chapter 2
A few seconds later, 25-year-old Andrew tightened his face and shook his head. "I don't believe it, you're lying to me."
I let out a soft laugh.
If it were the 25-year-old me, I probably wouldn't believe it either.
"You will believe it," I said calmly.
At this moment, 30-year-old Andrew pushed the door open and walked in.
He glanced around suspiciously. "Who are you talking to?"
I looked away, my tone indifferent. "I'm handing over work to a colleague."
Since Andrew accused me of plagiarizing Tessa's design, I was fired by the company.
He coughed awkwardly and handed over the cake he was holding, his tone softening unconsciously. "This is from Tessa. She said girls feel better during their period if they eat something sweet."
I neither moved nor accepted it.
A low murmur came through the earphones, "How could he forget? Sweet food only makes Violet's period pain worse."
Andrew in front of me had already opened the cake box, revealing a taro mousse cake filled with mango chunks.
He shoved the fork into my hand and urged, "Hurry up and eat. Tessa was so worried about you that she didnt even eat properly today."
I held the fork, expressionless, and spoke at the same time as the voice in the earphones, "I'm allergic to mangoes and hate taro the most."
Andrew froze, looking a bit flustered and angry.
He scowled. "Whatever, you're already a 30-year-old woman and still this picky."
At that moment, Tessa called, and his expression instantly softened with affection. "Be good, wait for me."
After saying that, he turned and left without looking back.
An hour later, I saw the photo Tessa posted on Instagram.
At the racetrack, she held the championship trophy, sitting in Andrew's arms, smiling freely.
Her caption read: [He said, both he and the championship trophy belong to me.]
I gave it a like.
A muffled voice came through the headphones. "Violet, why aren't you angry?"
I didnt answer, picked up the cake on the table, and threw it straight into the trash. But I still had an allergic reaction.
Late at night, my whole body started itching.
The allergy medicine at home was gone, so I had to take a cab to the hospital, only to run into Andrew.
He frowned and asked me, "Why didn't you reply to my messages?"
I unlocked my phone and realized he had sent over a dozen messages after I liked the post, explaining that Tessa only made that post because she lost a game.
What a lousy lie.
I couldn't be bothered to expose him, so I casually brushed it off, "I fell asleep and didn't see it."
He stared at the redness on my cheek, seemingly worried. "Didn't you skip the cake? How did you get an allergic reaction?"
The doctor behind me explained, "Being in the same air as the allergen can also cause a reaction."
Andrew instinctively rubbed his fingers, seeming like he wanted to say something, but then Tessa's soft call came from the ward behind, "Andrew?"
Andrew immediately left me and went inside.
I scoffed at myself, grabbed the medicine, and turned to leave.
Downstairs, I ran into a heavy rainstorm and couldn't get a cab.
Andrew pulled up beside me in his car.
Tessa was sitting in the passenger seat, wearing the jacket I bought for Andrew as his 24th birthday gift.
In my earphones came a gritted voice, "He's a jerk!"
I found it noisy and casually turned down the volume.
Tessa leaned out, looking surprised. "Violet? Why didnt you let Andrew drive you to the hospital? I just have a slight cough, and he insisted on coming with me for a checkup."
She pouted playfully and looked at Andrew. "I already told you I'm fine."
Andrew gently pinched her nose. "You're about to join the international designer competition; you can't afford to have any health issues."
Then he glanced at me and said curtly, "Stop being dramatic. Get in the car."
It's late at night and hard to get a cab, so I nodded, opened the car door, and got into the back seat, only to find a pair of black lace panties.
"Ah! How did this get here?" Tessa's face turned red as she grabbed it, then pinched Andrew's waist hard and whispered, "Didn't you say you put it away?"
She blamed him with her words, but her eyes fixed on me, full of provocation and pride.
Andrew seemed flustered for a moment when he saw the panties, then took them and casually tossed them into the glove compartment.
Tessa then remembered to explain to me, "Violet, don't overthink it. I had an urgent interview tonight and was in such a rush changing that I accidentally left it behind."
I nodded calmly. "Mm, I understand."
Andrew didn't expect me to accept such a flawed excuse so calmly.
With my usual temper, I would have already had a big fight with him.
He carefully added, "Tessa did have an interview today."
"No need to explain. I understand," I interrupted, signaling him to relax.
Andrew got angry.
After dropping me off downstairs, he drove away with Tessa at full speed.
On my way upstairs, the silent headphones suddenly spoke again, "I've never liked Tessa, so why does that jerk treat her like a treasure?"
I chuckled, "Because you said Tessa is clean and pure, unlike me and my parents, full of rich people's arrogance."
In the headphones, 25-year-old Andrew stayed silent for a long time before finally cursing fiercely, "That's all bullshit."
If my parents were greedy merchants, Andrew wouldn't have been able to marry me in the first place.
It's all just an excuse he made for his betrayal.
"So, give up proposing to me," I said softly. "Are you wondering why 30-year-old Andrew dares to bully me like this? Because Locke Group went bankrupt, and my parents were driven to death by him."
I slowly unfolded the abortion surgery form and continued, "I'm not on my period today; I had a miscarriage because he forced me to go bungee jumping."