---- Chapter 29 Eve's spine stiffened instantly. "But you were already taken away by the ambulance." Lucas gave a bitter smile. "| stayed at the hospital until | heard you were out of danger. Then | left." "Shut up!" Eve shouted in disbelief. She grasped a flowerpot accidentally and hurled it at Lucas. "Do you think a bit of remorse can erase your betrayal?" The pot shattered at Lucas's feet, and the shards sliced his pant leg. He didn't dodge. He just looked deeply at Eve one last time before getting into his car. It wasn't until Lucas's car disappeared around the corner that Eve collapsed into Samuel's arms. She clung tightly to the front of his shirt, and tears soaked the fabric silently. "Is what he said true?" she choked out. "Did he really..." Samuel was silent for a moment and then nodded. "I saw the hospital surveillance footage. He was indeed there. | thought you knew it." ---- Eve shook her head, and her tears fell even more profusely. Lucas drove around the city aimlessly. He went through streets filled with memories of the time he spent with Eve together. When Eve started dating him, he was poor and powerless. The pampered young woman lived with him in a small apartment and ate street food, but she never complained. Unconsciously, Lucas found himself driving to the small apartment where he and Eve first met. He went inside on a whim. He had moved out three years ago, but everything there was still the same. There were even traces of Eve's life. A knock came on the worn shutter door, and Lucas turned to see several elegantly dressed men and women standing at the entrance. "Excuse me, are you Mr. Lucas Smith?" Lucas nodded suspiciously. "What is it?" "This is the wedding ring Miss Eve Costa ordered for you. It was supposed to be delivered here a month ago, but the door was never opened." Lucas stared blankly at them, and the key in his hand slipped to the ground with a clatter. The leading man held out a deep blue velvet box and handed ---- it to Lucas. "You might not remember it, but Eve mentioned a year ago that she wanted to give you a special birthday gift." He opened the box, and there were two rings inside it, with each other's initials engraved on the inner side. "She secretly came to us to have these rings custom-made. She told us that she wanted to surprise you on your fifth anniversary." Lucas's fingers began to tremble uncontrollably. He remembered his first proposal. He knelt on the damp concrete floor with a piece of ring from a soda can. He promised to give Eve everything in the future. And Eve had nodded through her tears. She said she didn't care about anything else and that she just wanted him. Lucas accepted the rings in frustration. After thanking the visitors, he saw them off. The basement was left with only Lucas once more. He sat on the floor and stared blankly at the rings in his hand. It turned out... Eve had once thought about marrying him. They would have had a future together. But he had pushed her away. The End