Chasing What Can't Be Had

In the evening, Lucas Yearwood returned home carrying a bouquet of nearly wilted roses.

"Viv, I bought these roses especially for you. Do you like them?" he asked.

I didn't even look up. I clutched the marriage contract I had once traded my life for as I sat—soaked—on the edge of the bed, my mind filled with the scene I had just witnessed at the hospital.

He had also given roses to Anna Carter. Hers were fresher and more beautiful than mine. Lucas grew angry when he saw no reaction from me.

"Viv, I had to leave abruptly because Anna was attempting to commit suicide by cutting her wrists. If it were you, you wouldn't leave someone to die either, would you?"

I responded numbly, "Of course, we should save her..."

After all, it would have been two lives lost.

Seeing my docile response, Lucas raised his thick eyebrows and smirked. In a patronizing tone, he said, "Just keep being obedient like this. Look, I even bought you your favorite roses."

We had held a wedding ceremony nine times, but each attempt ended in failure because of Lucas' so-called adopted sister. Yet each time, Lucas won me back with a bouquet of roses.

He didn't know that roses were Anna's favorite, not mine. I loved him, so I loved everything he gave me. But now...

"I'll put the roses in the vase..." Before he could finish speaking, I caught the scent of Anna's perfume on him. I then noticed the lipstick mark on his shirt collar.

Perhaps it was from having been caught in the rain, combined with the shock, but my head spun, and I suddenly felt nauseous. I rushed to the bathroom and began vomiting.

Lucas' smile froze when he saw my pale face. He rushed in and patted my back. "What's wrong? You're burning up. Should I take you to the hospital?"

Just as he was about to say something more, his phone rang. Seeing "Anna" flash on the screen, he glanced at me before answering, "Anna, what's up?"

Anna began crying on the other end. Her soft, childlike voice would make anyone feel bad for her.

"Luke, where did you go? My stomach suddenly hurts so badly..."

Lucas immediately panicked when he heard this. He told me, "Viv, something's happened to Anna. I need to check on her.

"You can get to the hospital by yourself, right? You know Anna's fragile and needs constant care."

I felt reluctant to let him go. I grabbed his hand and gave him our marriage contract.

"You said you'd marry me. That promise still stands, right?" I looked at him with reddened eyes. There was a hint of pleading in my voice. Even now, I foolishly hoped he would change his heart for me.

"You're still using this piece of paper to chain me down? Are two years of emotional blackmail not enough for you? I can't even look at this damn thing anymore!"

Lucas' face contorted with disgust as he crumpled the marriage contract and threw it into the trash can. I stared blankly at the contract in the trash, my gaze darkening. In the end, he left anyway.

My eyes filled with tears again as I watched his hurried silhouette disappear.