Chapter 206
"What are you doing?"
Elysia's shrill voice cut through the silence, shattering the intimate atmosphere.
Everyone turned to look.
Elysia stormed forward, grabbed Zephyr's collar, and yanked him aside. He shook her off, refusing to give her any courtesy.
"Have you lost your mind?" She demanded.
"I think you're the one who's lost it!"
Elysia spoke through gritted teeth, pointing at Adeline. "This woman is wheelchair-bound and just draws comics for a living. What do you see in her? Is she worthy of you? You shouldn't be wasting your time on someone like her!"
Zephyr couldn't bear to hear her talk like that. In his heart, Adeline was the most wonderful girl. "She's still better than you. Physical limitations are nothing compared to a damaged soul."
Elysia's face cycled between red and white.
"How can you say that to me?"
"Surely you haven't forgotten that you were the one who insisted on breaking up with me."
Dating was simple in his mind.
If it worked, you stayed together. If not, you parted ways.
Zephyr never forced anyone, but he wasn't a pushover either. "Don't think I don't know what you did. You have your lifestyle, but I hope you'll stop disturbing me and clinging to what's over."
"We loved each other so deeply. Are you saying you don't have feelings for me anymore?"
Elysia couldn't believe it.
She loved Zephyr so much.
"I don't believe you. When we broke up, you stood outside my apartment building for a month begging me to reconsider. Now I've finally come back, we can start over. As for this woman, we can give her some money and she can—"
This was going too far.
Zephyr couldn't listen anymore. "My business has nothing to do with you. Please show some respect."
Elysia couldn't understand. "Why did you change your heart so quickly?"
"We've been broken up for three years."
Zephyr wasn't someone who would die for love. He had many things he wanted to do, many unfulfilled dreams.
The first six months after the breakup had been agonizing, but after that, he gradually accepted reality.
His features remained handsome, his eyes still captivating.
But facing Elysia, that intense passion was genuinely gone.
"I have a new life now. I hope you won't disturb me again."
Zephyr finished speaking and pushed the wheelchair away.
Elysia's face turned ashen as she glared at their retreating figures.
Aaron didn't dare approach.
He could hardly bear to look at Edward's expression.
This was a disaster.
Adeline suddenly had a new relationship. Was it because he had been too forward in taking Adeline to see Edward's secret last time?
Had it frightened her?
A cold gaze fell on him.
Aaron swallowed hard and pushed his glasses up helplessly.
Back in their room, he saw Edward standing by the window, his expression distant.
The oppressive aura around him hadn't dissipated.
Aaron remained silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you plan to do now?"
Those two had confirmed their relationship.
Trying to win her now would make him the other man.
"They're not married," Edward said, his voice icy.
"But knowing Adeline's character, once she agrees to date someone, it must mean she genuinely likes them. It might not be right to disrupt their relationship at this point."
He feared the two men would end up in conflict, backfiring completely.
And Edward clearly couldn't win against Adeline.
The one who still loved always loses.
"So what? Is there a law that says no one else can like someone who's dating?"
Aaron was momentarily speechless.
The law certainly didn't specify that.
"Look into Zephyr."
Edward turned and sat on the sofa, taking off his jacket and tossing it aside, loosening his tie. The frustration burning in his chest refused to subside.
"Find out what his connection is to Roger."
"I understand."
Back in their room, Adeline and Zephyr had checked into the hotel since they couldn't stay outdoors for their picnic indefinitely.
Once inside with the door locked, Zephyr's first words were an apology.
"I'm sorry for using you back there."
Adeline shook her head. "I actually want to know what happened between you two."
Zephyr was always a gentleman, easy to get along with.
He was consistently polite and composed with women.
This was the first time she'd seen him so unforgiving.
Zephyr rubbed his forehead. "We were college classmates who dated for six years. Three years ago, I bought a ring, planning to propose to Elysia, but..."
He never imagined that the surprise he'd carefully prepared would turn into a shock before he could even present it.
She had cheated.
She had an acting dream, and somehow a director had convinced her to sleep with him at a hotel.
If paparazzi hadn't been following them and exposed everything, Zephyr would never have known.
The most ridiculous part was that the paparazzi were not even interested in exposing Elysia's actions—they had been hired by the director's rival.
Elysia was just collateral damage.
And he was the collateral damage's boyfriend.
Even more pathetic.
"I didn't want to pursue anything or get revenge. I just wanted a clean break, and I never considered getting back together after that."
Zephyr had an almost obsessive purity in his view of love.
Either all in, or nothing at all.
"She said you stood outside her house for a month..."
"Even before this happened, Elysia was picking fights with me." Looking back, all the signs had been there. "She kept saying I wasn't attentive enough, that I didn't love her enough. No matter what I did, she found fault with it, and hinted at wanting to break up."
To save their relationship, Zephyr had planned the proposal.
He thought that day would be a beginning, but it turned out to be the end.
Adeline never imagined he had such a past. She wanted to comfort him but didn't know how.
Zephyr himself seemed to have moved on with remarkable grace.
"Enough about me. Let's talk about you."
Zephyr turned, leaning casually against the sofa, his long legs slightly bent. Remembering Edward's expression on the lawn, he couldn't help but smile.
"Would you say I did you a favor back there?"
Adeline shook her head. "Edward doesn't know my identity. He won't be a problem for me."
"You're that certain?"
"If he knew it was me, he would have exposed my identity by now."
Adeline had tested him before.
When he had a fever, she had tried asking.
Edward's answers were incoherent, indirectly confirming he didn't suspect Sophia was Adeline. Otherwise, in his feverish, unclear state, he would have slipped up.
"Alright, whether he's discovered your identity or not, after today, he probably won't show up around you anymore."
If a girl he liked had a boyfriend, Zephyr would absolutely never interfere.
Judging by his own standards, he assumed Edward wouldn't either.
"That would be best."
Adeline had no desire to see Edward now.
Every time she saw him, she was reminded of the past she couldn't forget.
In another room.
Aaron sent a file to Edward's email.
"Take a look."
Edward scanned it quickly.
"Extreme sports..."
He pondered for a moment, his cold gaze falling on the photo in the file.
In the picture, Zephyr was grinning.
Smiling with pure joy.
Edward's voice was low and detached. "I don't want to see him again."