Seraphina Thorne stopped walking and looked up.
On the steps, Chloe Foster wrapped in a cal coat, walked quickly over and stopped in front of her.
"I heard from my brother that you and Ethan Sterling are getting a divorce, is it true?"
"If you’re here to talk about work, co to my office. If you’re here to show off, you’ve already done it." Seraphina stepped around her and climbed the staircase.
"Seraphina!" Chloe turned around, "Can we find a place to talk?"
Seraphina paused on the stairs without turning back.
"What else is there to talk about between us?"
Chloe caught up to her side and pulled up her left sleeve.
The cuts on her wrist were scabbing over, with dark scabs not yet completely healed, making them stand out.
But, Seraphina also noticed that there were several other scars of varying depths on her wrist.
It was clear she had attempted suicide more than once.
"What do you an by this?" Seraphina raised her face in shock, "I’ve already agreed to divorce Ethan, isn’t that enough for you?"
"Do you know why I tried to kill myself?" Chloe pulled down her sleeve, covering the scars, "Can I just take up half an hour of your ti? On account of my brother, can you?"
Hearing her ntion Nathan Foster, Seraphina frowned, but finally turned and walked down the stairs.
"Let’s go to the café across the street."
Since it was breakfast ti, the café wasn’t crowded, and they easily found a quiet spot by the window to sit down.
The waiter brought over the nu, "Would you ladies like sothing to drink?"
"Hot chocolate."
The two girls almost spoke in unison.
The waiter nodded and turned away.
Soon, two steaming cups of chocolate were delivered.
"Actually, I didn’t used to like chocolate, I used to enjoy tea like my brother.
Back when I first got into trouble, I was depressed. My brother was just starting his law firm and often so busy that he couldn’t keep an eye on , he asked Ethan to take care of .
The first ti I had hot chocolate was when Ethan made it for . He said...
Chocolate would make people feel happy."
Chloe stirred her chocolate with a self-deprecating smile.
"The only reason I ca to like chocolate was because of Ethan."
Seraphina held her chocolate cup without speaking.
"Oh, I haven’t told you yet." Chloe took a deep breath, "You’ve probably heard about Ethan saving . That night, I was stopped by two drug-using Black people, and it was him, passing by, who got stabbed while saving , and I... contracted AIDS as a result."
At the ntion of "AIDS," Seraphina’s hand holding the chocolate cup shook slightly.
Noticing her reaction, Chloe lowered her eyelashes.
"You don’t have to worry, after that night, my brother took to the hospital in ti and I underwent preventive treatnt, so now... I’m just a carrier, I haven’t developed the disease, and we can’t infect others through contact like this."
"I..." Seraphina hastily put down the cup in her hand, "I didn’t an it like that, I don’t disdain you, I just... was a bit surprised."
Chloe looked up and t her eyes.
Sure enough, there was none of the disdain or disgust in Seraphina’s eyes that she had expected.
"As expected, my brother was right." Chloe smiled slightly, "After my situation beca known at school, classmates pointed fingers at and deliberately kept their distance, and that feeling... was like I was a plague. At that ti, I really just wanted to die."
Thinking of that ti, Chloe’s face showed a gloomy expression.
"Besides my brother, only Ethan was good to ."
ntioning Ethan, Chloe’s face showed a young girl’s longing expression.
"He’d buy treats, take to concerts, dine with , as if he didn’t know I was sick.
A man as excellent as him, any woman would be moved, and I was no different.
I know, a girl like isn’t worthy of him.
But I couldn’t control myself because only in front of him did I feel like a real person...
I selfishly wished to possess him."
Glancing at Seraphina’s expression, Chloe’s face showed an apologetic look.
"You must think I’m a bad woman, right? In fact, you’re not wrong, what I did to you was indeed despicable."
Putting down the chocolate cup in her hand, Chloe took a deep breath and raised her face solemnly.
"I ca to find you today just to solemnly apologize, of course, I know I can’t expect your forgiveness, I just wanted you to know the truth."
Seraphina’s fingers gently stroked the chocolate cup.
She didn’t know that Chloe had gone through things even more terrifying than she had.
And that event left her with a lifelong shadow.
At that mont, Seraphina fully understood Chloe’s feelings.
"I’m not that noble, and I really can’t forgive you, but..." Seraphina put down the cup in her hand, "Ethan and I are about to divorce, so... you’ve won!"
Standing up from the sofa, she picked up her bag and prepared to leave.
"Seraphina!" Chloe got up to block her, "I haven’t finished speaking, what I really want to say is not this."
Seraphina t her gaze in confusion, "Then what do you want to say?"
"What I want to say is, everything was my idea.
That day my stomachache was fake, I even faked the docunts to deliberately deceive Ethan.
He wanted to take to the hospital, afraid you’d misunderstand he wanted to call you, I stopped him, pretending to send you a ssage.
When you saw us, it was also deliberately not letting go of him.
Including that night, I also deliberately called Ethan planning to make him think I was going to kill myself again so he would co to look after ..."
Chloe’s eyes reddened, her tone apologetic.
"Including that bracelet, I bought it myself. And your brother, I also stole from my brother, and secretly mailed your and Ethan’s marriage certificate to the prison."
"You..."
Seraphina couldn’t hold back anymore, raised her right hand, and slapped her across the face.
"How can you do this, even if you hate , why target my brother?"
"I’m sorry, Seraphina, really sorry!"
Chloe didn’t resist, just stood there motionless.
"Everything was my doing, it really had nothing to do with Ethan."
After that suicide attempt, Chloe finally learned the truth of that year.
She had always mistakenly believed that the person who was with her that night was Ethan.
Thus she misunderstood that Ethan really liked her.
However, Chloe never thought that the person would be Nathan Foster, who had raised and taken care of her for many years.
Since that night, she hadn’t been able to sleep night after night.
Until she was discharged from the hospital yesterday, she only learned from Nathan that Ethan and Seraphina were getting divorced.
"Hearing from my brother that you and Ethan are getting a divorce, I... thought about it all night.
My brother was right, affairs of the heart can’t be forced, I truly feel guilty."
Last night, Chloe didn’t sleep all night.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of Ethan and Seraphina.
Guilt and self-reproach left her restless.
This morning, she deliberately ca to find Seraphina, just to apologize.
Now, having told the whole truth and been slapped, Chloe actually felt much relieved.
"You can hit , scold , hate ...
I admit it, I deserve it.
But, Ethan really never betrayed you, he truly likes you.
Between the two of us, it’s not you who lost, it’s !"
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