When I was born, my parents were going through a relationship breakdown.

After I was born, I was a boy whom my father didn't love, and my mother didn't care about.

They sent me back to my hometown, and I lived with my grandmother.

My grandmother passed away when I was in high school. Only after that was, I brought back. By then, my parents had reconciled, and they had a beloved younger son.

After I was transferred to another school, no one wanted to sit with me because of my introverted personality, except for Jessa.

She was youthful, beautiful, lively, and cheerful. She forcefully showed up in my life.

To reduce the number of times I asked my parents for living expenses, I often went hungry.

I didn't know how Jessa found out, but she would stuff bread and milk into my hands every day.

"Eat them or throw them away for me. I feel nauseous just looking at these, but I can't let my parents find out!"

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, she was a ray of light in my life, redeeming me, who was ignored in the darkness.

My parents forced me to drop out of school and go to work, cutting off all my sources of income. It was Jessa who rallied my classmates to donate money to help me through the difficult times.

I secretly changed my major and went to the same university as her, watching her have fun with Brian.

Brian graduated and went abroad without any further news. Jessa became like a withered flower, gradually wilting.

She started going to have fun in bars and nightclubs. She started bungee jumping and skydiving.

And I silently waited behind her. One day, she was harassed in a bar. I stood up for her and got my leg broken.

After I woke up in the hospital, she asked me, "Preston, do you like me?"

My secret was revealed. I blushed and stammered.

But she suddenly kissed my lips, saying, "Let's be together!"

Happiness came at me, and I willingly fell for her.

In our eight years together, we had happy times.

She would iron my clothes for the next day and carefully match them for me.

When I woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, she sang to me with sleepy eyes to lull me back to sleep.

The shadows and pain of being abandoned in my youth seem to be all gone because of her tenderness.

I did my best to give her everything, helping her make her company go public. I retreated after achieving success and took care of her at home.

Jessa once saved me, who had been insecure since my youth. I accompanied her through the low point of her relationship. We supported each other for eight years. I thought we would eventually have a happy ending.

Since Brian came back, he forcefully intervened in our lives. Unconsciously, Jessa's heart started to drift away.

Jessa looked painful in front of me. My heart trembles uncontrollably.

"But I don't have the strength to believe in you anymore."

Jessa curled her hands slightly, looking at the ring box that fell to the ground during the struggle just now. Then she picked it up and clenched her teeth.

"Preston, are you planning to propose to me today?"

"I promise. I promise to marry you!"

She put the ring in my arms and extended her fair and tender hand to me.

"Put it on for me! If only marriage can make you believe in me again and make you feel at ease, then let's get married, Preston!"

I had been looking forward to the proposal for so long, and she promised me. For some reason, I wasn't happy in my heart!

Her eyes were full of pleading. She stubbornly reached out her hand to me, which was a scene I had been envisaging.

I, who was weak and shameful, couldn't help but be moved.

It was late when we got home. I wanted to sleep in the guest room, but Jessa held me tightly.

"Preston, are you still angry?"

Her eyes were filled with tears. She pitifully said, "It is my fault for not agreeing to your proposal so many times before. I wasn't ready yet."

Every time I think of the marriage of your parents..."

My heart shook. I stood still, unable to move. I was deeply exhausted in my heart.

She was talking about my parents, so it was because of my parents' relationship that she had a fear of getting married.

In the final analysis, it was my fault. I, who was in the gutter, couldn't long for a bright woman.

"Jessa, what I said outside just now wasn't out of anger. If you fall in love with someone else, I'll set you free."

"We've been together for eight years, not eighty years. You have the freedom and right to pursue true love."

"No, don't do this..."

"Preston, I only want you!"

Jessa's tears flowed non-stop. She came forward and hugged me tightly. Then she kissed my lips recklessly.

She impatiently undid my buttons as if she wanted to prove her firm and persistent love for me.

In the end, I let down my guard instantly.

I loved Jessa deeply and uncontrollably!

So, I compromised.

If our relationship was a gamble, I was willing to take a chance. Even if I ended up losing, I was willing to gamble and accept defeat.

The slow eight-year journey of our relationship seemed to have fast-forwarded. Our engagement, marriage, and a series of ceremonies were put on the agenda.

On the day of the engagement meeting, our parents met and had a meal.

My parents hinted multiple times, both directly and indirectly, that we needed to buy a house for my younger brother if we wanted to get married.

In recent years, they had been sucking blood from me.

Considering them, I quit the company I had started with Jessa early on. I made early plans for our future.

"As for Preston, it's easy. It's just that his younger brother is about to graduate, and he has no job. He will need a house before getting married in the future."

"You only have one daughter. We have no objection to Preston becoming your live-in son-in-law. No matter what, we must provide a house for his younger brother. Otherwise, this marriage is out of the question."

My parents' open disdain and indifference hurt me.

I doubted countless times when I was a child. I wondered whether I didn't do well enough, which was why they would abandon me.

So, I worked hard. Even though I had a perfect scorecard, my brother's sickness mattered more.

It wasn't until I grew up that I realized not all parents were meant to be parents.

They didn't love me. It was not because I was not good enough.

I should be looking gloomy at this moment. I wanted to leave, but Jessa gently held my hand under the table.

While going to the bathroom, I held onto Jessa.

"You don't need to care about what my parents said. It doesn't matter whether they agree or not."

"If you think my family is a burden and that it causes you trouble, just say it. I won't cling to you."

Jessa comfortingly hugged me and said, "Preston, we agreed to get married. Don't worry. I won't regret it!"

"What about Brian? If he comes begging you to come back, will you regret being with me?"

She left me for Brian too many times, so I was uneasy in my heart.

I admitted that I lacked a sense of security, and I was extremely diffident in my relationship with Jessa.

"He and I are just childhood sweethearts. Don't think too much. Besides, he won't come to beg me. After all, he left first."

Jessa did not directly answer my question. When she said this, there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.

After Brian left, Jessa got drunk and hugged me, crying.

"Brian, what's wrong with me? I even proposed to you. Why are you so heartless?"

At that time, she tightly held two engagement rings in her hands and cried heartrendingly.

I had seen her love others wholeheartedly, but she was always indifferent to me.

While speaking, her cell phone rang. When she answered it, she instinctively turned her back to me and walked a few steps away.

When she came back, she looked at me frankly. She said, "Brian is sick, and he is now in the hospital. I have to go and see him."

"If you are not confident in my being alone with him, you can accompany me there."

But our parents were still in the private box, we couldn't just leave.

She had helped me resolve the situation and comforted me. Now she was not hiding anything. If I still doubted her, I would be petty.

Jessa came back early that day, I thought maybe this was a brand-new beginning.

If nothing happened between her and Brian, I was willing to believe her again.

The night before the wedding, someone sent me a link with an unknown number. I clicked on it without thinking.