I Truly Stopped Loving Her

To punish me, she took away all my identification documents.

She told me to keep suffering until I had reflected on my actions and fully understood my place in the world. Only then could I come back to her.

At that moment, a bodyguard kicked me to the ground, and I curled up on the floor.

Seeing how miserable I looked, Sherry Sweeney broke into a mocking smile with smugness shining in her gaze. "I never would've thought you were such a despicable person.

"You hurt Harold just to win my favor! I really misjudged you.

"I already married you. Aren't you satisfied with that? All I'm doing is being a little nicer to Harold, and yet you're so eager to pick on him. You've really let me down."

I curled up. The pain in my body spread. "Don't worry. I don't care about any of this anymore…"

She would not have to worry about me competing with Harold for her affection anymore.

According to the doctor's diagnosis, I had a terminal illness, and my life was counting down.

All I wanted was to live well from here on out. I did not care about anything else.

…

When the bodyguards had beaten me enough, Sherry stared at me in contempt.

That look seemed to say, "If you make Harold unhappy, I'll make you pay dearly."

I had only come back to see her today to say my final goodbye.

After all, I did love Sherry with all my heart.

I had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and I had never intended to come back to her.

Dragging my hunched body over, I slowly walked away from there, step by step.

Sherry's voice rang out from behind me. "You can come back if you promise not to compete with Harold for my attention and apologize to him."

I could not help but let out a bitter laugh. Once, while eating, I accidentally sat in Harold's seat.

Sherry immediately slapped me across the face and yelled at me for lacking any common sense.

Another time, Harold secretly took something of mine. When I found out, I made him return it and apologize to me.

Sherry yelled, "You're so petty over such a small matter. Are you even a man?"

Her favoritism toward Harold ran deep to her very core.

As for me, I was nothing more than a stand-in.

After returning from North Maia, I had reached the end of my life.

The doctor's diagnosis was terminal cancer in its final stages. I had no more than two months to live.

At that moment, Harold was standing beside Sherry as he feigned kindness and said, "Sherry, he looks pitiful. Dressed in such rags, he must have suffered a lot out there."

Sherry looked at Harold with a gentle face. "Harold, you're just too kind. Someone like him deserves this fate. If he doesn't suffer a little, he'll think he's above everyone else."

"If you hadn't disappeared in that accident all those years ago, I'd never have ended up with him. He already has me as his wife, and now he wants to take away my love for you, too!! He deserves it."

A hint of anger tinged Sherry's voice.

"Sherry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that back then. I had no choice but to disappear," Harold said. His eyes welled up as he put on a pitiful expression.