Affection thates toote is worthless.


    It was only fair thatn got a taste of loving someone he could never have. It was


    his penance.


    Vanessa let out a long breath. The man she couldn''t have was getting the cold shoulder from another woman. Was there anything more satisfying?


    Eleanor, you''d better keep that pride of yours and never given a chance. Just live out your life married to your career!


    And she, Vanessa, would just enjoy the show from the sidelines. She would watchn exhaust every trick in the book, and she would watch Eleanor remainpletely unmoved.


    Fate really was fair. Ian was finally paying the price for his past actions, getting a taste of what it was like to walk through fire to win back an ex-wife. She couldn''t wait to see him get burned.


    Vanessa knew better than anyone hown had remained celibate for Eleanor over the past ten years, because she had diligently guarded him on Eleanor''s behalf.


    As for the incident in the dressing room she had mentioned earlier, it was no ident. It was her own deliberate setup.


    Originally,n had been pressuring her to sign an experimental consent form under Dr. Smith''s purview. Wantingn to see her at her most charming during her concert, she had asked him to meet her in the dressing room.


    Just as she was working her magic on him, her assistant sent a text: Eleanor was here.


    A malicious idea instantly formed in Vanessa''s mind. Timing it perfectly, she pretended to trip on her gown, falling so that her head hitn''sp. Before he could react, her hair became tangled in his belt buckle.


    At the same time, she intentionally pulled at the shoulder strap of her dress, creating a more suggestive, disheveled illusion.


    The moment Eleanor pushed the door open, she was greeted by that exact scene.


    Anyone would have connected the dots, assuming Vanessa was trying to pleasen. After all, with the concert about to start, there wasn''t much else she could do but... that.


    She rememberedn leaning back on the sofa, his legs spread from the impact of her fall, looking like an emperor awaiting his tribute.


    Vanessa also remembered the ugly look onn''s face-furious at her scheming and shocked by Eleanor''s arrival.


    People make terrible decisions when they panic. For instance, she recalledn asking Eleanor, "Why did youe in without knocking?"


    That subconscious, usatory question was like pouring gasoline on a fire.


    Even ifnter realized how foolish his words had been, the damage to Eleanor was already done.


    Eleanor''s expression that night had


    been exactly what Vanessa had hoped for. A kind of quiet despair.


    She didn''t cry, didn''t demand an


    exnation. She looked lik


    someone whose heart had died. To make matters worse, the flowers


    Henry Holt sentter were also


    attributed ton.


    It made Eleanor think he had sent them. It had been a perfect performance that night.


    No matter hown tried to exin things afterward, it was just his word against what she''d seen. Eleanor would never believe him.


    Ha! And didn''t that just make his current pursuit of Eleanor all the more difficult?


    Coupled with the misleading things she''d just said, that incident would forever hang between them.


    Eleanor andn could be partners, fine. But getting remarried? Not a chance.


    She didn''t mind being a spectator. And when the time was right, she''d add a little more fuel to the fire, ensuringn''s path to winning her back was cut off for good.


    Vanessa smoothed her dress and walked back into the banquet hall Her eyes immediately foundn standing in the center of a group of powerful men, as brilliant and captivating as the moon.


    That silver white hair only enhanced his sophisticated, aloof aura. What a shame she thought. Such a prime specimen of a man was going to live out his days in lonely devation to Eleanor.