Chapter 1

When Julian Frost arrived, a few colorful birthday streamers were still caught in his hair.

He didn’t seem to notice. He stood anxiously beside me, urging the nurse to be gentle as she removed the IV.

The moment the needle came free, he hurried to take the nurse’s place.

He gently pressed a cotton ball over the puncture.

His head bowed with guilt.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve been there with you. Work’s been so busy that I didn’t check my phone. Can you forgive me this once?”

Words flickered in the air.

[It’s the female lead’s birthday! What’s the supporting female character doing?]

[He left the female lead’s birthday party halfway through to be with the supporting female character. Just wait—he’ll regret it and come crawling back to her.]

I yanked my hand away and opened my phone.

My unanswered plea for help sat alone in our chat.

Julian hadn’t replied once.

He said he was busy, yet he’d posted a video and forgotten to hide it from me.

In it, he held the young woman he supported close.

He shielded her from the streamers raining down around them.

With a look of pure affection, he wished her a happy birthday.

What had I been doing then?

Oh, right. My heart condition had flared up, and I’d collapsed, unable to get back up.

Every breath hurt.

Yet the man who’d promised to protect me for the rest of my life was with another woman.

He called it being busy.

I reached up and plucked the streamers from Julian’s hair.

My voice was steady.

“Lakeside Pavilion is so hard to get a table at. Why did you come back so early?”

I stared into his eyes, watching every flicker of emotion.

“She must be upset, don’t you think?”

Comments drifted across the screen, all of them blaming me.

[The female lead already gave in. What more does she want?]

[The female lead comes from a poor family, and this was her first birthday party. Isn’t it perfectly normal for Julian to celebrate with her, since he’s supporting her?]

Julian stammered and pulled out his phone in a panic.

He deleted the post.

Then he lowered his voice to apologize, but every word he said defended Lily Young.

Lily was the girl he’d recently started supporting financially.

“You don’t understand. This is the first time in Lily’s life she’d ever had a birthday cake of her own. She sees me as her salvation. If I hadn’t gone, she would’ve been heartbroken.

“She’s nothing like you. She’s never had anything. Since I chose to support her financially, I have to see it through and take responsibility for her.”

Julian said it all as if it were perfectly reasonable.

But Lily’s family being poor had nothing to do with me.

Why should I have to bear the consequences?

I scrolled through my phone and pulled up a list.

Then I enlarged it for Julian to see.

“My family supports thousands of students financially every year. I don’t see every one of them expecting their sponsor to celebrate their birthday with them.

“So what makes her so special that you have to look after her day and night?”

Comments rolled across the screen.

[Let the supporting female character keep throwing a fit. She’ll only push the male lead farther away.]

[The male and female leads are destined to end up together. Redemption romances are the best!!!]

Julian was at a loss for words. He was just about to explain when someone knocked on the hospital room door.

Lily came in, sniffling.

Tear tracks covered her face, and she looked utterly miserable.

She trembled as she approached, then lowered her head to apologize to me, making herself as small as possible.

“I’m sorry, Miss Shaw. I was wrong to take up Mr. Frost’s time, but there’s nothing between us.

“I’ve never had much experience with things like this. Mr. Frost only celebrated with me because he felt sorry for me. Please don’t take it out on him.”