Nothing Has Ever Changed

Before Eden managed to close the door, she heard the muffled moan of a woman.

“Keep it down!” Cedric hissed while covering her mouth.

“What's there to be scared of? Everyone's asleep, it’s more exciting like this.

“Besides, don't you like it when I scream?”

This seemed to be good enough to convince Cedric, who no longer protested.

Eden stole a glance down the hallway and realized that Cedric, in his haste, hadn’t even properly closed the door in Amelie's room.

She effortlessly spotted Cedric.

Cedric’s face was flushed red. It was a complete departure from his usual cold demeanor.

Then, she looked at Amelie, who was pinned under him. There was a mix of tenderness and passion in her eyes.

The look in Cedric’s eyes was exactly the same as the one he used to reserve for Eden.

It had been ages since Cedric looked at her so longingly and intently.

It was at this point that Eden had to accept that Cedric still had the capacity for love in him, only it was no longer for her.

She was convinced her heart had completely expired, but now it started to beat and twitch again.

A terrible, throbbing pain shot through her chest. She had forgotten how suffocating this pain could be; it was choking the breath out of her.

All along, she thought she was immune. However, witnessing his infidelity in person was another degree of pain.

Finally, she blinked away the tears and looked away before closing the door and burrowing under the covers.

Despite her best attempts, she could still hear faint sounds slipping through the cracks underneath the door. She was not sure whether to attribute it to her sensitive hearing or if it was simply because the couple was getting too loud.

Each sound they made pierced into her ears.

The next morning, she went downstairs with an extremely ashen face.

Cedric approached her and asked cautiously, “Did you sleep well last night? Was the fireworks too loud?”

She was in no mood to go through the song and dance with him. All she did was shake her head and comment disinterestedly, “No, I went to bed early and had a nightmare.”

Cedric was relieved by how nonchalant she sounded.

Suddenly, the guilt and unease of his unscrupulous actions from the previous night caught up to him. He did not want to stick around any longer and immediately announced he was taking Eden and Mateo home.

Eden did not object since staying any longer would likely make her lose more sleep. Her scalp was tingling, and all she wanted was to get some rest.

Before they left, Amelie suddenly put a hand over her mouth and then alertly clutched her stomach.

All the color drained out of her face while she cried out, “Agh! My stomach hurts, it hurts so bad…

“It's coming in waves… Oh my god! I… I’m bleeding…”

Cedric frowned. A thought suddenly came to him and stirred up a mix of emotion in his eyes. Then, he shoved a set of keys into Eden's hand before rushing forward to carry Amelie in his arms.

“Eden, why don’t you drive home first? Be careful.

“I’ll take Amelie to the hospital and be right back.”

With that, he carried Amelie straight to the garage. Meanwhile, Mateo trailed behind them without needing to be told to follow.

Eden gripped the car keys tightly with a cynical glint in her eyes. She deemed that if she drove home in this state, she was more likely to get into an accident than not.

With that, she set the keys aside and hailed a taxi home to catch up on sleep.

Then, she was rudely awakened by Mateo screaming at her. Her body felt sore all over as well.