Love Behind the Facade

Andrew was stunned for a moment, then he laughed. “That’s it?”

He said a series of numbers, and it was Willow’s turn to be shocked.

That was her date of birth.

“Why did you use my birthday as your password?” she asked in a trembling voice.

Andrew kissed her forehead and said gently, “Because I love you.”

Willow was taken aback.

She did not know whether he was telling the truth. Regardless, she could no longer trust him.

Andrew handed his phone to her and said, “Are you asking me for the password to look through my phone? I’m innocent as a newborn baby, so you can check whenever you want.”

Willow took his phone and finally smiled.

Seeing that, Andrew sighed in relief and hugged her tightly. “You’re finally smiling.”

His voice was affectionate. “It’s your birthday in two days, and I’ve prepared a grand surprise for you. That’s why I won’t be able to keep you company all the time over the next few days. Will you be able to stay at home alone?”

Willow nodded. After a brief pause, she asked, “Should I ask Rias to come?”

That made Andrew fall silent. It lasted for so long that Willow thought that he was not going to answer her, but he finally said, “Go ahead.”

Willow smiled, but she had tears in her eyes. “Okay.”

Then, as Andrew was busy preparing for her birthday, Willow started packing her bags.

She put away all her belongings and said farewell to all her friends.

The day before her birthday, Andrew returned.

He hugged her and wanted to kiss her, but she avoided it by making an excuse that she was on her period.

Andrew did not force it. But he did leave behind a string of hickeys on her neck rather possessively before he whispered, “That way, everyone will know that you are mine.”

Willow said nothing and just let him kiss her.

By the time midnight arrived, Andrew was asleep, and Willow quietly grabbed his phone.

She immediately saw his chat messages with his friends.

In the chat, his friends talked about their plans for tomorrow.

[Andrew, it’s Willow’s birthday tomorrow. Didn’t you say that you’re going to play those videos you have of her when she slept with you? Why haven’t you sent those videos over?]

[That’s right. Send them over already, Andrew.]

[Didn’t you see the message, Andrew? We’ve been reminding you about it since the morning, and it’s already night now.]

With trembling fingers, Willow left the chat and went to Andrew’s folder so that she could delete those videos.

She deleted all of them and even cleared the recycle bin. Once done, she finally felt free.

The next morning, she grabbed her bags and wanted to leave.

At that moment, Andrew woke up and saw her standing at the door. For a time, he was unable to wrap his head around what he was seeing. “Babe, where are you going?”

“To pick Rias up,” Willow said calmly.

At the sight of her bags, Andrew felt puzzled. “If you’re just picking him up, why would you need to take your luggage?”

“These are my clothes for dancing. I’m going to ask Rias to take them back with him.”

Willow had become incredibly skilled at lying. Perhaps she had learned it from Andrew.

Just as she expected, she managed to fool him. He did not ask anything further and just got out of bed to hug her. “Wait for me. I’ll go with you.”

But Willow shook her head. “Let’s only go public during the birthday party. I’m worried that Rias won’t be able to accept it. Head to the party first.”

After some thought, Andrew was convinced that he had been too eager, so he patted her head and nodded. “Alright. Come back soon. I’ll wait for you at the birthday party.”

Once he washed up, he headed to the birthday party while Willow stood where she was and watched the car leave. Then, she hailed a cab and left for the airport.

The entire process of checking in, dropping off her luggage, and boarding the plane went smoothly.

When she got on the plane, Willow opened her chat with Andrew to send him a final message.

She had thought about many things to say to him.

She wanted to tell him that she had heard everything he had said in the room.

She also wanted to demand an answer to why he would do this to her.

Yet, at that very moment, when it was time to truly end things, she only typed one short message.

[Let’s break up, Andrew. I no longer love you.]

After she sent the message, the plane departed. Willow stared at the white clouds outside and blocked all of Andrew’s numbers before she turned off her phone.

She was never going to see Northvalley or Andrew ever again.