Chapter 8
Social media was still buzzing with endless gossip.
First, it was that Alice was Gregory’s lover, and then it evolved into me being heartless and ungrateful. Yesterday, a paparazzi snapped photos of me and Edward at the airport, and now the rumors were saying I had been cheating all along, which was why my relationship with Gregory fell apart.
- ད་པ་ ་་ ་་པ ་་་པ་འད་པ་ ་་སཔཔ་་
་པ་
.་ ས་་པ ་་་་་ ་་
པ་་ས་་་་པ ་་་་ པས་་་སུ་་་ས་ ་་པས་་པ ཕ་་སུ་ས་ས་ས་‧ ་་པ་ས་ཕས་ -P–Pས་པ་ པ་ཡ་་་པཔ་པ་ལ་
of me and Edward at the airport, and now the rumors were saying I had been cheating all along, which was why my relationship with Gregory fell apart.
I couldn’t help but laugh. When I glanced down at my phone, the screen showed a message from Alice’s other account.
It was a photo of her spending the night at a villa on the mountainside.
[Last night, Gregory asked me to stay over. What do you think he’ll do tonight?]
[Gregory is a man of responsibility now that the shackles are gone.]
[Katherine, your husband is mine now.]
She was trying to provoke me, but my heart had long since become unmoved.
Edward poured me a cup of coffee, briefly glancing at my phone screen with concern, and then said in a deep voice.
“Ms. Buckley.
“I’ll make sure you get the justice you deserve.”
I didn’t answer him. Instead, I asked, “I heard my father introduced you to several young ladies, hoping you’d settle down.
“Why did you refuse?”
Edward seemed surprised by my question. He looked down, absently tracing the rim of his coffee cup.
After a long silence, I asked again, “Is it because of me?”
He suddenly looked up, meeting my gaze before quickly averting his eyes as if hiding a tinge of guilt.
In the five years since, although Edward and I hadn’t met, he always sent me an extravagant gift on my birthday.
He spent lavishly.
And from time to time, he would transfer money to my account.
He nearly gave me everything he had earned. I had rejected him many times, but he remained persistent.
Later, I called him and finally lost my temper.
I said, “Edward, you saved me once, I helped you once, so we’re even.
“My father brought you into the company, and you’ve made it to where you are today because of your own efforts.
“You don’t owe me anything. I’m not your creditor. What you’re doing will only ruin my marriage and make Gregory misunderstand our relationship.”
After that conversation, Edward stopped transferring money to me.
The gifts he sent were more modest, just enough to show his thoughtfulness.
“Edward, I told you, you don’t owe me.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Edward pressed his lips and said, “No.”
“What?”
He looked at me with his faint smile, his eyes filled with affection.
“I like you, Ms. Buckley.
“I know that I am not worthy of you.
<
“I never expected you to look at me, but my heart belongs to you. I don’t want to lie to myself or waste anyone’s time.”
As Edward’s words faded, I looked up to study him quietly.
He was the same age as me, but he had matured far earlier.
The first time I saw him, he was shy and out of place.
Now, he had become the backbone of the company, the person my father valued most.
Last night, after I returned to Buckley Manor, my father talked to me for a long time, discussing the future of the company and my future.
In the end, he asked me two questions.
The first one was, “Do you still love Gregory?”
I shook my head, giving a negative answer.
But for the second question, I was silent.
He asked, “Would you be willing to marry Edward?”
My father was planning to retire soon. Although Edward had worked with him for many years, he was not really part of the Buckley family.
I had once been confused, but now, I had an answer.
“Edward, will you marry me?”
