“No matter how others treat you in the future, I, your unofficial brother, will always protect you. Let this music box be the proof.”

A young boy’s way of offering comfort was always so pure and straightforward, yet in that moment, it completely won over my helpless heart.

From that day until now, I’d loved Ethan for ten whole years.

I still remembered the promises he had made, but the one who swore those promises had long since forgotten them.

Holding the shattered remains in my hands, I gave them one last look before tossing them into the trash.

If that's the case, I didn't want both the promises and Ethan anymore. Never again.

By the time the next morning came, Ethan still hadn’t returned.

After shipping my luggage back home, I went to the office to print my resignation letter, ready to hand it to Ethan personally.

On the way, a message from him popped up:

[Baby, I went too far with my words yesterday. I ended up staying at the office to work and fell asleep there. I just woke up and I'll head back soon.]

I lifted my gaze to the empty office in front of me and placed the resignation letter on Ethan's desk.

I didn’t reply to his message. Instead, I exited the chat and removed him from my pinned conversations.

A red notification dot appeared in my contact list. It was Catherine sending me a friend request.

I hesitated briefly before accepting and immediately, a message popped up in the chat:

[Ethan, don’t forget to buy more condoms when you come back from the convenience store! You were too wild last night. You used up all the ones we had at home!]

The message was followed by several shy emojis.

At exactly the two-minute mark, Catherine deleted the message.

[Ah, I’m so sorry, Miss Johnson… I sent that to the wrong person… You didn’t see anything, did you?]

A pang of bitterness surged in my heart. I had no interest in playing along with her charade, but my fingers instinctively tapped into her social media feed.

One post after another unfolded before me, like a film reel playing out in front of my eyes.

It turned out that Catherine had been back for an entire month.

During this month, Ethan had been sneaking around, taking her to various places to enjoy themselves.

Looking back at the dates, I realized these trips were all during the times Ethan claimed he didn’t want me to be overwhelmed with work and deliberately assigned tasks to other employees.

Celestria Spire, Mount Kaelen, Seraphis Valley, they were all places I had once begged Ethan to visit with me.

He would always hold me in his arms, coaxing me with sweet words. “Alright, alright, once work isn’t so hectic, I’ll take you there.”

I waited for eight years and never saw him find the time. But when Catherine had only been back for a month, he suddenly was no longer busy.

At every destination, Ethan happily posed for countless photos with Catherine. Yet, during all the years I was with him, I was never allowed to point my camera at him.

He would say, "If my sister finds out I took her best friend, the little brat will probably kill me."

Or he’d say, "Baby, you're my secretary, after all. Office romances bring too much gossip and I don’t want you to get hurt."

But when one truly loved someone, how could it be hidden?

I was too naïve. Ethan had been evasive about our relationship for eight years. I should have realized long ago that he never loved me.

Just as I was about to close the app, a new photo from Catherine’s profile popped up.

The background was a large bed, with Catherine wearing a revealing camisole, her slender fingers tracing the man's firm, muscular abdomen.

It was a live photo and when I opened it, a familiar "Kate" echoed in my ears.

I had heard Ethan whisper it countless times in my ear with a seductive voice. "Kate,"

It turned out that the name he had always called was never mine.

Tears finally streamed uncontrollably down my face, landing precisely on the caption beneath Catherine's post.

"The beautiful memories of last night. He said, a fake is just a fake, it can never compare to me, the original treasure."

I wiped away my tears and absentmindedly tapped "like" on the post.

Turning away, I left the company and ran into my best friend, Sophia, who was there on business. Without hesitation, I told her the news that I was about to go back and get married.

Over the years, because of Ethan's request to keep our relationship a secret, every time I talked to Sophia about matters of the heart, I would deliberately change the subject. But now that I was leaving, I felt it was only right to tell her and say a proper goodbye.

Sophia's face was filled with shock. "Is it really happening so suddenly? Does that mean we won't be able to see each other again for a long time?"

I helplessly nodded, but before I could say anything, she pouted and grabbed my arm. "Kate, you always said you were too busy with work and I never had a chance to get my mom to meet you, my best friend. Now that you're leaving, there's no way you can back out today! So, you must come with me, no matter what!"

And just like that, I found myself being dragged by Sophia to attend the family dinner her family was hosting that evening.

I had always avoided Sophia's invitations because Ethan had told me that he would wait until the day he officially revealed our relationship before bringing me to meet his mother.

After all these years together, I never got to experience that moment where he would introduce me to his family.

To my surprise, now that I was about to leave, I finally had the chance.

After finishing my styling, Sophia and I arrived at the Clark Family residence, only to find that the family dinner was already halfway through.

Ethan stood next to his parents, with Catherine by his side. Various socialites and influential figures came forward to offer their blessings for their engagement.

It turned out that tonight's family dinner was organized to officially announce their engagement.

It seemed Ethan couldn't wait to announce to the whole world that he was marrying Catherine.

I instinctively wanted to leave, but Sophia had already grabbed my arm and was pulling me toward them.

“Dad! Mom! I brought my dear best friend to meet you!”

When Ethan saw me, his expression froze for a moment and he slightly loosened his hold on Catherine.

As soon as his mother saw me, her face brightened with joy. "I've heard my daughter talk so much about you, how you're an ambitious and kind-hearted friend. Now that I see you in person, you really are as beautiful and familiar as she described!"

I awkwardly shook my head.

Seeing his mother treat me with such closeness and affection made my heart ache with an indescribable sense of desolation.

We could have almost become a pair of well-matched mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

"By the way, Miss Johnson, I heard from Sophia that you’ve been busy with work all these years and haven’t had time to date. Today, we have many good young men at our family dinner. Would you like me to help introduce you to someone?"

Before I had a chance to decline, Ethan let out a cold laugh. "She doesn't need it."

Of course, I didn't need it anymore—after all, I was about to go back for a marriage alliance.

Sophia, standing beside me, quickly added, "Mom, Kate really doesn't need it. My dear best friend is about to get married in Brightvale. I don’t even know how many times a year we’ll get to see each other from now on..."

When Ethan heard this, the smug expression on his face froze and his gaze became dark and unreadable as he fixed it on me.

I went to the restroom for a moment and when I returned to the banquet hall, Ethan caught me in the corner and pulled me into his arms.

With a lazy movement, he lowered his head, his voice tinged with reproach as it echoed in my ear.

"Baby, don't make up stories about marrying someone else in the future. I’ll get jealous if I hear it."

I looked at him, a strange feeling bubbling up inside me and I couldn't help but find it a little amusing.

I looked up at him, my lips curling into a wry smile. "But aren't you the one who’s about to marry someone else?"

Ethan furrowed his brow. "Stop joking around, you know this is all for the company."

After a pause, his tone softened, attempting to coax me. "Alright, baby, you’ve always been the understanding one, right? After the banquet ends, go pack your things and I’ll take you to the new apartment. After all, Catherine is officially engaged to me. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to stay at the house anymore."

Because I was understanding, I obediently maintained a secret relationship with Ethan for eight years, one that no one knew about. Now, was he planning to treat me as a mistress who would never see the light of day?

Just as I was about to reply that it wasn’t necessary, the sound of Catherine's crying suddenly came from the banquet hall and Ethan immediately let go of me and rushed over.

"What's wrong, Catherine?"

Catherine extended her left hand, pointing to her empty ring finger, crying uncontrollably.

"Ethan, the engagement ring you gave me is missing. It's the one that can only be custom-made once in a lifetime! I swear it was still there before I went to the bathroom."

Catherine saw me and immediately came over, crying as she grabbed my arm. "Miss Johnson, I was the only one in the bathroom with you earlier... I know you've been Ethan's secretary for many years and it's natural to have possessiveness over your boss, but that ring is really important to me. If you took it, please, I'm begging you, give it back!"

Catherine’s actions immediately made everyone believe I was the culprit who had stolen the ring.

"I knew all those female secretaries were no good! She deliberately tries to make herself look like Miss Wen, but no matter what she does, she'll always be beneath her. Does she really think she can use underhanded tactics to take her place?"

"Exactly! And she even had the nerve to steal the engagement ring! A lowly woman like her should be forever banished from our circle!"

Various harsh and mocking words were thrown at me.

I instinctively looked at Ethan, but all I saw was his face darkening as he shouted at me, "Take it out!"

Even though I knew he didn’t love me, I couldn’t believe that in his heart, he truly thought I was capable of doing something like this.

"I’ve never even seen the ring! How could I have taken it?" I gritted my teeth, desperately holding back the tears.

I couldn’t cry here. If I cried, it would mean I had truly lost.

Ethan shook his head, his eyes filled with disappointment. "You're still lying? If you're not going to return it, I'll have to search you myself."

With that, he called over a few housekeepers and ordered them to search me on the spot.

Sophia rushed over. "Don't treat Kate like this! I've known her for so many years, she could never be the kind of person to do something like this!"

Her mother also anxiously tried to intervene, "Yes, Ethan, I don't think Miss Johnson looks like someone who would do such a thing. Could there have been some misunderstanding?"

Ethan sneered, "There’s no misunderstanding! Catherine has always been kind-hearted. She’s not the type to falsely accuse someone. If it wasn't her, why would Catherine suddenly suspect her without reason?"

My heart felt like it had turned to ash.

Even his mother, who had just met me for the first time, was willing to believe in my character and speak up for me.

But Ethan had known me for ten years and we had been in a relationship for a full eight years. Yet, with just one baseless accusation from Catherine, he completely disregarded the years we had spent together and instantly condemned me to the shame of being a person with a tarnished reputation.

The difference between being loved and not loved truly was the hardest chasm to cross in this world.