Nina couldn't understand how everything had turned out this way.

In the beginning, Lucas was the one who pursued her. Unlike other short-lived suitors, his love was all-consuming. He chased her for two full years, during which she rejected him almost daily. But this never dampened his enthusiasm. He still sent her flowers every day, personally waited in line for hours just to buy her favorite gourmet cream puffs, kept track of her every move, and whenever she lingered on something while shopping, it would inevitably appear on her desk the next day, beautifully wrapped as a gift...

Between them, though there wasn't a passionate, dramatic romance, the tenderness that flowed through their quiet days together was enough to touch Nina's heart.

On the day he confessed his love, Lucas spared no expense and rented the entire theme park. After nightfall, he presented Nina with a fireworks show created just for her.

As the dazzling fireworks filled the sky, Nina was moved to tears. Lucas kissed her then and whispered lovingly in her ear, "I promise, my love for you will always be as brilliant as these fireworks."

But fireworks don't stay brilliant forever.

They vanish in an instant.

Nina smiled bitterly to herself, thinking that perhaps from the very beginning, her love story with Lucas had already been written with its ending.

As brilliant as fireworks, and just as fleeting.

Lucas didn't return all night. When Nina saw him again the next morning, he was still impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, handsome and elegant.

But Nina immediately noticed he was wearing a different suit.

Last night's "encounter" must have been too intense, and yesterday's suit was probably torn beyond repair.

"My dear wife, please don't be upset anymore." Lucas walked over and slipped his arm around Nina's slender waist, then lowered his head to kiss her. "To make up for my mistake, I've prepared a very special surprise for you today."

Nina turned her head, avoiding his kiss. "...Go take a shower first."

"I already showered..." Halfway through his sentence, Lucas's face showed embarrassment, though it quickly disappeared. He smiled and explained, "I showered at the Marriott. After finishing work last night, it was already midnight. I was busy preparing your surprise, so I didn't come home and just showered at the hotel instead."

Nina lowered her gaze. "Take another shower. Hotel showers don't clean thoroughly enough."

There was a hidden message in her words, but Lucas seemed not to catch it. He playfully tapped her nose, his tone and gesture indulgent, "Alright, alright. Whatever you say, sweetheart."

After his shower, Lucas drove Nina to the theme park.

He had once confessed his love to her here, and now he had rented the entire place again.

Nina felt slightly moved, but this feeling came too soon. Shortly after entering the park, they were greeted by the cartoon character parade.

On one of the floats, Melody West was dressed as a princess, standing in the most prominent position and passionately singing into a microphone.

"I remember you love Melody's songs," Lucas said. "You also love this character, so I invited Melody to dress up and sing for you... Are you happy?"

It felt like a dull knife slowly cutting through her heart, inch by inch.

The pain was so intense that Nina could barely breathe.

...How could he... How could he do this?!

Even the deepest enemy couldn't hurt her this badly, but Lucas had managed it.

He hadn't just insulted her. He had insulted her deceased sister.

Nina loved this theme park more than anywhere else because her childhood had been so unhappy. This theme park was a world of fairy tales and cotton candy, while her childhood had been nothing but violence and tears.

Old newspaper clippings still documented what had happened back then: "Wife, unable to endure husband's domestic violence, turned on the gas stove intending to die with husband. Two daughters couldn't escape in time - one died, one injured."

She was the injured one. Her sister, two years older, was the one who died.

The reason she loved the princess was because that was her sister's favorite cartoon character.

Also, the princess had a younger sister whom she deeply loved, just like Nina's own sister who had silently loved and protected her.

So the character held a special meaning for Nina. She represented her deceased sister.

But now, Lucas had his mistress dress up as the princess to sing for Nina, wishing her a happy birthday!

"You once told me your childhood wasn't happy, so you love here because it's like a fairy tale world that can heal all wounds," Lucas said, not noticing anything wrong with Nina. He took her hand, bent down to kiss the back of it, then declared passionately, "I can't travel back in time to change your childhood, but I promise you this: every day we're together, I'll spoil you like a child and make sure you live in a fairy tale."

Nina couldn't take it anymore. She pulled her hand back and slapped Lucas hard across the face, then turned and ran away, covering her face.

Lucas was stunned by the slap. After a moment, he quickly chased after her. "Nina!"

They ran for a while, but eventually, Lucas caught up to her with his longer legs.

"Nina, what's wrong?" He grabbed her arm and forcefully pulled her into his embrace. "What happened? Everything was fine. Why are you crying?"

You see, he always put on a good act. Even when slapped during his loving declaration, he didn't get angry. Instead, his first concern was her emotions, asking why she was crying.

But Nina didn't want to pretend anymore. "What happened? Lucas, don't you know? Do I really have to spell it out?"

"Nina, what are you talking about? I don't understand a word," Lucas asked with a frown.

"Enough! Stop pretending!" Nina cried out, on the verge of breaking down. "I know about you and Melody. She's even wearing the sapphire ring you gave her yesterday... Lucas, do you have to disgust me like this?"

Enough, really enough. Let everything end.

She no longer wanted to live in endless lies and pathetic self-deception.

Lucas calmly waited for Nina to finish venting, then pulled a small blue velvet box from his pocket. "Darling, is this the sapphire ring you're talking about?"

He opened the box to reveal the celestial sapphire ring lying inside.

"I actually bought the entire collection, but since I missed your birthday yesterday, giving everything at once felt like it lacked ceremony," Lucas explained with a wry smile. "So I only gave you the earrings. I was planning to give you the necklace, bracelet, and ring tonight during the fireworks show."

"And now before the fireworks even start, I've been accused of being a cheating scumbag?"

Nina swore she really wanted to believe Lucas.

But how could she believe him? He still smelled of that woman's perfume, which hadn't washed off even after his shower, and there were faint kiss marks visible beneath his collar...

Lucas, please tell me, what do I need to do to believe you?

Nina looked at Lucas with furrowed brows, her eyes filled with sorrow.

But Lucas just smiled. He playfully tapped the tip of Nina's nose, then slipped the blue diamond ring onto her finger. "You little troublemaker, you accuse me wrongly and then you're the one who gets upset?"

He reached out to wipe away her tears. "There, no more crying."

"I'm giving you the ring now, but you'll have to wait until tonight's fireworks show for the necklace and bracelet."

Looking at Lucas with his eyes full of tenderness, Nina suddenly felt that exposing him seemed pointless.

She had already broken down, her eyes red from crying, yet he maintained his composure perfectly, with no flaws in his words or behavior.

...She had already lost, lost completely.

They say the one who falls in love first usually loses first, but how had she, who fell in love second, ended up losing so thoroughly?

For the rest of the time, Lucas diligently played the role of "world's best husband." He attentively cared for Nina's every need. When she felt thirsty, he immediately handed her water. He even speared fruit with a fork and carefully fed it to her to keep her hands clean. When the sun became too harsh, he proactively held a UV umbrella over her, tilting it almost entirely to her side...

Nina enjoyed his attentions, but her heart felt incredibly bleak.

She couldn't help asking him, "Why are you so good to me?"

If you don't love me anymore, why not just tell me and get divorced?

If you still love me deeply, how can you bear to hurt me like this?

"You're my wife. If I'm not good to you, who should I be good to?" Lucas replied. "And I promise you, I won't just be good to you now—I'll be good to you in the future, and better and better. When you become a little old lady, I'll still spoil you into being the happiest little old lady in the world."

Nina said nothing more. In her heart, she thought: Lucas, we don't have a future anymore.

Her phone suddenly vibrated. Nina picked it up and saw a message from her lawyer, "Ms. Jackson, I've prepared the divorce papers for you. I can have them delivered to you now. Are you home at the moment?"

At the same time, Lucas's phone also vibrated.

Whatever he saw made his throat bob and his eyes darken.

Nina recognized this expression well—it was the look he got when he was aroused.

She couldn't help glancing at Lucas's phone and saw a pair of beautiful legs in black stockings on the screen.

Another message popped up: "Third stall in the castle bathroom. You only have five minutes. Don't be late!"

Lucas's breathing noticeably deepened. He quickly turned off his phone screen and said with uneven breath, "Nina, I need to use the bathroom. I'll be right back."

With that, he hurried away.

His mind was so preoccupied with Melody's stockinged legs that he didn't even notice Nina had been looking at his phone for quite some time...

Go take a look, Nina thought.

Let me completely give up hope.

Seeing is believing. She would no longer trust any of his lies or pretend not to see his actions.

With this thought, Nina followed him.

Then she saw that before even entering the bathroom, Lucas impatiently embraced Melody, who was still dressed as the princess.

They kissed passionately at the bathroom entrance. Under Melody's lifted princess dress, sexy black stockings were visible.

"You're actually wearing black stockings under a princess dress?" Lucas laughed, pinching Melody's face teasingly. "You naughty little girl, you've dirtied this pure fairy tale."

Melody looked at him seductively. "What, don't you like it?"

"I love it," Lucas said, bending down to kiss Melody again. "...Come on, let's go inside. I'll make you even dirtier."