Chapter 2

Ryan avoided my eyes, staying quiet for a moment before saying, "Emily, Sophie Lane is a nurse at the hospital. She felt bad seeing me all alone, so she took extra care of me.

"Eventually, we became friends. If you spend some time with her, you'll realize she..."

I couldn't make out the rest of his words anymore.

All I could see was how naturally he talked about another girl in front of me, as if he used to beam with joy when introducing me to his friends.

It was like someone had slammed a fist into my chest, tight, heavy, and aching.

I sat there, watching him in silence until he finished talking. I said, "But Ryan, her being here really makes me feel bad."

He swallowed hard, hesitated for a second, then forced himself to say, "Alright, I won't talk to her anymore."

As he spoke, he picked up his phone and blocked Sophie on WhatsApp.

I suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over me. Maybe his heart wandered off for a while in our relationship.

Or maybe since I was back, things would get back to normal.

But the very next second, Sophie started blowing up his phone with call after call.

Ryan kept hanging up, but it was obvious she wasn't giving up.

By the thirteenth call, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then, all the emotion was gone. He blocked Sophie's number, too.

"Emily, I..." Ryan started, but before he could finish, there was a furious banging at the door.

It was Sophie. "Ryan, I know you're in there. Open up. Let's settle this face-to-face.

"Open the door. Why did you block me?"

The mix of her crying and the relentless knocking was so loud that my head was pounding, about to burst.

I took a deep breath and said, "Open the door."

The moment the door swung open, Sophie rushed straight into Ryan's arms, her fists raining down on his chest. "Ryan, you liar. You promised you'd never leave me, no matter what."

Seeing her break down in tears, Ryan was stunned. His face was clouded with a mix of suppressed emotions.

He looked like he did the very first time he saw me cry.

"Ryan, you jerk." Sophie cried, her voice trembling. "Do you realize how much it hurt when you blocked me?"

My throat was tight, but I had to pretend I didn't care. Forcing myself to look up, I watched him hold her close, gently wiping away her tears.

After what felt like ages, Ryan got Sophie to settle down. That was when she saw me.

She glanced up at Ryan, her eyes still red, and demanded, "Who is she? What's she doing here? Is she the reason you blocked me?"

He paused for a moment, then said in a gentle voice, "Sophie, this is Emily. She's my girlfriend."

I thought after Ryan said all that, she should get it.

But she lifted her chin, stubbornly holding back her tears, and glared at me. "Emily? Why are you back now? What are you doing here?

"Where were you when Ryan was sick? Where were you when he was hurting so much he couldn't sleep night after night? And where were you when he was lying all alone in that hospital bed?"

I seriously considered Sophie's question.

Was I being forced by the real heiress to eat a steamed bun she crushed under her foot? Or was I locked away in some dark basement by the psycho male lead?

"Sorry, I can't really remember," I said.

My answer clearly didn't sit well with Sophie.

She stared at me, her eyes red and fixed on me. "If you left, why did you come back?

"Why did you have to come back right when Ryan and I found each other? Tell me, why now?"

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself.

This heartbreak was barely a fraction of the pain I'd suffered in all those storylines, so why did it hurt so much that I could hardly breathe?

Ryan's face went pale, and he blurted out in a panic, "Emily, it's not what you think."

"Not what I think?" Sophie cut him off, her voice trembling with tears. "We were... How can you pretend nothing happened between us?

"Ryan, I'm so disappointed in you. I never want to see you again."

With that, she covered her face and ran out, sobbing.

Ryan's face went paler at her words. He stared at Sophie as she ran off, and he couldn't help but chase after her.

A tidal wave of heartbreak crashed through me. I clutched the edge of my shirt, my voice trembling as I choked out, "Ryan, please don't go."

But before I could finish, he'd already yanked the door open and bolted out.

That was when the tears spilled down my cheeks.

I stood there, numb, and besides feeling hurt, a stubborn sense of injustice suddenly welled up inside me.

Why? When I was fighting so hard to save the one I love, he ended up falling for someone else.

He promised me he'd wait for me, that he'd be there when I came back.

He promised he'd marry me, give me a grand, unforgettable wedding.

But after all that happened, if Ryan really got married, would I still be his bride?

Without realizing it, I found myself standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

Sophie was walking ahead with her head down when Ryan suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.

She turned her face away, ignoring him, but he pulled her straight into his arms.

She struggled for a moment, but soon melted against him, pressing herself tightly to his chest.

The next second, the two of them were lost in a deep, passionate kiss, as if the rest of the world had disappeared.

I turned away, unable to watch any longer.

For a second, I really felt like the wicked homewrecker, the one who was ruining their happiness.

"System, I guess I really am such a fool," I said.

This time, the System also responded to me. My mind flashed back to the first time I met Ryan.

*****

Ryan's mom had died of cancer, and he couldn't handle the pain. He tried to take his own life.

I managed to save him in time. I told him, "You know, before my mom left me, the last thing she told me was to keep living, no matter what.

"She wanted me to see the world in her place."

Ryan actually took it to heart.

From that day on, he stopped trying to end his life and never hurt himself again. He took my words to heart and kept going, living for real.

With both of our troubled fates, we leaned on each other as we made it through the toughest days.

As time passed, there were no dramatic confessions or grand gestures, and we naturally ended up together, as if it were always meant to be.

I really thought that after surviving all those storms, everything would be smooth sailing for us.

But life would love to play cruel tricks, first letting us dream big, then crushing those dreams without mercy.

On the day we should have been celebrating our first anniversary, Ryan was diagnosed with cancer.

I still remember how Ryan held me so tight, his voice trembling with emotion. "Emily, what will you do when I'm gone? Why is our luck always so bad?"

Back then, I thought life was really unfair. Why did all the suffering have to fall on us? And right at that moment, the System came to me.

It said that if I completed the missions it set for me, Ryan's cancer would be cured. I agreed without a second thought.

Never in a million years did anyone expect things to spiral out of control like this.