He then scoffed at himself, realizing he was dwelling on nothing more than an illusion.

In the days that followed, Marcus started attending blind dates.

But none of the blind dates went well; either he was dissatisfied with the girls or the girls couldn't handle his picky nature.

Photos of him dining and meeting with socialites were regularly featured in various financial and entertainment magazines, painting Marcus as the playboy of the Fowler family.

In Warsew.

In a small cafe, Melissa, dressed as a waitress, quietly looked at the man plastered on the big screen.

It was Marcus, the president of Fowler Group.

The news featured him having a dinner date with the granddaughter of a renowned chip magnate, and he still exuded the same refined elegance as before. The untimely end to their relationship seemed to have left no trace on him.

She knew he had tried and looked for her.

She presumed he knew about her secrets now. If so, then it was only natural that he despised her.

Melissa withdrew her gaze from the TV, reassuring herself that she should be happy that things turned out the way she expected.

“Excuse me! Could you please clean the table?" Someone called her over.

Melissa immediately came to her senses and meticulously wiped the table. She was diligent and thorough in her work, and the owner of the cafe really appreciated her, paying her a decent wage.

But no matter how decent the pay was, it wasn't enough. She took on two jobs, working a total of 16 hours a day, sometimes even more.

After all, she needed to repay that $800, 000.

Melissa didn't know why she was so insistent on returning the money to Marcus. Would repaying him ease her conscience? At least, she hoped it make her seem less like a deceiver.

That night in the attic wouldn't seem as unbearable if she could pay back her debt.

Later that night, an exhausted Melissa sat on a bench by the bus stop.

The night bus came every 3 minutes.

In the cool, rainy night, she tightly hugged herself, concealing her form in the shadows... She tried to numb herself and think happy thoughts, shoving that image of that person to the back of her mind.