"Wendy, I only did this to help Cynthia. Henry is cold, ruthless and blind. I couldn’t just stand by and watch Cynthia jump into the fire. Marrying her was just a temporary measure. After some time, I'll separate from her."

He had already come up with his excuse.

"Mr. Hill, I have no interest in being the third party. Please leave."

From the moment he abandoned me at the engagement banquet, we were already over.

Ethan’s face darkened. "Wendy, can you stop being so selfish? Cynthia was worried you'd be heartbroken, so she asked me to come back and keep you company. And this is how you repay her kindness? If you were sensible, I could come and keep you company on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. After all, Cynthia and I are married, so I should spend more time with her."

A bitter feeling rose in my heart. Eight years of love, only to end up as a hidden mistress.

"Ethan, we're breaking up!"

Ethan's face darkened, with a faint hint of anger. "Wendy, are you taking my kindness for granted? It’s just a piece of paper, why are you making such a fuss? Before we had that piece of paper, you still let me sleep with you for eight years. Now you're being all dramatic? If it weren't for you begging me in bed, saying you couldn't live without me, do you think I'd still want you? At your age, you're still playing hard-to-get games. How pathetic is that?"

I was shaking with rage.

He had been the one who stubbornly pursued me back then, the one who drunkenly cried and asked me to help ease his pain.

Now, he married Cynthia, turning me into a joke in everyone's eyes and yet he blames me for being selfish and inconsiderate.

"Ethan, we're done. From now on, you live your life and I'll live mine. We have nothing to do with each other."

Ethan was furious. He grabbed the bag of broken seashells and slammed it onto the ground, shattering it into pieces.

"Wendy, you still want to marry someone else? In this circle, everyone knows you’ve been with me for eight years. You're already used up. Who would want an old spinster like you?"

In the tense silence, the bathroom door suddenly opened.

Cynthia stepped out, wrapped in a bath towel, barefoot.

I immediately stopped breathing.

At the engagement banquet, Ethan had answered a call and rushed off. Over the past few days, I had been watching their displays of affection online.

Now, I wasn’t sure if it was more pain, bitterness, or anger I felt.

This house was bought when Ethan and I were deeply in love, each of us contributing half the money. He said it would be our love nest, a place filled with our happy memories.

"Wendy, don't blame Ethan, he was just trying to help me. If you must blame someone, blame me. I'm the one who's unnecessary..."

She said as she reached out to grab my hand.

I instinctively pulled my hand away, not even touching her, yet she let out a cry and fell to the ground.

Before I could react, Ethan slapped me, knocking me to the ground.

The sharp pain in my hand was immediate. The broken seashells on the floor pierced deeply into my palm and blood began to drip, splattering onto the ground.

"Are you okay, Cynthia?"

He turned around and glared at me with disgust.

"If anything happens to Cynthia, I won't let you off easily!"

He hurriedly carried Cynthia downstairs and rushed to the hospital.

I struggled to stand up, looking around the house I had lived in for eight years, feeling like it was strangely unfamiliar.

On my bed, the sheets were wrinkled, a torn black stocking was draped over the edge and the floor was littered with used tissues. The air was filled with a disgusting smell.

I hurried out, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably.

It was filthy and now even the house felt dirty.

There were too many broken seashells stuck in my palm, so I had no choice but to take a taxi to the hospital.

I purposely chose a hospital far from home, but as fate would have it, I ran into Ethan and Cynthia.

Cynthia was holding her hand, which hadn’t even been broken and crying out in pain.

Ethan, in his usual gentle manner, picked her up and sat her on his lap, carefully asking the doctor for any precautions.

When we first got together, he had been just as anxious for me.

One night, when I had a fever, he was so flustered that he didn’t even put on shoes, only realizing later that his foot had been cut by glass after confirming that I was safe.

“Wendy, you are my precious. I can’t bear to see you get hurt.”

As I walked out, I happened to bump into him just as he was entering.

“Wendy, Ethan was just accompanying me to check my injury. Are you so restless that you had to follow us here?”

Ethan gave me a contemptuous look. “Weren’t you just saying how we’re broken up? What are you doing now? Wendy, you're too shameless! If you dare hurt a single hair on Cynthia again, I won’t be polite with you!”

I raised my hand, now stained with blood. “Look at the injury, move aside!”

Ethan froze in place, a flash of guilt passing through his eyes.

“Wendy, is the injury serious?”

He tried to come inside but was interrupted by Cynthia’s scream.

“Cynthia, my hand hurts so much…”

Ethan no longer paid attention to me, quickly turning around and carrying Cynthia away.

The next morning, as soon as I woke up, I received a message from Henry, asking me to make time to try on the custom wedding ring.

After freshening up, I was surprised to see Ethan carrying breakfast into the room.

“You must be starving. Come eat!”

It was a basket of crab roe buns and a bowl of pumpkin porridge. One caused an allergy and the other was something I absolutely hated.

"Take the day off today. It's the changing of seasons, let me take you shopping for some new clothes."

It was the same old routine. He gave a little treat after a blow, something he often did over the years.

However, when the time actually came, he took the back seat. "Today, you drive. I didn’t rest well last night."

I looked at my hand, wrapped in bandages and couldn’t help but mock myself silently.

In the rearview mirror, he held his phone, a faint smile playing on his lips.

It wasn’t until the car stopped and he saw the sign of the jewelry store outside, that his expression immediately darkened.

He blocked my way at the door, his face full of displeasure.

“Wendy, I’ve told you before, let’s wait a bit. Why do you have to force me like this? I’m just getting a certificate with Cynthia, not holding a wedding. No one knows. Once the fuss dies down, we’ll quietly get a divorce.”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted. "Ethan, do you think this diamond ring is pretty?"

Cynthia was wearing a one-carat diamond ring, raising her hand and acting coquettishly towards Ethan.

Ethan immediately put on a smile.

"As long as you like it, it's beautiful. Our wedding is in five days. Can I buy this one as our wedding ring?"

I paused in my tracks, just in time to catch Ethan turning his head awkwardly.

His words were all lies. But it didn’t matter; in five days, it would be my wedding too. It seemed to confirm the idea of men and women marrying, each going their own way.

The waiter carefully brought over the ring that Henry had ordered. It was a pink diamond, the only one of its kind in the world, stunning and dazzling.

Cynthia's eyes were full of greed as she looked at the ring on my hand.

"Wendy, I really like the ring on your hand. Can I try it on?"

The nearby waiter immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry, but this ring has already been reserved. Would you like to look at something else?"

Cynthia's eyes turned red in an instant.

"Wendy, do you know about our wedding in five days and are you deliberately teaming up with the staff here to make trouble? I really like this ring. I just want to experience what it feels like to be a bride. Can't you just let me try it on?"

"No! I am getting married in five days too!"

Ethan's face darkened like ink. "Wendy, are you done yet? When did I ever say I wanted to marry you?"

I furrowed my brows slightly, "Ethan, don't get ahead of yourself. The person I'm marrying is not you!"

He sneered repeatedly, "After being with me for eight years, who else would want you, a used woman? People should know their own worth. Don't foolishly ruin your own future!"

He stepped forward and roughly yanked the diamond ring off my finger, not caring as my finger was scratched and the skin torn.

He was full of joy as he tried to put the diamond ring on Cynthia's finger, but realized the ring was too small to fit.

"I'll take this ring. Please resize it, how much will it cost?"

The salesperson quietly mentioned a price and Ethan and Cynthia's faces turned pale.

"Wendy, even if you don't want me to marry Ethan, there's no need to be so despicable and raise the price to trick us!"

Ethan shook his head at me in disappointment. "Wendy, I never thought you'd be this vicious!"

They tried to take my ring, couldn't afford the price and then turned around to blame me?

The two of them left angrily and I received a call from Henry.

"Do you like the diamond ring? Don’t forget, you need to try on the wedding dress later."

"Yes, I really like it."

I drove to the bridal shop Henry had specified and as soon as I entered, I saw Cynthia caressing a one-shoulder wedding dress.

"Miss Green, I'm sorry, but this dress has already been reserved."

"I want this one. Call the person who reserved it, I’m willing to pay 10% more to buy it."

When the sales associate saw me enter, her eyes lit up.

"The real customer is here, why don’t you communicate directly with her, Miss Green?"

When she saw me, there was a flash of unwillingness and anger in Cynthia's eyes.

"Wendy, why do you always haunt me and go against me? You took my wedding ring before and now you're stealing my wedding dress..."

Beside her, Ethan frowned deeply. "Wendy, you said you wanted to break up with me, but you're forcing me to marry you with your wedding ring and wedding dress. You're really shameless!"

"Even if you come to steal my wedding, I won't even spare you a glance. I'll give both the wedding dress and the wedding ring to Cynthia!"

I laughed softly. "Who says that buying a wedding ring and wedding dress means I'm going to marry you? You're not the only man in the world."

"You can't afford a wedding ring or a wedding dress and now you expect me to give them to you for free?"

Ethan's face turned between pale and seeing this, Cynthia covered her face and ran out.

"Ethan, since you've already decided on the wedding ring and dress, I'm unnecessary. I'll leave now..."

"Wendy!" Ethan, in a fit of rage, grabbed the scissors from the table and began slashing at the wedding dress without care. "I'll make you stop forcing marriage and making Cynthia sad! You want to get married, right? Let's see what you'll wear to your wedding now that the dress is gone!"

This wedding dress was specially commissioned by Henry, with top designers working overtime to complete it.

I rushed forward to stop him, but he shoved me to the ground and the sharp scissors immediately cut my other hand.

Ethan seemed to have lost his mind, tearing the perfectly good wedding dress into pieces.

Not satisfied, he stomped on it with force. "Wendy, you’re dreaming of marrying me? Keep dreaming! If you dare ruin my wedding five days from now, your end will be just like this wedding dress!"

After saying that, he didn't even glance at me and hurriedly chased after Cynthia.

The sales assistant beside me turned pale and quickly made a phone call.

In the midst of my daze, Henry called. "Are you hurt? Don't worry about the wedding dress. I'll arrange for legal assistance to handle it."

"I'm sorry..."