Chapter 1

The day before my art entrance exam, a car hit me as I crossed the street, sending me flying. The footage of my disfiguring accident spread like wildfire through the campus group's social media.

Coming from a low-income family, my boyfriend broke up with me that night and withdrew his financial support.

The next day, the announcements of Margot Bell's acceptance to the University of London for Media Studies were everywhere on the bulletin board.

Standing at the edge of the rooftop, Owen Collins, my boyfriend's brother, hugged me tightly, his eyes red, and said, "Adrianna, I have money. I'll support you in your studies."

Owen chose to delay his own college entrance exams that year to retake them alongside me.

At our university graduation ceremony, Owen held up a massive diamond ring and proposed, "Adrianna, I've loved you for six years. Will you marry me?"

Reflecting on Owen's years of companionship and support, I tearfully accepted his proposal.

In our second year of marriage, I went to pick Owen up from his shift, but overheard him talking to someone near the staircase.

"Wasn't the final payment for the accident made to you already? Why are you here again?"

"Dr. Collins, if you don't arrange for the transplant my daughter needs, I'll tell your wife the truth about you orchestrating her accident!"

The stairwell fell silent, and after a long pause, Owen finally spoke slowly,

"I understand. You should leave first."

The pregnancy test paper slipped from my fingers onto the floor.

I mechanically bent down to pick it up but felt nothing in my fingertips.

Three months ago, he had cornered me in the break room, his warm lips lingering over the scar on my neck:

"Adrianna, let's have a baby."

I frowned and pushed him away. "But Owen, you know the hospital is about to be rated this year; this is crucial for me..."

Owen leaned in, his breath warm against my face, heating my heart.

"Adrianna, I want a child that's ours. I'm begging you."

To think those sincere words were laced with deception.

What I believed was the light guiding me was the hand pushing me into darkness.

I sprang up, grabbed the pregnancy test paper from the ground, and ran.

Once home, the phone buzzed relentlessly on the nightstand, Owen's name flashing twenty-seven times in the darkness.

On the twenty-eighth ring, Owen pushed open the front door.

"Adrianna, weren't you coming to pick me up?"

I looked at him, at this face I'd loved for six years, yet it felt so unfamiliar now.

He came over trying to embrace me, and I instinctively stepped back.

"What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, just tired." I avoided his gaze and walked towards the bedroom.

That night, Owen embraced me from behind, his breath warm on my neck.

"Adrianna, I love you so much," his voice was deep and tender, his hands restless.

I closed my eyes, allowing him to continue.

In the darkness, tears silently fell.

He was particularly fervent during this lovemaking, as if trying to prove something with his body.

Afterward, as usual, Owen tenderly cleaned me up before tiptoeing to the bathroom.

Two years of marriage, and he managed every detail of my life, yet this man who cared for me so deeply also shattered my dreams.

I quietly got up and went to the study. From the deepest part of the drawer, I took out the application form for battlefield medical volunteer, its edges already curled.

I picked up a pen and signed my name carefully.

As the pen tip tore through the paper, it felt as though something inside me broke.

Maybe it was my heart; maybe it was the last shred of possibility between us.

I returned to the bedroom, standing at the bedside and looking at Owen's sleeping face.

His features remained handsome, just like the boy with reddened eyes on the rooftop years ago.

The next morning, I left the house earlier than usual and handed the application to the hospital's HR department.

Dexter George looked at me, hesitating, "Dr. Collins, you initially said you couldn't bear to leave your husband. It's dangerous there; are you sure you want to go?"

"I'm sure." My voice was so calm it surprised even me.

As I stepped out of the hospital doors, the sun stung my eyes.

I looked up at the sky and suddenly remembered that desperate afternoon when Owen hugged me on the rooftop and said,

"Adrianna, I have money. I'll support you in your studies."