Chapter 2

Even now, Yuliana remembered the flutter in her heart when she first saw Charlie eight years ago.

On her very first day of college, she had watched him at the podium, delivering a speech on behalf of the student council, and fell for him instantly.

Bathed in the glow of the spotlights, he was impossible to ignore. Countless women in the freshman class were infatuated with him, and Yuliana was no exception.

Charlie was the scion of the prestigious Zimmer family, blessed with striking looks and a lineage most people could only dream of.

Yet, despite the endless line of admirers trailing him, his heart belonged solely to his childhood sweetheart, Alyssa.

They had been together for years, and Charlie's devotion to her was the stuff of campus legend. He once spent a fortune lighting up the sky with fireworks in the heart of the city just to celebrate her birthday.

He was fiercely protective, too. The first time he ever lost his composure and got into a fistfight was when jealousy flared after another man tried to pursue Alyssa. It had ended with a permanent mark on his academic record.

Every morning, without fail, he bought her breakfast and waited faithfully downstairs at her dorm.

He once even stood waiting in the snow until he ran a high fever. Later, when it turned out that Alyssa had simply ditched him to go shopping with her best friend, he didn't utter a single word of complaint.

Everyone said that Charlie loved Alyssa to his very core.

Yuliana believed it, too. With Alyssa in the picture, she buried her own feelings for Charlie deep in her heart, content to remain a silent observer and wish them well from afar. In her mind, simply being able to watch him was enough.

After graduation, Charlie couldn't wait to make Alyssa his wife.

Yuliana hadn't actually been invited to that lavish wedding, but she went anyway, slipping in under the vague guise of a former classmate.

But to everyone's surprise, Alyssa never showed up.

By nightfall, Charlie was frantic. He had called her 99 times, only to realize she had blocked and deleted his number.

He stared at that cold exclamation mark on his screen, frozen in place, while the guests began to assume the wedding would be called off. As a wave of pity for Charlie slowly filled the room, he suddenly did something that stunned everyone.

He walked onto the stage and took the microphone.

"Today, I, Charlie Zimmer, have decided to find a new bride," he announced. "Is there a single woman here willing to marry me?"

At that moment, Yuliana, who had always been a shadow in the background, felt her heart slam against her ribs. Perhaps it was the weight of years of suppressed feelings that finally gave her the courage to break through her own insecurity. The moment his voice faded, she stood up without hesitation.

That day, wearing a wedding ring engraved with Alyssa's name, she blindly married a man who didn't even know who she was.

If Alyssa hadn't disappeared, Yuliana's world would never have collided with Charlie's, let alone ended in marriage.

For the next three years, they fulfilled their duties as husband and wife. Their days together were fairly peaceful.

Yuliana had always known the truth. She was nothing more than a thief who had stolen someone else's destiny.

Then, a month ago, Alyssa suddenly returned.

The news was like a stone dropped into still water, shattering the fragile dream Yuliana had lived in for three years.

Since Alyssa's return, Charlie had been spending less and less time at home.

Deep down, Yuliana knew it was time to return the title of Mrs. Zimmer—a title she held in name only—to its rightful owner.

By letting go, she gave them a chance at happiness and found her own peace.

A bolt of lightning tore across the sky, followed by a crash of thunder outside the window. At that very moment, Charlie was likely holding Alyssa in his arms, murmuring soft reassurances.

Yuliana took out her phone and sent him a message.

"The document you asked about is tucked under the back seat cushion of your car. If you want to know what it is, just open it."

She braved the rain to get home, but she still hadn't heard back.

It wasn't until dusk settled in that Charlie finally replied.

"No need. I trust you."

Once again, he had missed his chance to learn the truth.

But of course he had. He was so wrapped up in comforting Alyssa, who was terrified by the storm, that he didn't have a moment to spare for Yuliana—not even to glance at a piece of paper.