Jasper, confused, stared at me with a cold expression. “Is it just because my parents gave you a gift?”

His childhood sweetheart rushed forward, eyes wide with urgency. She shoved the thick envelope into my hands.

“Sister, how can you be so materialistic? Has all the love we’ve shared over the years meant so little to you that you’d be swayed by a bit of money?”

I glanced at the twenty-cent coin inside the envelope, mirroring the love I’d given Jasper, cheap and laughable.

“Yes, exactly. Because her red envelope had twenty thousand.”

——

Jasper Camden’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. A sneer twisted his lips as if my words were the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.

Impatiently, he raised his gaze and muttered, “Hallie, do you think this kind of drama matters? My parents offered you ten million once, and you turned it down. Now you’re breaking up with me over twenty thousand? Do you expect me to believe that?”

I remembered all too well. Back then, when Jasper’s parents tried to bribe me with ten million to leave him, my father had been seriously ill, and we were drowning in debt.

But I would have rather worked three jobs a day until my body collapsed than take their money and leave Jasper.

Not only did Jasper not believe it, but no one around him could ever imagine I would truly leave.

They all knew how much I had loved him for ten whole years.

No matter how poorly he treated me, I was quietly behind him, just like when they drunkenly joked, calling me the tail that Jasper could never shake off.

Before I could respond, Nora Winslow was already shedding tears, clinging to his arm.

She rushed forward, stuffing the thick red envelope into my hands.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault that you two are fighting. Sister Hallie, please, take the envelope and makeup with him.”

Jasper snatched the envelope back with a cold, stern face, his gaze softening instantly as he turned to Nora.

“This has nothing to do with you. What’s yours is yours.”

Nora suddenly seemed to remember something.

“Oh right, I’m so sorry, Sister Hallie. Each bill has little hearts drawn by Brother Jasper, and my name is written on them. I can’t give them to someone else.”

‘What’s hers is hers. Jasper had always been hers, too.’

If Nora hadn’t suddenly disappeared abroad ten years ago, Jasper would never have gotten drunk in a bar and ended up with me.

Now that she had returned, everything was naturally falling back into place, as it should.

I didn’t say a word, simply turning to leave, but a large hand yanked me into the car before I could take another step. My head slammed against the door, the sharp pain bringing tears to my eyes.

“It’s so late. Where do you think you’re going? Haven’t you caused enough of a scene? Come home with me.”

Jasper gently buckled Nora’s seatbelt, not sparing me a glance in the back seat.

Throughout the ride, Nora’s cheerful voice filled the car, bubbling with excitement as she told him everything she had eaten and seen; even a pebble on the road seemed important enough to share.

At a red light, Jasper handed her a water bottle, his hand brushing through her hair affectionately.

“Slow down, I’m listening.”

I used to be like that, too, eager to share every little thing with him.

But every time I even started, he’d frown and cut me off, claiming I gave him a headache.

He made a rule for me. If he didn’t speak first, I had to remain silent.

Otherwise, I didn’t deserve to be near him.

I learned that only when love was gone did everything I said seem like noise.

Back at the villa, Jasper took the luggage from the trunk and, with Nora’s hand in his, walked straight into the master bedroom.

He turned to me, about to explain, but his tone was filled with command.

“Nora’s just come back and will be staying here. She’s been in poor health since childhood, and a fortune-teller said she needs the best room. Tomorrow, move your things to the guest room.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

Jasper’s surprise was evident. He hadn’t expected me to be so quiet, so obedient, but then again, he believed that’s how I should be since I loved him. I never argued, never raised my voice. I was always quiet and well-behaved.

As if to reward me for my silence, Jasper pulled out a black card and tossed it to me. His voice softened just a little.

“Don’t take the red envelope thing to heart. I did wrong you today.”

I accepted the card and turned to walk to the guest room.

Behind me, Nora’s voice floated over, laced with dissatisfaction.

“Brother Jasper, do you think Hallie loves money more, or you?”

Jasper’s indifferent voice followed.

“She doesn’t love money.”

After seven years together, he did know me.

I didn’t love money.

But he didn’t know that I didn’t want to love him anymore either.

The next morning, as I came downstairs, Nora, wearing a white camisole, grabbed my hand and cheerfully pulled me toward the dining table.

A large patch of red, ambiguous marks covered her chest.

“Hallie, I’m so jealous of you. You get to eat Jasper’s cooking every day. I was abroad for seven years, and all I had were cold hamburgers every day.”

Jasper happened to walk out of the kitchen just then. At the sound of Nora’s words, the pain in his eyes was almost overwhelming.

He picked up the cereal from the table, gently blowing on it before feeding it to Nora spoon by spoon.

“If you like it, I’ll cook for you every day from now on.”

In the seven years I’d been with Jasper, I’d never once seen him enter a kitchen. There had been a time when I couldn’t get out of bed due to period cramps, and I’d begged him to boil some water for me. He’d coldly told me he never stepped into the kitchen.

Looking at the delicious, fragrant breakfast spread before me, I understood that Jasper only cooked for those he loved. I didn’t qualify.

Only then did he seem to notice my presence. He casually picked up a shrimp cake and dropped it into my bowl, but his eyes didn’t linger on me for even a second.

The sharp smell of shrimp twisted my stomach. I frowned slightly.

Nora suddenly gasped and sweetly scolded him.

“Brother Jasper, how could you forget? Hallie’s allergic to seafood. She can’t eat any of this.”

“Hallie, don’t be upset. I’ll give you my sandwich instead.”

The half-eaten sandwich, smeared with lipstick, was a sorry sight. The meat and egg had been hollowed out, leaving only two limp pieces of lettuce behind. The leftover sauce, mixed with a clear fluid, made my stomach churn.

Before I could say anything, Nora’s eyes already shimmered with unshed tears.

“Hallie, are you disgusted by me? I guess someone like me, from a poor background, could never be as noble as you. Of course, you’d think I’m dirty…”

Jasper’s face darkened immediately. He stood up, snatched the sandwich from Nora’s hands, and forcefully shoved it into my mouth.

The food lodged in my throat, and tears welled up from the discomfort.

Jasper’s cold voice echoed in the air above me.

“Swallow it.”

“Nora might come from a poor family, but I won’t stand for you insulting her. Don’t ever do this again.”

I pushed him away with all my strength and rushed to the bathroom, where I vomited until my body shook with cold sweat.

People from poor families weren’t just Nora.

I, too, had come from a rural village.

How could I ever look down on her?

But Jasper would never think about any of that.

All he saw were the tears sparkling in Nora’s eyes.

As I opened the bathroom door, a slap landed across my face, burning hot and sharp with pain.

I turned and found myself face-to-face with Nora’s delicate features, now twisted into something dark and malicious.

She towered over me, her eyes blazing with hostility.

“Hallie, you’re shameless. You’ve clung to Jasper for seven years and still won’t let go. It’s pathetic. Did you honestly think this would make him fall in love with you? What a joke. From the moment he first saw me, the only woman he’s ever loved is me. Nora.”

My body felt weak, and I didn’t want to engage with her. Clutching my stomach, I brushed past Nora.

“This must be your token of love, right?”

Suddenly, Nora yanked the red string bracelet off my wrist and tossed it into the toilet.

“No!”

I lunged forward to stop her, but it was already too late. The red string disappeared into the swirling water.

The moment it vanished, it felt like a knife had stabbed straight through my heart.

It was the last keepsake my mother had left me. I’d worn it since birth.

Tears blurred my vision as I glared at Nora. I couldn’t control myself, my hand rising to slap her.

But before I could, a man rushed in and shoved me hard to the ground.

“What are you doing?”

Jasper pulled Nora tightly into his arms, his voice seething with rage as he shouted at me.

“Hallie, who gave you the right to hurt Nora?”

I looked up at him, his icy eyes sending a chill down my spine, my voice trembling as I cried, “I didn’t even touch her! She destroyed my red string!”

It was the first time I had seen him this shaken; his heart seemed to tremble. He knew how much that red string meant to me as though it were family.

A flicker of guilt flashed in his eyes. Without thinking, he crouched down and reached out to stroke my head.

“Ah!” Nora screamed, clutching her arm as tears streamed down her face.

Jasper’s gaze snapped to her, and he froze, his eyes widening at the sight of blood dripping from Nora’s arm.

Normally composed, he was now in a panic, frantically trying to stop the bleeding.

“Brother Jasper, please don’t blame Hallie. It’s not her fault; it was just my clumsiness.”

Jasper’s eyes darkened, a wave of disappointment washing over his features. His voice, when it came, was cold and detached.

“Hallie, I didn’t expect this from you. You’ve shown your true colors. Starting today, you need to move out. You’ll only be allowed back when Nora forgives you.”

I watched as he walked away, Nora clutched in his arms, vanishing through the door.

Tears poured from my eyes like a burst spring. I had known for a long time that he didn’t love me. I had even prepared myself to leave, yet the sorrow still consumed me.

I wiped my eyes, forcing myself to move. I entered the master bedroom, packing my few belongings into a suitcase. There was hardly anything to pack, only a couple of outfits.

Jasper had always liked his rooms to be minimalist and bare. So, aside from the two outfits, I never dared to leave more behind.

But now, after just one night, the room was already cluttered with Nora’s trinkets.

Photos of her and Jasper filled the walls.

His carefree smile in those pictures cut through me like a knife.

In seven years, Jasper and I had never taken a single photo together.

Every time I tried, he would frown and complain about hating pictures.

So, my photo album was filled only with pictures of his back, and his phone never had a single image of me.

Just like his heart, there had never been a place for me in it.

Being by his side for seven years had been nothing more than a fleeting gift, a repayment for that one-night stand, the desperate plea I’d made for a relationship.

Now, it was time to let go.

I placed the black card on the nightstand, grabbed my suitcase, and walked out without a single glance back. I went to the small apartment I had bought for myself, the one I could call my own.

My phone buzzed, and Jasper’s message flashed on the screen.

[Nora has a kind heart. She forgives you. You don’t need to move out anymore, but from now on, stay away from her in the villa.]

[Make her some chicken soup and bring it to her.]

A bitter laugh escaped me as I turned off my phone and took a taxi to the office.

The moment I walked through the door, the hushed whispers of my coworkers greeted me.