My fiancé said I was disobedient. During our vacation, Nicholas abandoned me on a deserted island and sailed away with the fake heiress my parents had adopted.

For ten days, while I was missing, he never once checked on me.

I repeatedly pressed the survival button on the watch he had given me, hoping he would return to save me—but each time, I was met with disappointment.

When I fell into a crevice and broke my leg while trying to escape a wild beast, left starving and unable to move, a delicate yet strikingly handsome wild man rescued me.

He hunted for me, treated my injuries, and in return, I taught him to speak and read. Gradually, I fell in love with him.

Accepting my fate, I decided to stay on the island with him forever.

But one night, I accidentally discovered that he had been secretly using a phone to contact the outside world behind my back.

It turned out he had been concealing his true identity all along—he was the loyal bodyguard wholeheartedly devoted to the fake heiress.

"Miss Collins’ engagement has been settled. Why haven’t you abandoned that woman and left the island yet?"

"Only by staying behind to watch her can I ensure she never escapes the island and competes with Miss Collins for the family inheritance."

"Even if I have to play the role of a wild man for a lifetime, it doesn’t matter."

I clenched my fist as I listened to him. I thought our fateful encounter was destiny. But from beginning to end, I was nothing more than a pawn in his elaborate scheme for someone else.

A tsunami swept across the island, and I leaped into the waves.

Even if I were to die, I would never want to see him again.

——

"Jaren, it was a good idea to set up that trap on Reese’s only escape route, making her break her leg. Otherwise, she might have actually managed to flee the island."

A different voice came through the phone.

The moment I heard it, I recognized her—Suzzette, the fake heiress who had stolen my identity and lived a privileged life for twenty years.

She was gloating, proudly praising Jaren’s intelligence.

Jaren replied in a crisp, articulate tone, devoid of the rough accent he had always used around me. "Miss Collins, if she hadn’t insisted on coming back to take what belongs to you, I wouldn’t have had to treat her this way. She brought this upon herself."

He had deceived me so thoroughly!

I thought he was my confidant, someone who shared my suffering and relied on me as much as I relied on him. But in the end, everything was just part of a conspiracy.

Jaren reassured Suzzette again and again that I would never have a chance to escape the island.

Yet, Suzzette still had her concerns.

"But Reese grew up in the mountains—she’s strong and resilient. What if she recovers one day?"

Jaren didn’t even hesitate as he replied, "That's impossible, but rest assured, Miss Collins. The medicine I’ve been giving her will only worsen her leg injury. Soon, her broken bones will never heal."

Suzzette let out a satisfied chuckle. "Jaren, with you by my side, I can finally be at ease. But… that medicine, doesn’t it have serious side effects? If she takes too much, not only will her leg be crippled, but she won’t be able to have children either, right?"

How... how could this be?

Just last night, he held me close, whispering about having children together.

He had talked about turning this desolate island into a real home, where we would raise a family and build a future.

But the moment I turned my back, he was poisoning me?

His soft “Yes” shattered my world and plunged me into the depths of despair.

I couldn’t bear to listen any longer. Stumbling, I dragged my broken leg away, my whole body trembling uncontrollably.

I hid in a patch of dense grass, muffling my sobs.

My injured leg throbbed with pain.

What should I do?

One devastating blow after another left me breathless.

"Reese, where are you?"

Jaren was looking for me.

I wiped away my tears, forcing myself to appear indifferent as I gazed up at the sky.

When he saw me, he sighed in relief.

He sat beside me, his strong hands wrapping possessively around my waist.

In front of me, he still played his role as the dutiful wild man.

"Reese, why did you run off?"

I pointed at the sky, making up an excuse. "Looking at the stars."

Jaren carried me back to the cave we called home, then leaned in to kiss me.

I swallowed my heartache and used my period as an excuse to reject him. With a yawn, I turned away and pretended to sleep.

Jaren, believing I was truly asleep, quietly left the cave alone.

I had woken up in the middle of the night before and occasionally noticed his absence.

Whenever I asked, he always claimed he had gone hunting.

But the food he brought back each time—I'd never seen anything like it on the island.

Worried that he was overexerting himself, I had offered to go with him.

He told me the valley was full of wild beasts and abundant with food.

But it was in that very valley that I had broken my leg, leaving me with a deep psychological shadow.

Even hearing the rustling of grass in the wind near the area made me tremble uncontrollably.

But if the trap that injured me had been Jaren’s doing, then perhaps the so-called wild beasts were fake, too!

Tonight, I decided to follow him.

Sure enough, there were no wild beasts in the valley—only a hidden cabin.

I hid in a crevice behind the cabin and witnessed a shocking scene.

Jaren was on a video call with Suzzette!

As they spoke, he skillfully copied documents from the desk and sent them to her.

Suzzette smiled smugly. “Jaren, you're really considerate. You knew I’d be worried, so you make sure to send me copies of Reese’s surveillance footage on the island every day.”

Jaren responded respectfully, but there was unmistakable gentleness in his eyes.

"Miss, this is what I should do."

That gentle gaze had never once been directed at me.

The footage he had sent her—scenes of my suffering, my desperate struggle to survive—was something Suzzette watched with great amusement.

For a brief moment, Jaren looked away, as if unable to bear watching.

Sensing his wavering emotions, Suzzette masked her glee with a pitiful act.

"Jaren, do you think I’m heartless? I never meant to leave her stranded on the island... I was just scared. Scared that she would take my parents, my life, everything that belongs to me."

Her voice choked up with emotion. "If I hadn’t swapped her watch, maybe my parents would have found her long ago. Jaren, does this make me a terrible person?"

Jaren hastily reassured her. “Miss, you’ve done nothing wrong. It was she who was delusional, trying to steal your place. You were only protecting yourself. Besides, switching the watches was my idea, and I was the one who gave her a broken one. It has nothing to do with you.”

So that was why my distress signals were never answered!

I had always thought I had broken the watch myself. I even suspected that my fiancé, Nicholas, had deliberately ignored me.

But I never once suspected him!

Jaren was indeed ruthless. All this time, he had acted so nonchalant in front of me.

Did he secretly laugh every time he watched me desperately trying to fix that useless watch?

Hearing his response, Suzzette was satisfied.

Before ending the call, she gave him one final instruction.

"Jaren, make sure to destroy Reese’s identification. I need her to be completely erased from the outside world."

"Just hold on a little longer. Once I convince my parents to officially revoke her identity, you can come back."

Jaren fell silent. He hesitated at the mention of returning.

Suzzette’s smile faltered, and she pursed her lips in displeasure. “You haven’t actually fallen for Reese, have you? Do you not want to leave her?”

I held my breath.

Without hesitation, Jaren firmly denied it.

"Miss, I will never fall in love with Reese."

After the call ended, Jaren opened the refrigerator, took out a piece of meat, and left—pretending it was something he had just hunted.

This was how he had been deceiving me all along.

The moment he was gone, I rushed to unlock the cabin.

I tried twice but the passwords were incorrect.

Biting my lip, I entered Suzzette’s birthday.

"Password correct. Unlocking."

Smiling bitterly, I balled my fist. Jaren’s devotion to her ran deeper than I had imagined.

I stepped into the cabin and was instantly overwhelmed.

Not only were there three fully stocked refrigerators, but the entire island was under surveillance. There was even a weather monitoring system.

Jaren had gone to great lengths to ensure I would never escape.

And I trusted him so foolishly.

Clutching my injured leg, I pounded the ground in anguish.

The very hand I had clung to in my darkest moment turned out to be the one that had pushed me into hell.

Just then, the weather monitoring system on the large screen flashed a red warning.

As a geography major, I recognized it immediately.

A tsunami was coming in a week.

This was my chance.

I altered the system’s data, erasing all warning signals.

I would use this tsunami to escape—once and for all.

Jaren returned, pretending he had been out hunting.

Ignoring the pain in my leg, I took a shortcut and arrived back at the cave before him.

He gently kissed me awake.

Stretching lazily, I turned to see him holding out his hand.

In his palm was a small rabbit.

"Reese, this is to keep you company. Do you like it?"

Suppressing the wave of disgust rising within me, I forced myself to smile.

Rabbits were Suzzette’s favorite animal. She loved them so much that even mentioning spicy rabbit heads at home was forbidden. Otherwise, she would cry and wail, accusing me of being cruel and bullying her.

As a result, I had been punished—banned from eating at the dinner table for three nights.

Jaren placed the rabbit in my arms. “From now on, when I go hunting, it will keep you company.”

I barely managed to curl my lips into a smile.

My gaze shifted to the pile of meat he had placed on the ground. Casually, I asked, “What kind of meat is that?”

Jaren answered nonchalantly, “Dog.”

I nearly threw up.

We had eaten that same meat two days ago.

Rage flared in my heart.

He was doing this on purpose.

I had told him before—my best friend growing up had been a dog.

"Why would you eat—" I clenched my teeth, stopping myself mid-sentence.

Jaren replied matter-of-factly, “There’s no food. We eat whatever we can to survive.”

He wasn’t hunting at all. He was just torturing me!

There were so many options, yet he deliberately chose the one that would hurt me the most.

Fine. If he wanted to act, I would play along.

That night, I clung to Jaren, whispering sweet words, offering soft touches.

He was lost in desire when I suddenly brought up the idea of building a boat to leave the island.

Instantly, he shoved me away.

Tears welled in my eyes. “You don’t want to go home with me? Don’t you want to see my parents?”

He wiped my tears hastily. “...That’s not it. Fine, I’ll help you.”

The next day, he brought several wooden planks to the entrance of the cave, claiming he would build a boat.

But before dawn, he came to me with a regretful expression.

"The planks were chewed up by wild beasts. They’re useless now."

I threw myself into his arms, sobbing pitifully.

Jaren held me, gently patting my back, comforting me for a long time.

What he didn’t know was that I never cared about the planks. What I truly wanted was the ropes he used to tie them together.

And while he continued his charade of “hunting,” I had already begun secretly rehabilitating my injured leg.

He had no idea.

As usual, he brought me a steaming bowl of herbal medicine.

I stared at it, lost in thought.

Jaren had told me these herbs were difficult to find. Once, he had almost fallen off a cliff while gathering them.

"Drink it all," he urged. "So you can heal faster."

"Reese, once you're better, I’ll take you to see the scenery."

This so-called wild man—who usually spoke so few words—had suddenly become fluent in sweet talk.

All to keep me from learning the truth.

All to continue his lies for Suzzette.