The Masterpiece of Leaving：Prepared A Perfect Stand-In For Him novel Chapter 84

I fell silent, my face growing solemn. Seeing the look on my face, Fredrica's heart sank. She already had a pretty good idea of what the answer might be.

"So, you really... donated your corneas?" Her voice quivered, and her bright eyes were filled with disbelief. Tears started to glisten in them.

In the next moment, she shoved me hard. "Have you lost your mind? Doing something like that?"

I caught her hand. "Fredrica..."

"Was it during that time? You made me cover for you, telling my dad you were staying at our house, and then you just vanished without a trace for two months."

She couldn't bring herself to say any more. The thought of cornea removal was something she'd only ever heard about happening to people who'd passed away. The idea of someone taking corneas from a living person like that... it was just too much to even think about!

"So, you gave your corneas to Aubrey, didn't you?" She asked, her voice shaking with all kinds of emotions.

Then she shouted again, "You're crazy for doing something so stupid for that jerk!"

"Navier, you're just out of your mind!"

Fredrica's eyes were red as she kept pushing me, letting out all the anger that had been building up inside her. But her anger wasn't really about the situation itself; it was because she cared about me so much and couldn't stand to see me going through all this.

"Fredrica!"

Seeing how worked up she was, Lucas quickly came over and tried to hold her back. But Fredrica pushed him away, tears streaming down her face as she stared at me. "Navier, you're awful! Not only did you do something so terrible, but you also dragged me into it as an accomplice!"

I knew I was in the wrong. I just lowered my head quietly, letting Fredrica vent all her frustrations.

Fredrica's anger wasn't just about what had happened; she was also upset that I'd been so foolish and how much she cared for me.

"I should've asked you more questions back then. You told me you were taking care of Aubrey, and I believed you. I'm such an idiot!"

Lucas tried to calm her down, reminding her to keep it down since there were other neighbors around and that this could reach her uncle.

Fredrica stopped crying when she heard that. I used a spare key to open the door and let them inside the house.

Fredrica sat on a chair, still pretty shaken up. I wanted to get her some water, but there wasn't any since I didn't actually live there. Luckily, Lucas was thoughtful and brought two bottles of mineral water - one for Fredrica and one for me.

After drinking the water, Fredrica finally started to calm down a bit. She looked at me with those teary eyes, took my hand, and gently rubbed my back with her fingers. "Navier, if only I'd known what you were doing back then, I would've stopped you!"

Even though she wasn't crying anymore, her eyes were still all swollen and red.

I knew Fredrica was doing all this because she cared about me. I held her hand and said softly, "It's all in the past now."

"What do you mean it's in the past? We can't just pretend this didn't happen! Your corneas are gone, and that scumbag Aubrey is living it up with your corneas, being all lovey-dovey with Cathy. What's the point of that?"

"You didn't donate your corneas to him just so he could be with Cathy, nor did you sacrifice yourself for him for four years! You can't just let this slide. I'm going to find that jerk right now!"

Fredrica was fuming and wanted to go give Aubrey a piece of her mind. Lucas tried to stop her and told her to calm down.

Fredrica even got mad at Lucas, pushing him and yelling, "You men are all the same - not a single good one among you!"

Lucas rubbed his nose, looking all wronged and helpless.

I knew that usually Lucas could handle Fredrica pretty well, but when she was this furious, there was just no controlling her.

I rushed over and held Fredrica back. "Aubrey and I are already divorced. If you go after him now, he'll just think I regret the divorce and that I'm trying to use this to hold on to him!"

"Maybe he'll even think better of me because of it, but so what? He doesn't love me, and that's the truth."

With a heavy sigh, I patted Fredrica's shoulder. "I chose to donate my corneas on my own, without anyone forcing me. I don't want to use this to make him feel guilty and do what I want."

"I want love to be given freely, not something that's traded for favors. That would just make me seem so cheap!"

"Fredrica, I've been stupid once. I don't want to do it again."

My sincere explanation left Fredrica at a loss for words, and the tears just kept falling from her eyes, dripping onto the ground.

Maybe I still would have.

---

Third-person perspective

Aubrey returned home late at night. It was almost eleven o'clock. The long journey had left traces of weariness on his face.

The living room was still brightly lit. Pamela was sitting on the sofa, wearing a silk nightgown, gracefully crossing her legs and flipping through something.

Seeing him, she stood up with a smiling face, "Ah, Aubrey, you're back just in time. Mrs. Miller introduced a few socialites. Let's take a look at their profiles."

Aubrey's cold and aloof face turned away. Folds formed between his eyebrows. "No need," he said indifferently.

He walked upstairs.

Over the years, despite enduring his indifference, Pamela had stayed up until now, sacrificing her beauty sleep. Yet, she received this kind of response, which made her very unhappy.

Her tone couldn't help but turn resentful. "Your whole life depends on this matter. Can't you be a bit more considerate?"

"Since it's my lifelong matter, you don't need to meddle!" Aubrey straightened his tie, speaking plainly and impolitely.

Pamela's well-maintained face twitched, looking even more unsightly. Her fingers curled up in her palm.

"I'm your mother, after all!"

"Is that so?"

He only responded with a calm question, with no change in expression or even a flicker in his eyes. However, she felt inexplicably embarrassed.

"Just because of... that matter?" After a long while, she trembled and asked softly.