Chapter 2

As I looked back on the good old days, I realized that Jacob and I had been together for five years without even noticing.

During those five years, I gave him everything I had, never wanting Jacob to suffer even the slightest bit of hardship.

But what did I get in return? What I received was Jacob tying the knot with Vivian on the very day of my father's funeral.

The day Vivian came back to the country, I immediately felt something was wrong.

That night, Jacob didn't come home at all, and when he finally showed up, he had hickeys on his neck.

My dad was shocked and questioned him, but Jacob simply started yelling, complaining that my dad was suspicious of him and that we were always controlling him, never giving him any freedom.

When I got home, I found my dad sitting on the couch, his head in his hands, blaming himself.

As for Jacob, he was nowhere to be found.

When Jacob finally came back the next day, there were even more hickeys on his neck than before.

That was the first time I ever fought with him, but Jacob couldn't care less. He kept insisting they were only friends and that my dad and I were always controlling him, never letting him have any freedom.

He seemed to forget how my dad had welcomed him like his own son when we first got together.

After that, my dad was haunted by what happened, and his health got worse day by day. Jacob never even bothered to visit him in the hospital, not even once before he passed away.

As I held my father's cold, lifeless hand, I finally realized how foolish it was to ever believe Jacob would come back to our family.

Jacob had already bought a ticket and rushed off to Vivian's hometown before my dad's funeral even took place.

I couldn't hold back anymore. I grabbed my phone and called Jacob, demanding he come back immediately.

But he acted like he was totally justified, arguing back without a hint of guilt, "Vivian's dad has cancer, it's really tragic. I'm just helping him fulfill his last wish. Can you stop being so unreasonable?"

Hearing that ridiculous excuse, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

His so-called future father-in-law was dying, but instead of coming back for a final goodbye, Jacob was busy marrying someone else.

Vivian's dad had cancer, but my father was literally on his deathbed.

That phone call wiped out any hope I had left for us.

Maybe we were never meant to be together from the start.

After the funeral, I started sorting through everything my father had left behind.

Suddenly, my eyes caught a ring sitting at the corner of the table.

That ring was a family heirloom meant for the son-in-law. Even when times were tough, no one ever thought about selling it to pay the bills.

It should have been on Jacob's finger by now.

As I ran my fingers over the priceless ring, I sat there, lost in thought.

Just then, after not hearing from Jacob for ages, he sent me a cheerful voice message.

He said, "I've been super busy lately. Vivian and I are heading to Alonia for our wedding photos, and we're having dinner with her family. You'll have to be on your own for a bit."

I didn't say anything. I turned off my phone and looked at the ring.

Suddenly, I laughed.

Thankful that it wasn't too late. Even if I had to break the ring myself, I would never let Jacob, that jerk who had ditched his fiancée, get his hands on it.

After finishing up work and just about to take a break, my friend suddenly messaged me, clearly pissed off: [Jacob is so shameless! You need to check out his Instagram right now.]

Feeling curious, I tapped on Jacob's profile, only to see nothing but a blank screen.

Turns out, he'd blocked me from seeing his Instagram posts at some point.

Feeling a bit helpless, I explained the situation to my friend, and he quickly sent me a screenshot.

There was Jacob, hand in hand with Vivian in her wedding dress, both of them grinning like they owned the world, glowing under the sun for all to see.

The caption said: [Nothing but happiness with you.]

I let out a bitter laugh. I couldn't even find the words to describe how messed up I felt right now. It was like my heart was being shredded.

If this had been the old me, I'd probably have been groveling, begging him to come back. But now, I simply closed my eyes and unfollowed him.

I deleted him from my heart, once and for all.