Chapter 1

At my wedding, right when my fiancé, Jonathan York, was about to put the ring on my finger, a woman suddenly stormed in.

She clutched her pregnant belly, her face drained of color, and stared straight at Jonathan.

"Jon, the baby's coming. It hurts so badly..." she cried out.

Jonathan's face turned ashen. He tossed the ring aside and bolted off the stage without looking back.

As Jonathan pulled the woman into his arms and started to leave, I hurried over and grabbed his hand.

But he shoved me aside without a second thought, his voice cold and detached.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have gotten carried away and agreed to marry you. The truth is, I've always loved Em," Jonathan said flatly.

Then, holding her close, Jonathan strode out without ever looking back.

With all those guests glaring at me with mocking eyes, I gripped the ring that never even made it onto my finger.

I never imagined the day meant to be my happiest day would end with such a cruel betrayal.

*****

After forcing myself to smile and say goodbye to the last guest, I finally sank into a chair, completely drained, just staring at the laptop screen in front of me.

The emcee had just handed it over to me.

But instead of our planned love story video, photos of Jonathan with another woman flashed on the screen.

He always said he hated cameras and never wanted his life documented.

I had to beg and bug him for ages just to get him to do that love story video with me.

He spent the whole shoot scowling, annoyed as hell, and didn't even stick around till we finished. He just walked out like he couldn't care less.

But on this laptop, there were 9,999 photos—every single one of them was Jonathan and that pregnant woman together.

They went on romantic trips, stealing passionate kisses beneath the magical Northern Lights.

In every shot, Jonathan was grinning ear to ear, without a single trace of reluctance in his eyes.

These pictures stretched over five long years—the exact amount of time Jonathan and I had been together.

Thinking back on those years, I drank myself sick and ended up in the hospital just to help him land a business deal. Day after day, I worked nonstop through scorching heat and freezing cold—all for the future we were supposed to build together.

But turns out, while I was breaking my back for us, he was living it up with some other woman, playing happy families in secret.

Maybe my heart was just too broken to feel anything. When I saw Jonathan's feed update, I couldn't even squeeze out a tear.

It was a snapshot of bliss—the new mom, pale but clearly over the moon, leaning into Jonathan's shoulder with a gentle smile, cradling a wailing newborn bundled up in a blanket.

Jonathan's caption said: [Thank goodness, mom and baby are both doing well.]

Well, good for him. He didn't make it as my husband, but he nailed the dad part.

I numbly tapped like, then went home and started silently packing my stuff.

The maid, May Red, walked in, looking puzzled. "Mrs. York, weren't you and Mr. York supposed to get married today? Where are you going?"

I took a deep breath, trying to sound calm. "The wedding's off, May. Don't call me Mrs. York anymore since I'm not marrying him."

May's eyes widened in disbelief, like I'd just dropped a bombshell.

But she quickly recovered, giving my hand a gentle squeeze, her voice full of concern. "I've seen everything you've done for this family. For five years, you've pushed yourself to the brink to build everything here. Now that the law firm is finally thriving, please don't walk away. You'd regret it, believe me."

My face went pale, and before I could answer, cheerful laughter and voices floated up from downstairs.

It was Jonathan, back home.

Even though it was still cold in February, Jonathan had wrapped his long coat around a petite woman, who was holding a tiny baby in her arms.

Jonathan was lugging bags of baby supplies, and the three of them looked so happy together, like a real family.

I'd never seen Jonathan act so tender before. Just watching him like that sent a sharp pain through my chest, and I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting to the woman standing at his side.

I knew exactly who she was.

She was Emily Foster, Jonathan's first love. Back when life had beaten him down the hardest, she left him behind and disappeared overseas.

Yet after all those twists and turns, they still found their way back to each other in the end.

When Jonathan saw me, he stopped in his tracks, his expression darkening instantly.

Emily turned to me, her eyes red and brimming with tears, doing her best to look fragile. "Ms. Sinclair, I'm so sorry for ruining your wedding this morning. Jon was with me while I was having the baby. I hurried back as soon as I could just to apologize. I really hope you're not mad."

I clutched the suitcase handle tighter. "That's impressive—fresh out of the delivery room and you still bothered to come all the way just to apologize to me."

Emily's face turned deathly pale. She looked helplessly at Jonathan, clearly at a loss.

Jonathan's face fell, his voice grim. "Charlotte, don't get snarky. If you're angry, save it for me. I ditched you at the altar and betrayed you. Em's got nothing to do with it."

"She just gave birth and is still weak. She can't stand cold wind or harsh words. Watch your language," he snapped.

So he did know how to care for someone.

It felt like my heart was shredded with a blunt knife. The pain was so real that I could barely breathe.

He ditched me at the altar, just so he could rush Emily to the hospital—leaving me to face all the guests, their stares and gossip, all by myself. He didn't give a damn about how hurt or embarrassed I'd be, having to deal with the mess alone.

"Don't you even care how I handled the fallout?" I asked, my words sharper than I intended, hurt bleeding through my voice.

Jonathan looked at me like I was making a fuss over nothing. "You're not some clueless newbie, and you're nowhere near as delicate as Em. Stuff like this? I figured you'd deal with it just fine."

Emily spoke up, trying to calm Jonathan down. "Jon, don't be so harsh. Can't you be a little kinder to her?"

She glanced at me, blinking back tears as she hugged her baby close. "I'm really sorry. You know Jon is gentle most of the time. It's just when something involves me, he gets nervous and honestly, a bit over the top."