Vincent Reed looked shocked when he heard this.

"That happened? How did I not know?"

"What do you know? You don’t know anything!" Mrs. Adler couldn’t help but retort.

Vincent Reed turned, saw Yvonne, and asked anxiously, "Is what Adler said true?"

Yvonne sighed softly. She didn’t want to talk about the past, especially not what she had done for Vincent Reed. Hearing it now only made her feel foolish.

"It’s in the past," she said flatly.

She and Mrs. Adler started walking toward the house, but Vincent Reed blocked their way.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

Yvonne took a deep breath. "You really want to know?"

"Yes, I want to know."

Yvonne nodded. "Fine. I’ll tell you."

With that, she walked toward the garden, where a bench was sitting.

She sat down, her brow furrowing as she began to recall that time.

"Mr. Adler agreed to invest in your company, but his shareholders didn’t think the project had any future, so it failed to pass at the meeting. Mr. Adler then arranged a dinner party, hoping you could elaborate on your project’s advantages. Of course, drinking was a big part of it. But you were in the hospital with gastritis from drinking too much. And the reason you drank so much was that you had meticulously prepared a birthday party for Wendy Winters, proposed to her, and she had said no."

At this, Yvonne couldn’t help but laugh at her younger self.

"For those eight years, you proposed to Wendy Winters once a year. And every year, you’d be heartbroken, then drink yourself into a stupor. What could I do? I couldn’t offend Mr. Adler, right? So I went to that dinner party in your place. I downed shot after shot of liquor, and by the end, I felt terrible. It was far more than I could handle, but they still hadn’t agreed, so I just kept drinking and drinking. At that moment, I thought, ’If I actually drink myself to death like this, I’ll be too foolish to even face the Grim Reaper.’"

Yvonne looked at Vincent Reed. She really had loved this man with everything she had.

"The truth is, I was in the hospital room right next to yours. To keep you from worrying, I’d change into my regular clothes every day to bring you food. And then? Because the food was from a restaurant and not homemade, you decided I wasn’t being thoughtful enough. You threw the food I brought on the floor and yelled, ’Yvonne, you’re completely useless! Why did I ever agree to let you be my girlfriend!’"

"Stop talking," Vincent Reed crouched down, clutching his head and shaking it. "Stop. Just stop."

"Feeling ashamed?" Yvonne shrugged. "I didn’t want to bring it up. You’re the one who insisted."

"You should have told me."

"But if I had, not only would you have been ungrateful, you would have felt I was wounding your pride. You got angry before just because I was getting close to Mrs. Adler. You said I shouldn’t meddle in your company’s business, that I was embarrassing you."

Vincent Reed looked up, his eyes already red.

"You should have told me."

Yvonne sighed. "If Mr. Adler hadn’t mentioned it, and if you hadn’t insisted, I would have never spoken of this for the rest of my life. I loved you, wholeheartedly. I did right by our eight years together. You’re the one who wronged me."

With that, Yvonne got up and left.

She went inside and spoke with Mr. and Mrs. Adler for a bit, wished the birthday boy a happy birthday, and then made an excuse to leave early. Mrs. Adler, understanding, personally walked her to the door.

"I didn’t know Vincent Reed was also coming today, or I would have told you beforehand."

Yvonne shook her head. "Ms. Lynch, please don’t worry about it. I’m fine."

After saying goodbye to Ms. Lynch, Yvonne hurried to catch the subway.

It was still a bit of a walk to her villa from the subway station. Yvonne had the faint feeling that someone was following her. She glanced back and saw it was Vincent Reed.

’When did he start following me?’

’Well, since it’s him, there’s nothing to be afraid of.’

"My mind has been a mess these past few days, filled with images of you in a wedding dress, holding Wyatt Shaw’s arm," Vincent Reed said from behind her.

Yvonne ignored him and kept walking.

"I always thought you were getting married just to spite me, to make me come back to you. In that moment, I realized how wrong I was."

"And it was in that moment that I started to feel regret."

He paused for a moment before catching up to her again.

"You shouldn’t have married Wyatt Shaw. He’s not who you think he is on the surface. I know him too well. He used to be a street punk, and when he fights, he fights to kill. He’s an absolute maniac."

"Vincent Reed!" Yvonne couldn’t stop herself from turning around. "It’s not your place to judge what kind of person Wyatt Shaw is."

"You’re defending him? Have you fallen in love with him?"

"Hah. He’s my husband. Who am I supposed to love if not him? You?"

Yvonne shook her head, speechless, and turned to walk quickly toward the villa.

"You can’t fall in love with him! You’ll only get hurt!"

"You’re insane."

"I bet you don’t know he was in a car accident, do you?"

Yvonne froze for a moment but didn’t turn around, simply continuing on her way.

’If I want to know, I can just ask Wyatt. I don’t need to hear it from someone else.’

"The accident happened overseas. I heard it was extremely serious—he nearly died on the operating table! There was a young woman in the car with him. She died at the scene. That woman was his fiancée!"

Yvonne hurried back home and shut the door, cutting off Vincent Reed’s incessant chatter. Only then did she realize her heart was pounding, fast and erratic.

’Wyatt Shaw had a fiancée. They were in a car accident together, and she died at the scene.’

’Mrs. Miller said Hannah Abbott also died in a car accident.’

’But Wyatt said he didn’t know Hannah Abbott well, that he didn’t even remember the name.’

’The pieces should connect, but they don’t quite fit together. What if Wyatt lied...?’

Yvonne shook her head. She hated guessing games, so she decided to call Wyatt Shaw directly.

This time, the phone wasn’t off. It connected quickly, but a woman’s voice answered on the other end.

"Are you Wyatt’s wife?"

Yvonne was taken aback for a moment. "And you are?"

"Please, you have to help me. Wyatt doesn’t want me anymore."

"..."

"I know he’s married. I won’t cause trouble for him anymore, and I won’t fight you for the title of Mrs. Shaw. I love him. As long as I can stay by his side, I’m willing to remain in the shadows for the rest of my life."

As she spoke, the woman began to cry. From the sound of her voice, she couldn’t be very old.

"Where is Wyatt Shaw?" Yvonne asked calmly.

"He’s in the shower. He was in such a hurry just now. You must not be satisfying him at home, are you?"

"I’ll call back later."

"Don’t hang up! Are you angry? Don’t be. He said this is the last time, and that he’ll be completely faithful to you from now on. But what am I supposed to do? I love him so much."

Yvonne let out a breath and was about to hang up when the woman hastily added, "I’m pregnant. My child can’t grow up without a father."