Chapter 1

For a while, Charles and I were the couple everyone in the town envied.

So it was a complete shock when, just a month before our wedding, he told me he was going to marry Jenny instead, the girl with the heart condition.

When I demanded to know why, he just sighed wearily. "If I don't marry her, Leona, her family will make her marry that mute man from the next town. You care about me so much. I know you'll understand."

I gave a faint nod, turned around, and let our engagement ring slip from my hand.

The day before his wedding, Charles found me and pulled me close, his voice soft. "Don't be upset, Leona. I'll get a divorce soon, and then we can have our wedding, just like we planned."

I smiled. Little did he know, while he was saying his vows tomorrow, I'd be saying mine.

His decision for Jenny had sealed my own. I immediately agreed to the marriage my family had arranged.

The irony peaked when Charles insisted I come along to help Jenny choose her dress. In the middle of the shop, I handed him an envelope.

His charming smile vanished the moment he saw the invitation was for my wedding to another man.

*****

"Leona... what is this?" Charles demanded, his eyes locked on the groom's name. "Who did you switch me out for?"

"Who else could it be?" I retorted, my voice cold and flat. I held his gaze, offering no further explanation.

He kept flipping the card over and then let out a scornful laugh. "What kind of stunt are you trying to pull?

"The same day as my wedding? And Andrew? Really?"

His tone then softened, turning pleading. "I know you're angry, but like I've told you, this is just to get Jenny out of a bad situation. The divorce will happen quickly. Is it really so hard for you to be a little understanding?"

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Jenny stepped in, her eyes already red and brimming with tears. "Charlie," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Maybe we should just call this off. If I have to marry Andrew, then I will. It's just..."

The sight of her washed away any frustration on Charles's face, replacing it with guilt. He immediately went to her side, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Don't talk like that," he murmured softly. "I told you I'd help you, Jenny. I meant it."

I didn't stick around to hear the rest of his comforting words. My message had been delivered. With the textile factory stuff waiting, I simply turned and walked out of the room, leaving the two of them behind.

Charles's voice echoed behind me. "Leona, where are you going?"

I didn't turn back. I just kept walking, the sound of Jenny's fragile weeping and Charles's soothing voice fading behind me.

I knew, with a certainty that stung, that he wouldn't come after me.

And even though my mind was made up, my heart couldn't help but ache with the finality of it all.

Charles and I had been inseparable since we were kids. Our friendship deepened into love so naturally that it felt almost inevitable.

Our families, the Grants and the Wynns, had always been close, and as we grew up, our parents were already happily planning our future wedding.

But as the years went by, things began to shift. Charles was swept up in it, his head full of big dreams and ambitions.

Year after year, he found reasons to postpone our wedding, always citing his demanding work at the town's hardware factory and the persistent rumors of an upcoming promotion.

I, of course, stood by him. I even turned my back on running my family's textile factory, dedicating myself wholly to supporting his ambitions.

To all our friends and neighbors, we were the picture-perfect couple, the object of everyone's admiration.

*****

But everything changed when Jenny showed up. She was an orphan with a bad heart, just barely scraping by.

My parents, soft-hearted as they are, were impressed by her hardworking nature. They decided to cover her medical bills since she had it so rough.

Little did we know we were setting the stage for her utter lack of loyalty.

Once she was feeling better, she started working at the Grant family's hardware factory.

At first, she and Charles barely spoke. Then one day, Charles was at my place when Jenny came crying to my parents about her sick father, begging for a loan.

Charles didn't even blink. He just pulled out his wallet and handed her the cash right there.

Later on, he'd made her his right-hand woman.

As time went by, I started getting a weird feeling about those two. Every now and then, they'd sneak off together behind my back.