Chapter 3

I had nowhere to go. In the end, I could only check into a cheap budget hotel.

The room was a shoebox. Even the curtains were old.

I sat on the edge of the bed and called Julian. As soon as he answered, the first thing he asked was, "Have you been crying, Jesse?"

My nose prickled, but I still said no.

He was silent for a moment before asking quietly, "Did you and Veronica get into a fight? The internet's talking about you."

My heart sank into my stomach. The very thing I had feared most had happened after all.

After hanging up, I immediately opened Twitter. It wasn't high on the trending list, but it was trending enough for the people who needed to see it to notice.

The headline was painfully clear. "Girlfriend Gets Pregnant and Registers Marriage, While the Side Piece Causes a Scene."

Beneath it was a mashup of images—videos from the private room, photos outside the courthouse, and old pictures of Veronica and me. The most disgusting part was that they had completely reversed the timeline.

The post claimed that Veronica and Ian had been a couple all along and that I was the one who had come between them. They even claimed that because Julian's illness cost a lot of money to treat, I had clung to Veronica because I was looking for someone to support me.

The comment section was filled with all kinds of insults. My eyes misted over as I scrolled through them one by one, but I couldn't shed a single tear.

Before long, I received a message from the company. Because the negative publicity surrounding me was affecting the company's image, they formally notified me of my termination.

I gaped at those words for what felt like an eternity. I had slowly worked my way up to this position.

When I was just an intern, I stayed up all night with clients to revise proposals. I snuck into the restroom to splash water on my face whenever I was too tired to keep my eyes open.

Later on, as I took on more projects, there were times when I barely slept for several days straight. I had thought that, at the very least, there was one thing I'd managed to hold on to through my own efforts. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

…

That evening, I still went to the Smith residence. I wasn't there because I still had any hope. I simply wanted to see what all these years had really meant.

I had never been there before. Veronica and I had been seeing each other for seven years, yet I had never met her parents.

Every time I brought it up, she would tell me that her family was traditional and that we could talk about it later. I couldn't believe I'd actually believed her.

When the door swung open, Veronica's father, Ryan Smith, spotted Ian at a glance. He patted Ian on the shoulder and greeted him warmly. "You must be Ian. Come on in!"

I stood at the threshold, but no one paid any attention to me. When he finally noticed me, he frowned and asked Veronica, "Who is he?"

At that moment, I started to feel a little nervous. Yet, after a brief pause, she said coldly, "He's a driver newly hired by my company."

I glanced at my plain outfit and realized that, in her eyes, I couldn't hold a candle to Ian. Ryan lost interest in me and turned back to enthusiastically chat with Ian.

Sample wedding invitations and formal wear catalogs were laid out on the coffee table. I merely took one look at them, and my heart twisted painfully.

I had chosen that wedding invitation.

Half a year ago, Veronica and I had stayed up late into the night picking it out. She had said that when we got married someday, we'd use this design. The suit design tucked inside the formalwear catalog was also the exact one I had once chosen.

I had thought it was too expensive and couldn't bring myself to order it. Veronica had hugged me and said she'd buy it for me once her year-end bonus came in.

I belatedly realized she had bought it. However, she had just given it to someone else.

Ryan flipped through the samples and said softly, "Make sure to change the names."

Veronica took them from him and casually called the wedding planner. "Change the groom's name to Ian and get his measurements retaken for the tux."

Her expression remained stoic as she said that. Yet, I felt hollow inside when I heard it.

After Ryan took Ian upstairs, Veronica finally walked up to me. "I…"

I gazed at her silently.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. No matter what you need, I'm still willing to help you out."

I suddenly wanted to guffaw. "Did you seriously think all this time that I was only with you because you're rich?"

Veronica knitted her brows. "Isn't that the case? I'm the one who has never asked you for a single thing. I don't owe you anything."

Looking at her, the last remaining ember in my heart went completely cold.

Just then, I received a call from the hospital.

The nurse sounded frantic on the other end of the line. "Am I speaking with Julian's family member? The patient suddenly became extremely agitated, and his condition has worsened. Please come to the hospital immediately!"

My vision swam, and without thinking, I turned on my heel and sprinted out.

…

By the time I arrived at the hospital, Julian had already been transferred to the intensive care unit.

The doctor told me that after seeing the posts online, he had suffered an emotional breakdown. His health had already been poor to begin with, and the shock almost took him out.

As I stood on the other side of the glass and watched him lie in that hospital bed, tears immediately welled up in my eyes. His complexion was pallid, an oxygen tube rested beneath his nose, and the back of his hand was covered in needle marks.

For a moment, I didn't even dare to breathe too heavily.