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."

Rosemary could only sigh in surrender. As she stepped out of the office and opened the door, her gaze met mine.

In that instant, I saw the shock on her face.

“T-Trevor, what are you doing here? Have you got here for a while?”

I tried masking the sadness in my eyes and forced a casual smile. “I Just arrived, was about to go in when you came out.”

“Did you... hear our conversation just now?”

I pretended to be confused. “What were you two talking about?”

“No, nothing...” Rosemary quickly left the room afterward.

When my eyes met Ashley’s, she lowered her head with guilt. “How did you get here so fast?”

I simply nodded. “You said there were important files on the phone. I figured it must be something urgent.”

Ashley stood up and walked over to me, her delicate hands wrapping around my neck.

“Why don’t you go sit somewhere while I finish up? I’ll come find you when I’m done. By the way, I remember you like coffee, so here, have mine.”

She lifted her coffee and brought it to me. I took it with difficulty, managing a faint smile. “Okay, I’ll wait for you in the lounge.”

As I closed the door behind me, the world blurred before my eyes. My steps faltered and I felt dizzy, as if I were about to collapse.

I spent just a few minutes inside, but it felt like an eternity, each second dragging on like a century.

I was terrified I would break down and confront Ashley right then and there. I’d demand to know why she was so heartless.

I had always believed my father’s death was just a tragic accident, but now I realized it was part of a long-planned scheme she’d orchestrated. Just to gain Zachary’s favor.

Back then, Mae’s betrayal left me feel so isolated and helpless. When Ashley appeared, I thought she was the lifeline I could cling to—the person thing that could save me from drowning.

Now that I’d reached this point, I realized how naïve I was.

Her love for me was so intense it could make anyone envious, but only I knew the truth. It was nothing more than a way for her to make amends for what she did to me.

The bitterness of the coffee spread across my tongue. Compared to my pained heart thought, it was not even close.

As I walked toward the lounge, I passed a small corner and noticed a door wasn’t fully closed. I was about to pass on when a large photo wall on the adjacent wall caught my eye.

I looked around, nobody was around. Then I took advantage of the situation before stepping inside.

The room was filled with an overwhelming array of objects that seemed to pierce my eyes. The entire wall was covered with countless photos, arranged tightly and densely.

And in every single one, there was Zachary’s face.

The way he diligently studied.

The way he smiled.

The way he moved so energetically on the basketball court.

The way he gave it his all to claim victory in the swimming pool.

On another wall hung rows of medals and trophies, shining symbols of Zachary’s achievements in university swimming competitions. I couldn’t wrap my head around why these pictures and items were here, in this room.

On a display table, stacks of receipts were neatly arranged—donation records from Ashley’s years of charitable activities, all made in Zachary’s name.

At the center of the display were over a dozen tokens of good luck, each marked with a specific year. She had done all this for one purpose: to bring fortune and protection to Zachary.

It suddenly hit me—how Ashley would disappear for a few days every year, always at the same time. Now I understood. She had been going to the church to pray for Zachary.

In all our years of marriage, she had never made such dedicated prayer for me. Yet, she’d never missed a year to do so for Zachary. No matter how terrible the weather outside.

My chest tightened painfully, my breath growing rapid.

What truly caught my eye was a small notebook lying carelessly in an inconspicuous corner. I picked it up and flipped through its pages, immediately recognizing the graceful and familiar handwriting.

Inside, precise times were recorded, down to the exact second.

It recorded the first time Ashley and Zachary met at university.

The first time they held hands.

Their first kiss.

Her first heartbreak.

The first day she drank for seven days and nights because Zachary was getting married.

What Zachary liked to eat, what he enjoyed doing—everything was meticulously detailed.

Every stroke of the pen carried her subtle affection.

I flipped through the pages to the very end, but my name wasn’t there—not even a single mention. The diary in my hands suddenly felt unbearably heavy.

After taking a photo of it, I walked out of the room, leaning against the wall and gasping for air.

As my blurred vision gradually cleared, I picked up my phone and made an international call. "Hey, Sis, I’m thinking of going abroad. Dad has always said he wanted to travel the world, right? I’m going to fulfill that dream for him."

My sister, who was far away in another country, detected the sorrow in my tone and fell silent for a few seconds.

"Trev, you get into a fight with Ash, don't you? She’s so good to you—why not try being a bit more understanding?"

I gave much explaination to my actions.

In the end, my sister sighed softly. "Alright. Alright. Whatever decision you make, I’ll support your choice," she said.

"After Dad passed, the Rollins family's business went downhill. Recently, Ash transferred all of it to me. I’m planning to move the assets overseas. When you come back, I’ll hand everything back to you."

"But you have to know, the financial settlement will take three more days to finish. I’ll pick you up at the airport by then."

I nodded in agreement. "Okay. I’ll book a flight for three days from now."

After hanging up, I heard high heels tapping against the floor behind me.

Ashley wrapped her arms around my waist, her chin resting on my shoulder as she smiled sweetly. "Buying a plane ticket? What for?"

I quickly came up with an excuse to brush it off, "My sister just called. She’s planning to buy a ticket to visit me."

Ashley was thrilled when she heard this. "That’s great! I haven’t seen your sister in ages. It’ll be nice to catch up."

She stepped in front of me and gently placed my hand on her stomach, softly rubbing it. "Honey, haven’t you always wanted a child? Tonight, let’s skip the protection."

I was momentarily stunned.

In the three years we’ve been married, I’ve brought up wanting to have children at least 99 times, but she always turned me down, citing concerns about her figure. Our intimate life had become so rare I could count it on one hand. This was the first time she had ever taken the initiative to bring it up.

Before I could process it, she grabbed my hand and led me to the canteen area, where all eyes followed us with a mix of envy and curiosity.

"I’m hungry. You wouldn’t mind if we ate here, would you?"

I didn’t refuse and sat down across from her.

Ashley didn’t show me the menu. It wasn’t until the food arrived and she saw me frowning that she finally asked, concerned,

"What's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?"

I looked down at the shrimp soup in front of me, a cold chill running through me. I’m allergic to seafood and I can’t eat anything with it.

Once, Ashley had carelessly added shrimp to a soup she made and after I ate it, I was rushed to the hospital—barely surviving.

What shocked me now was how completely she had forgotten about that incident.

Meanwhile, I distinctly remembered that Zachary was also allergic to seafood. But she had made sure to keep that in mind.

Maybe, in Ashley's mind, I was never someone she needed to care about. My well-being, my survival—it didn’t matter to her.

After a few half-hearted bites, Ashley excused herself, saying the company was busy and that I should continue eating. She seemed eager to leave.

The moment she walked out, I immediately called legal consultant that my family had always hired.

"Roy, draft a divorce agreement for me…. Yes, I want a clean break."