“I’ll do it. As long as you are willing to be with me, I am willing to do anything for you. You know this too,” Frederick Addington said softly.


    Ste Grace supported her face on her arm and sized Frederick up. “Are you really willing to do anything?”


    “I’ll do anything,” Frederick said without thinking.


    “Okay. Anyway, I need to go to the bathroom.” She got up and walked to the bathroom. After washing her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror. There was confusion in her eyes.


    From what she had learned, love was nothing more than a chemical called dopamine. It was released when people were in love and made them feel sweet, refreshed, and immersed in their fantasy. It also severely lowered their IQ. They would obsess over their crush’s positive attributes and overlook their shorings.


    It would eventually metabolize within three months.


    After that, it was not dopamine that maintained the rtionship but personal effort, sense of responsibility, and attitude towards life.


    Reason will be the dominant factor. Without the allure of dopamine, they will be able to objectively weigh each other’s pros and cons.


    Because they were now looking for a permanent partner, their standards naturally became higher and they would no longer be as gracious about each other’s shorings. They will quarrel until they give up and take another dopamine trip.


    With Ste and Jasper, their love only grew with time. Why was that? Constant dopamine production? And what was the reason that Frederick still loved her so deeply?


    “Ste,” she could hear Jasper’s voice ringing behind her.


    Ste looked up to see Jasper Milton in the mirror. Her eyes shed.


    “Why are you here?” Jasper asked as he approached her.


    Ste frowned and turned around to face him. “I think I was clear enough. You are the source of Ste’s pain. Don’t look for her again. Even if you see her, pretend that you don’t know her.”


    Ste walked towards the exit.


    Jasper blocked her and grabbed her wrist. He spun her around and pressed her against the door. “Ste’s pain? Don’t you mean yours?”


    Ste paused and looked at Jasper in confusion. “What do you mean?”


    “I think you should know Ste’s feelings better than I do. After all, you have experienced everything that she has experienced. You know her better than anyone else. Let me ask you, does Ste want us to be together in the end?” Jasper asked intently.


    Ste clenched her fists. “It’s impossible for us to be together.”


    “Why is it impossible?” Jasper asked. His eyes were filled with pain and his brows were knitted together.


    Ste raised her chin and said, “I don’t think there’s anything for me to hide. You should know that Ste used to live in pain, helplessness, and sadness. Every day was suffering for her. She was worried about so many things, and she had to bear the burden of so many things. As a result, her illness got worse. She could no longer bear it. Maybe if this had gone on, she would have be like her mother, locked up in the sanatorium for the rest of her life.


    “When she was about to break, she hypnotized herself. I was the product of the hypnosis. I didn’t know love or pain. I no longer need to take medicine or sleep. She will nevere back, and I, don’t love you.”


    Jasper’s heart skipped a beat, and he loosened his grip.


    He would rather she pretend not to love him than be another person to protect him.


    He didn’t know… what he should do?


    Jasper was in a daze. Ste freed herself from his grip and looked back at him. “Ste sincerely hopes that you would live a happy life with Bettany. From now on, your career would only advance, and you will be unstoppable. If you love her, you should do what she wants you to do.”Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    “I won’t be happy without Ste. Does she know that?” Jasper asked in a heavy voice.


    Ste smiled. “You have a strong sense of responsibility. Bettany gave birth to your child, so you should marry her. The so-called dopamine, will notst long. Love will disappear with time. Not many people could get married even after having a rtionship for many years. Even if they got married because of love at that time, it may notst. This is life.”


    “Don’t you think you’re being a little negative? There are many people who stay together till the end. Ste, please don’t give up on life.” Jasper said worriedly.


    Ste shrugged and did not even look at Jasper. “If you went through what Ste did, you would have lost hope too. You would not have an ounce of mercy for this world. You should just live your life happily. I don’t want to hurt you, but you’re still insisting on getting yourself involved in all these. In that case, don’t me me for being unkind.”


    Saying that, she left the bathroom.


    Jasper watched her go with a heavy heart. She was proud and cold, like a lone female warrior.


    He was vaguely aware of what Ste had gone through.


    She was born into an unloving family. She watched her father feed her mother medicine. When they divorced, she went to live with her mother. Her mother tried tomit suicide by cutting her wrist, a path that she would one day follow.


    She climbed out of the bathtub and went to the door. When she looked outside, she found that there was no ce to go, so she went back to the bathtub. Just when she was about to die, she was saved by her neighbor.


    Her mother was sent to the asylum. Ste didn’t have anyone to adopt her, so she was sent to the orphanage.


    When she grew up and could support herself, she got her mother out. She eventually fell in love and was about to marry. However, she was kidnapped by her fiance and his girlfriend on the eve of their wedding and was raped.


    It took a lot of effort to give birth to the baby, but the child was taken away in less than a week.


    During her three years of marriage, all she got was her husband’s betrayal. She was alone and kept her guard up day and night.


    After a long time, he finally appeared, but she lost her job and her little finger. He forgot her and only remembered Bettany Hadley. This had hurt her immensely.


    She chose tomit suicide. After being rescued, she went to study psychology. Just when she thought that they could be together, something happened again.


    She was full of disappointment and pessimism towards the world, but he couldn’t give up on her. Even if it took all his life, he would make her see that the world wasn’t all pain and despair. He would stay with her, no matter what she became.


    When Ste returned to her seat, the waiter had already served the food on the table.


    Without a word, she started on the soup.


    Frederick plopped a meatball into her te. “You should eat more. You’re too thin.”


    “Okay,” Ste replied and took a bite of her meatball. “Frederick, how do you know that Wilson killed your father?” she asked casually.