Once upon a time, I was a surgeon, and a great one at that. I ended up quitting my job because Zachary didn't like seeing me covered in blood.

At the time, Dr. Lane tried very hard to convince me to stay at the hospital. He considered me the best doctor under his management. On the day I left the hospital, he solemnly asked me, "Claire, is it worth giving up your dream just for a man?"

Back then, all I could think of was Zachary's gentle expression, so I nodded and replied, "Maybe not all men are worth it, but Zachary is."

…

Dr. Lane remained quiet on the call for a while before he asked me hesitantly, "Are you sure your boyfriend won't mind?"

Smiling as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, I replied, "I won't have a boyfriend anymore."

Without asking any further, he sent me the document detailing my acceptance into the medical relief program.

"Ms. Claire Stewart, welcome to the Sauvaine medical relief team. Your team will be departing in three days."

After closing the email, I entered my social media account and posted a short update.

"The engagement between Zachary and me has been called off. Thank you to all my friends for your support all these years."

Not long after I posted that, Zachary came barging into my room with a scowl on his face.

"Are you being serious, Claire?"

I looked up at him with a steadfast expression. Leaning against the doorframe, he said gravely, "You haven't been working for years, Claire. I bet you don't have any more savings. Won't your life just get worse if you leave me?

"Moreover, your parents adore me very much. I'm sure you wouldn't want to disappoint them."

Zachary sent threat after threat my way, each one with the goal of hitting me where it'd hurt the most. He stared fixedly at my face, his eyes glinting smugly when he saw me frown. He thought he had managed to scare me, but I had simply reached the limit of my tolerance.

"Delete that post. I can pretend as though I never saw it. And by the way, proceed with arranging another wedding ceremony. I'll go wedding gown shopping with you tomorrow," Zachary declared.

"Lulu will be tagging along as well. She majored in fashion, so she wants to check out the haute couture gowns. I'm telling you this in advance because I don't want you to make things difficult for her again tomorrow."

Once he finished speaking, he slammed the door shut so hard that the water in the glass shook.

Not long after he left, my parents bombarded me with a flood of messages. After reading the insults that filled the screen of my phone, I let out a heavy sigh. My parents did adore Zachary, but rather than liking him personally, what they liked was his wealth and status.

I could still remember the first time I brought him home to see them. They had always treated me coldly, but from that moment onward, they suddenly doted on me like a princess.

Zachary was right. Everything I had now was credited to him. That was why I cried until I fainted the first few times he skipped our wedding ceremony.

Each time, my parents would simply stand on the side with matching icy expressions. Right there, in front of all the wedding guests, they would lash out at me, calling me a worthless piece of trash who couldn't even keep my fiance in check.

"You've brought nothing but shame and humiliation to the entire Stewart family! If he backs out of the wedding one more time, I'll make sure you have hell to pay!"

I knew that my parents would make my life a living hell if I called off the wedding. The thought of this made the old wounds they inflicted on me sting once more.

Still, no matter what happened, I had to make it through the next three days. Once I left for Sauvaine, I would disappear from their world for good.

With that in mind, I got into the front passenger seat right on time the next day. Zachary had a faint smile on his face as he leaned over to buckle my seatbelt for me.

"I knew you'd relent, Claire," he said.

As he straightened up again, he kissed me on the cheek and stroked my head affectionately.

Through the rearview mirror, I caught a vindictive flicker in Louise's eyes, but I didn't think much of it. Alas, I didn't expect her to start causing trouble the moment we arrived at the bridal boutique.

At the bridal boutique, I entered the changing room to try on a wedding gown. I had just unhooked my lingerie when Louise yanked open the curtain of my changing room, revealing my back to the public. The passing customers all exclaimed when they saw me.

Covering my chest with one arm, I tugged hard on the curtain, but Louise was shockingly strong.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Claire! I just couldn't wait to see you in your wedding gown. I didn't expect this to happen. I'm truly sorry," Louise said, all while clutching the curtain tightly.

My gaze grew steadily colder. I gave her a hard shove, knocking her to the floor, before grabbing the curtain and pulling it shut.

To my shock, at the very next second, a pair of hands tightened forcefully around me.

Louise's voice rang out beside my ear. "How dare you push me, you bitch!"

She finally dropped all pretense. Inside the cramped changing room, she drove me into the corner, her nails digging painfully into my flesh. I fought back with all my strength and flung her hands off me—but then, I heard a crisp clink.

A ring rolled across the floor.

I froze.

Seeing my dazed reaction, Louise cackled and remarked, "It looks familiar, doesn't it?"

Holding back the bitterness I felt, I scoffed. "Why are you so proud about getting a hand-me-down?"

However, Louise exploded with laughter, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"A hand-me-down?" she repeated before picking up the ring and flashing the inside of the band at me.

There was an engraving of her name, along with the date the engraving had been made—September 8th.

"I'm afraid someone else got the hand-me-down. If I recall correctly, the date on your ring is September 10th, no? Your wedding ring was just the free gift that came with mine, but you cherish it like some kind of treasure and even wear it while you sleep. It's downright hilarious," Louise said, her eyes flashing with malice as she looked at me.

"Oh, right. Do you know when he gave me this ring?"

Smirking, she continued, "It was during our seventh time doing it. He whispered in my ear, saying how good it'd be if I weren't his sister. He said he'd definitely marry me if that were the case."

With my head lowered, I listened in silence. My hands curled tightly around the gown, crumpling it. Then, I unclenched my hands and chuckled.

"So what? It's just as Zachary said. As long as you're his sister, he won't marry you. Even though you did it with him seven times and even walked down the red carpet with him at your graduation ball, I'm still the one everyone congratulates for soon becoming his wife.

"And you're nothing more than a homewrecking bitch who's sleeping around with your brother."

Louise slapped me hard across the face, her entire body shaking with rage. She lunged at me, clawing at my gown. When she couldn't rip it off, she became even more enraged. She grabbed the scissors at the side and slashed at the gown.

I fought to push her off, and our intense fight drew the attention of the people outside.

"Claire?"

Zachary's voice made Louise whip her head around.

By the time she turned back, the sharp blades of the scissors had already stabbed me in the abdomen.

Louise shrieked in fear and dropped the scissors, her hands trembling uncontrollably. The curtain was ripped open, and Zachary struck Louise, sending her sprawling onto the floor.

He crouched on the floor and pressed his hands against my wound to stop the bleeding. His eyes were red, and his voice quivered hard as he cried out, "Claire… Claire… Nothing must happen to you…"

My lips were ghostly pale. I couldn't say a word. In the end, I fainted from the pain.

When I regained consciousness, it was to the sound of a heated confrontation.

"It wasn't me, Zach! I never stabbed her!" Louise insisted.

Zachary's eyes were bloodshot as he bellowed back at her, "Who else could it be if not you? You two were the only ones in the changing room, and your fingerprints were found on the scissors!"

Louise couldn't find the words to defend herself. She got on her knees and wailed loudly, but this time, he made no attempt to console her.

When the doctor came into the hospital ward, Zachary immediately walked up to him, his expression anxious.

"How is she, doctor? Why is she still unconscious?" he asked.

Frowning, the doctor replied, "Although her life isn't in any danger, the scissors struck her right in the womb, and she lost her child. She'll also have a hard time conceiving again."

"What did you say?" Zachary went rigid. "She was… pregnant? Why didn't I know that?"

He turned around in shock and met my lifeless gaze. Lifting my eyes to the ceiling, I said with an emotionless face, "The child… is gone?"

Zachary rushed over to the hospital bed and gripped my hand tightly, saying, "No. Everything's fine. We'll have another baby. Trust me."

For the first time, he wept for me, but all he got in return was me coldly turning away from him. "Get out. I don't want to see you."

He was hesitant, but he left anyway. However, he returned that night with bags of delicious food and even some medical equipment to aid in my recovery.

Zachary sat at my bedside and tenderly fed me spoonfuls of chicken noodle soup. I opened my mouth and ate mechanically. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that his gaze filled with even more guilt.

He took exceedingly good care of me, even instructing the bodyguards not to let Louise, his precious younger sister, anywhere near me.

Alas, he failed to keep her away. That night, Louise appeared in my hospital ward. Standing in front of my hospital bed, she said to me, "You planned it all from the start, didn't you, Claire? You wanted to use your baby to frame me! I've already looked into it. You came for a pregnancy test a few days ago, so you knew you were pregnant."

I silently closed my eyes.

"You'd seriously do anything just to marry Zach, huh? But you'll never be happy!"

What Louise didn't know was that I didn't even want to marry Zachary anymore.

On the day I found out I was pregnant, I was thrilled. I went looking for Zachary to share the news with him, only to find him in bed with Louise.

The door was ajar. The floor was covered in their clothes, including their underwear. I heard his low moans and her breathy gasps.

I nearly miscarried that day, but I did my best to keep my baby. But this time, my baby was truly gone. Though I felt some grief, for the most part, I felt a sense of relief. I figured the baby could also tell that now wasn't the best time for it to come into this world.

Without saying anything to Louise, I called for the bodyguards and instructed them to chase her out. While they hauled her off, I snuck out of the hospital ward.

Dr. Lane's car was parked outside the hospital. When he saw me, his face broke into a smile of satisfaction. "You made a wise choice this time, Claire."

Smiling, I got in the car, and it took us straight to the airport.

When I boarded the flight, there was a man in a suit in the seat next to mine. Dr. Lane nodded respectfully at the man before introducing me to him. Then, he said to me, "Claire, this is Mr. Connor Hamilton, the exclusive sponsor of the medical relief team."

Out of courtesy, I held my hand out for a handshake, and he returned it with a cold, detached expression. His hand was just as cold as his personality.

Dr. Lane murmured to me, "He's got a difficult temper, so you'd better not get on his bad side. It'll be hard for the medical relief team to complete our mission if he gets upset."

I hummed in acknowledgment before taking my seat beside Connor. Ever so gingerly, I tried to buckle my seatbelt while avoiding the wound in my abdomen.

"Don't you know how to put on the seatbelt?" Connor questioned curtly.

"That's not it. I'm just afraid I'll pull on my—"

"You're so silly," he commented as he leaned over and snapped the seatbelt in place with one swift motion.

The scent of his cedar cologne lingered in my nostrils. It smelled expensive.

I was briefly startled, but he had already gone back to his financial magazine and seemed to be reading with great focus. His brows creased, as if he had picked up on my gaze. I quickly averted my eyes and looked out the window.

The plane was slowly making its ascent, and the cityscape was soon replaced with endless stretches of clouds. Eventually, we landed in a barren area.

…

At the same time, Zachary carefully carried a cake into the hospital ward.

"Darling, I bought you your favorite—"

His voice came to a grinding halt, and the cake fell to the floor. The carefully piped frosting turned into a pile of mush.

With eyes rapidly turning red, Zachary grabbed the collar of the nearest bodyguard and snarled, "Where's Claire?"