Chapter 1

Gregory's POV

"You mentioned having unwanted baggage. Who were you talking about?"

In front of the screen, I took a deep breath and typed my question for Winter Andersen. Within seconds, her reply popped up.

"He was someone I grew up with. Well, technically, he's also my benefactor. His parents died saving me years ago. To repay that debt, my parents took him in and raised him.

"He'd been taking advantage of my family's guilt ever since. He followed me around every day, to the point that everyone thought he was a future husband my family had been raising for me.

"The truth was, I never wanted a burden like him in the first place."

I blinked. A dull ache throbbed in my chest as I thought of Mom and Dad, frozen forever in old photographs.

During a landslide years ago, Dad had shoved Winter out of the way and was crushed to death by a falling boulder. Mom had used every ounce of her strength to push Winter to safety. In the end, she was swallowed by the collapsing earth.

Winter had once told me that from that day on, I would become part of the Andersen family. She would stay by my side for the rest of our lives, treating me like an older brother.

In the end, it turned out I was nothing more than an annoying burden who used a life-saving debt to cling to her.

"I hate emotional blackmail more than anything. Congrats, OP, on finally escaping that nightmare. Forget the depressing stuff. We want the juicy romance! Tell us how you and your true love got together!"

Replies kept pouring in. After a long silence, Winter posted two short responses.

"It was simple. When that man and I were about to get engaged, I came clean.

"I told him that I'd already slept with the person I truly loved."

My fingers began trembling uncontrollably.

"Wow. That's some main-character energy right there. So, did the leech just give up? He didn't make a scene or anything?"

"Oh, he did," Winter replied. "But it didn't matter. I had leverage over him. The company he worked for belonged to my uncle. His grandma was critically ill and needed one final surgery. She was waiting on the last payment, and I withheld his bonus. In the end, he had no choice but to let me go."

Something inside me snapped. Even breathing became difficult.

How could this be? How could Winter use the only family I had left against me?

"Then, how far have you and your current partner gotten?" another asked. "Have you both settled down?"

Within seconds, a photo appeared in the thread. In the photo, two hands were clasped together, fingers intertwined. Matching bands gleamed on their ring fingers.

My heart sank instantly. The mole on that man's hand was identical to Simon Brown's. That sapphire bracelet on his wrist was the very one I was wearing right now.

The Andersen family had given Winter and me that pair years ago. They said it was a family heirloom passed down through generations, something that would keep its wearer safe.

"We'll each wear one. That way, we'll never be separated for the rest of our lives!"

That was the promise Winter had made while holding my hand all those years ago. Who would've thought she gave that forever to someone else?

I gritted my teeth and buried the dull ache spreading through my chest. Then, I sent the account a private message.

"Hello. I'm currently going through a similar situation to yours. There's someone standing between the person I love and me. I'd like to talk to you. Would that be okay?"

I needed to know what had happened over the next ten years.

It didn't take long for me to receive a reply.

"Of course. Though for me, it's not really a case of loving someone I couldn't have. The summer after finishing high school, I secretly signed us up for a couples' tour package. I went to Balora with him. By then, we'd already fallen for each other."

My grip tightened around my phone. A vacation in Balora…

Winter had told me that for her graduation trip, she wanted to be alone, to enjoy the freedom and peace by herself. The truth was, she had gone to the island I had always dreamed of visiting… with Simon.

I sat there in a daze for a long time. Eventually, I returned to the chat window and sent a message to the present-day Winter. "Winter, did you choose the same major as me because you genuinely wanted to?"

She replied promptly, "Duh. Didn't Mom and Dad say I was supposed to stay by your side forever?"

Right. She was supposed to, not because she wanted to. Somewhere along the way, Winter had had a change of heart.

A smile of relief hung on my lips.

I clicked the confirmation button and accepted the admission offer. None of this mattered anymore. From this day forward, I didn't need Winter Andersen's company anymore.