Chapter 1
The man on the other end of the line chuckled. “Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”
The cold wind cut right through me, and a dull, twisting ache tightened in my chest.
From the upstairs private room, bursts of cheering drifted down to my ears, wave after wave.
My fists were clenched tight, trembling uncontrollably.
I hadn’t walked more than a few steps when Chloe Miller came running after me.
“Alice, I never meant to ruin your relationship. Please don’t be mad at me, okay? I’ll give Ryan back to you! I… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
Her eyes were teary, and her nose was red, like a startled bunny.
I scoffed, watching her performance unfold.
“I don’t need him. You two deserve each other, you utterly disgusting pair.”
Chloe kept apologizing.
“Alice, just hit me! Kill me! I shouldn’t have ever shown up here!”
She dropped to her knees with a thud, then grabbed my hand, trying to force it to slap her face.
But before I could even touch her, Ryan’s grip tightened fiercely around my wrist.
A sharp, stinging slap echoed in my ears.
I was stunned. A burning sensation spread across my cheek.
He was shaking with rage, pulling Chloe protectively into his arms, wrapping his jacket around her.
His voice was impatient, laced with irritation. “Alice, didn’t I warn you not to mess with me? You’ve changed. When did you become so obsessed with tearing other women down? Making me lose face in front of everyone like this.”
“I only see Chloe as a little sister. Besides, this is my last night with her. After this, I’m all yours, understand?”
Ryan’s eyes, those beautiful, familiar eyes I once loved, were now filled with nothing but disappointment.
My own eyes burned.
Ryan and I grew up together.
When I was younger, I was in my ‘main character’ phase, a bit cringey, honestly, always calling myself a princess.
He’d play all sorts of goofy characters, or my brave knight, carrying me on his back and boasting to other kids that I was his one and only little princess.
He never wanted me to shed a single tear, or suffer even the slightest injury.
Once, when I was hospitalized with a high fever, he stayed by my side for two days straight, not eating or drinking.
He said he wished he could die for me, that he’d go to hell and beg the King of the Underworld to grant me a lifetime free of illness and misfortune.
The privileged son of the Sullivan family even learned to do laundry and cook, all to take better care of me.
I looked at Ryan’s face, feeling increasingly like he was a stranger.
Had I changed?
Perhaps Ryan himself hadn’t even realized it, but ever since Chloe appeared, his heart had already sailed across the ocean for her.
Seven years ago, when Ryan and I first started dating, we decided to do something meaningful to celebrate.
Chloe Miller was someone I spotted right away – a brilliant student, but with a tragic background.
We brought her into our lives, helped her get into the best high school in the city, and promised to sponsor her all the way through college.
At first, Ryan would complain about her to me. He’d say she was slow, clumsy, and had no common sense.
He swore he’d never be interested in her kind.
He predicted she’d have a tough time in the real world.
The same girl he despised back then, he now cherished more than anything.
I used to tell him to quit smoking, but he’d just grin and say he’d naturally quit when we were ready for kids.
Then he’d light up one cigarette after another right beside me.
Until the smoke made Chloe cough a few times. He quietly put it out, and from that day on, I never saw him smoke again.
“Ryan, let’s cancel our wedding.”
One week. That was enough time for me to pack my things and leave him. And to find a new groom.