Chapter 3

Adonis didn't usually go out much and spent most of his time in the art studio. Hence, Nicholas wondered why he insisted on heading out when there was a blizzard. "You don't even have a girlfriend, Adonis. Why are you going out in this weather?" Adonis didn't know how to tell him that he was leaving the country and going abroad. He simply replied, "I... I have some errands to run." In any case, they'd probably figure it out once the car arrived at the immigration office. Nicholas didn't ask further and turned back to chat with Meredith about their plans for the day. The two of them chatted excitedly, almost as if they'd forgotten Adonis was in the backseat. During a pause at a red light, Nicholas rubbed his eyes and asked Meredith to blow on them for him. She didn't refuse and cupped his face gently, her movements tender and caring. Just as their faces were almost touching, Adonis turned away and stared at the swirling snowflakes outside the window. When they were almost at their destination, Nicholas suddenly said he wanted to go back to grab a jacket. There was one mile left before Adonis would reach his destination. Meredith didn't even think twice and immediately said it was out of the way. She then suggested that Adonis catch another ride. Adonis gave a bitter smile but didn't argue. He got out of the car without a word. In the next second, the black Cayenne sped off, kicking up a trail of snow behind it. There wasn't a soul or a car in sight. Adonis trudged through the snow for a whole mile until he reached the immigration office and submitted his documents. When he finished and stepped outside, he unexpectedly ran into his senior high homeroom teacher, Cara Gilbert. They exchanged a few pleasantries. Cara seemed surprised to hear that Adonis planned to immigrate. "Are you going to stay there and never return? Has your sister-in-law agreed to that?" Adonis didn't know why she suddenly brought up Meredith, so he quickly made up an excuse. "She agreed to it. After all, we're not related by blood. I'm a grown man now, so I can't keep troubling her. Going abroad to broaden my horizons would do me good." Cara nodded with a sigh, lost in thought for a moment. "Even though you're not blood-related, Ms. Irving really went above and beyond for you. I remember she had an appendicitis flare-up when you were falsely accused of plagiarism at that competition. But right after her surgery, she rushed to the competition site to stand up for you. "Then there was that time you fell at school—she abandoned a multimillion-dollar deal just to take you to the hospital. And when those thugs started harassing you, she was the one who got someone to teach them a lesson…" As Cara recounted those incidents, Adonis' mind drifted back to the past as well. When Cara was finally done reminiscing, she clasped Adonis' hand and urged him to never forget Meredith's kindness and to repay her properly. Adonis nodded quietly. He had indeed thought about it long and hard. Before he left, he would repay her for all those years. To Meredith, the best repayment that would most please her was probably news of his departure. If he left, she wouldn't have to worry that he'd keep clinging to her and refuse to let go. The moment Adonis got home, he changed out of his snow-soaked clothes and sat down at his desk to calculate everything seriously. He had lived in Irving Villa for quite some time. Over the years, he had the habit of keeping track of his monthly and annual expenses, so it didn't take long for him to come up with an approximate total. In addition to that base value, there were countless hidden expenses that were hard to quantify. Thus, he decided to repay Meredith three times the estimated amount. That morning, he had already sorted through all the gifts Meredith had ever given him and put them up for sale on an auction website. Next, he contacted a real estate agent to put the Solheim residence up for sale too. After Adonis had done all that, he lay down on his bed and let out a breath of relief. Then, his phone started buzzing. He glanced at it and saw that Nicholas had sent him a dozen photos and a message that read, "Adonis, Meredith, and I are going to Hevorn for a few days. Please take care at home." Adonis didn't even need to tap in to display the photos. He knew that they were photos of Meredith and Nicholas showing off their relationship. Since they went public, Nicholas would send a batch of these photos after every date they went on. In the past, seeing these photos would upset Adonis so much that he couldn't sleep. His eyes were always puffy the next day as a result of his bawling through the night. But now, he had decided to view Meredith as nothing more than family. Hence, Nicholas' actions didn't trigger any adverse reactions in him anymore. Whether Nicholas did it intentionally or not, Adonis didn't care to figure it out. He replied without much emotion, "Okay. Enjoy yourselves."