She applied to the police academy and became a criminal investigator.

Back then, holding her acceptance letter, she proudly said to me,

“Samuel, I like you.”

“I’ll love you with my life and protect you.”

“I’ll give you everything you want.”

Grace kept her promise.

During the years we were together, she never stopped proving it.

I liked stargazing, so she built me an observatory.

I wanted ice cream, and she ran ten blocks to buy it.

In the Whitman family, as long as Grace was there,

I could have almost anything I wanted.

Even if I asked for the moon, she would find a way to get it for me.

We were young then, believing love could overcome anything.

But fate is never that kind.

One person—Zachary—was enough to tear us apart.

Zachary was the son of our nanny, Mary Willis.

He came to help at Whitman's house during his vacation.

He would deliberately break my things, then pretend it was an accident.

He even burned my clothes on purpose and claimed it was a mistake.

Whenever I got angry, he ran to Grace in tears, telling her how miserable his life was.

The one who cries always gets sympathy.

A man who sheds tears seems especially pitiful.

Bit by bit, Grace’s heart leaned toward him.

What truly pushed me over the edge was the night before our engagement.

Grace said she had a surprise for me.

I sneaked home out of curiosity,

only to see Zachary, looking disheveled, walking out of her room.

When he saw me, he didn’t explain.

Instead, he angrily threw my mother’s belongings onto the floor.

“Samuel, stop acting superior in front of me. Everyone knows you’re just living off the Whitman family.”

“As for who will become the future master of the Whitman family, that’s still uncertain!”

I was furious and yelled at him to get out.

But he ran crying to Grace.

He accused me of always bullying him and Mary,

and even said I wanted to destroy their entire family.

Grace, who had once sworn to always stand by my side,

believed him without hesitation.

She stood in front of Zachary, glaring at me.

“Samuel, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Zachary already has it hard enough. Can’t you show some compassion?”

“Don’t forget, we’re not married yet.”

“You have no right to use the Whitman family’s influence to bully others!”

We had a fierce argument, hurling painful words at each other.

Unable to win, I broke up with her in a fit of anger.

Grace threatened me too, saying that if I left, I should never come back.

I threw away all the gifts she had given me.

I moved alone to a villa in the suburbs of my hometown.

Grace blocked my number and refused all contact.

We were young and hot-headed, neither willing to give in first.

The standoff dragged on for a long time.

The truth was, I never truly wanted to break up with her.

I just wanted her to comfort me, to apologize.

Grace is blunt and speaks without thinking.

I knew she didn’t mean to hurt me.

But I couldn’t swallow my pride.

Deep down, I made a promise to myself.

As long as she apologized.

As long as she admitted, she was wrong.

I would forgive everything and prepare for our wedding with her.

I would never make her angry again.

But I waited and waited, and hoped and hoped.

I didn’t wait for Grace. Instead, I ran into a serial killer.

He wasn’t after money or desire; he only wanted my life.

I begged desperately, struggling and crying, asking him why.

He sneered, then smashed my head hard against the ground.

“Why?”

“Because you deserve it. You deserve to die!”

“You ruined someone’s family, and now you’ll pay!”

From his broken words, I slowly pieced together what had happened.

Zachary had spread rumors online, claiming I abused my power and bullied others.

He broke his leg on the way home from work.

He said I pushed him down the stairs on purpose because I was in a bad mood.

He cheated, and when his wife confronted him,

he claimed that I was jealous of his looks and hired people to humiliate him.

On top of that, he even wrote—

“The lady of that house glanced at me, and he thought I was trying to seduce her.”

“He not only threatened to kill me, but said he’d destroy my whole family.”

“I was terrified and didn’t know what to do.”

“Do the poor really deserve to be trampled like this?”

His story was full of flaws. Few people should have believed it.

But Grace stood up for him.

She said I had been spoiled and willful since childhood, growing worse with age.

Relying on the Whitman family’s power and her favor, I had done many evil things.

She even provided piles of so-called evidence.

I knew she was angry over our breakup.

I knew she never truly wanted me dead.

But it was this so-called evidence that cost me my life.

The murderer, who saw himself as justice incarnate, chose to avenge Zachary.

He grabbed my throat and snarled,

“I never kill the innocent. But you—your crimes are unforgivable!”

“Tonight, I’ll let you taste what it’s like to be humiliated and crushed!”

He didn’t kill me right away.

Instead, he tortured me slowly.

He smashed both my legs with a hammer.

He said he wanted me to feel the deepest pain before death.

So I could keep repenting in hell.

Blood streamed across the ground and into the silent night.

In the deserted villa, no one could hear my screams.

In fact, I once had a chance to live.

Because that day was my twentieth birthday.

Grace had promised me,

“I know your birthday is the day you miss home the most.”

“So I’ll spend every birthday with you.”

“Samuel, I’ll never leave you alone.”

When the clock struck twelve,

Grace knocked on my door, carrying a cake.

Inside it was a carefully prepared gift.

Hidden inside was the ring she planned to use to propose to me.

She wanted to apologize and make up with me.

But by then, nearly every bone in my body was broken.

I couldn’t open the door for her.

I couldn’t accept her love anymore.

The murderer saw Grace through the peephole and smiled cruelly.

“You rich people—every one of you is rotten.”

“If she hadn’t indulged him, he wouldn’t be so arrogant.”

“If she dares step through this door, I’ll kill her too and bury you together!”

He stood by the door, axe in hand, ready to strike at any moment.

If only I had asked her for help, then…

I believed she would have rushed in without hesitation to save me.

But I didn’t dare take that risk.

She was still young.

She still had a bright future ahead.

She had already given me the happiest twenty years of my life.

She had already sacrificed everything for me.

I couldn’t be so selfish as to let her die for my sake.

So, at the edge of life and death,

I chose Grace.

With my last bit of strength, I shouted at her,

“Grace, don’t come looking for me.”

“I’ve… fallen in love with someone else.”

There was a three-second silence outside the door, followed by even fiercer pounding.

“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe you!”

“You’re still angry about that, aren’t you?”

“Samuel, open the door! Let me explain!”

“I was just angry that day. I never wanted to break up with you!”

“I’m sorry. Open the door! Open it and let me in, please!”

The security camera showed Grace’s face.

Her nose was red from the cold, and the tears on her lashes had frozen.

Yet she stood stubbornly before my door.

It was minus twenty degrees Celsius, the wind cutting like knives.

A winter night in Harrington.

Cold enough to freeze a person to death.

Cold enough to freeze even the warmest heart.

Still, she stood there.

Not taking a single step back.

Until dawn came and snow turned her hair white.

Until Zachary arrived and pulled her into his arms.

He kissed her tear-stained face, warming her frozen heart.

Holding her hands, he kept repeating,

“It’s okay, Grace. It’s okay. You still have me.”

“Actually, I knew about Samuel’s affair long ago. I was afraid of hurting you, so I never said anything.”

“Let’s go home. Let’s go home, okay?”

“I’ll stay with you, help you get through this, help you forget Samuel.”

In Zachary’s embrace, Grace slowly lifted her head.

She looked in my direction one last time.

Then she smashed the cake in her hands against my door.

She swore she would never see me again.

She cursed me, wishing I would live forever in regret and pain.

I said nothing more, only stared at the screen as she faded into the distance.

She and Zachary leaned on each other, walking toward the rising sun.

While I was left behind in that cold, endless night.

Not long after, Grace and Zachary got married.

They fell in love naturally and stayed together for life.

They became a model couple in their circle.

I was dismembered by a murderer, my body dumped in the wild.

I became a lonely ghost in the back mountains.

The memory ended, and I was about to sigh.

Suddenly, a hurried shout came from behind me.

“Captain Whitman, the body has been found!”

“All the features match the post. It’s been sent to forensics. Should we arrest the poster now?”