Chapter 1

On the day I was discharged, a black car was parked outside the hospital with its engine turned off. Leo remembered to pick me up, but I no longer remembered how to love him.

The nurse pushed the door open and entered my ward. "Miss Bella, Don Vitaly has completed the discharge procedures. You may leave now."

I nodded numbly.

When I walked out of the sanatorium, I could still hear several nurses' aides whispering behind my back.

"Poor thing. Look at the predicament she's in right now."

"Why would you pity her? Don Vitaly has absolute power in Novena. He's rich and powerful, and he gives her unlimited pocket money. This isn't domestic abuse. All she has to do is pretend that she's leading a normal life. It's stupid of her not to."

I would have lost it if I heard this a year ago, but now, those words did not even make me pause my steps.

Leo was leaning against the car in a bespoke, black suit. The diamond cufflinks he was wearing reflected coldly under the sunlight. It was the birthday gift I had given him last year. I remembered spending an entire afternoon just picking it out at the jewelry store. When I paid for it with the supplementary card he had given me, the staff looked at me like I was a kept woman, but it did not bother me. All I cared about was if he was happy.

However, it was different now. He may have kept the cufflinks, but I no longer had any feelings for him.

I walked toward him, and he attempted to touch my face with the back of his hand. "You've lost weight." I turned away slightly to avoid his touch, and his hand stopped midair. He paused for a moment before pulling away from me to open the door to the passenger's seat. "Get in."

A used lipstick tube could be seen in the storage compartment of the passenger's seat. It was a limited edition with the letter 'S' carved into it. It was the first letter of Sophia's name, and the color was her favorite. I had seen her use the lipstick numerous times to freshen herself up in front of my fiancé in restaurants and events.

Leo took the lipstick tube from my hands while winding down the windows, and he flung it out of the car. "Don't mind it. The underboss has a habit of losing things everywhere."

I put on a small smile and said nothing. It was fine because I no longer cared.

While waiting at the red light, Leo's fingers drummed several times on the steering wheel. It was something he did when he felt nervous. I used to hold his hand and smile at him adoringly when he did this, and said, "Focus on your driving." However, all I did now was sit quietly and stare at the passing cars from the window.

"Sophia and I are done," he finally said. "I've renovated the villa with you in mind. It's according to your favorite designs."

"Oh," I replied softly.

"I made sure the helpers clean your room every day. There's not a single speck of dust in there."

"Thank you," I replied with a smile.

Leo turned to glance at me with a look in his eyes I could not fathom. He took out a black velvet box from his pocket and handed it to me with one hand. "I re-ordered the ring with a bigger diamond from before. Have a look and see if you like it."

I did not take it from him. "Let's forget about the wedding."

Leo's hand froze midair. It was only when the traffic lights turned green and the cars behind started honking that he snapped out of it. He placed the box in my arms. "Let's stop fighting over this. I slept with your best friend, but you slept with three of my buddies too. That's two people more than me. We should be even. I promised that you'll be my Donna, and I'm keeping my promise now, so you should stop being mad over this."

My head lowered to stare at the little box in my arms. The velvet was soft to the touch, but my chest hurt from the box pressing against it. I was not mad at all. I was just planning to leave for another place soon.

It was not a place as bustling and lively as Novena. It was just a small countryside place where my parents were buried. It was a place without him, and without any pain.

The car entered a villa. Everything looked the same. Wait, no. Everything was not the same.

New flowers were planted in the flower beds, and the walls had been repainted. Even the bronze handle on the door had been replaced, but I could still feel them everywhere in the house.

I did not enter our room, but dragged my luggage to the guest room. Leo stopped me. "What do you mean by this?"

"Sleeping alone has become my habit at the sanatorium." I turned back to glance at the room that once belonged to Leo and me. "Besides, I don't want to sleep in that bed anymore."

When I found out Leo had been cheating on me with Sophia, I checked the surveillance footage on the villa, and saw them doing it on the sofa and on the bed customized for me to be used on our wedding night. I was the one who picked the bedsheets and the pillows, and had waited for him in that bed every sleepless night for him to come home. They had sullied the bed meant for him and me. I almost died of heartache when I saw what they did.

Leo stared at me for a few seconds before sneering. "As you wish. Just make sure to dial it back a few notches. Keep this up and you might end up back at the sanatorium."

I watched as he walked away from me. I used to tremble whenever he mentioned the word 'sanatorium', and would kneel at his feet, begging and crying for him not to send me in there by promising that I would never repeat the mistake again.

However, all I felt now was calmness. The treatment at the sanatorium must have worked very well. I had forgotten what it felt like for my heart to beat wildly for him, or become emotional with every move he made. I was used to sleeping on the hard, wooden bed in the sanatorium late at night, and was no longer used to the soft bed.

I had spent 365 nights at the sanatorium, wondering every night if he would come for me, only to wake up in the morning realizing he would never come.