering his calls.
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She Moved On He Crashed and Burned
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Chapter 15
Friends…
He thought of Liam and let out a derisive laugh.
He had been such a fool, manipulated so easily by them all.
“Mr. Landau, you really shouldn’t drink anymore,” the bartender cautioned carefully.
Jake ignored him, opening another bottle of whiskey despite the protests.
The cold alcohol burned his throat as it went down, but couldn’t extinguish the regret in his heart.
Just then, Jake’s phone vibrated. He looked at it through bleary eyes.
It was a message from the company lawyer: [Update: Miss Matthews has confessed to maliciously leaking company secrets. However, she claims she was acting under Liam Shaw’s instructions and was merely following orders, not the mastermind. Police are now investigating this claim.]
Jake laughed coldly, tossing his phone aside.
What he had once thought was true love–his perfect ideal–had been nothing but an elaborate deception from start to finish.
Leaving behind a table of empty bottles, he staggered back to his apartment. Standing dazed in the
empty living room, he suddenly seemed to remember something. Guided by moonlight, he rummaged through the storage room until he found a dust–covered metal box.
It had belonged to Avery, filled with mementos of their relationship.
[ake hadn’t left that night. He had waited outside the villa all night and retrieved everything when
he housekeepers were cleaning the living room.
He collapsed beside the sofa, opening the box with hands that trembled from excessive alcohol
consumption.
A yellowed photograph slipped out.
Fourteen–year–old Avery stood at the edge of the basketball court, holding a lunchbox, smiling shyly
yet brilliantly.
Jake’s fingertips traced the photo, suddenly remembering how, when faced with his teasing that day, she had blushed but firmly said, “I’ll grow up one day.”
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She Moved On… He Crashed and Burned
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Chapter 15
The hazy moonlight filtered into the room as memories flooded back like a tide.
The scarf she had stayed up several nights knitting for him, the umbrella she always brought on rainy days, and how she would sit by his bedside whenever he was sick…
“Avery…”
He choked out her name, curling up and clutching the small metal box tightly to his chest. The tears
he had been holding back finally broke free.
Jake sobbed uncontrollably.
Just then, urgent knocking at the door jolted him from his grief.
Jake wiped his face and staggered to his feet. Opening the door, he found his old friends standing
there.
They crowded in the doorway, all wearing equally grim expressions.
“Jake, we know everything now,” the leader said solemnly. “About Hannah and Liam conspiring against you, about how they’ve been deceiving you all these years.”
Another stepped forward, handing over his phone. “Here, take a look at this first.”
The screen showed surveillance footage clearly documenting Hannah and Liam meeting secretly at
a hotel.
The timestamp in the upper left corner showed the meeting took place before Hannah had agreed to “pretend” to be his girlfriend.
This video further proved Hannah and Liam’s calculated scheme, making Jake even more aware of his own foolishness.
“We were wrong about Avery,” someone said quietly. “She was the one who truly cared for you.”
How ridiculous that they only realized this truth now.
Jake felt as if his chest had been struck by a sledgehammer, leaving him gasping for breath.
He grabbed his car keys and rushed out, ignoring everyone’s attempts to stop him.
“I need to find her… I must apologize in person…”
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An overwhelming sense of guilt nearly drowned him, but he remembered Avery had already left the country.
For a moment, Jake sat gripping the steering wheel, unsure where to go.
When he finally reached the Williams family villa, he was greeted only by locked gates and empty
rooms.
Nathan stood coldly at the entrance: “What are you doing here?”
Jake knelt at the door, rain mixing with tears streaming down his face. “Nathan, tell me where she S… please…”
Nathan shook his head, his eyes filled with disappointment.
‘It’s too late, Jake. You lost the person who loved you most for the sake of a con artist.”
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