My boyfriend, Marcus, and I made a promise to get married after we rescued one hundred cats.

For three years, I devoted myself completely.

Just as we were about to fulfill our promise, my boyfriend cheated on me with the woman he called his "savior."

I was kicked out of my own room, and the most precious thing in my safe was gone.

It was the ashes of the baby I miscarried in order to save him.

I knelt on the ground and begged them, "Please, give it back to me. I really can't be without it."

The other woman laughed smugly.

"I burned them and scattered the ashes long ago. And your boyfriend was right there with me when I did it."

Just then, a man appeared.

"If I weren't here, how would I have known you were bullying her like this!"

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1

When another rescue call shattered the quiet, I swiftly gathered my photography gear and first-aid kit, then dialed Marcus’s number.

"Marcus, the animal rescue center just called. There’s a severely injured cat on the east side of the city. We need to head over immediately. Come pick me up."

"Alright," Marcus responded, his voice laced with indifference.

Then, a woman's coquettish complaint drifted through the line.

"Marcus, is Garcia doing this on purpose? She knows I have my video shoot today, and yet she still picks this exact moment to call you."

"It's so late, and you still have to go all that way for some stray cat. She clearly doesn't care about you one bit."

Listening to that sickeningly sweet, wheedling voice, a chill crept down my spine.

I knew that voice all too well—Isabella, Marcus’s model friend.

The one he always doted on and kept close, all because of some so-called life-saving favor.

I never knew just what this supposed life-saving favor was that made him hold onto it—and her—so tightly.

"Baby, don't be upset. Garcia's just like that. I'll make it up to you properly when I get back."

The sweet nothings he murmured to Isabella morphed into a cold, cutting interrogation when he finally addressed me.

"Do you have any idea how far the east side is? Is one stray cat really worth all this? You’re being completely unreasonable." Listening to his words, my heart ached with an unbearable bitterness.

We had made a pact: once we rescued one hundred stray cats, we would get married.

He had promised me with such fervent sincerity.

"Garcia, once we’ve rescued a hundred cats, I’ll marry you and throw you the most magnificent wedding this city has ever seen."

I threw myself wholeheartedly into the rescue work.

Throughout the rescue process, I poured every ounce of my energy into caring for the cats.

Marcus eventually arrived.

Not long after, I saw Marcus's sports car pull up. I habitually reached for the passenger door, only to find the seat already taken.

My eyes widened in disbelief as I stared at the person inside the car.

"Isabella, what are you doing sitting here?"

Isabella rolled her eyes at me and sneered,

"Why shouldn't I sit here? Marcus rarely gets time to spend with me, and you've ruined it."

"It was charitable enough of me to even let Marcus come help you with these filthy cats."

She then deliberately placed her hand on Marcus's shoulder.

"I just couldn't bear for Marcus to come here all by himself, you know."

Watching Isabella's undisguised intimate gesture, I turned to Marcus.

Marcus chuckled lightly and removed Isabella's hand.

"Isabella has been rather clingy since her injury, try not to mind too much."

I just felt drained, body and soul.

It wasn't as if I hadn't argued with them before.

But Marcus's mere mention of her having saved his life was always enough to shut my mouth.

"Then where am I supposed to sit?"

My gaze shifted to the passenger seat Isabella was occupying.

Usually, I was the only one who sat there.

"Garcia, are you deliberately trying to be annoying? Only I have the right to sit in the passenger seat, understand? What makes someone like you, who only knows how to take pictures of cats, qualified to sit here? You're filthy!"

Hearing her words, I frowned and looked at Marcus, only to find he was turning a blind eye to Isabella's behavior. To save time, I ignored Isabella's smug look, got into the back seat, and gave Marcus the specific address.

Soon, we arrived at the scene.

After getting out of the car, I skillfully placed the injured cat on a portable stretcher. It had been hit by a car, suffering an abdominal wound that needed immediate attention to stop the bleeding and be stitched up.

I focused on treating the cat's wound, not even lifting my head.

"This cat will be okay, it just needs to be cleaned and bandaged. Hand me the disinfectant spray."

My hand reached out by habit, waiting for Marcus to pass the spray.

"Here."

This time, however, it was Isabella who handed it to me. I didn't think much of it, nor did I notice the malicious smile playing on Isabella's lips.

I took the bottle and immediately sprayed it on the cat.

The next second, the previously calm cat suddenly let out a piercing shriek.

Isabella watched the cat writhing in pain on the ground and laughed triumphantly.

"Marcus, look, how amusing."

"This cat is hideous. It's much more entertaining like this."

My mind exploded as I realized the bottle in my hand was actually a toxic spray.

"What are you doing?"

I furiously threw down the toxic spray and turned to confront Isabella.

"Garcia, why are you shouting at Isabella like that? Don't you know she's been so weak ever since she risked everything to save me!"

Marcus, seeing the confrontation, immediately stepped in front of Isabella, shielding her with his body.

"And now, Isabella is pregnant! Can't you find it in yourself to be a little gentler with her?"

The way Marcus instinctively protected Isabella, coupled with the bombshell of her pregnancy, left me utterly speechless.

It was always me whom Marcus shielded behind him, wasn't it?

Shouldn't I be the one carrying Marcus's child?

While I stood there in a daze, Isabella raised her arm, complaining to Marcus.

"Marcus, look! It's all because she was so harsh with me just now. My arm got splashed by the spray."

After speaking, she even cast a disdainful glance at the cat gasping for breath on the floor.

"This wretched cat! It acts like it's dying from a mere touch. How was I to know Garcia would put poisonous spray in the first-aid kit? She clearly did it on purpose! Marcus, you wouldn't blame me, would you?"

Hearing Isabella's words, my heart felt like it was being sliced by a knife.

For a moment, I couldn't tell if I was more heartbroken for the cat or devastated by the news of Isabella's pregnancy.

"Marcus," I asked, "did you say she's carrying your child?"

Marcus also realized he had let it slip and could only try to explain.

"Garcia, there are reasons for all of this."

Marcus's expression softened a little as he looked at me.

"Isabella was injured when she saved me. I didn't want to be indebted to her. Her greatest wish in life has always been to have a child, so..."

"So, you just let her get pregnant with your child?"

My face was etched with shock and pain.

"Sleeping with your savior, letting your savior get pregnant with your child—is this how you repay a debt of gratitude?"

I couldn't hold back any longer. My hand flew out, slapping Marcus hard across the face.

Marcus's expression turned instantly frigid. He touched the corner of his mouth.

The force of my slap had been considerable, a trickle of blood was already seeping from his lip.

He sneered:

"Garcia, you have the audacity to bring this up? If you hadn't abandoned me back then to save that damned cat, Isabella wouldn't have had to save me, and she wouldn't have gotten hurt!"

"Back then, I was desperately hoping you would come for me, that you would be the one to save me! But you? What did you do?"

Marcus spat, his voice seething with anger.

"Now Isabella is pregnant, and it's simply to give her some hope. Can't you stop being so ridiculously irrational?"

Listening to Marcus's words, I found them utterly absurd.

"Then what about me? What am I in all of this?"

"After all these years, have you ever once thought about making it up to me? How did I never realize before what a truly magnanimous saint you are, Marcus?"

Hearing my words, Marcus's face alternated between ashen and livid.

"Garcia, do you even understand reason at all?"

"Isabella is just a little girl. Do you really have to be so hard on her?"

Marcus finally snapped.

"And this damn cat! Whether it lives or dies, what business is it of ours? Do you have any idea how utterly exhausting it is for me, always running around with you for a cat?"

Hearing Marcus’s words, my heart seemed to stop.

He knew how to defend Isabella and her child; how could he not know to treasure ours?