I split my lips into a grin, trying to use extreme pain to drown out the numbness in my heart.

“Go ahead and kill me if you can. Otherwise, I’ll make every single one of you suffer a thousand times more than I ever did.”

The smile on Daniel’s face twisted into something more vicious.

“What? Did I hear that right?

“Olivia, your ex isn’t just useless. He’s delusional, too.”

Olivia suddenly raised her hand, signaling them to stop.

For a split second, my pathetic heart stirred again.

Did she still have even a shred of feeling for me?

…

The next second, however, I understood her intention and wished I could go back and slap myself for that thought.

“Oh, how could I forget? A wedding needs a cake.”

Daniel and Olivia exchanged a look, satisfied smiles spreading across their faces.

The bodyguards lifted me again. My injuries were so severe that I didn’t even have the strength to resist anymore.

A massive cake was suddenly wheeled in front of me.

I realized what they were about to do, but before I could react, I was thrown straight into it.

Sticky, suffocating sweetness engulfed me as thick cream covered my entire body.

The cake collapsed over me, burying me underneath.

The dense layers pressed against my mouth and nose. The suffocating feeling returned as the air in my chest was slowly drained away.

I closed my eyes, almost accepting it.

For the first time, I regretted leaving my family behind when I was young, coming to Harbor City alone to build a life from nothing.

But most of all, I regretted meeting Olivia and falling for her so completely.

Maybe my choice back then wasn’t wrong. She was.

She had always been a devil, and I was foolish enough to think I could turn her into an angel.

My life began to flash before my eyes, and the memory I wanted to hold onto the most was of my childhood, playing in the sand with my father on the beach.

Regret swallowed me whole.

I had once imagined that one day, I would hold Olivia’s hand and stand proudly before my father and introduce him to the woman I love.

I never thought that the very person I loved would kill me one day.

No, I couldn't die yet.

I haven’t made these two pay for what they’ve done!

A jolt of clarity hit me.

Slowly, I moved my left hand, wiping the cream off my face. Fresh air rushed into my lungs like lifeblood, and my mind snapped back into focus.

The jeers and insults around me poured back into my ears.

The sky was growing darker.

Almost there. I should just hold on a little longer.

I already lost once. I wouldn't lose again.

“Max should take a good look at himself. How dare he dream about Olivia? A toad wanting to date a swan.”

“Even before prison, he was nothing but a pretty face. How could someone like him ever deserve Ms. Johnson?”

“Olivia and Daniel were meant to be. Those years with him were just for fun. Who knew he’d take it seriously?”

How ridiculous.

All these years, and I never realized.

They had been together long ago, and I was the blind fool who never saw it.

Seeing my head emerge, Daniel grabbed my collar again, ready to shove me deeper into the cake.

I grabbed his wrist and growled, “Try it, I dare you. This is a society governed by law. If I die, you won’t get away with it.”

“Is that so?”

He glanced at Olivia, who shrugged with a smile.

“Oh? Poor Max Miller gets released from prison, attends his ex-girlfriend’s wedding, and can’t handle it, so he takes his own life. What does that have to do with us?

“Did anyone here see Max today?”

The crowd immediately played along.

“Huh? Who saw him?”

“No one. After the wedding, we partied at Olivia’s house until morning. Never saw any Max or whoever that is.”

Olivia let out a mocking laugh.

“See that? Three years ago, I could destroy the garage surveillance. Three years later, I can do the same with the villa cameras.”

“You’re just an ex-con. If you die, you die. Who would even care?”

The madness continued, and the celebration grew more unhinged by the second.

Then suddenly, a car horn blared, and the sound of car doors slammed in unison.

A commanding voice cut through the chaos.

“Everyone, stop right now!”