The day after Sophia Lane and I got engaged, she volunteered to take on the first SSS-level mission my father had issued.

When I tried to stop her, her eyes were gentle but resolute.

“I know this mission is dangerous, but I have to become the top female mercenary in the industry. I want to stand on the summit for you. Wait for me.”

That wait lasted five full years.

And what I finally got was her standing in front of my father, battered and scarred.

“Boss, I don’t want any reward. I only ask to call off the engagement.”

Behind her stood a man, pale with fear, yet still holding her hand firmly.

My father yanked the man forward and threw him in front of me.

“Ethan Cole, say the word, and I’ll make sure they don’t walk out of the Cole Family Estate alive!”

Everyone thought I would nod without hesitation. After all, anyone who had dared to cross me before had already become nothing but bones.

But looking into the man’s terrified eyes, I only gave a faint smile.

“Should I call you brother-in-law?”

When I watched Sophia shielding him as they walked out of the estate, I turned to my father.

“Go to the Hart family. I’ll marry their daughter.”

But at the wedding with Emily Hart, Sophia pressed a gun to her own temple.

“If you marry her, I’ll pull the trigger.”

My father was the head of the largest private military organization in the American underworld, and I was his only son. Since childhood, I’d had four personal bodyguards sworn to protect me. Sophia was the youngest of the four—and she was my fiancée.

Five years ago, she had insisted on taking the organization’s first SSS-level mission. My father and I tried everything to stop her, but she went anyway. She said she wanted to be the highest-paid mercenary in the underground world, the woman who could stand shoulder to shoulder with me.

Five years later, I finally heard she was back.

When I rushed to the estate without even stopping to put on a coat, what I saw was my three sisters standing beside my father, their eyes full of hostility toward Sophia.

I was stunned.

“Isn’t it good that Sophia is back? Why are you treating her like this?”

The moment they saw me, both my father and my sisters showed a trace of pity in their eyes. But I didn’t think much of it. I was only overjoyed that five years of waiting had finally come to an end.

“Sophia, you’re back…”

My words froze in my throat when I saw the man holding her hand. His gaze swept over me, while Sophia avoided my eyes and looked only at my father.

“Boss, I don’t want the credit for this mission. I only ask to break off the engagement with the young master.”

With that, Sophia dropped to her knees. The sound of them hitting the floor slammed into my chest like a hammer.

My father stayed silent, while my sisters glared at Sophia with fury.

“Are you insane? Have you forgotten why you left in the first place?”

“Ethan has waited five whole years for you. Do you even know how he’s lived during that time, worrying every day that you might die out there? Is this how you repay him?”

“Sophia Lane, do you want to break off the engagement because of the man standing behind you?”

Their accusations filled the hall, but Sophia pressed her lips together and said nothing, as if waiting for my father’s decision.

He took a coat from the butler and draped it over my shoulders.

“Ethan, say the word. If you don’t want this, those two won’t walk out of the Cole Family Estate alive today.”

I let him put the coat on me, but my eyes stayed fixed on Sophia.

Five years had passed, and Sophia had grown much thinner.

When she knelt earlier, her right leg had given out, leaving her weight on her left. Clearly, her right leg was ruined.

I swallowed the sting in my eyes and pulled the coat tighter around me.

“Grant her request.”

I looked at the man beside her.

“And you? Should I call you brother-in-law?”

Hearing that, Sophia’s eyes lit with relief. She bowed her head heavily to me.

“Thank you for letting me go, young master!”

I said no more. I simply turned and left the hall.

Not long after, my father came into my room.

“Ethan, don’t force yourself. The organization has plenty of excellent mercenaries besides Sophia Lane. All I care about is that my son is happy.”

I raised my head and looked at him.

“Dad, go to the Hart family. I’ll marry Emily Hart.”

My father frowned.

“The Harts are a top-tier family. Marrying into them would help us clean our name, but their daughter is… not right in the head. Ethan, I don’t want you marrying out of spite.”

I cut him off.

“This has nothing to do with spite. At least a fool won’t betray me.”

My father sighed deeply but said nothing more.

That night, in the silence of my room, I felt someone enter and stop by my bedside. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who it was.

After five years, her scent was still the same.

In the darkness, Sophia’s voice whispered.

“Ethan, I’m back. I finally came back to you.”

She placed something on my pillow.

“This is what I got for you five years ago at St. Mary’s Church in Alaska. My greatest wish was for you to be safe. I meant to give it to you back then, but I never imagined our separation would last this long…”

I couldn’t keep up the pretense of sleep. My voice cut through the air.

“Sophia Lane, do you think I’m that easy to fool?”

I flicked on the lamp. In its dim glow, I could barely read her expression. On my pillow lay a small charm of protection.

She didn’t answer me directly. She only followed my gaze to the charm and smiled faintly.

“Whether it was taking on that mission or bringing you this charm, my purpose was the same. Ethan, I want to stand at the top of the underground world. I want to be the woman worthy of you. I want us to live in peace.”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

“You did reach the top. But the one standing beside you now isn’t me.”

Finally, she looked straight at me. There was something in her eyes I couldn’t understand.

“It’s my fault. Ethan, you don’t have to forgive me. But Daniel did nothing wrong. These five years, he’s been with me. Without him, I’d have died in the cold of Alaska long ago. He isn’t like you. You have everything. He only has me. I can’t abandon him.”

I snatched up the charm and hurled it at her face.

“I told you I’d go with you! Sophia Lane, it was you who refused me!”

The words tore out of me in a roar, the ache in my chest so sharp I could hardly breathe.

Five years ago, when she insisted on going to Alaska, I had clutched her hand and told her with all the conviction I had—

If I couldn’t keep her here, then I’d follow her anywhere.

No matter how far, no matter life or death, I wanted to be by her side.

But at the time, Sophia only wrapped her arms gently around my waist.

“Ethan, I want to reach that place on my own. I want to be the one who can stand beside you.”

And now… she had left me—for another man’s companionship.

How laughable.

I had thrown the charm with all my strength, yet it landed silently on the thick carpet. Just as all my strength had never been enough to keep her from running into someone else’s arms.

Sophia picked it up and placed it back on my pillow.

“Ethan, let Daniel go. He’s innocent.”

I gave a bitter laugh, though a tear slipped from the corner of my eye. Before she could notice, I brushed it away.

“Fine. Then get out of the organization. Sophia Lane, without its protection, let’s see how you protect Daniel.”

She stared at me in disbelief.

“I’ve fought and bled for the organization all these years. I have plenty of enemies. You of all people know—without the organization, I’m as good as dead.”

My laugh was cold.

“Sophia, what’s the point of saying all this to me now? You won’t give up anything, yet you think a trinket can buy mercy from me? After knowing me all these years, don’t you realize? I, Ethan Cole, have never been a kind man.”

I walked to the balcony and flung the charm into the night. It arced through the air and vanished.

“Go, Sophia. It’s late. Don’t mistake yourself again.”

I didn’t know when she left, or how long I stood there, until a vulgar sound reached my ears and pulled me back.

It came from the room next door. Sophia’s room—right beside mine, as it had always been since everyone assumed we were meant for each other.

Through the crack of her door, I saw her tangled up with Daniel, the air thick with passion.

The same woman who had just whispered tenderly at my bedside now couldn’t get enough of another man’s embrace.

How laughable.

I turned away, walked downstairs, and sat in the garden in a daze.

As I stared at the endless stars above, my mind drifted back to the night of Sophia’s eighteenth birthday.

That night, the sky was just as full of stars as it was now. But her eyes had shone even brighter.

“Ethan, I love you.”

Back then, I had held her tightly, certain I was holding my entire world.

Lost in memory, I didn’t notice someone sit down across from me until he spoke.

“Mr. Cole, you’re in quite the mood. Still up to admire the moon this late at night?”

“Thank you for earlier. Sophia told me a lot about you. I thought you wouldn’t let us go so easily, but it seems she worried too much. You’re not nearly as ruthless as the rumors say.”

Daniel smiled, but the coldness in his eyes betrayed him.

Without waiting for my response, he continued.

“You must have seen it just now. We live right next door, after all. It’s Sophia’s fault—she couldn’t resist. But you understand, don’t you? When passion takes over, people can’t help themselves. Surely you, of all people, can understand that…”