"What is it?"


    Vanessa''s voice was tinged with self-mockery. "I stood by you for ten years, gave your mother blood for ten years, and in the end, you won''t even give me a proper look? I just want to know, what makes her so much better than me?"


    Vanessa let out a pained, coldugh. "How cruel! But I don''t care for your love anymore. Without you,n, there are still people who will love and cherish me. I''ll live a wonderful life."


    Vanessa smiled sadly. "Aren''t you curious why I''m with Walden Wells?"


    "That''s your choice. It has nothing to do with me,"n said, his voice devoid of emotion.


    Vanessa stared, her eyes searching his profile, desperate for a sign of worry or ire. She met only with a profound, chilling stillness. His gaze, beneath those thickshes, held the t calm of a windless pond.


    Vanessa took a deep breath and, through gritted teeth, said word by word, n, one day, you will pay the price for your attitude today."


    Vanessa froze for a few seconds, then hispletely indifferent attitude thoroughly enraged her. She clutched her gown and took a step forward. "Ian, do you even have a heart? Ten years! Even raising a dog for that long would create some affection, and I''m a person! How can you be like this—"


    From her angle, Vanessa saw a figure in white approaching the terrace—it was Eleanor.


    A calcting glint shed in her eyes. Just as Eleanor was about to step onto the terrace, she quickly reached out to wrap her arms aroundn''s waist.


    Vanessa reached out, butn''s hand came up in a cold, blocking motion. "Vanessa,"


    he said, his tone t, "have some self-respect."


    This scene was witnessed by Eleanor, who had just arrived. She paused, not


    realizing there were people on the terrace.


    Vanessa immediately put on a


    wronged expression. n, werente


    we just having a nice chat?


    are


    you acting all proper just because Eleanor is here


    ra was also taken aback. She stared, frozen, at the man with such a powerful presence.


    But Vanessa just smirked and walked toward Eleanor. "Eleanor, we''re just old mes catching up. Don''t get the wrong idea!"


    Eleanor gave Vanessa a cool nce. "I have no wrong ideas to get."


    Vanessa''s smile froze. It seemed her carefully orchestrated drama was nothing to Eleanor now.


    Her calm spectatorship also meant thatn was nothing to her either.


    Ha! That at least made her feel a little better. She turned and left without a backward nce.


    "Ellie, who is this?" ra asked, sizing upn. Her intuition told her that Eleanor


    knew him and that this man was clearly no ordinary person.


    "My ex-husband," Eleanor introduced him calmly.


    It dawned on ra.


    ra spent most of the year teaching up north, so she waspletely out of the loop on business stuff.n''s white hair had totally throw her off she took another look. So that''s who he was


    the richest guy in the country, and Eleanor''s ex-husband.