Hayden saw a woman both familiar and strange, her face shrouded in gloom that couldn’t be dispelled. “Aurora, I’m here.” He had thought long about what to say when they met, but upon seeing her, he swallowed back his words, a bitter taste filled his throat.
“Do you mind if I smoke?” Although she asked, she was already lighting a cigarette with practiced ease. Her nails were painted a dark red, which made her slender, fair fingers even more striking. Her need for cigarettes wasn’t great, but she would smoke when annoyed, such as now upon seeing Hayden. Though she had let go of their past, just seeing his face involuntarily brought back images of him and Susan in bed. She had once liked Hayden, and the thought still nauseated her.
Seeing the dramatic change in Aurora’s demeanor, Hayden was overwhelmed by mixed feelings. “Aurora, smoking is bad for your health.”
“Spare me your lecture, Mr. Alvarez. We agreed today was just for catching up, so from what position are you lecturing me?” Aurora looked at him disdainfully, expertly exhaling smoke, her smoking bearing a fatal attraction to men.
“Aurora, I know you still blame me. There was more to the situation three years ago. That day, I was actually planning to propose to you. But Susan tricked me into her room and drugged me, making me mistake her for you. I have been regretting that ever since.” He felt his actions had greatly hurt Aurora, turning her into the person she was today.
Aurora responded coolly, “Even if what you say is true, you’re about to get engaged to her. Is there really any point in explaining to me?” She saw love like the smoke dancing in the air, visible, yet when reached for, nothing but emptiness.
After hearing his explanation, she thought of Julian. She remembered the night she returned home and the incident in the bar’s restroom. Julian was also drugged, but unlike Hayden, he had tried to throw them up in the restroom despite being at a club where he could have sought relief with any woman. They faced similar situations but with different outcomes. Was it that Hayden lacked self-control, or were they simply not meant to be?
“Aurora, although I wasn’t sober then, I felt responsible for her and must make up for my mistake.”
“You really are a considerate man. No wonder I liked you so much.” Aurora almost wanted to applaud him if he were as good as his words suggested. If that were true, how could he sit so calmly across from her now? He was here to meet his former lover, yet he kept their meeting from Susan, whom he claimed responsibility for. He was merely afraid of Susan’s discovery of his fickle heart.
She stood up, leaned over, and playfully lifted his chin while blowing smoke into his face. Aurora’s face flickered within the smoke like a siren, far more seductive than she had been in the past. Hayden almost instinctively pulled her into his arms.
But she had already stepped back. “Mr. Alvarez, please show some respect. You’re about to be engaged.”
Aurora elegantly stubbed out her cigarette.
“But I loved you. I…”
“Excuse me, sir, ma’am. Here are your drinks and steak.” The waiter’s voice from beyond the curtain interrupted Hayden before he could continue.
Two steaks and some desserts were laid out on the table. Hayden glanced over, remembering how Aurora used to detest steaks.
Moreover, she didn’t like those desserts either. How had everything changed since she had returned?
“Please enjoy your meal,” the waiter said quickly before exiting.
Facing the exquisite dishes, Hayden felt no appetite. “Aurora, didn’t you used to hate steaks and desserts?”
“Don’t you know that preferences can change? Just like how I once loved you,” Aurora retorted, draining her glass of red wine in one gulp.
Watching her throw her head back and downed her drink, Hayden remembered Aurora used to choke on even a sip of alcohol.
Apart from her face, he could no longer see any trace of the old Aurora in her.
“Aurora, alcohol and cigarettes are not good things.” Hayden suddenly missed the girl who used to hold his hand and smile sweetly.
But those days were gone. Aurora just coldly chuckled, without responding, and quietly cut into her steak.
Seeing her silence, Hayden asked, “Aurora, why didn’t you contact me at all during these years in America?”
Hayden only knew that Susan had drugged him. He was unaware of what the Montgomery family had done to Aurora.
He didn’t know that her escape to America was not out of heartbreak but to carve out a successful future for herself.
She no longer wanted a life controlled by others. If she hadn’t left, she would have continued to live under the Montgomery family’s manipulation, perhaps never seeing another sunrise.
But few knew about the truth.
“I was determined to cut ties with all of you,” Aurora coldly replied.
Hayden met her icy gaze, realizing that Aurora had changed drastically, and he couldn’t fathom what she was thinking now.
“Aurora, take my portion. I haven’t touched it,” Hayden said, swapping his freshly cut steak with hers.
If he was willing to serve, why should she refuse? Naturally, she forked a piece of his steak.
“Do you do the same for Susan at home?” she asked lightly, emphasizing the word “same” as she wiped the juice from her lips and chewed on the steak. Hayden felt a chill in his heart.
But he quickly regained his composure, knowing no woman could accept what had happened three years ago. It was normal for her to be upset.
“I’ve never been good to any other woman but you. I only got engaged to Susan to make amends, nothing more,” Hayden earnestly stated, recalling how the naive Aurora would have admired his loyalty.
But the now worldly Aurora could see right through Hayden’s true intentions.
He was ostensibly marrying a woman he didn’t love to make amends for his mistake, thereby wasting Susan’s time, while simultaneously maintaining a heated relationship with his ex-girlfriend. Apologizing to her while planning to get engaged to another woman, he truly was “considerate”.
“You don’t need to explain your actions towards her to me. We had nothing to do with each other long ago, and today we are merely old friends catching up,” Aurora said elegantly, forking another piece of steak.
“You know what? Although the decor of this restaurant remains the same, the taste of the dishes has changed,” she continued.
Even though the presentation was the same as before, the flavor had already changed. The restaurant had a new chef.
“Mr. Alvarez, the same goes for our relationship. We have both changed, and we cannot return to the past. After this meal, let us both go our separate ways.”