---- Chapter 13 At the Stephens family's house, Jake was uneasy. "What do you mean you can't reach Eva? Didn't she go abroad to relax?" "Not exactly..." Richard hesitated and then decided to tell Jake everything. "Miss Eva didn't go abroad to relax. She has left the Stephens family completely and will never come back." Jake was amused. "No matter where she goes, there's always a way to reach her. My parents raised her for decades, and I've treated her... How could she be so heartless as to leave the Stephens family completely?" Richard sighed heavily and said, "Ever since Ryann came back, Eva followed Mr. and Mrs. Stephens' words and tried to persuade you to cut ties with Ryann. But you didn't listen and even broke her heart. So she talked to Jacob, who allowed her to leave. Even Ellen and James..." Jake frowned tightly as he blurted out, "We're still married. She..." Jake froze and then realized that he had divorced Eva. He had urgently gathered all the necessary documents and arranged for the divorce to be finished quickly through some ---- connections because he wanted Ryann to get better back then. Yet he hadn't expected Eva to leave. Jake felt empty in his heart. He made a call and asked the one on the other end to investigate Eva's whereabouts. But the response was that they couldn't find any information about Eva at all. Where had she gone? Where was she now? He had no idea. Jake was in a panic. He picked up his phone and intended to call Eva's friends, only to realize that Eva didn't have any friends. She was cute when she was a little girl and good-tempered. She was often bullied when he wasn't around. Later, he stayed by her side constantly and took her everywhere with him. No one bullied her anymore, but she had no other friends. As she grew older, she always mentioned her friends with him. "| want to hang out with my friends, Jake." "A friend asked me out, Jake." "I'm going out with my friends, Jake." But Jake couldn't get used to it. He wasn't used to her smiling at others, having endless conversations with them, or sharing ---- her time with them. He began to sulk, giving Eva the silent treatment. When he saw her anxiously apologizing and trying to make it up to him, his heart softened a bit. When he saw her anxiously apologizing and trying to make it up to him, he felt much better. "Eva, you're still young. You can't tell if others have good intentions or not. Wait until you're a bit older. Then you can make friends, okay?" Eva cared about him the most and relied on him more than anyone else. So even though she was reluctant, she gradually distanced herself from her friends. Later, when she went to college and had a conflict with Ryann, she grew distant from him. She must have made some friends then, but he didn't know any of them. Later, they got married. After that, she focused entirely on him. She cut off all her social ties and dedicated herself fully to being the perfect wife. Jake sat down with depression. He listened to his friends calling him back one by one. "Sorry, Jake, but | can't reach Eva." "Eva never called me." ---- "Eva blocked me." "| heard from a friend that she might have started a new life abroad under a different identity." "Jake, why bother now? You didn't cherish her before, so why do you look for her now?" Jake was lost. That was right. Why did he look for her? Did he want to accuse her of being ungrateful for not staying with his parents? Or would he blame her for leaving without a word and making him and his parents worry? "Jake, I've always been curious. Did you really never have any feelings for Eva? But in high school, you secretly kissed her." Jake's mind exploded. Did he really kiss her?