Natalie Underwood and Damian Abbott were high school sweethearts. Both of them were the most good-looking students back in high school, and when they began dating, they were the most well-known golden couple on campus.

There was once when they had made a vow to get married once they reached the legal age to do so. But just when their love for each other reached its peak, Natalie suddenly broke up with Damian before leaving the country with a rich scion.

On the day of their break-up, Damian chased after Natalie for a very long time with red-rimmed eyes.

To think that a young man as prideful as him kept begging her not to break up with him. He kept promising her that he would be successful one day.

Damian begged Natalie not to act so rashly. He pleaded with her to wait for him and not to fall in love with someone else.

But Natalie remained cold and aloof to him. She didn't even want to waste her breath on him. Heck, when she witnessed him getting into a car accident during his pursuit, she didn't bother returning to him.

It was an extremely serious car crash. Damian's kidney was completely ruptured. He needed a kidney transplant in order to survive.

Although he was lying on the surgical table while drenched in his own blood, he insisted on getting up so that he could call Natalie on the phone.

But the calls that he had mustered all of his strength to place ended up getting hung up by Natalie repeatedly.

For as deep as Damian's love for Natalie ran, hatred could run just as deep. From that day onward, Damien had nothing but burning hatred for Natalie.

"Officer Natalie Underwood, are you sure that you want to reinstate your father, the late Officer Donald Underwood's, police badge number and become an undercover police officer?"

Natalie nodded solemnly with the national emblem as her witness.

"Yes, I'm sure."

The first and most important thing about being an undercover police officer meant erasing all traces of her life in the past. In other words, the person named "Natalie Underwood" would soon cease to exist in this world.

Therefore, Natalie's death would be faked, and she would soon be living under another name and alias altogether.

Natalie then came home from the police station. However, before she'd even made her way to the bedroom, she could already hear another woman's soft voice coming from inside.

She stared blankly at the wide-open door, mentally counting how many women her husband, Damian Abbott, had brought home ever since they got married.

Over the past three years, he would always bring home one woman who looked like Natalie every single night and leave the door wide open whilst he slept with them right under her nose. It was his form of "revenge" for her abandoning him years ago.

However, this time, after hearing the familiar voice coming from inside the bedroom, Natalie was still as stunned as ever.

While she was still in her daze, the two inside the bedroom had just climaxed. Damian then came out with a towel around his waist and looked at Natalie with cold eyes.

"You're back just in time. We've run out of condoms. Go out and buy a few more boxes of them."

Then, he grabbed a thick stack of cash from a nearby drawer and flung it in her face.

"You can keep the change as your tip. You love money, don't you?"

Natalie's face stung from being slapped with the cash, but she didn't bend down to pick up the bills. Instead, she looked at him with reddened eyes.

"You've slept with plenty of other women over the years. Why did you have to sleep with Cheryl? Why didn't you spare her?"

Sure, he could sleep with random strangers if he wanted to, but why did he have to sleep with Cheryl Garcia, her best friend? He knew very well who she was to Natalie!

Damian's eyes gleamed coldly. He sneered and said, "Well, did you think about sparing me years ago?"

Natalie felt her heart squeezing in her chest. Memories from the past instantly flooded her mind.

She and Damian had been dating since they were in high school. They were the best-looking couple in school, and they were quite well-known on campus back then.

They had promised each other that they would get married as soon as they were of legal age. However, at the height of their relationship, Natalie suddenly broke up with him and went abroad with a rich heir instead.

Damian had chased after her with red-rimmed eyes for a long time the day she broke up with him.

He had always been a proud and arrogant person, but there he was, chasing after her and begging her not to break up with him. He had said that he would one day become a successful person too.

He begged her to give him some time and wait for him. He also begged her not to fall in love with someone else.

However, Natalie had acted very coldly toward him back then and refused to even speak with him. She'd even witnessed him getting into a car accident while chasing after her in his car, but she never looked back even once.

The car accident had been a terrible one, and Damian suffered from a ruptured kidney because of it. He had to have a kidney transplant to survive.

He lay on the operating table in the theatre, all covered in blood, but he still insisted on getting up to call Natalie.

However, after forcing himself to get up with all of his might to call her, every call he made was coldly rejected.

From that moment on, all of the love he used to have for her turned into hate. Damian hated Natalie with all of his heart and soul.

He spent four years building his empire and finally stood at the pinnacle of the business world, becoming the richest man in the city at a young age.

And yet, as soon as he achieved his success, the first thing he did was to use his power to force Natalie to marry him before bringing home random women every day for the rest of their married life just so that he could humiliate her.

However, Natalie was the only one who knew that she had broken up with him back then, not because she didn't love him anymore or because she'd turned materialistic and greedy for money. On the contrary, it was completely out of necessity.

Her father, Donald Underwood, was an undercover police officer. He had failed in his mission, and his true identity had been discovered by the drug cartels he was investigating. So, after killing Donald, the drug cartels immediately went after his family to kill them off for revenge.

Upon receiving the news, Natalie fled with her family. She had no choice but to break up with Damian because she didn't want to drag him into any of this.

While fleeing, she learned that Damian had gotten into a serious car crash. She had then risked her life to go to the hospital, donated her kidney to him, and then rushed home immediately without even waiting for him to wake up.

However, Natalie never thought that all four of her grandparents, her mother, and her sister had been killed by the drug cartels when she got back.

Natalie was the only one who narrowly escaped death.

She could feel her eyes turning red as she recalled the gruesome sight of her family's massacre.

When Damian saw her eyes reddening, he spoke coldly to her, though he looked at her rather expectantly.

"What? You're going to try and tell me that you had your reasons back then?"

Natalie snapped back to the present and shook her head resolutely.

"There are no reasons. You're right. I'm just as vain and materialistic as you think I am."

She couldn't tell him the truth about what happened back then, and she certainly couldn't tell him now.

After all, she carried the burden of her family's blood feud, and she knew that it was impossible for her to even dream of a future with him.

She had already been enjoying a life of peace and tranquility for far too long. Now, it was time for her to carry on with Donald's legacy and inherit his police badge number.

As an undercover police officer, she knew that her missions and assignments would be fraught with danger, but she figured that she would soon be able to reunite with her family once more.

Damian's face turned dark when he heard Natalie's answer. He glared coldly at her, and his tone was laced with anger.

"Then, get out of my face and go get the condoms now!"

Natalie didn't say a word and picked up the cash from the ground before leaving the mansion. After she got the things he wanted, she left them neatly by the door and went back into her room before locking the door behind her.

The sounds from next door never ceased the entire night.

Damian kept talking gently and sweetly while doing the deed with Cheryl the entire night, like he was trying to get revenge on Natalie for everything.

"You smell so good, Cherry. I love you so much. Won't you also love me forever and never leave my side?"

He used to say the exact same things to Natalie back when they were also sleeping together.

At that time, they were still living paycheck-to-paycheck in a run-down, rented flat that was less than 200 square feet, but they were very much in love with each other.

Natalie had always fantasized about growing old together with Damian and having a son and a daughter together, living happily ever after. Unfortunately for her, those memories were nothing but a fantasy. Beautiful as they were, they would never materialize.

She cried the entire night. When she woke up the next morning, her pillow was soaked.

She told herself that this was going to be the final time she ever cried for Damian.

When she went downstairs, Damian and Cheryl were already up.

Back then, the women whom Damian slept with never stayed the night. Cheryl was the first one and also the only one to still be there during breakfast.

The maids in the mansion looked a lot busier than usual. It was only then that Natalie learned it was Cheryl's birthday today, and Damian was throwing a massive birthday banquet for her in their home.

Plenty of friends and guests from their circle arrived for the party when it started later in the day. They all greeted Cheryl warmly as if she were the actual lady of the household.

Meanwhile, Damian continued indulging Cheryl, leading her around while receiving toasts and congratulatory wishes from the guests. After Cheryl made a wish and blew out the candles on the cake, he then fastened a diamond necklace worth millions of dollars around her neck.

In the heat of the moment, Damian and Cheryl even shared a passionate kiss in front of all the guests. Everyone erupted into loud applause, and the glances cast at Natalie were mostly those of disdain and pity.

"It's truly pathetic to see the actual wife being reduced to this."

"Everyone knows that she's the laughingstock of the entire circle. If I were in her shoes, I'd dig a hole in the ground and hide in it for the rest of my life."

"Yet, she's behaving like she's not the least bit affected by it at all. She's not even responding to anything."

Natalie bitterly forced a smile. She'd already suffered way too much—this was nothing compared to all of that.

Halfway through the banquet, Cheryl got hold of Natalie in a secluded corner.

"It's been a day. Aren't you going to ask me anything?" Cheryl asked.

Natalie just shook her head lightly. "There's no need for me to know anymore."

Cheryl was her best friend. So, she was aware of the things that had happened in the past as well.

Over the years, Cheryl had witnessed firsthand how much Natalie had suffered. She had watched Damian send her countless photos of random women in his bed every night while Natalie cried alone by herself. At times, Cheryl had felt so sorry for Natalie that she thought of calling him up and just explaining everything to him.

However, Natalie had stopped her from telling Damian the truth. She said that there was nothing that would change their fate, no matter what they did.

And now, Cheryl was looking at her with red-rimmed eyes. There were just too many hidden emotions in her eyes, and Natalie wasn't sure she could decipher all of them.

"You know that I hate seeing you like this the most, Natalie Underwood. You always act like you don't care. You don't know anything, so, naturally, you also wouldn't know that I've been in love with Damian for years.

"Yet, the only person he cares about is you. I know that you suffered a lot because of him for years, but do you know what kind of life he went through in the years after you left him?

"He kept drinking himself close to death every night because of you. He would stay alone in your old rented flat, waiting for you to come home to him for the whole night. He kept a photo you left behind in his wallet for years.

"Once, when he got robbed, he preferred to get stabbed a few more times instead of giving up the wallet with your photo in it because he didn't want to lose the only memento of you he had left. He even married you and brought you home as his wife after he succeeded.

"Yet, he kept bringing home random women every day simply because he was waiting for you to make the first move and beg him to stop. He was just trying to crack you open. If you'd only told him that you still loved him, he would have abandoned everything and gotten back together with you. You guys would be like how you were in the past.

"Do you know how arrogant he is, Natalie Underwood? Yet, he humbled himself to such an extent for you. He hates you, but he loves you even more."

Cheryl then paused for a moment.

"You know what? I hate you too. I hate that he still refuses to let go of you, even though you keep treating him coldly.

"Actually, Damian never wanted to sleep with me. The women he brought back with him every night have all always looked just like you, but I don't look like you one bit. Yet, I will be the woman who will stay by his side the longest.

"Do you know why?

"That's because I lied to him. I told him that I was the one who donated the kidney to save his life."

Natalie listened to everything quietly without saying a word.

Seeing that Natalie was still keeping her silence, Cheryl's breathing became increasingly rapid. After a long while, she said, "You haven't given me a birthday gift this year, Natalie. There's only one thing I want from you.

"I want you to give Damian to me."

At that, Natalie went silent for a long time. Just when Cheryl thought that she wasn't going to be getting a response from her anymore, Natalie said, "Okay."

Cheryl smiled with tears in her eyes.

"Since you're giving him to me, then you must give him up completely so that he has absolutely no more feelings for you."

After saying that, Cheryl released her grip on the staircase railing, closed her eyes, and toppled backward.

The loud noise startled everyone.

Damian's face immediately turned dark when he saw Cheryl lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

"Natalie Underwood! You're really asking for it this time!"

He then hurriedly picked Cheryl up in his arms and ran out the door.

The banquet ended on a sour note, and Damian's bodyguards brought Natalie along to the hospital too.

When Damian heard that Cheryl had lost a lot of blood and that she had the same blood type as Natalie, he immediately ordered that Natalie donate her blood to Cheryl without any hesitation.

Natalie needed to undergo a simple medical examination before she could donate her blood, and that meant her past surgeries and medical history would then be revealed. She couldn't possibly let Damian find out right now that she had donated a kidney to him in the past.

At this, though, she purposely put on a cold, indifferent look and said, "I'm not donating anything. It's not like her blood type is rare. Why are you insisting that I must donate blood to her?"

Damian then grabbed a thick bundle of cash and slapped it in her face.

"You love money, don't you? How much do you want? I'll pay you! Will you finally donate your blood now?"

She stared blankly at Damian, who was still throwing more and more banknotes in her face. She felt as though a knife was slashing right into her heart.

After Damian had impatiently slapped her with six or seven bundles of cash, Natalie finally crouched down and picked up all of the fallen banknotes on the ground. Then, she smiled and looked at him.

"You should have just given it to me earlier instead of wasting my time like that."

Then, she went straight to the blood donation center in the hospital.

After the medical examination, the doctor looked at the report and shook his head, saying, "This young woman has had surgery before and is missing a kidney. She also has a history of severe bleeding. It's highly recommended that she not give blood at all."

Damian frowned hard. "What do you mean by her missing a kidney?"

Before Natalie could say anything, he continued coldly, "What's the point? Are you going to try and lie to my face, saying that you're the one who donated your kidney to me after all, just so that you can try to extort more money from me?"

Natalie felt her heart clench in her chest. Yet, she forced a smile and nodded.

"Bingo. But I didn't think you'd see right through it."

Damian's face turned even darker than before. He grabbed the doctor by his collar and gritted his teeth in anger.

"I don't care how much she paid you to lie to me, but I will pay you double that amount. Draw as much blood from her as Cheryl needs."

The huge needle pierced into Natalie's vein, making her tremble involuntarily. Blood slowly drained away, and she could feel her body grow colder and colder.

Her vision began to blur. Natalie didn't know how much blood she had given, but she eventually couldn't hold out anymore and fainted.

When she finally woke up, the sun had already set, and it was dark outside. Yet, there was a warm chocolate chip cookie waiting for her next to her hospital bedside table.

In the past, Damian would always brave the wind and rain to buy her favorite chocolate chip cookies for her if she wasn't feeling well, just to cheer her up.

He once told her that he didn't have a lot and could only afford to buy her cheap cookies like these. However, he promised that he would buy her more premium and luxurious ones in the future when he could afford them.

Natalie recalled how he used to hug her and comfort her gently, and she felt her heart throbbing painfully in her chest. It hurt so badly that she could barely even breathe.

She reached up and took the cookie, biting into it robotically until she finished the whole thing.

When she went out, she happened to see Cheryl in the ward next to her, lying in Damian's arms while flirting and speaking coquettishly with him.

"It's too warm, Dam. Cool it off for me, please?"

Damian then brought the spoonful of soup to his lips, blew on it gently, and brought the spoon back to Cheryl's lips.

She took a small sip and pouted hard. "This tastes horrible."

Damian didn't look the least bit impatient or offended by her words. He just smiled at her and retrieved a piece of candy from his pocket. He tore off the wrapper and popped it into her mouth.

Cheryl blinked again and said, "This still tastes bad."

This time, Damian set down the bowl, cupped Cheryl's face in his hands, and kissed her softly and gently on the lips.

A short while later, they separated, and Cheryl leaned into his arms, speaking in a soft, coquettish voice.

"Dam, can't you stop loving Natalie and love me instead?"

Damian happened to look out at that moment and met Natalie's eyes outside the door.

There was a moment of silence in the air. He stared at Natalie, his eyes cold and indifferent.

"I won't love her anymore. Not for the rest of my life."

Natalie didn't say anything. She just smiled bitterly to herself and turned to leave.