CHAPTER 3: CHAPTER 3: MUST BE OUT OF MY MIND

Vivian Miller walked into Eugene Vaughn’s room and pulled open the curtains.

Bright, dazzling light filled the clean and tidy room.

On the light gray two-meter bed, Eugene slept in an upright position, his brows knitting tightly from the sudden brightness.

Vivian Miller walked over and knelt by his bedside.

His body stiffened slightly, and his steady breathing gradually became rapid.

Although his eyes were closed, he was already awake,

Vivian Miller leaned closer, her fingertips slowly tracing down his handsome, high-bridged nose.

Eugene suddenly raised his hand, grabbing hold of the restless finger.

His eyes remained shut, his chest rising and falling intensely.

Vivian Miller tried to pull her finger away, but Eugene held it firmly, showing no intent to release it.

His unusual action made Vivian’s face instantly redden, feeling both elated and shy, "Eugene, wake up."

Hearing her voice, Eugene frowned tightly and opened his eyes.

At the moment his eyes met Vivian’s, his pupils contracted sharply, as if burnt, and he quickly let go of her hand.

Sitting up straight, the silky gray duvet fell to his waist, with a slight disappointment from the misunderstanding, "Why are you here?"

Vivian knew he had a cleanliness obsession and quickly left his bed, "Last night, your jacket was left at the club, so I dropped by to bring it."

Eugene lowered his head, tousling his jet-black short hair, "Take it, throw it away."

He seemed to have lost his mind, actually imagined it was Victoria Sinclair entering his room and secretly touching his nose.

Vivian was quite puzzled, "No one wore it. It’s such an expensive piece of clothing, why throw it away?"

Last night, he was blindfolded and taken to a private club room. When he tore off the cloth, a dancer was circling around, touching him and wearing a fragrant perfume that made him nauseous. He hadn’t reacted when he was pushed onto a couch, and at the same time, Victoria burst in with her friends, causing last night’s misunderstanding.

Eugene didn’t plan to explain to Vivian, asking impatiently in a cold tone, "Remember what I told you all?"

Of course, Vivian remembered that prior to Eugene’s wedding, he specifically instructed all his brothers not to visit his home without his invitation.

"I remember."

"Why did you still come up?" Eugene picked up his phone from the bedside table, glancing at the normal signal, "Can’t you call if there’s something?"

Vivian felt increasingly guilty, knowing that Eugene was extremely astute and her little tricks were futile against him.

"I was just curious and wanted to look at your house."

Eugene paused for a moment, lifted the duvet and got out of bed, silently passing her and walking out of the room.

Vivian followed behind him.

Eugene walked straight to the living room door, pulling it open with one hand.

His indifferent attitude was very clear.

Vivian pouted, standing still.

"What you shouldn’t see, you’ve probably already seen. Your curiosity is satisfied, now you can leave."

"I haven’t even had a sip of water, is this how you treat your guests?"

"Downstairs, turn left to the café, drink as much as you want, send me the bill." Eugene’s eyes darkened a bit, speaking with a slight impatience, "If there’s a next time, I’ll throw you off the balcony."

Though childhood sweethearts, Vivian dared not challenge Eugene’s authority with her whims. She walked out, and as she turned, the door was already closed.

Eugene entered the kitchen, poured a cup of ice water from the fridge, and took a sip, the coldness piercing to his core.

He held the water, one hand in his pocket, standing by the balcony next to the dining table, gazing at the distant view outside the window.

The morning light was faint, the sky clean and bright as if washed.

The warm light lit up his handsome profile, casting a hint of melancholy through the softness.

He turned back, his eyes falling on the dining table.

Under the transparent cover were two deep bowls, the soup and tomato egg noodles separated, with a pair of chopsticks placed on a clean napkin.

His gaze dimmed, turning his face back to the window, gulping down the water in the cup.

Inside the house, the robotic vacuum cleaner rotated silently and routinely.

The washing machine was also running quietly.

Everything seemed exceptionally cold and still, like a dead pond.

——

A ten-minute walk, Victoria Sinclair had just entered the pharmaceutical laboratory when she ran into Angela Austin rushing out with a panicked look.

"Victoria, just in time, experiment monkey number 9 is dead."

Victoria quickened her pace, entered the office, dropped her bag, and slipped on her lab coat while heading towards the lab.

Angela followed closely, voice urgent, "All indicators were fine last night, didn’t expect it’d be gone by morning."

"The new drug still has toxins." Victoria summarized while buttoning up as she walked.

"Sarah Lowell..." Angela tried to mend the relationship with Sarah Lowell, after all, the three of them had been roommates for four years at university, building a deep friendship, not wanting it to just break apart like this.

Victoria interrupted, "Don’t mention her."

"Then you and Eugene..."

"Angela, during work time, I don’t want to talk about personal matters."

Angela resigned, "Alright, let’s talk business then. Our company’s running out of funds, the new project is also close to a halt, can’t you ask your incredibly wealthy husband to invest a little bit?"

Speaking of their pharmaceutical company, it was pitifully small.

Only four people in total, one market sales representative, one financial officer, Angela, in name as the manager, but actually doing assistant work, while Victoria Sinclair was the company’s legal representative and also the drug developer.

Victoria had been the good child in everyone’s eyes since childhood, obedient and smart as a whip.

During school years, she was the most dazzling yet unreachable star, excelled in academics, and was beautiful as well.

She studied pharmacology, researching rare disease drugs since college, and currently held two drug patents.

The money she earned from patents funded her pharmaceutical company, renting this not-so-large laboratory to continue fueling her dream.

Victoria stepped into the lab, examining the corpse of the monkey on the mat, casually responding to Angela, "Anyone but him can be asked for investment."

Angela put her hands on her hips, "If you keep going like this, you won’t even be able to pay the salesperson’s salary."

"If worse comes to worst, I’ll get a part-time teaching job at the medical school, earn some extra cash to pay the salesperson."

Angela raised an eyebrow, "And what about my salary?"

Victoria looked up at her, smiling sweetly, "Give you my hand in marriage?"

Angela finally saw a smile on Victoria’s gloomy face, releasing the tension she had held, "I’ll take that offer."

Evening.

The city lights came on, the neon lights dazzling and brilliant.

A slight drizzle was falling from the sky.

After work, Victoria stopped by the supermarket, bought groceries, and returned home to make a solitary dinner.

After dinner, she read for a while, then washed up and went to bed at ten o’clock sharp.

Their schedules rarely overlapped.

When she slept, Eugene hadn’t come home. When she got up for work, Eugene was still asleep.

If it was a day off, they would occasionally encounter each other, yet avoid each other to not feel uneasy.

Victoria hadn’t been lying down long before she was asleep, when she heard her phone ringing in a daze.

She groped for her phone, sleepily looking at the screen.

Seeing Eugene Vaughn’s name instantly brought her to full attention, sitting up quickly.

In the two years of marriage, that number never rang on her phone again.

So abrupt, she felt somewhat anxious.

Living under the same roof, calling her at eleven at night was indeed unusual, she took a deep breath, answered and put it to her ear, speaking in a gentle tone, "What’s up?"

On the other end, Eugene’s deep voice was wrapped in grief, "Grandfather passed away, pack your things, I’ll come to get you."

"Passed away?" Victoria hadn’t yet grasped the meaning.