Chapter 2

I met Jonathan's gaze and replied evenly, "Yes, I understand."

Though inwardly, I thought, 'Jonathan—this game of three we've been playing—I'm done. Yes, my wedding will still happen as scheduled… but the groom won't be you anymore.'

…

Faced with my detached response, Jonathan's tone sharpened with impatience. "I'm busy every day. I don't have time to manage your moods. If you don't want to get married, fine. Don't. Call it off."

With that, he left me standing alone in the mall and drove off. He didn't know—the wedding was already canceled. And truly, I no longer wanted to marry him.

I opened my phone and saw the last message in our thread. My message had been blocked and hadn't gotten through. I tried sending another message. The result was the same.

He hadn't even re-added me after blocking me. How could there be any talk of marriage? In the past, I might have tried to smooth things over, to coax him back. But not anymore. His heart had never been mine to begin with.

Just as I was about to hail a taxi, my fiancé, James Wick, called. He asked me to meet him at a newly opened café nearby.

Noticing my empty hand, he raised an eyebrow. "No ring?"

I offered a faint smile. "Nothing felt right."

Then, unexpectedly, he took out a ring box and handed it to me. "I brought this back from abroad. I wasn't sure if you'd like it, so I held off until now."

Inside lay a rare pink diamond ring, the band engraved with my name. This was a kind of devotion I had never known before. Tears stung my eyes as I reached to slide the ring onto my finger, ready to thank him.

Then Jonathan's call came through. "Where are you? I'll send the driver to pick you up so we can get the marriage license."

After everything that had just happened, he still had the nerve to speak of marriage. He was so sure I would forgive him.

Back then, every disagreement between us began with him giving me the silent treatment. But within hours, we'd make up—mostly because I was the one who yielded. I yielded until Chloe joined our dates. Until the passenger seat of his car was reserved solely for her. Until the backseat was filled with her trinkets and souvenirs.

Even his clothes, his meals, everything he used was chosen by her. There was no trace of me left in his life.

And yet, it still wasn't enough. When he missed her call during a meeting, she jumped from the second-floor balcony of the villa and broke her leg.

Jonathan canceled deals worth millions to rush to her side. And somehow, it was my fault—simply because I hadn't arrived fast enough to tend to her.

He demanded I apologize to Chloe. I refused. He berated me for a full day and night, insisting I kneel by her hospital bed in apology before he would forgive me and marry me. Otherwise, he would end things for good.

I loved him too much back then. I couldn't bear the thought of losing him. So I agreed. But love isn't meant to be a form of torture. Once the heart wears out, leaving is the only way forward.

Remembering it all, I couldn't help but laugh bitterly under my breath. I ended the call, returned the ring to its box, and waved goodbye to James before turning toward home.

But as I reached the curb, Jonathan's car pulled up beside me. He rolled down the window, his eyes dropping to what I held in my hand. "What did you just buy?"

Afraid he'd see the ring box, I shifted it behind my back and moved toward the other side of the car to get in. Jonathan watched me closely. Whether he had noticed or not, I couldn't tell.