Under the dim light, Henry''s face was pale. For seven years, Vanessa had feigned her devotion ton in front of him, all while maintaining a flirtatious ambiguity with him. She always gave him just enough hope to keep him from giving up. And all her seemingly innocent disys of vulnerability...


    The more Henry reyed the memories, the more he felt a sense of powerlessness, of being manipted and deceived. He drained his ss in one gulp. The next moment, a surge of unfamiliar anger made him m the empty ss down on the table.


    "I''ve been aplete and utter fool," Henry growled, his voice thick with self- loathing and pain.


    He could ept Vanessa lovingn from afar, but the fact that she had made a move on Xavier seven years ago struck a raw nerve. What kind of woman had he been infatuated with all this time? A social climber who seized every opportunity?


    Henry buried his face in his hands, letting out a low groan of anguish. Then, he leaned back on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling lights. The initial rage and humiliation slowly faded, reced by a hollow emptiness, and finally, a cold, clear calm.


    After a long silence, he spoke, his voice dripping with self-mockery. "Xavier, I remember you tried to warn me a few times. Am I really that stupid?"


    Xavier shook his head. "You were just blinded by her beauty and overlooked her true nature. I''ve told you before, Vanessa knows how to handle men."


    Henry gave a bitterugh. "You''re right. Now that I think about it, I''ve done more than one stupid thing in thest seven years. I almost ruined my friendship withn over her. I thought he was a monster for keeping her without giving her amitment, but it turns out... I was the biggest fool of all."


    The truth didn''t just shatter a rtionship; it destroyed Henry''s entire belief system and self-perception from thest seven years. That was the hardest part to


    ept. He felt a wave of nausea, disgusted by it all.


    Seeing someone for who they truly are can leave you with nothing but the wreckage of the past and a bone-deep chill.


    He forced down a ss of ice water


    down


    and looked at Xavier. "Xavier, if it


    weren''t for you, I''d probably still bez under her spell. I might have even


    hurt Selma for her. Thank you for knocking some sense into my thick skull."


    Xavier sat down beside him and pped him on the shoulder. "I''m d you''vee to your senses. Now go for it with Miss Quigley terms of family, status, and character, she''s a hundred times better than Vanessa."


    "You can''t evenpare her to Selma. She''s aplete fraud," Henry said, his voice as cold as ice. Forget all the viianey ve spent on her over the years. Just the time and energy I wasted... it wasn''t worth it."


    Xavier looked surprised. "You and her... have you already—"


    Henry cut him off. "No. Nothing. In my mind, she wasn''s woman. I would never have touched her as long as she andn were still involved."


    Xavier believed him and nodded.


    Henry gritted his teeth, frustrated. "I took her on trips behindn''s back, bought her so many gifts... All told, it must be over a hundred or two hundred million."


    Now it was Xavier''s turn to be shocked. "You spent that much money on her?"


    Henry gave a self-deprecating smile and sank back onto the sofa. "I guess I''m just a rich fool."


    Then, Henry sat up, grabbed his phone, found Vanessa''s number, and dialed it without hesitation.