I brought my son, who was around a year old, to visit my parents’ graves, only to run into my childhood friend’s mother.

She asked me whether I had returned because I was no longer angry.

“Yelena, you’re finally back! You must’ve returned to marry Niel.

“I’ll make sure your wedding goes smoothly this time. I won’t allow any random person to ruin it!”

Niel Stalner was my childhood friend and ex-fiance. During my engagement party, Cloud Stalner, his foster sister, had barged in while wearing the same gown as I did.

She also said that she would kill herself if Niel refused to leave with her.

The guests burst into a ruckus, and in the end, I was left alone in the venue.

Everyone criticized me, and Niel’s family abandoned me. Eventually, I left the country like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs.

I smiled at Neil’s mother, Iris, and pushed the baby stroller forward.

“Iris, are you seriously telling me that Niel hasn’t married Cloud yet? Anyway, Michael, say hello.”

During the three years I was gone, I never visited my parents’ graves.

Michael, my son, was a year old, so I brought him back to visit my parents.

While I pushed the stroller through the graveyard, I heard a familiar voice.

“Yelena, you’re back!”

When I looked over, I saw Iris, my childhood friend’s mother. She was standing not too far away.

She was delighted to see me, and she hurried over to me.

I greeted her politely, “Hello, Iris.”

She held my hand affectionately and looked at me with kindly eyes.

My lips curled up in a stiff smile as I avoided her gaze.

“It’s been a few years since I last saw you. You’ve grown thinner. You must have been through a lot.

“Niel did you wrong that year. That brat is visiting the graves of that woman’s parents. I’ll get him to apologize to you now.”

Before I could even say no, she had already called Niel. He was my childhood friend and ex-fiance.

Five minutes later, I saw Niel running over while gasping. Behind him was Cloud Stalner, his foster sister.

He was surprised to see me at first. But soon, his gaze turned as chilly as it was three years ago.

“When did you come back?”

Iris clicked her tongue and smacked his head.

“Pay attention to your tone, you brat?!”

Cloud immediately shielded Niel and looked at Iris pitifully. “Mom…”

Iris just scowled and refused to look at her.

Cloud’s expression stiffened. She started twiddling with her fingers.

After a long while, she finally seemed to spot me and appeared surprised.

“Yelena, when did you come back? I was wrong three years ago, but I just love Niel too much. Don’t worry. I won’t fight over him with you anymore.”

With absolute composure, I just watched Cloud with her act. Back when she came over to mock me, she had not appeared this pitiful.

Niel then switched places with Cloud and shielded her while he glared at me warily.

“I was wrong in the past, so Cloud isn’t to blame.”

I ignored them and simply looked at the fuming Iris.

“Iris, I have to visit my parents. Bye now.”

I then pushed the stroller forward.

However, Cloud suddenly blocked my path.

In a seemingly innocent fashion, she asked, “Is this your baby, Yelena?”

Niel approached us and observed my son with a nervous expression before sighing in relief. “It’s not. He doesn’t look like her at all.”

Indeed, Michael did not resemble me. He was basically a mini version of Saul Gaviera, his father.

Even so, I did not want to waste my breath on Niel, so I walked past him instead.

To my surprise, he grabbed Michael’s stroller and gave me a provocative look. “Yelena, you’ve been living such a hard life after leaving my side? You even became someone else’s nanny.

“Apologize to me, and I might reconsider marrying you.”

Apologize to him? He was the one who had abandoned me during our engagement party. Yet, he wanted me to apologize?

I stared at Niel and tightened my grip over the stroller’s handlebars so much that my knuckles turned white.

When my parents were still alive, they had spoken to the Stalner family about my engagement with Niel. The party was supposed to be on July 7th, three years ago.

Later on, my parents passed. But to fulfill their promise, Abraham Stalner, Niel’s father, still threw the engagement party for both of us.

I could tell that Niel was indifferent about it. In fact, there was even indignation in his eyes.

Despite that, I did not dwell on it. I came up with the interior design for the party as I waited eagerly for the day to arrive.

On July 7th, I arrived at the venue feeling bashful and nervous. But when I opened the door, I was stunned.

The pink interior that I ordered had been changed to orange. Even my favorite tulips had been switched out to red roses.

Then, I looked at the screen. When I saw my name and Niel’s, I ran over to demand answers from him.

However, with a devil-may-care attitude, he just dismissed me with a wave.

“Cloud says she prefers this style, so I asked the staff to change it. It’s just an engagement party, not a wedding. I’ll get the staff to go along with whatever you want during the wedding.”

Tears of sadness immediately filled my eyes. “But this is my engagement party…”

Niel frowned in displeasure.

“You’re so annoying. You cry on a whim. Seriously, you’re not sensible like Cloud at all.”

He did not comfort me in the slightest and went off to exchange words with his business partners.

Noticing that I was feeling down, Iris quickly dragged me backstage to touch up my makeup.

“Calm down, Yelena. I’ll teach that brat a lesson. The engagement party will start soon. You won’t look presentable if your eyes are swollen.”

Iris was like a mother to me. When she comforted me, I felt even more aggrieved.

If my parents were still around, would Niel stop mistreating me like this?

Once I touched up my makeup, I held Iris’s arm and returned to the engagement party.

However, after looking around, Iris asked in puzzlement, “Strange. Why isn’t Cloud here yet? I told her to arrive earlier. She seriously just does whatever she wants…”

For some reason, this triggered a violent wave of anxiety within me.

Still, the engagement party began on schedule, and everything went smoothly.

When the emcee asked Niel to put the engagement ring on me, a sad voice suddenly came from the entrance.

“Niel…”

I looked over and saw Cloud wearing the same gown as mine. Even her hairstyle was similar.

Surprised, I turned to Niel, only to find him staring at Cloud with pain and sorrow.

“Niel, I love you, and I know you love me too.

“You even changed the interior of the engagement party for me!”

As Cloud spoke, tears started falling from her eyes.

“Won’t you leave with me? We aren’t related by blood, so we can be together.”

I instinctively held Niel’s hand tightly and looked at him in panic. “Niel, please don’t…”

Yet, his entire world seemed to zero in on Cloud. He did not even look at me.

The guests looked at me like they were listening to some hot gossip. Some looked at me with pity, though.

Abraham, Niel’s father, snapped. “Enough with this nonsense! Drag Cloud out!”

The security guards immediately stepped forward.

However, Cloud suddenly grabbed a utility knife and stared at Niel with teary eyes.

“Niel, if you won’t leave with me, I’ll die right here.”

Abraham glared at the security guards, who stopped moving, and roared, “What are you still waiting for?! Drag her out!”

But Niel said, “Don’t you dare touch her!”

Then, despite all of my pleading, he pried my fingers off of him and rushed toward Cloud.

He grabbed the utility knife from her hands and hugged her tightly.

Cloud cried even louder. “I knew it. You love me.”

“I’ll leave with you.” Completely ignoring my feelings, Niel fled the scene with her.

The guests could no longer sit still and started gossiping about me.

A breeze blew past, and I felt as if I had returned to the day of the engagement party. I started trembling nonstop.

Niel’s voice traveled into my ears along with the wind and dragged me out of my memories. “Does your boss treat you so badly that he won’t even buy you a jacket?”

I spared him a look but refused to talk to him.

Just then, Cloud tugged at his shirt. “Niel, since Yelena’s living such a horrible life now, shouldn’t we help her?”

She looked at me as if she found my entire situation regretful. But I did not miss the scorn in her eyes.

Niel raised an eyebrow in amusement and smirked. “Yelena, as long as you apologize, I’ll marry you.”

When those words came out of Niel’s lips again, I gave him a mocking look. “It’s been three years, and you still haven’t married Cloud?”

She had been looking all pitiful, but after what I said, she immediately started crying.

Iris rolled her eyes at her and grabbed my hand again. “Yelena, I won’t let any random person join the Stalner family,” she said earnestly.

Cloud choked in response, and her face turned even paler.

She cast a pleading look at Niel, but he did not respond.

So, she wore a tragic smile instead.

“Yelena, don’t be a nanny anymore. Get back with Niel. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Niel’s expression changed, and he suddenly yanked my arm.

“Yelena, why must you insist on making Cloud sad? I already told you that I would marry you. What else do you want? Why are you putting her on the spot?!”

His questions made me look at him in surprise.

Before I could retort, Michael started bawling.

I quickly picked him up and patted his back with familiar motions as I looked at him lovingly.

Iris suddenly asked, “Yelena, is that really your son?”

She was a mother too, so she knew how mothers treated their children.

I smiled at her and nodded.

Niel just scoffed. “Mom, are you senile? Yelena is clearly someone’s nanny.

“When she ran away, she was diagnosed with severe depression.

“Besides, Lewis Corporation is an empty shell now. How can she still think about marriage?”

I did not want to talk to Niel. Whatever his thoughts were, they were not important to me.

Iris ignored him too. Instead, she looked at me with a mix of pity and other complex emotions.

After I calmed Michael down, I put him back in the stroller. Then, I bade Iris farewell and attempted to leave.

However, Niel grabbed me again. “Yelena, I said that I would marry you. What else do you want?

“I’m pulling you out of the dumps and making such a huge sacrifice for you. You should be grateful to me.”

I squashed my anger but still sneered at him. “You’re going to marry me? What about your Cloud?”

Cloud gave Niel a hopeful look and treated him as her savior.

Yet, he simply cast her a deep look before he sighed. “I told you many times before that Cloud… is just my sister.”

His words made her tear up, and ruthlessness flashed in her eyes.

She had finally managed to wear down Niel’s defenses. But Yelena just had to come back and cause him to start hesitating again.

At the sight of her losing her composure, his heart was filled with pity. “But after we get married, you have to treat Cloud better. No matter what, she’s our sister,” he immediately said.

I scoffed and replied, “You don’t have to worry about me. You can start treating Cloud nicely now. Then again, that’s exactly what you’ve been doing over the past twenty years or so.”