Kiki’s words immediately shut down Tristan Grayson’s little scheme.

Seeing Tristan’s sour expression, Mika Summers couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

But after just one laugh, she immediately realized she had lost her composure. She put on a stern face, suppressed her smile, and coughed a few times with feigned seriousness to hide her embarrassment.

’What’s wrong with me? How could I laugh like that in front of Tristan?’

Tristan’s originally foul mood instantly brightened upon hearing Mika’s laugh.

A smile played on his lips as he gazed at Mika, his eyes full of deep affection.

When Mika met Tristan’s gaze, her heart began to pound wildly, and her cheeks flushed a deep red.

She quickly averted her eyes, staring straight ahead, not daring to glance at Tristan again...

Tristan’s smile widened. Suddenly, everything he looked at seemed exceptionally beautiful and pleasing...

*****

「Siren’s Night.」

After dropping Tiana off, Leo Joyce returned and pushed open the door to his room, only to find Amelia Avery sitting on the sofa, staring blankly while holding a wine glass.

He walked over, picked up another glass from the table, poured himself a drink, and downed it in one go. A self-mocking smile touched his lips. "I imagine the only reason you were willing to show yourself again is because of Cassian Jennings."

"It seems the only person who has ever truly understood me is you." Amelia Avery rose with a cold smirk and clinked her glass against Leo Joyce’s.

Leo poured himself another drink, his voice laced with extreme irritation as he said angrily, "Since you decided to fake your death and leave all this behind, why bother coming back?"

"I guess it’s because I can’t accept it..." Amelia had lost her usual sharpness. She took a small sip of red wine, a bitter smile twisting her lips as she spoke.

Unwilling to accept it? He understood that feeling all too well. He had never been able to accept his own fate, either.

But people had to learn to move on. When someone was destined to be unattainable, why cling to them so desperately?

Exhausted in mind and body, Leo Joyce sank onto the sofa. His voice was incredibly hoarse. "Amelia, it’s time to forget."

"Forget?" Amelia laughed bleakly, then threw her glass to the floor. An inconsolable sadness filled her eyes. "I want to forget, too, but how? When I close my eyes, I see him. When I open them, he’s still there. When I walk down the street and see couples together, I can’t help but fantasize. It would be so wonderful if Cassian Jennings loved me back. If he loved me, would we be as happy as they are?"

She had thought she could do it...

She had thought she was strong enough, ruthless enough...

But the moment she saw Cassian Jennings at Miss Joyce’s birthday party, her longing became unstoppable, all of it rushing out at once.

And when she saw the news and learned that he and his wife had divorced, her heart, once dead, came back to life.

She, Amelia Avery, was destined to never escape Cassian Jennings in this lifetime!

She was fated to have her downfall at his hands.

It was probably the first time Leo Joyce had ever seen Amelia Avery cry so painfully. He walked over, pulled her into a hug, and comforted her in a low voice, "Alright, don’t cry anymore. Whatever you want to do, I’ll help you. We’ll do whatever you want."

"I need a new identity." She couldn’t just watch Cassian Jennings be ruined like this...

"A new identity?"

"Yes. I want to help him under a new identity." If she appeared as Amelia Avery, Cassian Jennings definitely wouldn’t accept her help.