When my boyfriend, Mark Jamison, gets in a car accident that leaves him paralyzed, I pawn the ring my mother left to me before she died to help him.

With hands that have never been used to do any work or a single household chore in my life, I start lugging around delivery bags.

In the middle of a rainstorm, I get assigned to deliver a food order worth 10,000 dollars, with a 100-dollar tip. Just as I happily celebrate my luck, I overhear the raucous laughter coming from inside the villa.

"She actually believes you got paralyzed in a car accident? She now spends all day doing deliveries just to support you financially? She even sold off her dead mom's ring?"

"She'd probably cry her heart out if she ever finds you're actually a wealthy scion worth tens of billions of dollars, who's just pretending to be poor!"

Mark twirls the wineglass he's holding and says, "A lowly woman like her was born to wait on others. She brought it upon herself by always being better than Rosie back in school. Messing with her is the punishment she deserves."

I continue to stand in the rain, tears rolling down my cheeks.

This is how I find out Mark has spent the last two years faking his condition just to help his childhood sweetheart get back at me.

His so-called paralyzed legs, deceased parents, and helpless tears are all just part of a meticulously executed lie.

I haven't talked to my father, the richest man in town, for years. But now, I have finally decided to call him.

"I lost, Dad. I'll accept the marriage alliance and marry the guy you picked for me."

After I ended the call with Dad, Rosie Shaw's voice drifted out of the villa once more.

"My sweet Mark loves me the most, of course. That's why he's helping me teach that bitch a lesson. I'm so happy!"

When she held Mark Jamison's jaw, I saw the ring on her ring finger—it was Mom's ring.

Chuckling, Mark gently bit her finger, saying, "You're always so mischievous!"

His legs, which were supposed to be paralyzed, were stretched out comfortably on the coffee table in front of him. It looked like they could move just fine.

The thick layer of white cast around them, which'd fooled me for over two years, glared brightly under the light.

Clutching my delivery bag, I knocked on the door, which opened on its own. Everyone inside turned toward me. Immediately, the ruckus in the living room died out.

Step by step, I walked up to Mark, my soaking shoes leaving watery footprints on the floor.

Mark's eyes flickered with panic. His voice was tight as he asked, "What are you doing here? I'm just attending a gathering with some of my old classmates…"

Ignoring him, I stared at the ring Rosie was wearing.

"Give me back the ring."

Mark's smile stiffened. He didn't expect me to be this cold toward him. He rolled over in his wheelchair and attempted to calm me down in his customary gentle tone. "Emmy, let me explain—"

"Explain what?" I interrupted, my smile looking more like a grimace. "Explain that you kindly helped me sell my ring to Rosie for a high price? Or that by sheer coincidence, your paralyzed legs somehow started working again?"

Mark turned pale. His mouth was open, but no words came out.

The atmosphere grew even heavier.

Only Rosie let out a scornful snort. She stood up and strutted over to me in her heels, deliberately waving the ring in front of me.

"Mark gave this ring to me as a gift! Are you asking for it back now because you've taken a liking to it too?"

She emphasized the part about Mark giving it to her, her eyes filled with taunting glee.

Turning even paler, Mark exclaimed, "Stop talking, Rosie! Emmy's—"

"What about her?" Rosie snapped, cutting him off impatiently.

Her condescending gaze swept all over my cheap and soaking-wet delivery uniform.

"You want the ring? Sure. I can give it back to you as a courtesy to Mark, but not for its original price, since I've worn it already. But I'm in a good mood, so I'll give you a good price—500 thousand dollars in cash. Give me the money now, and you can leave with the ring."

500 thousand dollars?

After my fight with Dad, I'd exhausted all of my money to cover Mark's "treatments". I even had to pawn off the ring Mom left to me. I couldn't even scrounge up 500 dollars.

I looked at Rosie's smug expression before turning my gaze to Mark. He averted his eyes, silently supporting Rosie's ploy to humiliate me.

I felt as though my heart had been clenched in an icy grip. The last bit of hope, sustained only by the warm memories of the past, instantly died out.

"Fine. I'll buy the ring," I said.

I just wanted to get back the last thing Mom left behind and proceed to have nothing to do with these people in front of me ever again.

"You'll buy it?" Rosie squealed with laughter, as though she'd heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

Pointing at the insulated delivery bag I was holding, the one that contained the 10,000 dollars' worth of food I was supposed to deliver, she declared, "Even if you spend your entire life making deliveries, you'd never be able to earn 500 thousand, right?

"Look at what you're holding. Have you ever eaten such expensive food before? Have you ever seen it before? Do you even think you're worthy of that?"

All of a sudden, she reached out and snatched the bag from me. Before I could react, she threw it hard on the floor. The bag fell open, and the food came tumbling out—expensive steak, caviar, foie gras, and more, all splattering everywhere.

After looking at the mess, Rosie stomped on a piece of foie gras with her heel, grinding it into smithereens.

"See this? I can easily ruin 10,000 dollars' worth of food as I please! A pathetic beggar like you will never be able to live as freely as I can!

"You won't ever get to earn enough money to indulge in such luxurious food. The only thing you can do is stand there and smell it! That's the difference between us, got it?"

Everyone else in the living room also jumped in with mocking laughter and jeers of their own.

"That's right! How dare a deliverywoman try to take something from Rosie?"

"Look at that beggar! She was born to live a pathetic life! She said she'd pay 500 thousand dollars for the ring, right? Well, she might be able to. She can go to a nursing home somewhere and try to bag herself some old geezer!"

"You have a point there. She's not too shabby looking. Plenty of old dudes like innocent-looking women like her."

Rosie gloated even more after hearing them chime in to agree with her. She glanced at the ring she was wearing before staring at me, standing there looking miserable.

With a look of disdain, she said, "Mark said this ring of yours is supposed to be valuable, but even something valuable to a pauper like you is probably worth pennies, right? You're the only one who thinks it's some kind of treasure."

As everyone looked on, she took off the ring and yanked open the window, throwing it out before anyone even realized what she was doing.

The ring arched through the rain and fell into the rolling river beside the villa with a soft plunk.

"NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my expression horrified.

That was the last thing I had to remember Mom by!

Before I could even think properly, my body had already started moving. I bolted straight toward the balcony, ready to climb over the railing without hesitation and jump into the river.

"Emmy!" Mark cried out.

He jumped out of the wheelchair and shot forward, moving way faster than one would expect from someone who'd been "paralyzed" for two years.

Grabbing me from behind, he hauled me away from the railing.

"Let go of me, Mark! Let go!"

I struggled with all my might to break free of him, sinking in despair as I watched the ring disappear into the depths of the water.

The icy raindrops and the scorching tears mingled together, blurring my vision.

"Calm down! Are you seriously going to risk your life over some stupid ring?"

There was an almost imperceptible hint of panic and fear in Mark's voice, but it was mostly drowned out by his fury at my seemingly immature reaction.

Some stupid ring, he called it.

That was the final belonging Mom had left to me, but his precious Rosie had tossed it right out as if it were trash!

All of the rage, sorrow, and humiliation I felt instantly turned to ice. I stopped struggling, my body turning to stone in his arms.

"Let's break up," I said, my voice unnervingly calm.

Mark froze for a moment before reacting as if he'd been told a joke. "Stop throwing a tantrum, Emmy! I know you're upset about the ring. I'll tell Rosie to apologize to you. We'll—"

"I'm not throwing a tantrum," I said, cutting Mark off.

Slowly and firmly, I peeled his hands off me. I turned and stared right at his face, which now disgusted me.

"You've been putting on a show for two years now, Mark. Aren't you tired? My mom's ring is gone, and so is the last of my feelings for you. How much longer were you planning on messing with me anyway?"

Mark's eyes flickered, but he soon put on the same weak and helpless expression, the one I was very familiar with.

"What are you talking about, Emmy? My legs did end up paralyzed because of the accident. They've only gotten a lot better recently after all the treatments…

"Are you abandoning me? You've always looked down on me, haven't you? You've been thinking about casting me aside all along!"

Once again, he tried to use his so-called paralysis and my supposed abandonment of him to guilt-trip me and try to make me pity him.

His emotional performance did nothing but amuse me. I didn't bother explaining myself. I didn't have the strength to waste any more of my breath on him.

I quietly bent down and picked up the now-empty, stained delivery bag.

Without looking at Mark and the rest of the people who were delighting in my situation, I turned and walked off into the rain.

Rosie's coquettish voice rang out behind me.

"Since she found out, Mark, so be it. Don't tell me you're actually worried about that psycho feeling hurt and upset. Don't tell me that Mark Jamison, the wealthy scion, would actually fall for a deliverywoman."

I didn't hear Mark's response.

Since we'd broken up, I didn't need to do deliveries anymore. I called up the supervisor of the delivery service I worked for, Mr. Dean, and told him I was quitting.

Mr. Dean was stunned. "What happened, Emilia? Why are you resigning all of a sudden? Don't you need to earn money to pay for your boyfriend's medical treatments?"

"He's all better now," I replied, my lips twitching. "He made a full recovery."

"Really? That's fantastic!" Mr. Dean exclaimed, sounding glad. "Now that you two have survived this ordeal, everything will be smooth sailing from now on! I'm sure he'll treat you even better in the future. Your suffering has finally paid off!"

My suffering had paid off, huh?

I smiled bitterly.

That reminded me. It was Mark who introduced me to this delivery job, one that involved me working under all sorts of weather and having to put up with all manner of disrespect and humiliation.

At the time, he said he was trying to help me out. In reality, he simply wanted me to suffer as much as possible to get back at me on Rosie's behalf.

Thankfully, it was all over now.

After packing all my belongings, I went to Cascadia Hotel the next day. It was the most luxurious hotel in the city.

Lugging a few suitcases alongside me, I walked into the hotel looking like quite a mess. I stuck out like a sore thumb in this environment, attracting all kinds of unsavory gazes.

"Oh, my. Would you look at that! If it isn't Emilia Langley, the hardworking Takeout Queen!"

A shrill and familiarly cloying voice rang out beside me.

It was Rosie. She and her gang of good-for-nothing friends were at Cascadia Hotel too.

Without even bothering to stop, I continued to haul my things into the hotel lobby.

However, Rosie wasn't planning on letting up. She led her gaggle of lackeys over, crowding around me as if I were some kind of freak show on display.

"Look who it is!" Rosie said again before covering her nose in an exaggerated manner, as if she'd caught a nasty stench coming from me. "How dare a deliverywoman set foot in Cascadia Hotel?

"Where's security? Security! When did this hotel lower its standards so much that you're now letting any random dog off the streets inside? Look how filthy she's made the place!"

Her friends immediately jumped in.

"I know, right? Look at her. She's all covered in grime. She'd better not mess up the carpet!"

"Have you forgotten, Rosie? She's a pure and righteous little angel who said she doesn't care about riches! But look at her now. Right after dumping her paralyzed boyfriend, she's eagerly running over to a hotel like this to find herself a man!"

Their grating laughs and mockery echoed in the hotel lobby.

After hearing how they twisted things around to slander me, I glared icily at them and snarled, "Move."

"How dare you tell me to move!" Rosie snapped. With a scowl, she lunged forward and gave me a hard shove.

Caught off guard, I stumbled back and crashed into a massive display cabinet filled with bottles of expensive wines and liquor.