Chapter 1

After ten years of wasted time, I felt surprisingly light once I made the decision to leave.

I booked the next flight back to Glufford.

Before I left, I contacted the lawyer to handle the company Mom and Dad had set up for me here.

They were worried I'd struggle when I came here, so they set up this new company for me. Dad hand-picked every project, so it was a guaranteed success.

At the time, my boyfriend, Frankie Sutton—who had the title of top graduate—was all proud and insisted he'd never rely on handouts.

To spare his fragile ego, I ended up living with him in a rural cave-like house where even the toilet was open-air. We scraped by and made a living by raising and selling pigs.

Now that I was finally leaving, there was no point in keeping the company running anymore.

I used the gold card Mom and Dad gave me and contacted the lawyer. Things went smoothly.

Looking back, I realized how foolish I'd been. I could've used money to solve my problems, but instead, I stuck it out to protect Frankie's fragile, sensitive feelings. I was barely in my 30s, yet I had turned myself into a common village woman.

As I grabbed my documents and prepared to leave, I ran into Frankie, who looked exhausted as he walked in.

"Oh, now you're looking for me? It's too late! Renee, don't blame me for not giving you a chance to marry me. I waited all day yesterday, and you didn't show up. Don't come crying to me asking me to marry you now!"

Frankie's tone was as self-righteous as ever, like he was doing me a huge favor by even thinking about marrying me.

If it weren't for the lipstick marks on his shirt, I might've actually believed he'd waited for me all night.

"I know you were with Evie. Were you looking for me to bring you contraception? And Frankie, we're already broken up. You don't deserve to marry me!"

I looked up at him. My eyes were cold.

Frowning, Frankie tugged at his tie in annoyance. "This again? I've told you so many times. Evie and I are just classmates. Our relationship is not as dirty as you think it is.

"She was with me while I was waiting for you all day yesterday. The piglet we're raising caught a cold. Go buy some medicine for it. Do that, and I'll pretend nothing happened yesterday."

Frankie said all this so casually. He didn't even notice that my eyes were fixed on the hickey on his neck.

I couldn't help but let out a sneer. Once the illusion broke, some men were honestly worse than animals.

Even though I saw through him, hearing the man I loved for ten years say things like that still made my heart ache.

I turned away and looked at the sycamore tree outside.

It was late fall. The tree, which had once shaded the whole yard, now stood bare with its leaves all gone, leaving behind only skeletal branches. It looked just like the ten wasted years I spent with Frankie.

When Frankie noticed that my eyes were lingering on his neck, his cold, piercing gaze suddenly betrayed a flicker of panic.

Something must have occurred to him. He rubbed his neck uncomfortably and then tried to appease me.

"Renee, I know you're upset about me leaving you to decorate the birthday party venue alone the day before yesterday, but you made me wait all day yesterday. We're even now.

"You've always wanted me to go back with you to talk to your parents about our marriage, right? Well, I promise that once we get that investment for our pig ranch, I'll go with you to meet your parents.

"Alright, enough of this. Go buy the medicine. You've been feeding the pigs long enough. You know what they need when they're sick. Evie's probably worried by now."

I scoffed.

I'd always known Frankie as someone quiet, but suddenly he was sweet-talking me so much.

It turned out that it was all for his precious first love, Evie Dotson. To be precise, it was for her pig.

I pretended not to hear him and walked past him to leave.

"Renee, that's enough! I already promised to marry you. What more do you want?"

When I didn't look back, Frankie kicked the door so hard it shook the whole building.

I turned to face him. Seeing his furious eyes, I smiled faintly. "Frankie, this is the last time we'll ever see each other."

With that, I walked out.

"Renee Miller, you'll regret this!"

I didn't turn back, leaving him to scream after me in a fit of rage.