Chapter 2

When I returned to my bedroom to pack my things, a yellowed photograph slipped out of the drawer.

It was taken on the day I graduated from the police academy. Paul had his arm around me as we stood together for the picture.

In the photo, Aiden was wearing a suit. His head was slightly tilted, and he looked at me with a smile in his eyes.

I stared at the focused, burning look in his eyes. Everything had changed.

Back then, we were young and full of energy. We dreamed of becoming detectives who worked on the front lines.

After Aiden's parents were brutally murdered during a case, Paul adopted him and paid for his education through law school.

We had promised each other that we would get married once Aiden had settled into his career at a law firm.

But everything changed the day Paul was killed in retaliation by the drug cartel.

I cried so hard that I nearly passed out several times.

Aiden held me tightly.

His eyes were red with rage as he promised, "Nicole, we'll get revenge for Paul together. No matter what it takes, I'll make those bastards pay!"

I went undercover inside The Walled City alone and lived a life filled with danger.

Meanwhile, Aiden helped me gather evidence of the drug cartel's crimes.

But during my second year undercover, the cartel leader's daughter, Naomi, returned from overseas after studying art.

Aiden couldn't stop himself from being drawn to her.

Compared to me, who was caught in gunfights almost every day, Naomi seemed so innocent and untouched by the darkness.

She was sweet and kind. Whenever it rained, she would even hold an umbrella over snails that had crawled into puddles.

The cartel leader had protected Naomi so well that she knew nothing about his dirty dealings.

The day I risked my life to obtain the evidence we needed, Aiden sat awake until late at night, staring at a sunflower painting Naomi had given him.

He looked torn and miserable. "If we really take the cartel down, Naomi's life will be destroyed, right? But she doesn't know anything..."

I asked Aiden if he regretted it. He didn't answer. For the first time, he avoided my eyes.

During the final six months of my undercover mission, I was hunted by the cartel while trying to protect Aiden as he passed along information. One of them slashed my lower leg, leaving a deep wound.

With nowhere else to run, I hid in a filthy, foul-smelling ditch for an entire night.

When Aiden finally found me, he looked extremely irritated. "If you're hurt, you should have found somewhere to hide. Do you know how much chaos you've caused outside? Everyone is looking for you! What if Naomi finds out the truth?"

I stared at him in shock.

Then I whispered, "Aiden, it hurts so much."

Only then did he notice the horrible wound on my leg. His face changed at once, and he hurriedly carried me on his back.

As I clung to his back, I kept telling myself that he still cared about me.

But the next day, Naomi cut herself slightly with a craft knife while painting. Aiden panicked.

He carefully cleaned and bandaged her tiny wound. He even sang songs and told her stories to comfort her for the entire afternoon.

The night before the final operation, Aiden wrapped his arms around me from behind.

His voice trembled. "Nicole, when all of this is over, let's get married. I'll make sure you wear the most beautiful wedding dress. Then we'll go to Paul's grave together and pay our respects."

But the very next day, he forced Naomi to come home with him. Then he expected me to live under the same roof as the daughter of the man who killed my father.

I grabbed a gun and tried to take Naomi down with me. But Aiden stopped me and took the gun away.

He slipped a ring onto my finger and kept pleading with me. "Please, Nicole. Naomi has already lost everyone in her family. Once she's had time to calm down, we'll go get married, okay?"

I held on to that promise.

But a false promise was still a false promise.

To give Naomi a peaceful future, Aiden forced me to resign from the police. He claimed that he wanted us to live a quiet life together.

But in reality, he had given up on the dream we once shared. He had also betrayed everything Paul had sacrificed his life to protect.

But I refused to give up.

For the next five years, I secretly worked as an informant for the police and continued the mission Paul had never been able to finish.

Until one day, Aiden's constant favoritism finally drove me over the edge.

Right in front of him, I pressed a piece of broken glass against Naomi's throat.

Without hesitation, Aiden twisted my wrist until it broke. Then he locked me inside a freezing walk-in freezer to teach me a lesson.

After that, we never talked about getting married again.

Every time Aiden hurt me for Naomi, he would later get drunk. He would then kick open my bedroom door and drag me into a desperate tangle amid the mess.

That was how we spent the next five years.

Until today, I finally gave up on him.

I closed my dry, aching eyes. Then I tore the photograph in half.

I kept the half with Paul and me. The half with Aiden was thrown back into the drawer.

Just then, my fingers touched something inside.

The moment I saw what it was, I froze in shock.