Chapter 1

The moment I heard Zach Stein on the phone, I started shuddering. I had to clamp a hand over my mouth just to stop myself from making a sound.

“Cathy, you look pale. Did you not get enough rest at the academy?”

Zach walked over. There was a deliberate tone of concern in his voice as he scanned my face. Before I could say something, his lips curled into a satisfied smile.

“But this is good. You seem much more obedient now. Mom is very pleased with you. Go and pack your things. The dean says you’ve learned proper discipline and graduated without a hitch. I’m taking you home today.”

I bit down hard on my lower lip until I tasted blood. The pain barely made me hold back the tears that had filled my eyes.

I told myself. “You can’t cry, Cathy Briones. Crying means he wins. And that’s exactly what he wants.”

I took a deep breath, forced myself to stay calm as I turned around and walked back to the cold and lifeless room they had assigned me at the last minute. I packed my meager belongings in silence.

I did not have many belongings. I fit everything into a small bag in just a short while.

When I stepped out with it, the main hall was empty. Zach was gone.

All he left behind was my phone, which was placed on the table, and two voice messages.

“Jen needs me for something urgent. Be good and wait here for me. I’ll come back later to pick you up, and then we’ll go to the new home.”

His tone was patronizing and dismissive, as if he was giving orders to a servant who meant nothing to him.

I felt a chill down my spine as I clutched the phone, and then I saw Jenna Wilczek’s latest post.

[Having a childhood sweetheart is the best! One call, and he came right over. Thanks, Zach, for helping me pick out decorations for the engagement party. Your taste is amazing!]

Attached was a photo. Jenna was holding my boyfriend’s arm with a beaming smile.

I felt like an invisible hand had closed around my heart and squeezed it so tightly I could barely breathe.

My body was still wrecked from the meds and electric shocks. I was exhausted. I did not go looking for him. Instead, I went back to the tiny rental apartment where he and I had once spent countless days together.

However, when I opened the door, I was momentarily stunned.

The apartment was empty. Everything that belonged to me, to him, to us, was gone.

There was only a note lying on the cold floor in Zach’s handwriting.

[The lease has been terminated. I’ve moved your things to our new place. The address is 81 Henderson Road.]

Our new place?

I smiled bitterly. He had taken out everything I owned without even asking me, just like that.

I asked myself, “Do my sacrifices these past ten years mean nothing to him?”

Zach came from wealth, but during the ten years we were together, he pretended to be a poor guy from a struggling family.

Back in college, I felt sorry for him as he could not even afford meals. I would pile extra meat onto my tray. Then, I would pretend that I could not finish them and let him have them.

After graduation, when he was “hospitalized” with a “critical illness” and urgently needed a hundred thousand dollars for surgery, I went into overdrive and worked three jobs. I was out the door by 6 a.m. By 11 p.m., I dragged my leaden legs to the hospital just to keep him company.

During that time, he held my hand. With his voice hoarse and eyes full of tender emotion, he made a promise. “Cathy, when I get better, I’ll spend the rest of my life taking good care of you. We’ll get married. I’ll buy you a big house.”

Looking back, that moment had seemed like a joke.

Zach was the golden child of a wealthy family. A hundred thousand was just pocket change to him.

He just enjoyed playing people for a fool. I was nothing more than entertainment to kill his boredom.