Fading Visions

Chapter 1

Victoria stood in front of the door, listening to the conversation of two men inside the room. The more words she heard, the stiffer her body became, and the air in her lungs seemed to be forcibly pulled out. It caused an unbearable feeling of tightness and pain.

"Are you finally going to tell Emily how you feel?”

"Yes. She is a gentle and kind woman. Besides me, there are many men waiting to marry her. I won't let her belong to anyone else." The speaker was Edgar, Victoria's personal bodyguard and the man Victoria had loved for three years.

The man sitting in front of Edgar, Simon, chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know what makes you love Emily so much that you ignore Victoria, who has been chasing you for three years. You even prepared the Legendary Paganini Violin as her birthday gift."

Hearing that, a profound look appeared in Edgar's eyes. He reached for a cup of coffee, took a sip, and then placed the cup back on the table.

"Emily is a perfect woman without flaws; comparing a seemingly diamond like her with Victoria is a mistake. Victoria can't even be compared to Emily's fingernail."

"Then why do you keep pretending to be her bodyguard? You're the heir to the wealthiest family in the city; that job is meaningless to you."

Edgar didn't answer; his gaze softened, and a faint smile on his lips implied something.

Simon frowned. "Is it because of Emily? Emily is Victoria's stepsister. Is that why you're willing to be a bodyguard for three years?"

Edgar nodded slightly. "If I came with my true identity to the Willow Family, I might not get a chance to be close to Emily. After all, Emily is the daughter of the second wife. With her fragile and very kind personality, she would definitely give way to Victoria."

"So that's why you approached her this way." Simon seemed amazed. "Emily is really lucky to get such a great sacrifice from you."

"She deserves it."

With Edgar's last sentence, Victoria could barely feel her footing. A brown envelope in her hand fell to the ground in front of the door as she slowly took a step back to leave the place.

Victoria was a lawyer. Three years ago, when she was in the early stages of her career, she decided to hire a personal bodyguard. Beyond her intention to seek security, she was attracted to Edgar's handsomeness and physique and chose him as her personal bodyguard. Over time, that attraction developed into blind love. Blind enough to close her eyes to the reality that was happening right in front of her.

'I've loved him for three years, and all that time, he's been hoping for Emily's love. The Legendary Paganini Violin, I made so many efforts to win the auction. He knew how much I wanted that violin. But it turns out, the one who won the auction was him? And it's for Emily?'

Thinking about that, an increasingly intense pain gnawed at Victoria's chest. It spread like a fire burning her cells, causing pain not only in her chest but throughout her entire body, as if every cell in her body had been in critical condition.

Of course, Victoria knew Edgar's true identity. After choosing Edgar as her personal bodyguard, she felt something strange about his personal information. So she found out and discovered the fact that Edgar was the eldest son of the Riter Family, the wealthiest family in the city. She didn't know Edgar's motives at the time and just ignored it. Until now, she finally knew the real reason why he pretended to be an ordinary man.

The bitter reality that was presented to her shattered the dream she had built for years. The hope that one day, she could win Edgar's heart, get married, and build their own happy family. Unfortunately, that dream had to fade a away before she could start it.

With faltering steps, Victoria stepped away, further and further to carry the shards of her broken heart.

Meanwhile, inside the cafe's private room, Edgar glanced at his watch. Then, he got up from his chair to leave.

"Where are you going? Didn't Victoria say she was coming?"

Edgar grabbed the car keys on the table and said, "She's late; it's her fault. I promised to pick up Emily. I don't have time for a selfish woman like Victoria."

With that, he stepped towards the door. Since Edgar decided to leave, Simon had no reason to stay there, so he stood up and walked towards the door. As they were about to exit, Edgar stepped on something under his feet.

He frowned, noticing a large brown envelope under his feet. Then, he looked down to pick it up.

At first, he wanted to give it to the waiter, but Simon snatched the envelope and opened it. After reading what was in the document and seeing some photos that were also in the large brown envelope, Simon stared at Edgar with disbelief.

"Edgar, this...."

Simon showed the documents and photos to Edgar.

Only then did Edgar realize what it was.

"This is the evidence that can solve the problem threatening the company," Edgar muttered.

"Who brought it here?" Simon asked.

Edgar had no answer to that. He looked around but found no one. As he wanted to go out to search, his cellphone rang with an incoming message.

[It's going to rain soon. I didn't bring a coat, and the place here is quite open. Can you come earlier?]

It was a message from Emily.

At this moment, all Edgar could see was Emily. So the intention to find the person who had brought the evidence that could save his company disappeared just like that.

"Take this and keep it. I'll take it after I drop Emily off." Edgar gave the brown envelope to Simon.

Simon nodded. "Alright." He also didn't urge Edgar to find the person who had delivered the evidence to them. After all, Emily was the most important thing for Edgar. As for that person, Edgar could look for them later.

The next day, Victoria woke up with a headache. After leaving the cafe, she returned to her apartment, crying all the time without intending to do anything else. She didn't know what time the crying lulled her to sleep, but when she looked in the mirror, her swollen eyes reminded her of what she had heard yesterday.

She then reached for her cellphone. Seeing that there were no messages or missed calls, she smiled bitterly.

'I didn't come after I told him I would come. But he didn't even look for me.'

Thinking about that, she remembered the documents she brought as a surprise for Edgar yesterday.

Although she was very disappointed, she was still worried if the documents fell into the hands of others. So she immediately prepared to go to the cafe.

After seeing from the CCTV that the documents were safe, she asked the Cafe Manager, "Did the man check the CCTV?"

The Cafe Manager said, "No, Miss. None of them checked the CCTV."

The answer delivered pain once again to Victoria's broken heart.

'That's right. I should have known that all things in this world don't really mean anything to Edgar except Emily. Emily is the only one Edgar can see. Meanwhile, I, I'm just a speck of dust flying around him.'

Victoria swallowed the pain. She forced a smile and said, "Alright. Thank you."

After that, she turned to leave.

'Edgar, since you like Emily so much, I will make your path easier.'

Thinking about that, Victoria took out her cellphone and typed something on the screen.

[Help me delete the CCTV footage of D'Kafe from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. yesterday]