I spent ten years of my life chasing the Prince of Birmingham’s elite circle, pouring every ounce of love and devotion into him. After a decade of unrequited loyalty, he finally agreed to marry me.

But just days before our wedding, he disappeared without warning—off to Dungeness with the woman he once called his "first love," the one who had come back into his life out of nowhere.

When I heard the news, fury burned through me. I didn’t stop to think—I just acted. Fueled by anger and heartbreak, I chased after him, storming into the barren wilderness of Dungeness.

The so-called first love fell while we were there and injured her face. But instead of accepting responsibility, she twisted the truth and accused me of pushing her. And the man I’d loved for a decade, the one I had dreamed of building a life with? He didn’t even question her lies.

“You better pray nothing happens to Bella,” he snarled at me, his voice like ice, “or I won’t spare you.”

As if his words weren’t enough, he added, “Stay here and reflect on your actions. We’ll talk about marriage later.”

Then, without hesitation, he drove away with her, leaving me behind in the unforgiving desert.

A month later, I emerged from Dungeness. But the person who came out wasn’t the same Lilly who had gone in.

——

When I finally reached the rescue station, I was little more than a shadow of my former self—gaunt, broken and near death. I collapsed the moment I saw the makeshift aid station, unable to take another step.

When I regained consciousness, Arthur Findley and Bella stood in front of me. His gaze was cold, devoid of even a shred of concern.

“You actually made it out alive,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain. “Why didn’t you call for a rescue team? Did you think surviving like this would make me pity you?”

His words cut like knives. Once upon a time, I might have thrown myself into his arms, sobbing and pleading for comfort. But now? After what I had endured in that desolate wasteland, I felt nothing but emptiness.

No one—least of all Arthur—knew the horrors I had faced during that month. The days were blisteringly hot, scorching my feet as I trudged through the sand. The nights were freezing, my body trembling as I sought shelter among the thorny bushes and jagged rocks.

I had no food, no water, no protection. I survived by eating insects, chewing on cactus roots and drinking the bitter juice from poisonous plants. My body was riddled with cuts and wounds and I came close to death more times than I can count.

Wild boars with tusks nearly gored me. A pack of wolves saved me by chance, scaring the boars away before they could finish me off. Scorpions and venomous cacti nearly killed me, leaving me vomiting and delirious.

And yet, through it all, I refused to give up. Not because I still loved Arthur—but because I refused to let myself die for him.

Now, as I stood before him, his cold words and Bella’s fake concern barely registered. She reached out, her fingers brushing against my cracked skin, her red lips curling into a mockery of kindness.

“Oh, Lilly, why couldn’t you just admit your mistake back then? You’re so stubborn. I’ve already forgiven you for scarring my face—why can’t you move on?”

Her words were laced with venom, but I felt nothing. I stared at her blankly, refusing to give her the reaction she wanted. She pouted, her arm slipping through Arthur’s as if to claim him in front of me.

“Arthur, look at her. Lilly is so stubborn. Even now, she still refuses to admit her mistakes,” Bella said with a sly smile.

“Forget it,” she added with a feigned sigh. “She’s always been this willful. If we blame her any further, she might try to die again.”

Arthur’s anger, which had been simmering beneath the surface, finally erupted. His jaw clenched, a vein throbbing on his forehead as he roared at me.

“Do you think this is a joke? If I hadn’t found a foreign specialist to repair Bella’s injured forehead, I would never have forgiven you!” he snarled. “And don’t forget, you’re the reason we missed our wedding date. You need to take responsibility for this!”

I glanced at Bella, her forehead smooth and unblemished, though I vividly remembered what had actually happened. She had tumbled down a small sand dune, her forehead grazing a sharp rock and leaving a minor cut. Yet, she claimed I had pushed her.

She cried, screamed, and insisted she was disfigured, concussed, and dying—all in the middle of Dungeness. Arthur didn’t even hesitate. He carried her in his arms and rushed her to the nearest hospital, leaving me alone in the desert.

I couldn’t believe it. Deep down, I knew he had to see through her theatrics, yet he still chose to side with her.

Now, standing before his accusations, I felt no urge to defend myself. I simply looked at him and said, calmly, “Fine. I’ll take responsibility.”

My words caught him off guard. He froze, staring at me in disbelief. Silence fell between us.

After all, in the past, I would have reacted differently. Whenever he so much as spoke to another woman, I would throw jealous tantrums and follow him everywhere to fight for his attention. A month ago, when he abandoned me for Bella, I would have exploded with rage.

But now? I stood there, calm and composed, as if his words didn’t touch me.

My unexpected reaction seemed to unnerve him. He averted his gaze, his confidence faltering.

But I smiled to myself. Arthur, I won’t marry you.

Because the person who survived a month in Dungeness made a deal with a demon to get out.

Because the person standing before you now is no longer the same Lilly.

Arthur seemed to take joy in my strong possessiveness over him, willingly letting me cling to him for ten years. My arrogance and domineering nature ensured that all the noblewomen of high society in the capital steered clear of him.

He didn’t seem to mind, often thanking me for helping him fend off those "rotten peach blossoms" as he called them. He said I was the only person destined to stand by his side.

A year ago, Arthur and I became engaged. The wedding was set to take place in two weeks. But everything changed a month before that.

Out of nowhere, Arthur's long-lost first love, Bella, returned to the country after years abroad. From the moment she came back, nothing was the same.

That very night, Arthur personally went to the airport to pick her up. He even organized a reception banquet in her honor—completely forgetting the promise he had made to spend my birthday with me.

Worse still, after the reception, he stayed out all night for the first time in our decade-long relationship. The next day, he explained that Bella had drunk too much, and he stayed over to make sure she was safe, sleeping on the sofa.

Deep down, I had a gnawing feeling that something more had happened between them. But with our wedding so close, I convinced myself not to overthink it.

Then, on the third morning after Bella’s return, Arthur left for work as usual. Half an hour later, I saw a post in Bella’s social feed. Without a word to me, Arthur had taken her on a flight to Kent.

When I called Arthur’s phone, it went straight to voicemail. Frustrated, I dialed his secretary, only to learn the truth: he had taken Bella to Kent and was already on his way to Dungeness.

It didn’t take me long to connect the dots. Bella had always loved wilderness adventures. Arthur—my fiancé—had dropped everything to indulge her whims.

What infuriated me wasn’t just that he left without a word, but the fact that he didn’t even think to inform me, his fiancée. If he’d told me beforehand that he planned to accompany her for a few days, maybe I wouldn’t have felt so humiliated.

But leaving me behind, so close to our wedding, to secretly travel with his first love? No woman could accept that without anger.

Fuming, I booked the next flight and followed them to Dungeness. I didn’t care how impulsive it seemed—I couldn’t let him treat me like an afterthought.

When I arrived, Arthur’s reaction wasn’t relief or guilt. It was anger.

“You see?” he snapped. “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you! I knew you’d chase after me.”

His voice was sharp, but the disdain in his tone cut deeper than his words. He claimed he didn’t want me to come because I lacked the experience to survive a place as dangerous as Dungeness. He said he was worried about my safety, but I could see through his excuses.

I was already there and there was no sending me back. He had no choice but to bring me along.

It was on the first day that Bella rolled down a sand dune, scraping her forehead. She wailed and cried, pointing fingers without hesitation.

He didn’t even ask if I had pushed her. He didn’t stop to consider what she had said to provoke me before the fall.

“Miss Lilly,” she had sneered, standing at the top of the dune just moments before. “You might have the title of fiancée, but Arthur will never truly belong to you.”

Her words echoed in my mind, but I pushed the memory aside as a rescuer’s voice brought me back to the present.

“Miss Lilly, please sign this document so we can complete your discharge.”

I nodded, picking up the pen with trembling fingers, my muscles weak from exhaustion.

As I stood, pain stabbed through my legs, nearly sending me back to the floor. Before I could steady myself, Arthur’s hand reached out to support me.

“You’re always so reckless,” he said, frowning. “If you had just admitted your mistake and apologized to Bella, you wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.”

His words were like salt in a wound. I bit my tongue, swallowing the bitter laughter rising in my chest. What mistake did he want me to admit? What apology did he think I owed?

I wasn’t the one who had pushed her.

But he wouldn’t see it that way. To him, Bella was faultless—his precious first love. And me? I was just the brash, headstrong woman who had always demanded too much.

Seeing the pain etched on my face, he softened, his voice losing some of its sharpness.

“The rescuers said your injuries aren’t too serious,” he murmured. “With proper care, you’ll recover in a few months. But what you did to Bella was out of line. Pushing her down the dune… you almost ruined her face. Do you know how angry that made me?”

I cut him off, my voice cold.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said flatly. “I already told you—I’ll take responsibility.”

My calm, detached tone seemed to unnerve him. He stared at me, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Lilly… what’s wrong with you? You’re not like yourself.”

I ignored his concern, brushing off his hand as I forced my stiff legs to move forward.

The month I had spent in Dungeness had taken a toll on my body. I had lost 80% of my body’s water and was little more than a walking corpse.

Every step was agony. My muscles were so stiff from dehydration that I could barely coordinate my movements. My skin, once smooth and radiant, was now dry and cracked, resembling withered tree bark.

I knew what he meant when he said I wasn’t the same as before. He wasn’t talking about my appearance. But the secret behind the change? I wasn’t ready to share it yet. One day, he would know.

***

Back in Birmingham, Arthur took me to one of the best hospitals for a full examination.

The results were as grim as I had expected. My body was ravaged—multiple organs damaged from severe malnutrition and dehydration. A lack of vitamins and nutrients had left me on the brink of collapse.

But what the doctors couldn’t measure was the damage inside me.

The Lilly who had once clung to Arthur, who had loved him with a burning, reckless passion, no longer existed.

I survived Dungeness, but I left my old self behind in that unforgiving desert.