After my father fell seriously ill, he endured a grueling 24-hour train ride in a hard seat just to attend my wedding to Nora.

I knelt in front of the Peyer family's home for ten hours with his medical records in hand, begging my fiancée to help me go through with the ceremony, even if it was just for show.

Finally, she agreed, but when it was time for her to appear, I searched the entire dressing room and couldn't find her anywhere.

My father collapsed the moment he stepped into the hotel and never got back up. My wedding turned into his funeral.

At midnight, after handling his final arrangements, I saw a post from Nora's assistant, Ethan.

[The one who isn't loved is the third wheel.]

Heartbroken and weary, I sent her a message, ending our relationship.

But instead of disappearing from my life, Nora returned to our home with Ethan.

——

It was already past midnight when I finished dealing with my father's final arrangements.

I drove back to our cold, empty apartment, dragging my exhausted body and stripping off the cheap suit I had rented with my own money.

It had been ten hours since I sent Nora the message breaking up with her.

This wasn't the first time she had left me alone because of her assistant, Ethan.

But I never imagined she would ditch our wedding for him.

Since Ethan appeared in our lives, every date with Nora had been interrupted by his seemingly innocent pleas for help.

Sometimes it was an allergic reaction, other times a headache from working late.

These common ailments, however trivial, were treated as catastrophes by Nora.

She was constantly worried about his health, fussing over him.

At first, I complained, but then I realized where I truly stood in her life.

Years of love had withered into nothing but resentment and numbness.

I sat on the cold tile floor, leaning against the sofa, squeezed into the small gap, and before I knew it, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, Nora was sitting on the sofa, applying makeup, her expression full of annoyance as she glanced at the discarded suit I had worn.

"Why aren't you sleeping in the bedroom? Sitting here like this, what's wrong with you? You nearly scared me to death when I walked in."

She frowned at my bloodshot eyes, her tone indifferent.

"It's just a stupid wedding. It wasn't even real."

Renting some crappy clothes, they made my skin break out.

Afterwards, I would have the wedding planning company organize another one, and even if I was acting, Nora would only use the best props!

She then turned back to perfecting her eyeliner.

At that moment, Ethan walked in with a bag of breakfast, casually using his key to unlock the door.

He looked more like the man of the house than I did.

In an instant, all my pitiful self-respect was laid bare.

Sensing the tension between Nora and me, Ethan innocently said.

"I'm sorry, Maxwell, for the trouble. I've been staying up late preparing for the wedding, and I collapsed at the venue yesterday afternoon. If it weren't for Nora finding me in time and having her bodyguards take me to the hospital, I might not be here now."

I glanced at his weak, but calculating expression, too tired to respond.

Ethan, however, seemed to remember something and quickly held up the bag in his hand.

"Nora asked me to get you some breakfast. You should eat something; you must have been exhausted handling everything alone yesterday."

His innocent eyes were filled with smugness and pride. This was his usual trick—taking Nora from me and then pretending to feel sorry for me.

He still thought I cared about this ridiculous relationship.

A mocking smile tugged at my lips as I responded coldly after he finished speaking, "Nora, let's break up."

Whether the wedding was real or fake, I didn't care anymore.

Even being near her made me sick to my stomach.

After those words, I ignored their reactions and stood up to retrieve the suitcase I had packed the night before.

Long hours in the same position had left my body stiff.

But Nora simply focused on eating the breakfast Ethan had brought, pretending not to notice what I was doing.

Dragging my suitcase to the door, I suddenly remembered the items in the refrigerator.

I turned back, stopping directly in front of Nora.

She paused mid-bite and sneered.

"Realized your mistake now? It's not too late to apologize! Don't think you can just walk out because I've been too nice to you these past few years!"

But I didn't even spare her a glance, only saying.

"Please move aside."

She scowled and pretended not to hear, so I simply stepped over her and opened the refrigerator.

On the bottom shelf, I found the dumplings my father had made for me during his last visit.

Tucked underneath the box were a few crisp, new cash.

It was his way of blessing his only son.

He never knew how to cook, but after my mother passed, he took on the task of caring for me alone.

Holding the box, I turned to leave, but Nora deliberately tripped me as I walked past.

My head struck the corner of the coffee table with a dull thud.

She frowned, her face full of irritation. "Why are you treating that box of junk like it's something precious? It should've been thrown out ages ago! It's been stinking up the whole fridge with that meat smell! Even the cleaning lady told me several times to toss it!"

I struggled to get up, my gaze falling on the flour-dusted floor.

My vision blurred as blood slowly trickled down, obscuring my sight.

The rage boiling in my chest was on the verge of exploding.

Nora's perfectly made-up face suddenly darkened, and she impatiently reapplied her lipstick.

"Maxwell, can you stop being so pathetic? Why don't you just get down on your knees and lick the floor? All I did yesterday was help Ethan out with something, and now you're throwing a pity party. Who are you trying to impress?"

"That wedding—you knew it was fake. So why are you acting crazy now?"

"A fake wedding—could it possibly be more important than someone's life?"

She still thought I was angry about her missing the wedding.

Did she really think that's all I, Maxwell, cared about?

For five long years, I had been less of a boyfriend and more of a doormat, a minor figure in her life.

Even her assistant, Ethan, could step all over me.

I understood she had to manage the company and entertain clients; I accepted that we couldn't have a normal relationship like other couples.

But why was Ethan always the one who got to go shopping with her?

And was it a discussion about work?

And when it got too late, they would book a hotel room together, and Ethan would use her phone to block me, sending messages.

With the room number and photos of the two of them.

[Maxwell, I'll take good care of Nora. You should rest early!]

He certainly did take good care of her—so much so that Nora no longer needed me.

I stared coldly at Nora, "Lives are indeed important, but my father's life doesn't matter, does it, Nora?"

Her expression darkened instantly.

Dragging my suitcase to the door, I was about to leave when Nora couldn't hold back her anger any longer.

"Are you hell-bent on acting crazy today? Fine, I'll go to the hospital and apologize to your dad!"

"If not, How about I bring Ethan along and apologize in person?"

"Would that be enough? Should I have him show your dad the hospital bill for his IV treatment?"

Her words ignited a blazing fire in my chest, my breath quickening with fury.

If my dad and I were such unreasonable people in her eyes, was there any point in continuing the conversation?

Seeing something was off with me, Nora's eyes flickered with confusion, and she stepped forward to grab me.

But Ethan stopped her.

"His ticket was fake, so he shouldn't have arrived yet. Maxwell probably isn't mad about his dad; he's just upset that you missed the wedding yesterday. It's fine, I can explain everything to him with proof from the hospital."

The anger erupted in my chest, burning away all my remaining restraint.

The next second, I grabbed the ashtray from the coffee table and smashed it against his head.

The moment I lashed out, Nora, who had been trying to stay calm, lost her composure entirely.

She stormed over in her high heels, yanking the suitcase from my hand and slamming it to the floor.

Clothes spilled out across the room.

As she approached, her heel crushed the dumplings on the floor. I clenched my teeth, fists tightening.

"Maxwell, my patience is running thin. Don't drag innocent people into our problems!"

I never imagined she would humiliate me like this in front of Ethan.

Ethan's eyes welled up with tears, looking at me with pitiful innocence.

"I'm sorry, Maxwell. I just checked the flight info, hoping to pick your dad up. I never thought..."

He trailed off, a grown man now sniffling, his eyes red, tears brimming.

"I was just worried Nora might get scammed. After all, the Peyer family is quite special, and she hasn't had much experience with relationships, nor does she have many male friends, so I..."

My gaze grew colder, my voice devoid of any warmth.

"Nora, do you think I'm lying to you too?"

She didn't answer, her lips tightly pressed together.

Her expression said it all.

I let out a deep breath, feeling my heart shatter into tiny, jagged pieces.

The medical records were real, from a local hospital.

I had gone with my dad for his check-up six months ago—there was no way to fake that.

So Ethan had focused on my father's ticket.

He hadn't taken a flight.

It was too expensive—how could he justify the cost?

To save money for my wedding dowry, he had endured over thirty hours on a hard seat.

Just to attend a non-existent wedding of his son.

Yet, even with just a single line to say, Nora couldn't bring herself to go through with the act and instead chose to abandon me.

Looking back, she had never truly reciprocated my feelings. From the moment we met, our fate was sealed.

I searched for signs of her love, deceiving myself at every turn.

This deception lasted for five years.

But from the moment Ethan appeared, the fragile balance shattered.

Nora began acting like a typical girl in love.

She'd ask me what medicine to give Ethan when he had a stomachache.

When Ethan had migraines from overworking, Nora would take on his tasks, telling him to rest.

She'd bring him to every company event, introducing him as her perfect work partner.

Compared to them, I felt like a rat in the gutter, reeking of filth.

Even when I sacrificed my dignity, offering it up for her and her lover to trample, I wasn't granted a ticket to this twisted game.

But now, I didn't want what I could never have.

The spot where I had hit Ethan began to swell quickly, but he bit his lip and bore the pain.

Nora was furious, cursing me out.

Yet her hands didn't stop. She expertly pulled out some ointment from her bag, dabbing it on her fingers to apply to Ethan's forehead.

She turned to me, her voice laced with threat.

"Maxwell, don't be ungrateful. Ethan is innocent. His first thought after waking up in the hospital was to rush to the wedding and find you."

"He worked tirelessly for your fake wedding. Look at yourself now—you're acting like a complete lunatic! How can you repay his kindness with this behavior?"

"Maxwell, this is the last time I'm saying this—apologize to him!"

"If you cause trouble again, you can get the hell out of here!"

I acted as if I hadn't heard her, focusing on packing the belongings scattered on the floor.

Minutes ticked by, and Nora's patience finally ran out.

She stomped over in her high heels, grabbing a fistful of my short hair and yanking my head back. Her delicate features twisted into something terrifyingly grotesque.

Pain shot through my scalp, but I gritted my teeth, refusing to cry out. Bloodshot eyes locked onto Nora's.

She snarled, "Didn't you hear me? Or have you forgotten how to apologize? Maxwell, you've really disappointed me this time!"

"You want those dumplings your dad made? Fine, how about you try them right now?"

I bit down hard, trying to control myself as she forced my head down, grinding it against the floor.

All I could see were her high heels, now covered in flour.

I hadn't eaten in too long, not since my father's funeral and the wedding preparations. I didn't even have the strength to stand.

My lips were pressed so hard against the ground they were starting to bleed, tears mixed with flour sticking to my face.

But even this wasn't enough for Nora. She yanked my head up to her face, slapping me hard across the cheek.

I tasted blood, the wound on my forehead blurring my vision.

"You didn't shave this morning? Trying to cut my hand open? Open your mouth! You're such a big shot now, huh? Come on, open up so I can feed you!"

She bent down, picked up a dumpling that was still somewhat intact, and smashed it against my face, grinding it into my stubble, grease sticking to my skin.

"Does it taste good? Are you enjoying yourself? Now apologize to Ethan!"

"Or I'll send your father right back to wherever the hell he came from!"