Chapter 2

Cyrus' POV

Tonight was Elena's birthday party, and she had ordered me to attend with Marissa. I knew Marissa resented her mother and would never willingly show up, but I also knew better than to ignore Elena's threats. After hesitating for a long moment, I finally bit the bullet and went to find Marissa.

"Today's your mother's birthday. She wants us to attend the party together."

The moment Marissa heard that, a mocking smile tugged at her lips. She didn't even bother looking at me.

"Wow. You really are my mom's favorite lapdog. She tells you to do something, and you jump."

She took another drag from her cigarette before lazily waving me off. "I'm not going. Get lost."

I stood there silently, thinking about my sister lying in a hospital bed, kept alive by expensive medical treatment. I couldn't afford to make an enemy of the Caldwell family, and I couldn't afford to let Elena turn her back on us either.

So, I swallowed my pride, stepped closer, and pleaded, "Marissa, what would it take for you to come back with me to the party?"

A strange glint flashed in her eyes. Her smile turned cold as she pointed toward the dark waters below the yacht.

"Fine. Jump overboard. If you do that, I'll go with you."

I followed her finger and looked down. Wave after wave crashed against the side of the yacht, the water black and seemingly bottomless beneath the moonlight. It looked as though something enormous could be lurking in those depths, waiting for me.

I turned back to Marissa. Her face was cold and unreadable.

"Do you mean it?"

She blew a cloud of smoke in my face and answered without a hint of hesitation. "Yeah. Go ahead. Jump."

The moment I heard her answer, I didn't hesitate. I climbed over the railing and jumped.

The cold seawater swallowed me almost instantly. Just before I plunged beneath the surface, I caught one last glimpse of Marissa standing on the deck.

For the briefest moment, the coldness vanished from Marissa's face. Her eyes widened with unmistakable fear, and beneath it, I caught something I hadn't expected to see—genuine concern.

I couldn't understand it. After everything she'd done to me, after all the times she'd made it clear that my feelings meant nothing to her, why would she be afraid for me now?

The truth was, things between Marissa and me hadn't always been this bad. When we were younger, she used to follow me everywhere.

I first met her when Elena brought her back to her hometown for a family visit. I noticed Marissa the moment I spotted her in the crowd. She was dressed in a black dress with a matching jacket, her long hair falling neatly down her back.

She rarely smiled, and her young face was almost always cold and expressionless. With her long, thick lashes and large, dark eyes, she looked like a delicate porcelain doll—beautiful, flawless, and somehow strangely empty, as though there was no emotion behind those eyes.

I secretly overheard the adults talking about her. She was the precious daughter of a wealthy family, the kind of child everyone considered priceless. They called her a "golden child".

At the time, I was too young to understand what that really meant. I didn't know how much wealth or influence a family like the Caldwells could have. But I remembered her name—Marissa Caldwell.

A few years later, I placed first in the entire city on my middle school entrance exam. That caught her grandfather's attention, and he eventually brought me into their home, offering to pay for my education.

From that point on, Marissa and I grew up side by side. The Caldwells paid for my schooling, and I attended the same schools as Marissa. In return, I stayed by her side, looking out for her and protecting her whenever I could.

Some of my classmates who didn't like me would laugh and call me Marissa's lapdog. I never bothered to deny it. If being by her side meant becoming the dog that guarded his princess, then I was more than willing to wear the name.

As the years passed, Marissa and I grew closer. Little by little, she began opening up to me, sharing the things she kept buried deep inside. Everyone envied the Caldwell heiress for her privileged life, but I knew how suffocating it could be behind closed doors.

Marissa's father had died in a car accident when she was young, leaving her as his only child. After losing her husband, Elena became intensely controlling and poured all her attention into managing her daughter's life.

From the age of eight, Marissa had been given almost no say in anything. Elena decided which schools she attended, which classes she took, what clothes she wore, what she ate—every detail of her life was carefully planned and controlled.

To everyone else, Marissa had everything a girl could want. But I knew the truth. She was living like a puppet, with her mother's hand pulling every string.

The first time I ever saw Marissa truly smile was when we skipped school together and went to Mount Luna to watch a meteor shower. It was the first time I'd seen her look so genuinely happy and carefree.

Moonlight spilled softly across her face, and the starlight seemed to dance in her eyes. When she smiled, I could even make out the faint dimples at the corners of her mouth.

That night, for the first time, I had a selfish thought.

I wanted to keep that smile for myself. I wanted to be the only person who could make her smile like that, the only person who would ever get to see that side of her.

But our happiness didn't last. After what happened, everything between us changed. Marissa stopped seeing me as someone she could trust. Little by little, affection turned into resentment, and resentment eventually became hate.