Chapter 2

I had watched that familiar face mature from boyhood into adulthood.

Robert became my bodyguard when he was still very young. Back then, he was thin, small, and quiet.

On the other hand, I loved noise and excitement. I always teased him on purpose. In front of all my friends, I called him my best friend and declared that he was the best-looking of them all.

He would blush for no reason and stumble over his words. "Miss Beaumont is pretty too."

"Beautiful."

He would secretly sneak out to compete in underground boxing matches, all to earn enough money to buy me a dress.

He was always at my side, and he would quietly mutter to himself, "Miss Beaumont. My little sun."

He was like my shadow. Aside from me, almost no one could persuade him to do anything.

The year I turned 16, enemies of my family kidnapped me.

In an abandoned warehouse, those people closed in on me. I was so terrified that I broke down completely, unable even to scream.

But Robert's arms reached me before the police did. He grunted as he lifted me into his arms. His steps never faltered.

After that, he vanished for a month. He spent that entire month in the ICU.

A scar stretched from his left ribs all the way to his right side.

The day I woke up, I burst into tears and threw myself into his arms.

He held me, as steady as ever. "Don't cry. You won't look pretty if you cry until your eyes are swollen."

I secretly kissed him.

That night, he took my hand and told me I had to take responsibility for him.

We began dating in secret.

My mother tried again and again to put a stop to our relationship. But Robert would rather endure a beating from my family than give me up.

Afterward, people in our social circle began calling him the god of pure devotion.

For the next decade and more, our love story became one that everyone loved to retell.

Later, my mother fell gravely ill and was hospitalized. Her life hung by a thread.

Robert took care of everything himself and barely slept. With red-rimmed eyes, he knelt beside her hospital bed and made a solemn vow. "Mrs. Beaumont, I will treat her well for the rest of her life. As long as I have a sip of soup, she will have a bite of meat. You are as good as my own mother. Leave her to me. You can rest easy."

Just before she drew her last breath, my mother nodded and gripped his hand. "Robb, she is my only daughter. Never... mistreat her. She... has no one else left."

Robert swore on his own life that he would treasure me for the rest of his days. He promised to ensure that I would always live above everyone else.

And at the time, he truly kept that promise.

After he took over the company, he barely allowed himself any rest. He tirelessly pursued clients and sought new investments. Under his leadership, the Beaumont Group grew bigger and stronger at a pace that exceeded everyone's expectations.

At the end of that year, he gave me a wedding that seemed to capture the attention of the entire world.

The moment he turned to face me, his voice caught in his throat and his eyes reddened.

He kissed me with such care, as if I were something fragile that might break. "Thank you for giving me a home. For the rest of our lives, neither of us will ever let go, not even in death."

We built a happy little family together, and Robert doted on me endlessly. He even hired a nanny just to take care of things for me.

Her name was Amelia Green. She came from the countryside and wore coarse clothes. Her skin was dark from years under the sun, and she had little education. But she knew how to cook the country dishes I loved.

Robert paid a fortune to poach her from her previous employer.

I laughed and called him foolish, but he merely shook his head and cupped my face in his hands. "As long as it's something you like, I'd gladly give my life for it. Just never leave me."

Amelia was a good cook, but her good intentions often led to trouble. She would offer to tidy my belongings, only to accidentally stain my clothes. She would clean the liquor cabinet, only to fumble and shatter a bottle of fine wine. She would shut down Robert's computer and accidentally delete important files.

More than once, Robert grew so angry that he wanted to dismiss her. She only managed to keep her job because I felt sorry for her.

He constantly grumbled that I never doted on him half as much as I did on Amelia. But for my sake, he continued to treat her kindly.

What I never expected was that she would ultimately be the one who stayed while I would become the outsider.