Chapter 5

As Cole walked past the box of things I was throwing away, a plain women's ring slipped out and hit the floor. He kept walking.

I bent down to pick it up, gently running my fingers over it. He and I had made this ring together on our first anniversary. We'd gone to a DIY jewelry studio and crafted rings for each other, having "C&I" engraved on the inside.

I tried to remember what exactly Cole had promised me back then, but it was all a bit blurry now.

I shoved the ring back into the corner of the box. Whether he still wanted to get engaged or not, I was done.

Laura sighed softly, secretly taking the ring back out again when I wasn't looking.

…

Time passed quickly. Soon, it was the day before I was due to leave.

As always, I had dinner with Stan and Melissa. Melissa kept reminding me about all the things to pay attention to when I was abroad, and Stan chimed in from time to time.

I treasured warm moments like this. It was a pity that we were ultimately interrupted.

The screech of car brakes was loud enough to hear through the door. As I looked out the window, I saw Cole leading Rachel into the house.

I didn't want to face them on my last night, so I went back to my room first. I heard rustling and bits of conversation drifting up from downstairs.

At some point, I dozed off. When I woke up, it was already 11:00 pm. My throat was burning with thirst.

I crept downstairs, poured myself a glass of warm water, and climbed back up the stairs. That was when I saw Rachel standing at the top landing, looking pitiful.

The moment she saw me, she came straight toward me. I curled my lip, already wondering what stunt she was going to pull this time.

She stopped beside me and leaned in close to hiss into my ear, "This is all your fault. Why won't you just die already, Isabel? Even now, Cole still won't agree to call off the engagement."

Then, she grabbed my hand and slammed it into her own stomach, using the force to throw herself down the stairs.

"Rach!" Cole's panicked shout rang out as he rushed over and scooped her up from the bottom of the stairs.

He looked utterly shaken. This time, he didn't say a word to me. He just picked Rachel up in his arms and headed straight for the door. Without even looking back, he tossed out, "We're not getting engaged."

All I felt was a dull kind of boredom. I'd been framed like this too many times.

At the beginning, I would get hurt and try to defend myself, but a few words from Rachel were always enough to make Cole believe her without hesitation. I would just end up getting scolded.

If he would just bother to check the security cameras… If he could trust me, even just a little…

I had a maid pull up the surveillance footage. The video clearly showed everything that had just happened.

Stan and Melissa watched it with me.

Melissa's face darkened with fury. "So that's how it is. She looks so soft and fragile on the outside, but she's actually so calculating! We can't afford to have someone like her in our family!

"Izzy, before this, I couldn't bear the thought of you leaving us to go abroad, but now I think you made the right choice. You just focus on leaving with peace of mind tomorrow. I'll handle everything else for you."

…

The next day, Stan and Melissa set aside their work and saw me off at the airport.

I caught up on sleep on the plane, thinking about the life of freedom that awaited me. The thought made me genuinely happy.

A few days later, I received a video from Melissa. Cole was the focus of the recording. It started with him rushing into my bedroom, looking travel-worn. He stared in shock at the empty room he was in.