Before the wedding, Sebastian Lewis had been kidnapped while picking up my wedding dress.

He didn’t die, but the trauma erased all memories of me. Whenever marriage came up, he would faint.

The doctor explained it as a result of post-traumatic stress, causing him to develop a second personality.

By coincidence, I discovered I was pregnant.

The doctor’s words echoed in my mind. “The child may awaken the part of him that loves you deeply.”

With hope blooming in my chest, I rushed to find him, pregnancy test in hand.

But fate had other plans. As I arrived, I overheard a conversation between him and his friends.

“Sebastian, you really know how to play it. To avoid marriage, did you even create a second personality? What’s next, a third or fourth?”

“No way! I love Brianna. I’ll deceive her just this once, but after sleeping with ten others, I’ll stop.”

“Is your appetite that small? Ten isn’t even enough to unlock all the positions. Just pretend for another year or so. Brianna Sandoval will never marry anyone but you!”

He glared at his friends, his expression cold. "I can’t stand seeing her so miserable! You better get me some girls, flirty virgins, one every three days. No delays in my wedding with Brianna!"

Shaking, I ripped up the pregnancy test and turned away. My heart felt like it was being torn apart. I made my way to the hospital to schedule the abortion.

——

When the doctor saw me walk in again, his face tightened in concern. As soon as I told him I was going through with it, disbelief flashed across his face.

"This baby... it was hard for you two to conceive. If you abort it, it might make Sebastian's condition worse!"

I forced a bitter smile and shook my head. "If I tell him, he might be the one who becomes seriously ill."

He was still lost in his self-destructive world, unable to free himself from it.

I couldn’t fathom it; the man who once begged me to marry him was now pretending to be ill, using deception as his shield.

The doctor, unable to sway me, insisted on calling Sebastian when I signed the form for the surgery.

"Miss Sandoval, this child isn't just yours. Even if he refuses to accept the baby because of his illness, he should at least come and sign the papers with you and be there for the surgery. That way, if any misunderstandings arise, they can be cleared up face to face..."

I gently placed my hand on my stomach, silently accepting his words.

After all, with polycystic ovary syndrome, getting pregnant had been a challenge in itself.

But Sebastian didn’t care. He had even fought with his parents to marry me. Now, if he wanted to abandon this child, the least he could do was come and see it through.

But as soon as the doctor finished speaking, he let out a mocking laugh.

"How much did Brianna pay you to put on this show? I already told you I don’t even know her, let alone marry her!"

"Tell her to stop using these tricks to force me. Whether the child is mine or not is still up for debate!"

His cold, heartless laughter echoed in the quiet operating room, a stark contrast to the rhythmic beeping that filled the silence.

I signed the papers for myself and closed my eyes, the weight of everything pressing down on me.

When I woke up in the operating room, several messages flashed across my phone. All of them were from Sebastian.

[No matter how things were between us before, now I’m me and you’re you. If you’ve got the energy to find someone to act and deceive me, you should just move out of my house!]

He’d been considerate enough to rent a place for me in the same neighborhood, leaving the key ready for me to move in. He even paid the first month's rent. To avoid suspicion, the contract was for a year.

[For the sake of our past, you don’t have to repay me for this.]

I glanced at the bloody, distorted image of the embryo, my heart feeling heavier, but my response remained calm.

[Okay, thank you.]

The rent was the last bit of responsibility he was fulfilling for this child.

I stayed in the hospital for three days, but he never contacted me again. Still, his social media was a constant stream of wild parties. It was as if he was desperately trying to reclaim the freedom he’d missed out on all these years because of me.

I knew he was posting for my benefit. But I couldn’t see those updates from the other account I had made just to follow him.

As he wished, I liked every video.

When I went to handle my discharge procedures, I unexpectedly ran into him and the doctor, who was frantically pushing a hospital bed down the corridor. The moment he caught sight of me, he turned away, pretending I wasn’t there. But I clearly heard the emergency doctor speaking urgently to the staff.

"Operating room 1, quickly arrange for RH negative blood! The patient has a ruptured corpus luteum with massive bleeding and urgently needs a blood transfusion!"

"What? There’s no stock?"

The emergency doctor hung up the phone and then rushed to inform Sebastian.

Just moments ago, he had completely ignored me, but now, he suddenly stopped, turned on his heel and ran straight toward me.

"Brianna, if you’re willing to donate blood for Eliza Irving, I don’t care about you following me!"

I froze.

"I’m not following you..."

"Enough with the excuses! Saving someone is more important!"

He seized my arm and yanked me toward the doctor.

"She’s RH negative; just draw her blood!"

I struggled with all my might, but my hand was firmly in his grasp. Unable to free myself, I couldn’t help but mock him, "Didn’t you say you didn’t know me? So, how do you know I’m the rare blood type?"

I glared at him, waiting for an answer.

Sebastian scratched his head, frustration flickering across his face. "Is now really the time for questions? If we’ve loved each other for six years, isn't it normal for me to know you’re a rare blood type in an emergency?"

But I had just gone through an abortion and I was still bleeding intermittently. How could I possibly donate blood? Even if I were fit to donate, why should I help clean up his mess?

"I just had an abortion. I can’t donate. Find someone else!"

Sebastian’s anger flared instantly.

"Brianna, you claim to love me, yet when I ask you to donate blood, you refuse. You even lied about having an abortion!"

"I never thought you’d be the kind of person who'd watch someone suffer and not lift a finger! No wonder I can’t remember ever loving you!"

He was right. If he truly loved me, he wouldn’t have faked an illness to deceive me. He wouldn’t have ignored the pallor on my face and he sure as hell wouldn’t have forced me to give blood for his lover!

The machines began to beep wildly and the emergency doctor, seeing the urgency, quickly ushered the patient into the emergency room.

Sebastian tried to drag me toward the blood donation area, but I refused to budge. In a flash of rage, he lifted me by the waist.

"Brianna, whether you like it or not, I owe you for this. Worst case, I’ll marry you on our wedding day!"

I stopped struggling at that moment.

Considering how he had once risked his life to save mine, I accepted it as a debt repaid.

Watching the blood flow into the bag, my heart grew colder with each passing second.

Once the blood was drawn, Sebastian rushed to the operating room with the nurse in tow.

I gazed at his retreating and whispered, "Sebastian, we’re even now."

As I exited the blood-drawing room, dizziness overtook me and I collapsed.

When I woke up again, the doctor seemed ready to scold me, but his words softened into a resigned sigh.

"Take care of yourself. With your condition, you won’t be able to donate blood for at least six months."

I smiled faintly and nodded.

As the doctor left, a nurse couldn't help but whisper to her colleague, "Boss, why didn’t you tell her we couldn’t reach her emergency contacts? What if the patient misunderstands us..."

Her colleague replied, a touch of sympathy in his voice, "She won’t misunderstand. This girl’s heart is as clear as a mirror, but sadly, she’s crossed paths with the wrong person."

I picked up my phone and my eyes were drawn to the doctor’s missed calls.

There were over ten attempts in an emergency and none answered.

Instead, a message from him scolded me, cold and sharp.

[Brianna, can you stop making a scene? Can you please know your place?]

At that moment, a strange sense of relief washed over me, knowing Sebastian hadn’t answered the phone.

I couldn’t even fathom the venomous words he would have thrown at me, each one a cruel reminder of the wreckage between us.

I didn’t respond, choosing instead to stay in bed, drained until I found the strength to move.

When the sunlight poured in, I decided to step out and headed for the rooftop garden, seeking warmth. Unexpectedly, I ran into Sebastian’s brothers.

Each of them held a fruit basket or bouquet, but their eyes weren’t kind. They circled me like predators, mocking my hospital gown.

"Yo, so you knew Sebastian was here with his girlfriend, huh? Playing the pity card now?"

"It’s just a little blood donation. Why act so fragile?"

"Not bad, though. The makeup looks pretty natural. No awkwardness at all. I always said you were a scheming girl, but Sebastian never believed it..."

Sebastian’s brothers always thought I wasn’t good enough for him.

If it hadn’t been for him forcing them to call me "sister-in-law," they would have never accepted me.

But now, with Sebastian by their side, they could speak their minds freely, no longer held back by the pretense.

When Sebastian walked downstairs to join them, he froze for a moment when he saw me, his brows knitting together.

"Brianna, is this really necessary?"

"I’ve already agreed to marry you and now you’re bribing the doctor to pretend to be sick and spy on me? Is this some kind of joke to you?"

"Do you have any idea how suffocating this makes me feel?"

"I’ll be honest with you: if you keep acting like this after we marry, it won’t be long before we end up divorced."

"No need to make it so complicated. I don’t need you to marry me!"

For six years, he had lived free.

Whenever he wanted a drink, I silently accompanied him, never pushing him to change.

If I didn’t fit into his plans, I’d simply pick him up the moment he called.

When he was drunk, I cared for him; he had no complaints, just a quiet presence.

When he wanted to travel alone with his brothers, I’d organize everything, buying tickets and planning the whole trip.

Even when he handed me his phone without hesitation, I never once thought to check it.

I loved him and feared repeating the tragedy of my mother, whose controlling nature had driven my father away.

I thought I had always kept the balance right between us.

At least, that’s what I believed before this incident, when everything seemed perfect, our relationship burning bright with passion.

But now, it hit me: my love had suffocated him.

So, was this the real reason he pretended to be sick, seeking some kind of thrill?

When our eyes locked, there was nothing left of the affection I had once seen.

The question that almost slipped from my lips was swallowed by silence, heavy and suffocating.

Sebastian, noticing my gaze, furrowed his brow, his impatience evident.

He snatched a lily from one of his brothers and shoved it into my arms with forced finality.

"Enough, stop pretending to be so virtuous. Take the flowers and leave!"

He thought I was still the same girl, easily pacified by a simple gesture, content with a token gift.

He didn’t believe that I, the one who had always vowed I would only marry him, could truly refuse him now.

I handed the flowers back to his brother, my voice steady but distant.

"This is for your girlfriend. It wouldn’t feel right for me to keep them."

"Donating blood was my choice. You don’t need to force yourself to marry me."

Sebastian’s face paled, his panic creeping up like a tide he couldn’t stop.

Wasn’t Brianna supposed to be thrilled by this?

Why was she suddenly insisting that I didn’t need to marry her?

Could it be that she was actually angry?

A flicker of confusion flashed in his eyes and he stammered. "Brianna, I..."

Before he could finish, his brothers all coughed in unison, signaling him to backtrack.

He quickly recovered, his voice laced with an edge of desperation.

"Brianna, I always keep my promises."