A sharp, searing pain shot through me, and I couldn’t help but groan in agony.

Altair held Saoirse in his arms, his gaze cold and unfeeling as he looked down from above.

No one could have guessed that this detached man was set to marry me in just one day.

Forcing my sorrow aside, I mustered every ounce of strength I had to crawl up and said firmly, "There’s an avalanche ahead. If we retrace our steps, there’s a shelter nearby. We should head there."

Altair’s eyes softened ever so slightly as he glanced in the direction I pointed.

With tears streaming down her face, Saoirse whimpered, "Oh, I’m so weak. What do I do, Altair?"

Without a word, Altair scooped Saoirse into his arms.

"I’ll carry you."

He tossed the backpack at my feet, signaling for me to hurry up and follow.

Climbing earlier had drained what little energy I had left. Gritting my teeth, I mustered the strength to beg, "Altair, can’t you let her walk? I’m injured and can barely move."

Altair glanced back at me, his gaze sharp.

"You’re the expert here. Just push through; you’ll make it. Saoirse is different; she’s never been here, and she’s running a fever. Stop pretending, Maliah, and move!"

Without another glance, he quickened his pace, heading toward the shelter.

Reluctantly, I grabbed the backpack and stumbled after him.

Altair moved swiftly, and before long, he disappeared from sight.

Then, the ground rumbled, and a deafening roar filled the air; the avalanche was upon us.

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but then I was jolted awake. The darkness had already settled in.

My colleague, Ravenna Roswell, was slapping my face, her tears falling freely.

The night had fallen deep, and the medical team couldn't make it up, but my colleagues had finally arrived.

"Your fiancé came back with that woman, saying he didn’t see you. We knew something had happened. We searched with the detector for hours before finding you. Maliah, hang on; we’ll get you down for treatment."

The team leader’s voice was thick with emotion as he gripped my hand.

By then, I was barely able to breathe.

"Ravenna, do you have the voice recorder?" I whispered, my voice weak. "I need to say something."

I had been buried in the snow for so long that hope had already slipped away.

Part of my soul seemed to float away from me, watching as Ravenna performed CPR, her face streaked with tears.

I followed them back to the base, but Altair had already taken Saoirse to the town below.

The remaining colleagues were unnerved, their unease hanging in the air like a storm about to break.

"Maliah’s fiancé said that woman had a fever and insisted on taking her first. He doesn’t care about Maliah at all. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was someone else’s fiancé."

A heavy silence fell over the group, the words hanging between us like a cloud of uncertainty. They held a simple funeral for me and arranged for my body to be sent back home.

An inexplicable force gripped my soul, pulling me away, and I found myself next to Altair.

He sat beside Saoirse, feeding her tenderly, blowing on the spoon to make sure it wasn’t too hot before bringing it to her lips.

"Altair, we’re leaving like this? What about Maliah?" Saoirse’s voice was laced with guilt.

"Maliah’s the expert. She trained for a year before joining the team. I’m sure nothing happened to her," Altair replied, continuing to feed Saoirse. She pretended to be delicate, pushing the spoon away with a feigned reluctance.

Altair smiled indulgently, finishing the last bit of cereal straight from the bowl. It struck me as odd; he had a near-obsessive need for cleanliness and would never eat leftovers.

Just then, his phone pinged, a message flashing across the screen.

He opened it, and my faint voice echoed through the room.

"Altair, I’m dying. I will hate you for the rest of my life."

His expression shifted in an instant, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face before he swiftly turned off the phone.

"Altair, is something wrong?" Saoirse’s voice broke through, her tone laced with concern.

"Maliah always likes to play these little tricks to get my attention. Just ignore her, let her act out. If she’s able to send messages with her phone, she’s probably already back at her workplace. Why should we worry about her?" Altair patted Saoirse’s head before walking out with the dishes, ready to wash them.

I followed, watching him move with the same skill he always had, his hands effortlessly gliding over the plates. My emotions twisted inside me like a storm.

When we were together, he’d claimed he didn’t know how to do housework, so I’d taken it all on myself. For eight long years, he’d finish his meal and head straight to the bedroom to rest, leaving me with the mess. I had believed him, but I thought he was incapable. But now, watching him wash dishes without a care, I realized the truth—he hadn’t been unable; he just hadn’t cared.

Saoirse only had a mild cold, and after a quick dose of fluids, she was well enough to leave. Altair helped her adjust her clothes, casually mentioning he had already bought train tickets back to Neotopia City.

"Altai, aren’t we going to wait for Maliah?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern.

"No need," Altair replied without missing a beat. "She knows the way home, and she’s got her own feet. She’ll be fine."

Back in Neotopia, Saoirse submitted her video, and as expected, she was swiftly promoted. Her face lit up as she turned to Altair. "Altair, I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks to you, I got promoted. Let me treat you to dinner tonight."

"Of course." Altair smiled, opening his phone to make a reservation, but his eyes caught a message from one of my colleagues. Without a second thought, he swiped it away.

One of the anchors noticed the diamond ring on Saoirse’s hand and gasped. "Saoirse, are you engaged? That ring is gorgeous!"

Saoirse blushed, her gaze turning shy as she looked at Altair, a small smile tugging at her lips.

She nodded, her heart fluttering.

Altair and I had been together for eight years. Just a month ago, we were deep in the wedding plans, and our families were already discussing the details. Then, five days ago, I found a box with a diamond ring in Altair’s pocket. My heart soared; he was about to propose.

But days went by, and the proposal never came. Then, I saw Saoirse’s social media post.

"Thank you to my childhood sweetheart! This lifetime, I finally got my diamond ring."

The very same ring.

When I confronted Altair, he explained that Saoirse had asked him to buy it for her, insisting I had misunderstood. Seeing my frustration, he promised we’d get our marriage certificate next week. I wanted to believe him, so I did, just for a moment.

"Keep it quiet. The people at the station are too nosy," Altair chided Saoirse.

"I’m just so happy! You kept your promise, and I’m finally where I’ve dreamed of being. Of course, I want to shout it to the world!" Saoirse clung to his arm, her smile wide and bright.

Altair didn’t pull away. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her waist, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.

After their meal, Saoirse claimed she’d drunk too much and needed to rest. Without a second thought, Altair escorted her to what was meant to be our marital home.

This house had been a gift from my parents, part of my dowry. Newly renovated just a few months ago, it was supposed to be the place we’d call home after getting our marriage certificate.

As soon as they entered, Saoirse leaned weakly against Altair.

"Altair, can you wait for me..." She edged closer, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

Altair froze, his breath hitching as their faces drew nearer.

Then, the shrill ring of a phone broke the spell. Annoyed, Altair answered.

It was Ravenna, one of my colleagues, telling him that my body had been transported back to Neotopia and that my family needed to sign for it.

Altair’s laughter was cold. "I have to say, Maliah’s colleagues sure have too much time on their hands. She must’ve worked hard to get you all to play along with this nonsense.

Tell Maliah that if she keeps this up, I won’t marry her."

The line went quiet for a moment. Just as Ravenna began to respond, Altair cut the call.

Saoirse was much more sober now. She rested against him, her voice soft and uncertain. "Altair, are you really not going to marry her anymore?"

Altair hesitated, his gaze distant for a moment.

"Back when we went hiking, it was you who saved me, but she took the credit and even hurt you. I’ve always known that deep down, she’s still that selfish, calculating person."

Altair cupped Saoirse’s face gently, like a treasure he was afraid to lose, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

"And you... you’re my little mermaid."

So, Altair still harbored doubts about me.

Before Saoirse left for abroad, she’d invited both of us on a hiking trip. She insisted on eating some wild fruit, and Altair, ever the protector, climbed a branch to pick it for her. But he lost his grip and fell, falling unconscious.

I scrambled down the cliff to rescue him, tearing my wrist on the sharp rocks. That scar remained, a silent reminder of that day. By the time I returned with the park staff, Saoirse was already there, sitting beside Altair, pretending to be the grieving savior.

When I told Altair I had been the one to save him, he turned distant, showing me the photos Saoirse had sent.

Her wrist, deeply scarred, was worse than mine.

After Saoirse went abroad, I tried to bury the matter, but I never imagined Altair would hold onto it for so long.

"Then why were you still with her?" Saoirse’s voice trembled slightly, a shadow of doubt flickering in her eyes.

Altair, completely oblivious to her unease, paused before answering as if the words weighed heavily on him. "Because I got used to it. And her parents promised me 800,000 dollars as her dowry."

So that was it.

The truth hit me like a slap to the face. I had spent eight years loving a man like this.

How many eight years does a person have in their lifetime?

Saoirse had taken over the master bedroom, draped in my silk pajamas, lounging in the space I had lovingly arranged.

In the dead of night, she began to complain about a fever. Altair scrambled through the house, searching desperately for cold medicine, but it was nowhere to be found. In a panic, he called me.

After a dozen calls went unanswered, Altair's frustration finally boiled over.

"Maliah, if you keep pulling these stunts, I’ll call off our wedding!" His voice was sharp, like a warning he was unwilling to let slide.

He paused after sending the voice message, then seemed to realized I had not been home for four days.

Saoirse whimpered, "I feel awful."

Without missing a beat, Altair draped a coat over her shoulders and whisked her outside as if his every action was meant to erase the tension in the air.

I watched them, the sharp contrast to how he had treated me in the past when I had stomachaches; his indifference had been a bitter pill to swallow. He’d hand me a glass of warm water and say, "You’ve been through worse, Maliah. Surviving in snowy mountains and extreme conditions is nothing. Just tough it out."

It wasn’t until I had collapsed from acute gastroenteritis that he rushed me to the hospital in a panic, guilt clouding his usual cold demeanor.

After a sleepless night, he fired off another message, the words harsh as they pinged through the phone. "Maliah, I’m giving you one hour. If you don’t show up, we’re done."

He turned off his phone with a frustrated snap, the weight of his words hanging between us, and stormed off to the TV station with a dark cloud over his head.

That morning, the broadcast shifted to international news. Altair, a seasoned anchor, delivered the segment with ease. But then the director handed him a new script, one that would shake his world.

"Breaking story: On October 4th, an avalanche struck during a guided tour in the snowy mountains. One team member lost their life. Authorities are investigating. The deceased... Maliah Orlaith."

Altair’s voice wavered as he read, his words faltering as the reality of my name sank in. He froze, his mouth slightly open, his mind unable to process it.

The director quickly switched to another shot, but Altair’s gaze was fixed on the script. His hand trembled as he dialed my number, but there was no answer.

By then, my phone had been buried at the base of the mountain, left there by Ravenna.

When Altair called her, her reply was as cold as the snow that had claimed me. "I told you to come sign for Maliah’s body, but you didn’t believe me. How she died… well, you know the details better than anyone. Our team is still investigating."

Altair’s expression froze for a heartbeat, the weight of the news settling over him like a sudden storm. He shoved past the staff with urgency, his footsteps echoing in the silence as he rushed toward the exit.