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Her lips pressed together, eyes stinging. Even after she had pushed him away for over a year, Jeremy came the moment she reached out. No questions. No anger.

And now… he was the only person who didn’t make her feel insane.

***

Across the street, Lucas stepped out of his car after a business meeting. Amelia was right beside him, struggling to keep up with his long strides in her pencil skirt and heels. Her eyes casually drifted across the street—and froze.

There, at a riverside table, sat Emily.

And next to her… Jeremy.

“What’s she doing here?” Amelia whispered, her eyes wide in disbelief. Her gaze locked onto the man sitting across from Emily, and a smirk curled on her lips.

“Lucas… is that… Emily?” she said sweetly, tugging on his arm and pointing across the street. “That’s her, right?”

Lucas halted mid-step.

He turned toward her, following the direction of her pointed finger. His eyes narrowed the moment he saw Emily and Jeremy, sitting together, laughing.

“I think she’s just meeting a friend,” Amelia said innocently. “That man is really handsome, though. But I’m sure it’s nothing serious. After all, she’s still your girlfriend. Why would she meet other men?”

Lucas’s blood was already boiling.

He didn’t wait.

Without another word, he stormed across the street, fury burning in his eyes.

Back at the table, Emily was mid-laugh at something Jeremy said when Lucas appeared—like a shadow falling across the sunlight.

Emily’s body tensed, eyes jerking upward. She shot to attention, startled to see him there so suddenly.

“I told you not to meet this man again. Didn’t I?” Lucas growled, his voice icy. His cold gaze shifted briefly to Jeremy with contempt, but then locked firmly on Emily.

She stayed seated, eyes flicking between him and Amelia, who had now appeared at Lucas’s side with a smug smile on her lips.

“So?” Emily said calmly, folding her arms. “You say something and I’m supposed to treat it like law?”

Jeremy burst out laughing again, unable to hold it in. The scene was far too good.

Lucas’s burning glare turned to him, but Jeremy just coughed into his fist, trying to suppress his amusement.

“Emily.” Lucas’s jaw clenched as he stared her down. “I told you—I don’t like you meeting him. Why can’t you listen to me? Why are you wandering around the city with another man?”

Emily raised an eyebrow. “And you’re roaming around with another woman, but you don’t hear me complaining about it?” She looked pointedly at Amelia, then back to him. “You bring her home. She joins you for breakfast. She follows you around like a shadow. But you have a problem with me having friends?”

Jeremy nearly choked trying not to laugh, his eyes wide in pure entertainment.

He wasdyingwith amusement.

He had never seen this side of Emily before.

And neither had Lucas.

The look on Lucas’s face was priceless. Jeremy could barely hold in his laughter, his entire body shaking as he watched the drama unfold before him. The powerful, arrogant man who once hadEmily wrapped around his little finger was now standing red-faced while she challenged him without blinking.

‘This woman... the same Emily who wouldn’t even dare to say no to Lucas if he told her to stand up—is now back-talking him?’ Jeremy thought, biting back a smirk. ‘Now I can finally believe she’s forgotten all about him. The Emily I knew would never speak to Lucas like that. She used to be so obsessed with him that if he so much as said come home, she’d drop everything and leave within a minute. Now she’s questioning him to his face?’

Lucas took a step closer to Emily, his tone calm but firm, trying to reason with her. “Emily, I’ve told you again and again… Amelia is just an old friend. There’s nothing between us. It’s an innocent friendship.”