Chapter 1

Kind and generous?

I looked at the scene in front of me where I had personally handed my own girlfriend over to another man. She was right. I was indeed kind.

Seeing her in her wedding dress and beaming with joy right now, who would’ve thought that seven years ago, Ava Dewan was diagnosed with late-stage cancer and was told by her doctors that she didn’t have much time left.

Back then, she wasn’t glowing like she was now. After a long fight against her illness, she had lost all her hair, her face was completely drained of color, and she didn’t even have the strength left to live.

I was only eighteen at the time—young, impulsive, and blinded by love. I happened to be bound to a System, so I traded fifty years of my lifespan to save Ava.

I thought we would be high school sweethearts and eventually get married. Yet in the end, she was getting married to someone else.

In the hall, the priest stood at the end of the aisle. At the door, photos of Ava and Henry Jones on vacation together—skiing, by the beach, and even watching the sunrise together—were displayed.

Once, when I asked Ava to go on a vacation with me, she had said impatiently, “You know I’m a low-energy person. All I want is to lie down and go nowhere. Can you stop making things difficult for me?”

But what about now? She claimed over and over that she was someone with low energy, yet she had been on over a hundred vacations with Henry, taking photos that now filled an entire wall.

As it turned out, her energy was low only when she was with me. With the person she truly loved, she had endless energy.

I randomly found a seat in a corner and sat down. Looking closer, I finally noticed our pre-wedding photos had been replaced with pre-wedding photos of Ava and Henry. Even the invitation cards on the chairs had their names printed on them.

It meant she had only asked me about it earlier out of formality. They had already prepared the wedding photos and invitation cards, so even if I hadn’t given up my spot, this wedding would’ve never been mine.

I couldn’t bear listening to the people around talking about how they were a match made in heaven, so I returned backstage again.

My aunt asked curiously, “I seem to remember Ava and Finn being a couple. Why is she marrying Henry instead?”

Mom patted Ava’s hand, smiling radiantly. “It’s all the same. She’ll still be our wonderful daughter-in-law.”

My aunt said, “True, we’re all family, so there’s no difference. Henry has been more sensible than Finn since he was little. Finn was raised by his grandparents, and they’ve spoiled him rotten. He's always arguing, fighting over things, and kicking up a fuss.”