Chapter 1

On the day we got engaged, my fiancé, James Foster, wanted me to tag along to pick up our ring. But I waited until the jewelry store closed, and he never showed up.

On my way home, I finally got a text from him. [Sierra ate something bad and has diarrhea. I need to take her to the hospital first.]

I called, but Sierra picked up instead. She said, "James just finished some exercise with me and crashed from exhaustion. If it's not urgent, let's talk tomorrow, okay?"

James and I had been together for four years, and whenever something important came up for me, Sierra, his childhood friend, would always have some little crisis that needed his help.

And without a second thought, he'd drop everything to rush to her side.

Even for something as important as picking up our engagement ring, he'd leave me behind without a second thought.

Feeling emotionally exhausted, I kept my cool and said, "Forget it. We're done."

I didn't wait for Sierra to respond and just hung up.

I ran my fingers over the ring I'd spent all day waiting for, letting out a sneer.

With zero hesitation, I slipped it off and tossed it straight into the filthy gutter by the side of the road.

This kind of half-hearted relationship? Better off without it.

When I got home, I stared at the room and realized I couldn't even remember the last time James had actually spent the night here.

His excuse was laughable. Apparently, Sierra was too timid to live alone.

So, of course, he had to be there for her.

I had fought back. I even ended up smashing every piece of furniture in the house during our arguments.

But James just sat calmly on the couch, watching me go crazy.

In the end, he said, "Sierra is like my sister. She's always tiptoeing around you, afraid you'll get angry. Why can't you just accept her?

"When did you become so aggressive and cold-hearted?"

All the things I wanted to say got stuck in my throat the second I saw that icy look he gave me.

So, in his eyes, all my pain was nothing but me making a fuss.

In the end, I was so numb that I even brought him his toiletries and clean clothes, humbly pleading with him, "Can you come home early tomorrow?"

I admitted I was so desperate and humble in this relationship, but I just couldn't bring myself to let go of the man I'd loved for years.

The year I met James was the darkest chapter of my life.

My parents were working overseas and barely had time for me. Because I was both pretty and top of my class, I became an easy target for bullies.

My homework was ripped to shreds, they stuffed dead rats into the cubby of my desk, and sometimes I'd get dragged into a restroom stall and beaten up.

There were times when I honestly thought about ending it all.

But that afternoon, just as I was about to buy some sleeping pills at the pharmacy, James showed up.

He said, "Pay me, and I'll make your troubles disappear."

It was a fair trade.

Desperate and out of options, I handed over most of my allowance, thinking it was worth a try.

From that afternoon on, nobody dared to mess with me, and my peaceful days lasted all the way until graduation.

It wasn't until later that I found out James ended up in the hospital that day because he stood up for me.

Ever since then, he became the hero of my world.

He was the one I could never let go of.

But now, everything had turned upside down.

One day, I was pouting and telling James about how unfairly I was being treated at work, hoping he'd comfort me like always.

But instead of his usual gentle words, he shot back coldly, "Why is it always you that people pick on? Did you ever think you might be at fault?"

In that instant, it felt like I'd been plunged into an icy abyss.

I looked at James in disbelief. The man I'd loved for years suddenly felt like a stranger.

It was as if he'd decayed right in front of me in an instant, leaving nothing but stench.

The next day, while I was in the throes of depression, cutting my own arm, James abandoned me and took Sierra on a private jet to the Coral Isles for a luxury vacation.

When I was on the verge of dying, I used every bit of strength I had left to dial his number.

I pleaded, "James... I'm in so much pain... Please, come back..."

After a few seconds of silence, James let out a mocking laugh. "Helen, aren't you sick of faking illness after all these years? If you really wanted to die, you'd have jumped already. You wouldn't be calling me right now.

"If you're gonna kill yourself, at least pick a better time. Sierra and I are about to hop in the tub. Don't kill the vibe for us."

Then he ended the call, quick and clean, like my life meant nothing to him.

The phone slipped from my hand.

In that moment, I saw the man in my memories, the one who fought for me so fiercely.

That was the moment it finally hit me that he really didn't love me anymore.