Chapter 1

I yanked the IV needle out of my hand. Blood from the open wound trickled down the back of my hand.

Wanda Lynch looked at me and frowned.

"Enzo Underwood, what are you doing now?"

Her tone sounded like she was scolding a misbehaving child.

I looked at her and felt my heart getting colder.

"Let's break up."

I said the words with unusual calm.

There was no anger or shouting.

Wanda froze for a moment. That familiar look of disappointment appeared on her face.

"Just because I forgot to get your medicine?

"Just because I went to see Chris first?"

She raised her voice as if I were the one being unreasonable.

"Can you stop being so childish and selfish?"

It was that line again.

I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, but it was nothing compared to the chill spreading through my chest.

Heartbreak was the worst kind of pain.

I looked at her. She was the woman I had loved for five years.

"Then let's end it."

She let out a dismissive scoff and turned around to leave.

She was certain I would chase after her, apologize, and beg her to come back like I always did.

She was certain I couldn't live without her. She was certain I didn't have the guts to really break up with her.

After all, our careers were tightly intertwined. She believed she had control over everything I had.

Or rather, she thought she did.

This time, she was wrong.

I watched her walk away and didn't say a word to stop her.

For the past five years, this one-sided dynamic had drained me completely.

I was truly tired.

Wanda had just reached the door when her phone rang.

She picked it up immediately. Her voice turned gentle.

"Chris, what's wrong?"

Chris Luther's weak voice came clearly through the phone.

"Wanda, come back. I'm scared of being alone."

There was a tremble in his voice. He sounded like a child who had been terribly wronged.

Wanda instantly switched to a soothing tone.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't be scared. I'll be right back.

"Lie down and pull the blanket over you. Don't catch a cold."

Her voice was extremely gentle.

It was completely different from the impatience and irritation she had just shown me.

I leaned back against the bed and listened as her gentle voice faded outside the door.

I listened as she poured all her care and attention into another man.

I smiled mockingly at myself.

How ridiculous.

My stomach condition had flared up. I was here on an IV drip.

She forgot my medicine and called me immature.

Chris just had a common cold, and she acted like the sky was falling.

He said he was scared.

How could a grown man in his twenties be scared of staying home alone?

Only Wanda would believe something that absurd.

Maybe it wasn't about believing. Maybe she was just willing to play along.

I closed my eyes. My heart had gone cold.

A scene from a year ago suddenly surfaced in my mind.

That day, Wanda ran a red light to take a shortcut.

A runaway truck came barreling toward us.

Without thinking, I shoved her out of the way.

My leg was crushed under the wheels.

I suffered a comminuted fracture.

After surgery, I lay in the hospital bed and was drenched in sweat from the pain.

Wanda only stayed with me until noon.

Chris called and said he'd just gone through a breakup. He was drinking at a bar and was contemplating suicide.

Wanda immediately stood up with panic written all over her face.

"Enzo, it's Chris. I need to go check on him."

I grabbed her hand and said hoarsely, "I just got out of surgery."

She shrugged me off. It was that familiar expression again.

It was a mix of disappointment and impatience.

"Chris is losing the will to live! You're already fine. Can you stop being so selfish?"

With that, she turned around and left without looking back.

She spent the whole night drinking with her heartbroken childhood friend.

She left me alone in that cold ward to endure the agony of fractured bones.

Back then, I still held onto a sliver of hope.

I thought she was only confused for a moment.

Now, I finally understood that it wasn't a coincidence.

It was a deeply rooted pattern.

In her world, Chris would always come first.

Every little thing about him mattered more than my life.

I was always the one who could be sacrificed and overlooked.

From now on, I would stop compromising.