"Grandpa,

why didn’t you ask me to join in the dinner?"

came a silvery, cheerful voice breaking the silence at the table.

Elvira lifted her head to see a mischievous-looking girl in a ponytail, a T-shirt and suspenders walking towards the table.

She looks so lovely, Elvira thought to herself.

Randal's face instantly broke into a laugh when he saw the girl. "Gretch, you’re here. Come and let me see you."

Randal's eyes narrowed into thin lines. Clearly, he liked this girl.

Gretch scampered over to Randal. With a smile, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Grandpa," she called. Then she suddenly turned and glared at Nigel.

"Nigel, why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?"

she demanded, pouting, eyes widened.

"My lady, you would come over and know anyway,"

Nigel replied flatly after giving her a sideways look.

From the way Nigel talked to the girl, Elvira judged that they were specially connected. She was surprised that Nigel called the girl "my lady." He had never called her that in any case.

Elvira stole glances from Nigel to study his face.

But his face remained cold, hard to read.

She lowered her head in disappointment. Then Randal began to introduce the girl to her, beaming. "Elv, this is Gretchen Tang.

Gretch, this is Elvira Tao, Nigel’s wife."

Elvira stood up awkwardly and greeted Gretchen with a nod.

The smile on Gretchen’s face froze when she heard that Elvira was Nigel’s wife. The look in her eyes was icy cold when she stared at Elvira.

She sized her up insolently, not in the slightest attempt to hide her disdain.

Elvira shivered when she met Gretchen’s eyes, sensing the girl’s hostility towards her.

"Nice to meet you too,"

Gretchen responded with a smile, acting like an innocent teenager.

"Since you are here, have a seat and eat with us."

Hearing Randal’s words, she sat down with them.

Gretchen was Nigel’s childhood playmate, 25 years old, looking like an innocent schoolgirl.

They had grown up together and were very close.

Nigel had always been lukewarm and reticent. But Gretchen felt that he acted differently around her. She felt that he cared about her.

Before Preston could walk, it had been Gretchen who followed Nigel everywhere. She would do everything Nigel did. Wherever he went, she would be seen with him.

Since Gretchen followed Nigel around like a shadow, when they were little, Randal had asked jokingly if she was going to marry Nigel.

Nigel had turned his head away when he heard that.

However, Gretchen had taken it seriously. After that, she had always considered herself Nigel’s fiancée and thought they would get married sooner or later.

Then Preston was old enough to play with them. Seeing how nice Nigel was to Preston, Gretchen had once been jealous of it, because Nigel had never smiled at her like he had at Preston.

Out of jealousy, she had even created an accident, in which she had almost blinded Preston.

Preston still shivered every time he thought of that accident. Back then, they had been learning archery from Ferguson.

When it was Gretchen's turn to shoot the arrow, she aimed the arrow at the target, but then she suddenly aimed it at Preston.

Fortunately, Ferguson had been keen enough to react. In the end, the arrow flew past Preston’s temple. He bled but wasn’t seriouly injured.

From then on, Preston had avoided Gretchen in a long time. That was actually what she wanted. She wanted Preston to leave her and Nigel alone. Nigel could only be hers. Only hers.

Even his brother wasn’t allowed to share him with her.

She used to think she was special to Nigel. But when Preston came along, she realized she wasn’t. Nigel was much nicer to Preston than to her.

Nonetheless, then all of a sudden, the two brothers weren’t speaking to each other anymore.

Gretchen didn’t know what had happened, but she didn’t give a damn. She only cared about Nigel. She was happy that he was hers alone again.

Everyone in both the Tang family and the He family knew that she liked Nigel.

Gretchen’s younger sister Carley joked a lot about her affection for Nigel, but Gretchen simply didn’t care.

She was never afraid to show her feelings. She wished everyone in the world knew that she adored Nigel, so that the other girls would give up on him easily.

To her surprise, now there was this Elvira. She not only had popped out from nowhere, but also had become his wife.

Gretchen didn’t care who Elvira was.

She resolved to chase her off and make Nigel hers.

They were meant to be together.

Nobody else was good enough for her. She had liked Nigel for so many years actually her affection had developed into an obsession.

Obsession was horrifying, powerful, and addictive. It controlled one’s mind like drugs.

One could get rid of drugs with some help and willpower. But obsession wouldn’t just disappear in that way.

Gretchen told herself that she would get Nigel at any cost.

She reflected on the matter and thought that Nigel must have felt lonely after she had gone overseas to study, so he had found Elvira to be her substitute. Perhaps, Elvira had gotten pregnant and forced him to marry her.

Thinking of that, Gretchen was relieved a little. If that was the case, Nigel would get tired of Elvira very soon. By then, he would dump his wife and come back to her.

Gretchen believed that Nigel loved her.

Now that she had come home from abroad, of course Elvira should disappear and stay away from Nigel.

Stealing what is mine? You are going to pay for that! Gretchen thought viciously.