He was her well-behaved lapdog, not because he loved her, but because—well, what was he supposed to tell her? That he’d approached her on purpose last time? That he had, and that he was returning a favor to Mandy?

How could he explain that he’d only been taken along to get Archer to help him out of a depressive episode? Shouldn't he have explained that he was divorcing her and never coming back?

What was the point of telling her anything, anyway? Vader's first love was back. Even if Dylan liked her now, it wouldn’t impact her in any way.

Dylan leaned in and replied, “There’s no need for any mock. I just need to leave as soon as possible. I don’t want to get involved with her anymore.”

Violet’s voice suddenly rang out from behind them. Dylan turned and was immediately met with Violet’s shocked expression. He felt a sudden shiver in his heart. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, but hesitated, wondering how much of their conversation she had heard, if any. Luckily, Mandy came to the rescue. “Violet, what are you doing here?”

Violet didn’t question any further. She glanced at the cake on the stage and said, “M, you should go up there.”

Mandy rubbed the back of her head and rejected the offer. “I’m not feeling well. You both can go up and cut the cake instead.” Then, without looking at them again, Mandy went up the stairs.

After watching Mandy go up the stairs, Violet extended her hand toward Dylan. “Let’s go. We’ll cut the cake on the stage.”

Dylan shook his head and raised his injured arm. “No, thank you. My arm hasn’t fully healed yet. You should get Archer instead.”

A look of surprise appeared in Violet’s eyes. She didn’t seem to understand why Dylan said such a thing. It felt as though she was starting to lose control of something, but she didn’t.

Chapter 7

“Why should he?”

This time, Dylan was the one who was puzzled. Why? Wasn’t Violet always the one who abandoned him for Archer? For the past five years, she had flown overseas countless times to see Archer. Now, Dylan was giving her the chance to be with Archer. So, why did she look so surprised and disbelieving?

Dylan just smiled and said, “Because you’re both very close friends. It’s just cutting a cake, anyway. It’s not a huge deal.”

Violet didn’t look the least bit angry. Although she still found him suspicious, she didn’t push the topic any further. She just walked over to Archer and whispered something in his ear.

Archer blinked and nodded. Then, he took Violet’s outstretched arm and went onstage to cut the cake.

The piano started playing a melodious tune, and both Violet and Archer looked so close and intimate that it didn’t look like they were cutting a birthday cake anymore. If anything, it seemed more like they were cutting their wedding cake.

Since it was already the latter half of the night, many of the older guests had already left. The guests left were mostly Violet’s friends, and they knew all about her and Archer.

With Violet and Archer now intimately cutting the cake on the stage, the guests all started applauding. Some of them even initiated a chant, exclaiming, “Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!”

They made such a row that Archer’s face turned bright red. Violet’s ears turned red too. They never kissed, but Violet didn’t try to stop her friends from chanting either. Dylan couldn’t care less. He just took out his phone and calculated the time he had left before his flight.

If the plane was taking off in three hours, that meant he had to leave now. However, to certain other people, his quiet demeanor made him seem like he was upset about the whole cake-cutting incident.

The day of Dylan and Violet’s divorce cooling-off period ended exactly one week later. Dylan could finally leave. He started packing up his things. Halfway through packing, however, Violet had her assistant, Barbara Lee, deliver a tailored suit to Dylan, inviting him to the Pakken Manor dinner party.

Dylan stared at the suit and suddenly felt ironic. Legally speaking, they no longer had anything to do with each other, but she still knew about it and even got him to attend the party as her husband.

At first, he considered rejecting it. However, he thought about the many times Mandy had taken care of him over the years and decided to go. He still had to take care of some of his belongings. So he put on the suit and went to the party.

The event hall was loud and bustling with people. It was decorated with beautiful lights as people mingled and shared stories with each other on the floor. Archer was in the core of the hall, surrounded by a group of his friends.

“Archer, Ms. Pakken really loves you so much.” “Yes, really! This ring you’re wearing just came from an auction in Sotheby’s. It’s a global limited edition design symbolizing the one and only tree. I’d heard a wealthy billionaire bought it, but I never thought it was Ms. Pakken!”

“I’m… surprised, but Ms. Pakken talked at length about you. I remember how she came to school and went back with you every day without fail back when we were still studying. She would keep your desk drawers filled with sweets, chocolate, and desserts of all sorts.”

“Man, I remember that you guys fought once, and you didn’t talk to her for a few days. Do you know how much effort she put into making it up to you? She asked nearly everyone in class about you, me included, and she was quite a sight! Her eyes were red and bloodshot!”

“All you did was ignore her for a few days, and it reduced her to a mess. That… I think you nearly killed her with how much she cared.”

“Archer, I don’t think anyone else will love you more than Ms. Pakken. Hearing that you had a shotgun wedding, she lost all hope to live. But when she learned that you weren’t happy living abroad, she kept flying over every week to see you in secret. She bought presents for you to cheer you up. Now that you’re divorced, and from what I can tell, she doesn’t really have a current boyfriend anyway—”

“That’s right! You should marry her!” “Yeah—you should both just get together.”

Dylan stood in the corner, watching as the group of men made a loud clamor in the corner of the floor, saying how much his ex-wife was in love with someone else.

“Dylan.” A voice suddenly called out from behind him, pulling him back to the present.

Dylan turned around and saw Mandy there. Instinctively, he wanted to call out to her like he always did, but he stopped himself after seemingly realizing something. Instead, he greeted her politely and courteously, “Mrs. Pakken.”

Mandy sighed when she heard how courteous he was being. However, she didn’t say anything and just handed Dylan the documents he needed to finalize his divorce abroad.

“Dylan, I’ve already arranged everything for you to go as smoothly as possible. Since college will start the semester early, I’ve already bought you a flight ticket that leaves in three hours. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Dylan looked at the documents in his hand, his heart feeling as heavy as lead. He couldn’t stop his hand from shaking when he thought about the impending freedom waiting for him.

Taking a deep breath, Dylan suppressed his excitement and put the documents away in his bag, shaking his head in response to Mandy’s question. “Thank you, Mrs. Pakken, for helping me with these. I’m already very grateful for everything.”

He paused for a while and suddenly thought of something. He said lightly, “I do have a small request, actually. If Violet finds out about this one day and asks me where I got the ticket—”

He didn’t want to see Violet again for the rest of his life.

Hearing this, Mandy looked at him in shock. “Wait, you never told her that you were leaving?”