Chapter 1

The staff at the Immigration Services's office noticed I had gone quiet and repeated herself, thinking I had not heard her. "Sir, you might want to check it again..."

I came to my senses and took back the form as I forced a smile. "No, thank you."

After a couple of seconds, I reached for my phone to call Vanessa, wanting to ask her what was going on. It rang for a long time.

To my surprise, Harry answered.

"Joey, Vanessa's in a meeting. What's up? You can tell me, and I'll pass it along. Though unless it's about groceries or housework, I doubt it's important. We're discussing an acquisition right now. Since you're a househusband, don't get in the way."

He spoke gently, but his words stung. I could not say anything to her.

Then, I heard Vanessa's voice faintly in the background. "What is it?"

Harry chuckled. "Nothing. Just a...nuisance call. Nothing important. Just focus on the contract."

Then he hung up.

I watched my screen go dark as tears fell onto it. When I finally stopped crying, I let out a bitter laugh.

Looking back, none of it should have surprised me.

Vanessa and Harry had grown up together and had been each other's first love. I had known that when Vanessa and I started dating.

But she had taken my hand back then and looked me in the eye with sincerity, saying, "That's all in the past, Joey. You're the one I love now."

Like a fool, I had believed her.

Soon after I followed Vanessa overseas, Harry said he wanted to come abroad for work too. Worried about his safety, Vanessa tried to persuade me to let him stay with us.

"He's all alone in a place he doesn't know anything about. It doesn't feel right letting him live somewhere else."

That was how Harry moved into our home as if he belonged there. Later, he changed jobs and became her personal assistant.

Anyone could see something was wrong.

But Vanessa simply said, "He's like my little brother. Don't overthink it."

And I believed her. I closed my eyes, shut out everything I heard, and kept loving her.

Before I left, my mom learned I was going overseas with Vanessa.

She did not try to stop me as she just gave me a tired, helpless smile.

"You're young. I won't stop you, and I couldn't even if I tried. You'll understand someday, though. When you depend on someone else, you'll have nothing the day someone stops giving. People who put too much faith in love don't end up well."

I was young, and I did not believe her. I thought love mattered more than my own life.

I took no money from my family and followed Vanessa overseas with nothing but passion in me. I faced an unfamiliar language and a social world I knew nothing about.

I struggled for five years and finally adjusted. By the time I looked back, the woman I loved had long since stopped loving me.

Only now did I understand what my mom had meant.

I took out my phone and booked the next flight home. It left that night.

Five years…

I did not have another five years to let Vanessa waste.

The booking confirmation had barely appeared when Vanessa's name flashed across my screen. She was calling me back.