Fleeting Love Leaves No Trace

At the wedding ceremony, during the ring exchange, my fiancée Mae O’Neill suddenly suggested that I draw lots with Zachary Donovan, my childhood friend. Whoever won the draw would marry her.

As expected, I lost.

The wedding I had spent half a year preparing for turned into her wedding with Zachary and my father was so enraged that he suffered a heart attack on the spot.

At my lowest and most helpless moment, my childhood friend Ashley boldly confessed her love and insisted on marrying me. She even personally took my father to the hospital for emergency treatment. However, we were involved in a car accident on the way and he ultimately couldn’t be saved.

I observed mourning for my father for three years, during which Ashley managed the company on my behalf.

Three years later, I accidentally unlocked her phone and discovered a voice message between her and her best friend.

“Ash, you can’t keep the truth hidden forever. You deliberately caused that car accident and almost lost your life. All for Zachary? Are you really willing to sacrifice your entire happiness for him? What if Trevor finds out the truth one day? What will you do?”

“As long as he’s happy, I’ll do whatever it takes, even if it costs me my life. As for Trevor, I owe him too much. I’ll repay him in the next life—that seems fair.”

The pain in my heart became unbearable. I finally realized that from beginning to end, the only person she had ever loved was Zachary.

I naively believed I had found happiness, but in the end, it turned out to be nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion by someone else. Now that my dream had been completely shattered, it's time to move on.

——

On the way to deliver Ashley's phone, almost instinctively, I typed in a string of numbers on her pass screen. To my surprise, I unlocked it. The numbers I typed were Zachary's birthday.

After reading Ashley's chat with her best friend, a chill spread through me. I found myself already standing outside her company's building without fully realizing how I got there.

Upon entering the building, all eyes turned toward me. Some were envious, others reflected deep resentment.

Ashley was a well-known ice queen in the whole town. Many outstanding men had pursued her, but she dismissed their proposals. Instead, she chose someone as insignificant as me amidst the dazzling stars.

At first, I thought I was favored by fate—until I heard those voice messages and my illusions were shattered.

Ashley’s assistant noticed me and moved to inform her, but I stopped her. "You go ahead. I'm just here to deliver her phone."

The assistant gave me a considerate note. "Ms. Rigs is with her."

I immediately understood what she meant.

Rosemary Riggs was Ashley’s best friend. It was her voice in the messages I had listened to just days ago.

I was about to knock on the door when I overheard Rosemary raising her voice.

"Ash, stop deceiving yourself. Is it worth it to sacrifice so much for that man? He's inseparable from Mae. There's no place for you in his heart!" she was clearly agitated.

Ashley's replied, sounding exhausted with their conversation, "I don’t care. From the day I decided to let him go, I was prepared to sacrifice everything. As long as he’s happy, everything I’ve done is worth it."

Rosemary grew even more agitated. "But this isn't fair for Trevor! He could have lived a carefree life, but because of your interferences, Uncle Ben passed away without treatment. Trevor ended up as a homeless, pitiful man."

Ashley fell silent for a few seconds. Her gaze shifted to the photo frame on her desk—the first picture of us after our wedding.

Then she spoke softly, "He still has me, doesn’t he? Isn’t that enough? I know I owe him, but I’ve been doing everything I can to make up for it."

"Back then, the Rollins family and the Donovan family were competing for the same critical project—a project that would decide the Donovan family’s very survival. If I hadn’t stepped in, they would have faced bankruptcy."

"When Director Benjamin passed away, the Rollins family had no choice but to withdraw from the competition. And Zachary… got what he wanted in the end."

Ashley’s voice carried a faint trace of pain, tinged with quiet sorrow.

Rosemary opened her mouth to say more, but Ashley waved her off.

"Did you come all this way just to lecture me? Trev’s going to be here soon. I asked him to bring my phone. If he sees you here, he might get suspicious. You should leave."