: The Proposal

2

I wore a white dress, just like the day I first met him.

When he saw me, the corners of his eyes curled in a sneer, but the smile never reached them.

He lowered his voice. "Yara Bellamy, you think I don't know what you're up to?"

"Trying to use your outfit today to make me reminisce about the past?"

I just smiled at him.

Before I could say anything, he pulled a large bouquet of red roses from the car.

He held them out to me with one hand.

For a moment, I couldn't figure out what he was doing. I froze, not reaching out to take them.

He grew impatient and shoved them straight into my arms.

At this, the reporters who had been hiding in the shadows swarmed forward, quickly encircling us.

A bad feeling suddenly washed over me.

Sure enough, he dropped to one knee and pulled a ring from his suit pocket.

"Yara Bellamy, will you marry me?"

No one present had expected such a dramatic turn of events, and the reporters were especially thrilled.

The camera flashes nearly blinded me.

Finnian Sterling looked up at me, a slight tilt to his head, waiting for my response as if he were watching a joke unfold.

And I held out my hand and nodded.

I accepted his proposal.

Everyone present gasped.

Then, they turned to look at me with contempt.

'I didn't need to guess what they were thinking of me.'

'Materialistic. A clout-chaser. Sucking up to him again now that he's made a comeback.'

The mockery on Finnian Sterling's face deepened.

He stood up and leaned close to my ear, his voice so low only the two of us could hear.

"Yara Bellamy, after all these years, you really haven't changed one bit."

"I thought you'd at least have some dignity. I never expected... you're still as greedy as ever."

"Since you dared to accept my proposal, then I'll... make you experience the hell I went through for three years. I'm going to make you feel exactly how I survived those three years."

He spoke through gritted teeth.

I gave a pale smile.

'I knew my reputation was terrible, and I knew he hated me.'

'But I didn't care. Accepting his proposal meant I could spend a little more time with him.'

'After all... I don't have much time left to live.'

3

Finnian Sterling demanded I move into his villa, and I did as he said.

He wouldn't let the housekeeper help me with anything.

As I was tidying my room and cleaning, he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed.

A mocking smile played on his lips.

While making the bed, my vision suddenly went dark. My arms gave out, and I half-collapsed onto the mattress.

He immediately burst out laughing.

"Your acting is a bit fake. Try it again for me."

I glanced at him. His smiling eyes crinkled at the corners.

For a moment, I was in a daze.

When I came to my senses, I couldn't help but laugh at myself.

'It has been so long since he smiled at me like that. I can't believe I thought we were back in the past.'

Smiling and shaking my head, I forced myself to stand up and tucked in the corners of the sheet.

"Finnian," I said, tugging listlessly at the bedsheet, "my health is really poor. When I die..."

Before I could finish, he cut me off.

"Stop pretending."

My heart trembled.

He chuckled lightly. "Trying to play the frail damsel to get my sympathy? Do you still think I'm that naive kid from three years ago? The one who believed everything you said?"

A smile never left his lips, but a chill ran through my body, wave after wave.

The words that tumbled from his lips stabbed straight into my heart. "You accepted my proposal for the money, didn't you?"

"Now I'm famous, and so are you. Exactly what you wanted. After all, being infamous is still a kind of fame."

His tone was so sharp the color drained from my face.

He wasn't wrong.

The video of his proposal to me went viral, and the whole affair blew up quickly.

The comment section was filled almost entirely with contempt for me.

"This woman is such a disgrace to the rest of us. So materialistic."

"Does she have no shame? She broke up with Finnian Sterling when he was going through a hard time. Now that he's won the championship, she's back with him."

"Finnian Sterling is so devoted. He's such a great catch, why is he so hung up on her?"

"That woman doesn't deserve him!"

I don't know if he was doing it on purpose, but Finnian Sterling even liked some of these malicious comments.

He even did it right in front of me.

Occasionally, a few people would speak up for me: "This girl seems so gentle and kind, I doubt she's that kind of person..."

"Maybe she had her reasons for breaking up with him back then."

But as soon as comments like these appeared, they would be immediately flooded by hundreds, even thousands, of malicious replies.

"Come on, how much did they pay you?"

"How much per comment? I want in!"

In an instant, I was swept into the eye of the storm.

Just like what happened a few years ago.

Once again, I was being vilified by the entire internet.

'But I don't care anymore. After all, the people I cared about in this world are already gone.'