Chapter 2
I met Edward abroad.
He moved to Bretavia for college after graduating high school.
During my sophomore year, I joined his university as an exchange student.
He had an impressive family background and was strikingly good-looking. Girls were lining up to chase after him.
I fought my way out of a poor village. With my family barely scraping by, nothing ever came easy for me.
He told me he fell for me the moment he saw me at orientation.
Before I left for home, he told me he liked me, but I turned him down.
I knew just how far apart our worlds were.
My finish line wasn't even close to his starting point.
No amount of "love at first sight" could close that gap.
Besides, there was someone I'd secretly had feelings for years.
I used that as the reason to turn Edward down.
Edward said he didn't mind.
"If I chase you hard enough, sooner or later, I'll find my way into your heart," he said.
After that, he'd hop on a plane from Bretavia every single week just to see me.
After graduation, he chose to join the same company as me.
On my twenty-fifth birthday, I finally decided to let go of the past.
I finally said yes to Edward.
For five years, we were in love.
We treated each other like fate had brought us together.
He never said no to me.
For every holiday, he'd pick out the perfect gift for me.
Everyone around me said I'd finally found true love.
He made me believe that true love was real, and for the first time, I actually wanted to get married.
We had this pact from the very beginning: on my thirtieth birthday, we'd make our marriage official.
I thought all those years of loneliness and struggle were finally behind me.
I believed I was about to have a loving partner and a life filled with happiness.
But about six months ago, things started to change.
His childhood friend Amy, who also happened to be his best buddy's little sister, returned from abroad.
Little by little, he stopped putting me first in everything.
When I asked him about it, feeling hurt, he just gave me a helpless look and said, "Amy's brother saved me once. Now that he's gone, I promised I'd take care of her. How could I go back on my word?"
So, things just kept getting worse.
When I was in the hospital, hooked up to an IV because my stomach was killing me, he was busy accompanying Amy to get her dog vaccinated.
On Valentine's Day, we had plans to see a movie together, but a last-minute call from Amy made him drop everything.
When it was pouring on my way to work, and Amy couldn't get a cab after shopping, Edward left me at the subway station to pick her up.
On my thirtieth birthday, Edward broke his promise.
The proposal turned into a funeral for Amy's dog.
And then he made some absurd demand to delay our marriage.
I knew what he was thinking.
This was just a test to see how much I'd put up with him.
They were testing my patience.
If I put up with it this time, Edward would feel free to put Amy first whenever he wanted.
He'd keep doing it until I finally gave in and accepted that I'd never be his only one.
But what he didn't get was, I wasn't stuck on him.
A guy who couldn't stay loyal was no better than trash.