The sky had gradually brightened as the sunshine shone through the window onto Tessa’s pale complexion.

Sitting by the window for the entire night, she had only drifted into a light sleep when the sun came up.

However, her sleep was restless, and she kept dreaming about Stephen. She had even woken up in fright a few times in between.

In her last dream, she had dreamt of Stephen and Nancy holding hands as they stood before her.

Stephen’s eyes had been filled with warmth, and he looked happy. He had told her he was about to get married and also reminded her to attend his wedding.

Tessa had cried in her dreams, and when she woke up, her cheeks were covered in tears.

Michelle had knocked on her door, asking, “Ms. Yates, are you awake? It’s time for lunch.”

Wiping her tears away, Tessa walked to open the door, answering, “Ms. Mercer, you can go ahead first. I’ll take a shower and change my clothes before heading downstairs.”

Seeing the dark circles around Tessa’s eyes and her fragile complexion, Michelle hesitated momentarily. Then, she commented, “Ms. Yates, did you not rest well last night?”

Michelle did not use Twitter, so she did not know about the rumors circulating about Stephen. She also wasn’t aware that Stephen and Tessa were engaged and that the engagement had been called off.

She only knew that Stephen and Tessa were a couple and that he cared deeply about Tessa.

Stephen had even reminded her to take good care of Tessa, so when Michelle saw Tessa looking so fragile, she could not help but ask out of concern.

Tessa was exhausted. She had only slept for five hours, which had not been fruitful. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Michelle did not ask any more questions. Instead, she suggested, “You should go and shower. I’ll put the food back in the pot to keep it warm. I’m afraid it’ll get cold in a while.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. This is part of my job.”

Once Michelle had gone downstairs, Tessa closed the door, leaned against it, and slowly slid down until she was on the ground.

She had a bunch of missed calls and unread messages on her phone, but after looking through them all, none of them were from Stephen.

She hadn’t eaten anything since last night and had even pulled an all-nighter.

Hence, she was utterly drained. Her entire body felt weak and powerless, her face so pale that she looked like she had just recovered froma serious illness.

She leaned against the door and gripped her phone tightly.

Suddenly, there was an incoming call from Samuel.

After remembering how Samuel had mentioned that he would arrange for someone to take her home, she answered his call.

Samuel’s voice was warm and steady, carrying the concern and affection of a father. “Tess, how are you? Have you been eating and resting properly?”

Tessa’s nose stung, and tears pooled around her eyes again. Her voice was hoarse as she replied, “I’m good. Everything’s fine with me.”

Samuel paused. It was clear that Tessa was lying to him.

Judging from her voice alone, he could tell she had not slept or eaten well. Her voice sounded weak and exhausted.

He sighed feeling a deep ache in his heart. After calming his heart down, he revealed, “Tess, the press conference has already ended and I’ve announced the annulment of your engagement with Stephen.

“I’ll send someone over to pick you up. You should come home once you’ve had your lunch.”

Tessa’s lips moved, looking like she wanted to say something. In the end, she remained quiet as she hummed weakly in agreement.

“You should have your lunch. I’ll

hang up first, Samuel suggested as he ended the call after telling her everything that she needed to know. He knew that Tessa’s heart was broken and she needed some time

alone. time

…

Tessa sat on the floor for quite some time before she dragged her numb, exhausted body to the bathroom.

Downstairs, Michelle quickly dialed Stephen’s number.

In order to stay informed about Tessa’s condition as soon as possible, he had

given Michelle his personal number.