Chapter 1

The moment I sent the message, every group chat blew up. People began speculating about why I had suddenly called off the wedding. After all, everyone knew how much it meant to me.

Before long, my parents called. Mom's voice carried a trace of confusion and worry as she asked, "Nat, what's going on? Why did you suddenly call off the wedding? Did something happen?"

I thought I had already grown numb, but the moment I heard my parents' voices, tears still welled up in my eyes.

For my wedding, they had spent most of the savings they'd built over a lifetime. By most people's standards, the wedding I had planned for my fiancee, Olivia Smith, was already impressive.

But she had expensive tastes and wanted everything to be the best. She demanded an extravagant reception, a custom-made wedding gown, and a diamond ring designed just for her.

As someone at the very start of my career, the pressure was almost too much.

Yet, Mom and Dad could see how much I loved Olivia. Without hesitation, they handed me the money, saying, "As long as you're happy, we'll do whatever we can to support you."

I knew that was the savings they had scraped together over a lifetime of living frugally.

The line went quiet for a few seconds. I didn't know how to begin.

Was I supposed to tell them that I couldn't even reach Olivia and that I had just seen a photo of her with another man on the day before our wedding?

I couldn't bring myself to say it. So, I claimed the signal was bad and hung up.

…

As it turned out, canceling a wedding was far easier than planning one. The wedding I had spent a whole year preparing was called off in just one morning.

Yet in all that time, I never received a single call from Olivia.

Part of me had imagined that if she could just give me a reasonable explanation, then maybe we could still make things work.

Sometimes, I couldn't help mocking myself. If being a lovesick fool were a competition, I'd probably be the undisputed champion.

Then, I saw another Instagram post by Olivia's childhood friend, Aiden Jones. In the photo, Olivia had her eyes closed, sleeping soundly.

The caption read, "This sleepyhead has something important to do today, but she's sleeping so peacefully. I didn't have the heart to wake her."

I clenched my fists, unable to suppress the surge of anger rising inside me.

This time, I knew Olivia and I had no future together.

The first time I met her was at the university's anniversary event. She had given a speech as the student representative for the freshman class—confident, articulate, and completely at ease.

It hadn't taken long before Olivia caught my attention. At the time, I silently swore I would win her over.

So, I began doing everything I could to get close to her. I learned about her interests and found ways to bump into her.

Every morning, I bought her breakfast and walked her to class. In the afternoon, I brought her coffee and accompanied her to the library. At night, I brought her late-night snacks and walked her back to her dorm.

Olivia never turned me down and always accepted everything I gave her with a smile and a polite thank you. I thought my sincerity had moved her and that she felt the same way about me.

Then came the day I finally gathered the courage to confess to her. I placed the carefully prepared gift in front of her and laid all my feelings bare.

However, Olivia smiled faintly and said, "I'm sorry. You're a great guy, but I already have a boyfriend."

Worse still, her boyfriend was a well-known, wealthy heir on campus.

At that moment, my heart sank, and I chose to walk away. I knew I wasn't good enough for her. After all, I came from an ordinary family.

I was sure someone like Olivia would never truly fall for me.

With that, I stopped thinking about relationships and threw myself into my studies and research.

By the time graduation approached, I had finally achieved some success. Our team won first prize in a research competition.

We took home a decent cash prize, and I secured a promising job. Moreover, my reputation on campus was beginning to grow.

On graduation day, our program hosted a party. And that was when I saw Olivia again, six months after we had last seen each other.

Even though we attended the same university, we hardly ever crossed paths.