Chapter 1

"Who is this dead weight you're talking about?"

Staring at the screen, I took a deep breath and typed out the words.

Luke Spencer's reply appeared just seconds later.

"Someone I grew up with," he wrote.

"To be exact, she's someone I owe half my life to. Her parents died saving my life, so my parents adopted her to repay them. However, she takes advantage of my family's guilt and clings to me all the time, making everyone think she's my future wife. I don't want to be tied to her."

I blinked. Tears fell onto the screen as I remembered my parents, who had long since been gone.

In that horrific landslide, Dad had thrown himself in front of Luke to push him out of the way, only to be crushed to death by a boulder.

Mom had used the last of her strength to push him up to safety before the mud swallowed her whole.

Luke had once told me to treat the Spencer family as my own. He had promised to stay by my side and protect me for the rest of my life.

It turned out that, in his eyes, I was nothing more than an annoying woman who had been using my parents' sacrifice to guilt-trip him.

"I hate people who guilt-trip others. Congrats on escaping the nightmare!"

"Forget the drama. I'm here for the romance! Tell us how you and your true love finally got together!"

The comments kept pouring in. After a while, Luke finally responded with two short messages.

"It was simple. I came clean when that woman wanted to get engaged to me."

"I told her straight up that I'd already slept with the woman I truly loved."

My fingers began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Whoa! Now that's what I call a man who doesn't beat around the bush!"

"Did the clingy woman just walk away? Didn't she make a scene?"

"She did, but it didn't matter," Luke replied.

"I had leverage over her. The company she worked for belonged to my uncle. When her grandmother fell seriously ill and needed the final payment for her surgery, I withheld her bonus. In the end, she had no choice but to let me go."

Something inside me suddenly snapped. I could barely breathe.

How could this be? How could Luke use my own family against me like that?

"So, where are you and your current girlfriend now? Are you married yet?" someone asked in the comments.

A second later, a photo appeared on the feed. Two hands were intertwined, each wearing a wedding band.

My chest caved in.

The mole on the woman's hand sat in the exact same spot as the one on my best friend, Anna Stone.

The bracelet on her wrist in the photo was the same one I was wearing right now.

Luke's parents had given one to each of us. They said the bracelets were passed down through the Spencer family for generations and would keep us safe.

"We'll each wear one. That way, we'll never be apart for the rest of our lives."

Luke had gripped my hand tightly as he made that promise back then. However, he ended up giving that promise of forever to someone else.

I clenched my teeth and fought to steady my trembling breath. Then, I sent a private message to the account.

"Hello. I'm in a similar situation. Because of another person, I couldn't be with the person I love. I'd really like to talk to you. Would that be okay?"

I needed to know what happened during those ten years.

His reply came soon after.

"Sure. It wasn't really unrequited love in my case, though."

A second message followed.

"During the summer after high school, I secretly booked a couples' trip and took her to Montclair Island. By then, we'd already fallen for each other."

My grip on my phone tightened.

A couples' trip on Montclair Island…

Back then, Luke had told me he wanted to take his graduation trip alone, just to enjoy the freedom and peace in solitude. It turned out he had taken Anna to the very island I had always dreamed of visiting.

I sat there in a daze for a long time before leaving the chat. Then, I sent a message to Luke from my world.

"Luke, did you choose the same major as me because you actually wanted to?"

His response came almost instantly.

"Of course. Mom and Dad told me to take care of you for the rest of your life."

So, it wasn't his own choice. It was something he had been told to do. It turned out Luke had changed a long time ago.

I let out a bitter laugh and tapped "Confirm" to accept the offer from a university abroad.

It didn't matter anymore.

Luke Spencer, from now on, I would never need you again.