Two Weeks Later… 

Dan was now discharged from the hospital and he was doing much better than before. 

However, Kaiden and I hadn’t spoken since the mess with Rubina at the hospital. Well–saying talk to me. He also tried to woo me. He sent sorry cards, flowers, chocolates, letters, and even baked a blueberry cake with “sorry” written on it. 

we hadn’t talked would be a lie. Kaiden did try. He tried to 

But I didn’t give in. 

Every time his gestures made me smile, they also reminded me of how he bent his rules for Rubina. The way he trusted her before me–it broke my heart. 

When he thought Queen Bee was Barbara, he went full devil mode. But the moment he realized it might be Rubína? He didn’t even try to dig further. 

I know Rubina is his best friend–but still, the way he didn’t even scold her for her mistake made me wonder if there’s still some love from the past lingering in a corner of his heart. 

What if… this is a sign that he still loves Rubina? 

What if… there’s more than just a friendly bond between them? 

What if… he’ll soon realize that I’m the wrong choice and she’s the right one? 

What if… her next attack isn’t just cruel–but lethal enough to not only crack my certainty about 

My phone suddenly buzzed, ripping through the fog of my thoughts like a sharp whistle. 

It was a call from Clara. 

I almost didn’t want to answer. But I did. 

“H-“I started to say. 

us, 

but complete‘ 

tter the hope of our relationship? 

But she cut me off before I could finish. “Hey, turn on the TV. Right now. Holy shit! This is insane.” Her voice was frantic, breathless. 

“Wha… what?” I stammered, scrambling to open my laptop and fire/up the live TV app. “Which channel?” 

“Oh, sorry, yeah. The local one. WS News Today,” she said, urgency still thick in her tone. 

I switched to the channel and stared at the screen, my heart dropping. 

There it was. A press conference. 

Dan sat rigidly in the middle, flanked by Kaiden and Rubina, their faces calm and composed–or at least pretending to be at a table overflowing with microphones and cameras. 

“What the-“I breathed out, unable to look away. 

“Right? What the fuck is going on? Why are Kaiden and Rubina both in that interview?” Clara’s voice came through again, sharp and incredulous. Do you have any idea?” 

“No. I don’t have any.” 

I cut the call without another word. 

Because the scene playing out on my screen was too much. 

1/3 

Chapter 151 

Too loud. 

Too real. 

And I didn’t want to hear Clara’s live commentary or her endless questions right now. 

I just needed to process the chaos alone. 

The memory of this morning played vividly before my eyes, like a silent film on repeat. 

“Hey, Introvert,” Kaiden’s voice came softly from beside me as I grabbed a cold bottle from the fridge. 

“I want to tell you something.” 

But I barely spared him a glance. “I don’t want to hear anything,” I snapped, already turning toward the stairs, my steps quickening with determination. 

“But it’s important. Really important,” he called after me, his voice a mix of urgency and hesitation. “Today… actually… I’m going to have a press conference with Dad. It’s… it’s not that serious. Just a PR thing, that’s all. But there’s also going to be someone el-” 

Before he could finish, we’d reached my room. Without a word, I stepped inside and slammed the door right in his face. 

Damn! Now I regret that alot. 

If only I’d listened, if only I’d known what was coming… maybe my heart wouldn’t be pounding like this no vild, anxious, and full of questions. 

The press conference gave me the same nerve–wracking feeling you get while waiting for your final exam results–heart pounding, stomach twisting in knots. Dan spoke calmly about his health update, his agenda, and the plans he intended to pursue once he became mayor. It sounded like any typical political interview, routine and rehearsed. But what kept gnawing at my mind was something else entirely–what the hell were Kaiden and Rubina doing there, sitting beside him as if they held the main purpose of the conference? 

“So, now that we’ve covered all the basic topics,” Dan began, his voice steady but heavy with significance, “I’m about to share the main reason behind this press conference.” 

He reached out and took both Kaiden’s and Rubina’s hands, linking them together in front of the microphones. 

My heart clenched painfully at the sight. 

Rubina’s lips curved into a subtle, triumphant smile–and that only made the ache deepen. 

“I hereby announce the engagement of my son, Kaiden, to his childhood sweetheart, Rubina Johns,” Dan declared, his tone proud and final. “The ceremony will take place on the 1st of July. I hope you will all give your blessings to them.” 

That announcement tore through me, shattering my heart into a billion irretrievable shards–each one sharper, heavier, and more painful than the last. If was as if the air itself thickened around me, squeezing tight, suffocating every ounce of hope I had left. 

“Sir! Sir! Sir! Mr. Kaiden! Mr. Sterwalt! Ms. Johns! Sir/ one last question, please! Sir! Sir! Sir!” 

The reporters swarmed like a storm, their voices rising in a frantic, overwhelming chorus–more like the clamor of a chaotic fish market than a dignit press conference. The questions flew at me like arrows, sharp and relentless. 

But then, slowly, the noise twisted into something unbearable–a piercing, high–pitched ringing that crawled beneath my skin and dug 

The sharp tone pulsed like an electric shock, growing louder and more insistent, drowning out everything else. 

It wasn’t just the reporters‘ voices anymore. The entire world around me dissolved into a haze of numbness and 

my head, desperate to block out the unbearable sound that threatened to tear my eardrums apart to shatter the frag 

2/3 

08:30 Tue, 1 Jul 

Chapter 151 

The room spun, colors bleeding into one another, faces melting into a blur of shapes and shadows. 

To be continued… 

G