After Muffin had been given to Ruby, Kevan brought back Ruby's kitten for Larissa as compensation. Objectively speaking, Ruby's kitten was quite pretty and cute too. If it was the one who came to the house first, Larissa would have loved it as if it was her own son. But this hypothesis was disproved as Larissa only had Muffin in her heart for a long time now. So, she treated this new kitten very blandly.Of course, she would not mistreat it—but that was the extent of it. She would not take the initiative to play with it or bring it up into her lap to love on. When it came over to her, meowing with affection, she would deliberately distance herself from it to reduce any close interactions.In contrast, Kevan loved this kitten more than he loved Muffin. It was probably because they had traded places—she became Kevan in terms of attitude, and he became her instead.Larissa did not know what caused Kevan's sudden change—was it that this kitten once belonged to Ruby, or was it because he

Violet took the kitten away, just as Larissa wished.When Kevan got home that night, he did not hurry to eat, but circled the living room and called "Muffin!" anxiously. He'd named that kitten Muffin too.Larissa never used that name due to her feelings of displeasure.Kevan did not find the kitten, so he hurried to check the bedroom and the study, before finally coming to the dining hall where Larissa was.She was eating her dinner quietly. Ever since Muffin was sent away, she rarely initiated conversation with him.Kevan asked her, "Have you seen Muffin?""Muffin?" A mocking smile appeared on Larissa's face. "Didn't you give her to Ruby?"Kevan was struck momentarily speechless by her, and his face darkened as he said coldly, "I meant my Muffin."He deliberately emphasized the word "my"."Oh." Larissa was dismissive. "I got Mom to take it back with her."The coldness in Kevan's eyes grew stronger."Why didn't you discuss it with me before doing that?" He confronted her."

"Why don't we go shopping?" Violet suggested. "It's spring now, so it's also time to buy some clothes according to the changing of the seasons."Larissa wanted to go out too, but shopping …"Would it be inconvenient for you, seeing as I'm like this?" She looked down at her leg."What's inconvenient about that?" Violet was unfazed. "Besides, today is Monday. There shouldn't be anyone in the malls."Larissa thought about it and figured that Violet was right, so she followed her out with ease.…Violet brought Larissa to the most high-end mall in Bartham. The brands established here are all famous international brands. Few people came to this mall, so there were even fewer people during weekdays. Other than the staff, there were not many patrons there.Violet was a regular here. A few shop assistants from some high-end brands knew her. The moment they saw her, they rushed over and treated her as if she were their own mother, hugging her arm and trading pleasantries at once with smi

The pet shop on the third floor was as big as two luxury brand stores, unlike other malls where they could only occupy a tiny corner of the building. The walls outside were filled with painted pet cartoons, and the interior was decorated cutely too.The moment Larissa went inside, she was attracted by the cat display section, which was large enough to occupy a huge amount of space."Those are the kitties that customers have left here to be pet-sat!" A young girl wearing a cat ear hairband as well as a kitty apron came over and reminded her gently. "If you'd like to buy a cat, please follow me here!" She indicated the door nearby.Larissa rejected her well-meaning gesture. "It's alright. I'm just looking around."The girl did not chase her away nor display any annoyance. "Sure! Go ahead!" She remained agreeable.It was probably because this pet shop was quite famous because there were a lot of cats being pet-sat here. Larissa looked over every cat before finally finding a Ragdoll k

"What did you say? Muffin is ill? Which Muffin?" she asked anxiously.The kitten in the cage had been brought out by Kevan, and it was currently lying on the sofa motionlessly, just as dead as Larissa when she was asleep. Even if her brain was muddled right now, Larissa could sense that something was wrong."When did it get sick?" she asked Kevan. She only got another sneer from Kevan. "You don't even know having been at home for the whole day, how would I know?"With that, he brought the kitten into his arms and headed anxiously to the entrance hall. Larissa followed him closely. When Kevan was changing his shoes, Larissa randomly pulled out a pair of winter boots from the shoe cabinet too, and put them on."What are you doing?" Kevan asked her."Aren't you going to send it to the vet? I'm going with you." Larissa gazed at the motionless kitty. Even if she sidelined the kitten, her heart was anxious over its current condition too."Didn't you hate it?" Kevan's hand dropped ont

Kevan's voice was so much more chilling than the piercing cold wind outside.Larissa's heart became colder, her expression smoothing out into calm."I went out with Mom today and only came back around 6 pm or so. When I did, I showered and went straight to bed. Then, you woke me up," she said. "I admit that I don't like this kitten and that I've never cared about it. But I swear that I have never thought of wishing that it would get ill or die."Kevan stared fixedly at her, trying to catch any hints of lies from her face, but there were none. He knew all too well that if she wanted to find an excuse to escape accountability, she did not need to drag his mother into it. Knowing that he had misunderstood her, Kevan felt a little guilty. But when he heard her admit that she did not like this kitten, he was still rather displeased with her."Is it because once you've decided on that cat, all other cats cannot hold a candle to it?" His eyes darkened, containing a kind of complicated emo

Larissa's answer caused Kevan's heart to sink into his stomach. He had dared to hold on to some hope, wishing that she would say a few words to convince him otherwise. But reality dealt a fatal blow to him anyway."Tomorrow, then." Kevan's voice was deliberately casual.It would be good to end this relationship faster because it meant that he would not have to dream about something so unattainable ever again.Watching his relieved expression, Larissa clenched her fists. "Sure." She forced a smile onto her face. "I won't need your money. It's not like our marriage was real anyway, so to take half of your money at this stage would not make any sense. But …" She licked her lips. "Could you please return my Muffin to me?"Her somewhat humble plea caused Kevan's heart to shudder. However, he did not wish to change the kitten back, regardless of whether or not it was because of the current situation or due to his own selfishness."No," he said flatly, his face dark.Although this refus

Kevan and Larissa both froze.If this was before, Kevan would have rejected Dylan's unreasonable request and had him take a cab to come over, but today …He looked down at Larissa and asked for her opinion with his eyes."Let's go to the airport then."The moment she said that, both of them breathed quiet sighs of relief. The elevator happened to arrive right at this moment too.Kevan asked Larissa, "You want to come along?" She nodded and said, "Sure." Ever since she came to Bartham, she rarely contacted her friends in Covenford.After the new year, Dylan's career seemed to take off. She frequently saw him posting on Instagram in the dead hours of the night, creating stories about how he was still up reviewing case files. Afraid that she would disturb him, Larissa never took the initiative to contact him.The truth was, she missed him quite a bit.Naturally, Dylan heard them talking. "Are you with Larissa?" he asked Kevan, who grunted in affirmation. "She's coming with me

Larissa smiled calmly. "Yeah."Kevan glanced at her through the rearview mirror and pressed his lips tightly together, not uttering a single word."Speaking of which, I haven't asked." Larissa changed the subject. "What are you doing in Bartham?""Huh? Kevan didn't tell you?" Dylan eyed said man in confusion before turning to look at Larissa again. "Kevan has a friend who wants to get a divorce. The lawyer hired previously suddenly quit and left, so I got called back."A "friend" of Kevan's who wanted to get a divorce … Larissa could only think of Ruby. If she could be considered his "friend" too, well, she was probably another one who wanted to get a divorce too."Oh." Larissa did not show any visible facial changes. "I heard about that."Hearing no changes in her voice, Kevan's grip tightened on the steering wheel."Then, where are you staying?" Larissa asked."My home, of course!" Dylan replied matter-of-factly.Larissa suddenly realized her question was a little dumb."My

Dylan noticed keenly that Kevan did not seem to be in a good mood. The moment he got into the car, he retrieved his sunglasses from the glove compartment and put them on, his aura screaming "stay away from me!""Hey!" Dylan poked his arm and asked, "No new developments with Larissa?"Kevan's lips were pressed even more tightly together, and his eyes narrowed with displeasure behind the sunglasses."She doesn't like me. What developments are there to be had?" His voice was cold, but Dylan could hear some bitterness in it."Didn't I tell you that she had feelings for you?" Dylan's frustration was palpable."Only that." It did not mean that she liked him. Otherwise, why would she constantly mention fulfilling him and Ruby Cole?"You need to work hard to turn 'having feelings for you' into 'liking you'!" Dylan knew without even needing to think that Kevan could not lower himself to woo Larissa, but waited for her to get close to him instead. Although his face could cause many women t