I only found out three months ago that Zach was from the Stein family, one of the wealthiest families in Ashton City.

When I realized he had been lying to me about being poor, every ounce of humiliation and heartbreak came crashing down.

I lost it. Completely. I tore the whole place apart, smashed everything that reminded me of him, and told him it was over.

He dug through piles of trash in the pouring rain to retrieve everything that held a trace of our shared memories. He cleaned them up and pieced them back together.

Then he painstakingly taped the photos that I had torn to pieces back together, and brought them to me. There were tears in his eyes as he apologized to me in a trembling voice. He said he could not live without me.

He even promised to hand over all his fortune to me and begged me to be his wife, his one and only, if only I would stay.

When I looked into those tear-filled eyes, I wavered.

At that moment, the man standing in front of me felt like the same one who used to wait up late when I worked overtime and clumsily tried to make me dinner.

There was a time when he really loved me. When I had a fever, he would stay up all night while fumbling to take care of me. He would softly hum my favorite songs with his completely tone-deaf voice just to soothe me.

After we got back together, when he broke down crying and begged me to humor his mother’s demand to attend the finishing school and learn how to be a proper wife, I said yes.

However, after scrolling through Jenna’s posts from the past three months, all I could think about was that all my sacrifices had been an absolute joke!

While I was being humiliated by his family, who constantly whipped, slapped, and even electrocuted me, Zach was out horseback riding and chasing fireflies with Jenna. He lied that he was busy preparing for our wedding.

When he was with Jenna, he was smiling without a care in the world.

As I scrolled through Jenna’s feed, every photo of them together felt like a stab in the chest, each swipe a fresh wound.

When I saw Jenna’s old post from five years ago, the one she posted while Zach was supposedly in the hospital, I could no longer hold back. My body was shaking as tears streamed down my cheeks.

It turned out that the “critical illness” he told me about was nothing but a lousy cover story so he could sneak around with his precious first love, Jenna, who had just come back from abroad. He just did not want me to get in the way.

What a fool I was back then. I was even working three jobs a day to earn his surgery fee. I did not even dare to take a day off when I was burning with a fever caused by exhaustion.

I smiled bitterly. Oh, Zach, was any of it ever real?

Those fleeting moments of tenderness used to be the only things that kept me believing we would last.

That faith had just shattered into dust.

Alone in that empty apartment, I stood surrounded by ghosts of us, each memory a knife twisting deeper.

I could not take it anymore. The tears, the hurt, the humiliation were all too much. My hands trembled as I pulled out my phone and typed a message.

[We’re done.]

I did not want to marry him anymore.

He replied almost instantly.

[Stop joking, Cathy. We’re meeting my parents tonight to go over the wedding details. Just be good.]

His tone was condescending, laced with open impatience. He did not see anything wrong with what he had done. He believed that all he had to do was to snap his fingers and I would come crawling back, like always.

I did not reply. Instead, I followed the address on that note to a beautifully renovated house I had never seen.

Among the things he had taken was something important to me.

As soon as I stepped inside, something caught my eye as I scanned the place. In the corner of the living room sat that old wooden box he had always kept locked, the one he never let me touch.

The lid was wide open.

Something pulled me toward it.

It was filled with proof of his ten years of unwavering love for Jenna.

Faded love letters, each one signed the same way: Love, your Zach.

Photos from over the years that showed them together from awkward teenagers to the polished adults they were.

There was even a carefully preserved hair clip, which she must have worn back when she was just a girl.

My belongings which he had hauled from our old apartment with such “care” were dumped in a dim corner. Dust was already settling over them like discarded trash.

Just like me, something he had used and tossed aside.

Even the platinum necklace I had scrimped for months to buy for him as a token of love sat abandoned on the cold surface of the coffee table.

I picked up the necklace and tossed it into the trash.

What was the point of me holding on to it if it meant nothing to him? Better to throw it out and be done with it.

I called movers and arranged to have my things picked up.

While waiting, Jenna and her friend suddenly barged through the door. Jenna’s eyes flicked over the few small boxes I had packed. Her tone was dripping with contempt as she said, “Oh, Cathy. Moving out? Finally. Honestly, your junk has always been out of place here.”

I did not bother responding, but her friend kicked one of my packed boxes.

“Jen, you’re just too nice. Some people are just born to live off scraps that others have thrown away. Zach bought this house for you as your engagement gift, but you, of course, had better taste and turned it down. So someone else got lucky, I guess. Miss Briones, I heard you even went through three months of special training just to marry into the Stein family. How’s that working out for you? Feeling humbled yet? Starting to realize the Steins aren’t so easy to impress?”

My fists clenched so tightly that my nails dug into my palms.

So, even this “new home” was just a discarded gift Jenna did not want.

“Are you done? If so, get out. You’re not welcome here.”

Jenna’s eyes glinted as she reached for the locket around my neck and snapped the chain with a sharp tug.

She said in a mocking tone. “This is actually kind of pretty. Cathy, how about you let me have it as a little souvenir?”

“Give it back.”

That locket was the only thing I had left from my mother. I would never let anyone touch it, let alone make a joke of it!

Jenna held it higher. There was a wicked glint in her eyes.

“You want me to give it back? I mean, I could. But didn’t you spend three whole months learning how to behave at that finishing school? You should know how to please people by now, right? How about this, you get down on all fours and bark for me like a dog. If you entertain me, maybe I’ll give it back. Sounds fair?”

I was shaking with rage. At that point, I had nothing left to lose. There was no way I was swallowing this humiliation.

I raised my hand to slap her, but before I could touch her, she let out a dramatic “Oops!” and the locket slipped from her fingers. It shattered on the floor.

I screamed and lunged at her, but she seemed to have been expecting it. Her foot twisted just so, and she let herself fall backward.

The front door slammed open with a crash. It was Zach.

“Cathy!”

Smack.

A sharp slap landed hard across my face. “You vicious girl! Jen came here to check on you, and you pushed her?”

He helped Jenna up and checked on her with concern.

“I didn’t push her! She broke my mom’s locket!” I held my stinging cheek and explained.

Jenna leaned into Zach’s arms like a fragile doll. Her eyes were glistening with tears.

“Zach, I was just trying to help Cathy pick up the locket. It slipped out of her hand and broke. She didn’t mean to push me. Don’t blame her, please. My ankle really hurts.”

“Cathy, you spent three months in that finishing school, and you’re still the same. Some people just don’t learn!”

Zach carried Jenna in his arms with a tender expression.

“It’s okay, Jen. I’ve got you. I’m taking you to the hospital now.”

As Jenna nestled in Zach’s arms and passed by me, she shot me a triumphant smile.

I crouched down. My hands were trembling as I picked up the shattered pieces of the locket from the floor. Tears were rolling down my cheeks.

Zach… Jenna…

I bit down hard on my lower lip. A storm of hatred was rising in my chest.

I thought. “So you want a fairytale engagement, Jenna? Fine. I’ll make it unforgettable for you. I’ll give your big day a little extra sparkle.”

The night before her engagement party, I sent Zach a message.

[Zach, I know I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have pushed Miss Wilczek that day. I’ve prepared a gift to apologize. I’d like to give it to her during the party, in front of everyone, and say I’m sorry to her in person. Would that be okay?]

His reply came fast. He seemed relieved

[Cathy, I’m glad you’ve finally come around. Get some rest tonight. I’ll come pick you up in the morning.]

On the day of the engagement party, after the host’s toast, Jenna took the microphone. She looked straight at me from the stage with a grin.

Her voice was saccharinely sweet as she said, “Everyone, knowing it’s my engagement, Cathy has prepared a special gift for me today. She insisted on giving it to me in front of everyone as a gesture of apology and blessing. Let’s welcome her to the stage!”

Every eye in the room turned toward me.

I smiled and walked to the stage under the weight of their stares.

Jenna took my hand affectionately.

“Friends from the press, be sure to capture this touching and heartwarming moment! Now, Cathy, where is your gift?”

I saw the sea of cameras pointed at me. I tightened my grip on the microphone and took a breath.

“Jenna, I prepared this surprise just for you. I hope you’ll always remember this moment of happiness.”

I gave the cue to the staff. A second later, the screen behind us lit up. The room went dead silent.