Before Orlando Dempster and I got married, his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Benson bumped into me.

I trapped and could not get off the car.

Just as I was calling for help, I heard Orlando say, since I had not arrived at the wedding on time, the bride was replaced with Sarah.

Later, I was sent to the hospital. The doctor said that my leg tendons were broken and I would never be able to dance again.

As a top dancer, I lost both my career and love at the same time.

Just when I was deeply devastated and wanted to die with Sarah, Gerard Palmer appeared, built a special studio for me and held a grand marriage proposal.

I married Gerard with a grateful heart.

However, three years later, I accidentally overheard his secret.

"Mr. Palmer, if Ms. Anderson's foot injury is delayed any longer, it will never be cured. If she knew that the car accident that year was caused by you and Ms. Benson, would she fight you to death?"

I who raised my hand and planned to knock on the door paused and my heart suddenly tightened.

Gerard's emotionless voice sounded.

"Oh, she won't find out. I will take care of her for the rest of her life. It's enough for her to dance in the studio. I won't let her affect Sarah's career in the dance world!"

My tears fell like raindrops outside the door and each drop hurt my heart.

It turned out that what I thought was redemption was actually an even more terrifying abyss.

In that case, Gerard, you and I should never meet again from now on.

——

In order to surprise him on Valentine's Day, I quietly came to his office.

But I was the one who was surprised to overhear and find out the secret of the car accident back then.

Then, I heard his heartbreaking voice from inside the door.

"As long as she and Orlando are happy, it's enough for me to just watch them quietly. I'll give her 20% of my wife's shares on Valentine's Day."

The assistant's voice instantly grew louder.

"Mr. Palmer, this is not joke. Ms. Benson and Mr. Dempster will hold more shares than you and you will be kicked out of the company."

However, Gerard's tone was firm.

"She is kind and understanding. She wouldn't do such a thing.

I trust her! I was supposed to create this foundation for her, but unfortunately, I came too late. She fell in love with Orlando first."

I hid my tears and tried to breathe deeply.

Told myself to hold on.

Hearing the footsteps of the secretary approaching, I turned and left.

The receptionist in the lobby area did not even have time to stop me.

When I returned home and looked at the familiar furnishings, I was shivering with cold.

Everything in the living room was just the way Sarah liked.

But I was so slow-witted that I immersed myself in Gerard's lies and lost my true heart.

Once, I placed blooming red plums in a corner of the living room.

The next day it turned into lilies.

He explained that the plum blossom was sharp, not as elegant as the lily.

But lily was Sarah's favorite.

Sure enough, whether a person loved you or not was actually very obvious and hidden in the details.

I angrily smashed the lilies in the living room along with the vase.

The broken porcelain piece shattered onto my face, leaving a bloody mark.

At the moment, Gerard pushed open the door and walked into the house.

Seeing the mess on the ground, a hint of anger flashed in his eyes.

I saw him take a deep breath, maintain his gentle expression and come over to hold my hand.

"Nichole, what's wrong with you? Are you upset about your foot injury again? You can't dance from now on, but you still have me. I will be by your side for the rest of my life."

Gerard gently helped me sit down and brought over the water cup and pills.

If I ignored the coldness in the bottom of his eyes, I really thought what he had for me was love.

I had to admit, his acting skills were so good.

And I was such a fool.

I took the water, pretended to take the medicine and fell asleep.

I heard Gerard turn around and go into the study after confirming that I was asleep.

I could go into his study whenever I wanted, but I usually did not go in.

But now I heard the sounds of other mechanisms after he entered the study.

Just like the voice in my dream.

I felt a chill in my heart, realizing that it was not the voice in my dreams.

Every time I took the medicine Gerard handed me, I would fall into a deep sleep.

It was not until he left home that I got up and went into his study.

My eyes were fixed on every corner and furniture there.

Then, I froze as soon as I took my portrait away from the wall and found the mechanism behind.

He actually had an underground secret room.

Inside, there were Sarah's portraits, various reports, awards and wedding dresses and jewelry.

He even cut out Orlando from the wedding photo and put himself and Sarah together in the frame.

There was also a diary.

His love for Sarah was clearly remembered above.

It turned out that he was Sarah's childhood sweetheart.

But in the end, childhood sweetheart could not compare to husband. In order to marry Orlando, Sarah chose to trap me in a car accident.

Orlando cared most about his reputation. For the sake of a man's reputation, he would not change the wedding date for me.

Meanwhile, in order to fulfill Sarah's happiness, Gerard chose to silently protect her.

Every year on Valentine's Day, he gave her valuable gifts.

On her birthday, he even gave her bags, jewelry and villas.

Even on the day she won the dance competition, he gave her an island.

On the contrary, I received the same style of necklace every year.

He explained that it was because when we first met, I was wearing that necklace which attracted him.

I did not flip through the page any further.

How he treated the woman he loved and the woman he did not love was clearly different. But, I had been moved for the hypocrisy and imprisoned in the marriage for the past three years.

Back then, Orlando also chose Sarah and abandoned me.

I did not object to the two of them being crazy about her, but why did they want to step on me?

I opened my mobile phone and found the name that made me tremble.

I typed and sent a message. [Matthew, I regret it. Can you still pick me up and leave now?]

My mentor, Matthew Lynch, quickly replied to the message. [Of course, Nichole, I have always raised you as my daughter. You are so talented. I have always felt sorry for you.]

Just as I lowered my head to reply to the message, he came back.

Seeing me looking at my mobile phone, he frowned.

"Nichole, what are you doing? Are you watching the dance competition again?"

I lifted my head, stared closely at him and spoke slowly, "Gerard, I heard that there are experts abroad who can cure my foot injury and I still want to continue standing on stage."

Gerard hugged my arm and felt a moment of stiffness.

"Nichole, I've asked the experts about your foot injury, no one can cure it. You shouldn't think that foreign experts are good, in fact, they're all lies.”

I concealed the loss and hatred in my heart and lowered my head slightly.

"Gerard, it has been three years. Are you going to let me leave the stage completely and make way for Sarah?"

[Guys, happy Valentine's Day.]

As soon as I saw the bracelet in front of me, my heart slowly sank.

It was just a gift for the necklace. It was the genuine one for Sarah.

Gerard did not try to understand my thoughts any more. He said excitedly, "Nichole, I'll take you to a private dance party!"

I looked up at him in surprise.

Even though he built a studio for me, he did not like me to dance again, because he was afraid that my foot injury would get worse.

I only went to the studio to create and choreograph dances when inspiration stroke.

I hoped that even if I could not dance in the future, I could still teach others to dance.

Now he was actually going to take me to a dance party.

Just as I was wondering what he meant, there was a sound of a door opening.

I turned around in confusion, only to find Sarah holding the key and appearing in front of my house.

Gerard panicked and pushed me away, rushing to her in a flash.

He looked nervous and murmured. "Sarah, why are you here? Is it because the jewelry doesn't match? Or the dress doesn't fit?"

Only then did I notice that Sarah was wearing a high-end custom-made Baroque dress. Under the refraction of the light, the embroidery and jewels on the dress hurt my eyes.

And I was wearing linen pajamas, indescribably cheap and embarrassing.

Sarah tilted her head condescendingly, looked me up and down and then spoke arrogantly, "Nichole, although you can't dance anymore, you can't be so messy either. It's a disgrace to your identity as a dancer."

I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails hurt my palms.

The pain supported my last bit of sanity.

"I haven't congratulated Ms. Benson yet on winning this year's dance competition."

Sarah smiled and the diamonds on her ears sparkled.

Gerard was a little at a loss and hurried over to make a promise to me.

"Nichole, I also had someone order a dress for you. As for Sarah, Orlando must have ordered custom-made dress for her. I'll go get it now."

After saying that, he left in a hurry, as if he was really worried about me.

Seeing his anxious look, I found it a little funny. Sarah's dress and jewelry were obviously prepared by him, so why is he trying to cover it up now?

Besides, jewelry and dresses were external objects. Now that my foot injury had not healed, no one could compete and threaten her position as dance champion.

Only Sarah and I were left in the living room.

My gaze turned to a corner of the living room, where another bouquet of lilies was placed.

She saw me staring at the bouquet without saying a word.

"Nichole, you are still as cowardly as ever. Since I was able to trap you and marry you into the Dempsters, I can also use your foot injury to trap you now. You will never be able to go on stage as a dancer in your life."

It turned out that she knew about my foot injury and that it was Gerard's doing?

I could not bear it any longer, so I picked up the drink at hand and splashed it on her.

But she reached out and pushed me down.

At this moment, Gerard appeared and ran straight towards her.

He scolded me with a sharp tone.

"Nichole, what are you doing?"

I fell to the ground and sprained my foot again. The severe pain left me speechless for a moment.

Then, I heard her speak softly and weakly, "Gerard, don't make things difficult for her. She was just a little jealous of me winning the dance competition and wanted to pour me Coke. But you know, I'm a dancer and this kind of drink is high in sugar ...."

Before she could finish her words, Gerard was furious.

"Nichole, why are you so disrespectful? Even if you lose your ability to dance, you should not prevent others from achieving success, right?"

I felt sad and asked, "She was talking about my foot injury. If it wasn't for her back then ...."

"That's enough!"

He slammed the table and roared.

"Please don't bring up the past, Nichole. You're just jealous."

"Someone, feed my wife ten bottles of coke and finish them all until there's not a drop left."