On the day my boyfriend and I moved into our new home, his ex-girlfriend gave us a mysterious gift.

The moment I opened the front door, a swarm of hornets came flying out. I screamed in fright as I felt seven or eight stings from them.

His ex, Erica Loft, jumped out from behind the door with a giggle. She shouted, "Surprise!

"I went up the mountains to visit a master craftsman. I wanted to get you this specially brewed hornet wine, and I even brought back a hornet's nest for you to decorate your new house with!

"Isn't this a great gift?"

Erica made a face at us. She was gleeful at the messy predicament I was in.

My boyfriend, Joe Fulham, clenched his teeth. He rushed forward to grab Erica by the wrist as he shouted angrily at her.

"Are you crazy? Don't you know that hornets are venomous?! Is this really a surprise, or are you trying to hurt us?"

I listened to another one of their huge arguments from behind the door, feeling like an outsider in my own relationship.

As I felt the stinging pain in my arm, I knew this wedding was about to fall through.

"The internet said that hornet wine has some pretty miraculous benefits. I'm doing this for your future happiness in bed!"

Erica Loft's exaggerated expression suggested that she wanted credit for the thoughtful gift.

"Look, I've even brought you the hornet's nest.

"You can make more for yourself if there isn't enough wine. Hahaha!"

Erica's laugh was so shrill. It made my stinging pain feel like a bad joke.

"That's enough, you crazy woman!"

Joe Fulham cursed at the situation silently. He dragged Erica into a room without giving me a second glance, and they argued inside once again.

I was tired of listening to them argue, but they seemed to be enjoying it.

Ten minutes later, Joe dragged Erica out to apologize to me. Her eyes were red.

"This is my fault, Simone. I shouldn't have told this crazy woman our new address. Please don't be mad. I've given her a good talking to.

"Apologize right now! Look at what you've done!"

Joe glared at Erica, and his grip on her arm tightened. Erica's eyes turned even redder, on the verge of tears.

"That's not necessary."

My reply stunned both of them.

Joe felt relieved, but I spoke up again, coldly. I was holding back the intense pain in my arm.

"But you need to clear out every hornet in this house.

"Don't you dare leave until all of them are gone!"

I looked at Erica, and her face turned pale. There was hate in her eyes.

She was forced to put on gloves and clear out the hornets one by one, thanks to my demands.

Fortunately, the hornets had been steeped in alcohol before and were not as aggressive. It took her less than an hour to clear them all out.

While carrying the huge hornet's nest, Erica was unlucky enough to be stung. She screamed in pain.

Joe quickly rushed to her, and the worried look in his eyes looked real.

"Simone, Erica went to great lengths to do what you asked. Don't be mad anymore. Let me take her to the hospital."

Joe did not even care about how I felt as he held Erica and quickly left.

Once the door closed, I could no longer bear the pain in my arm. My hands trembled as I called my best friend, Charlotte Shore, who was a doctor.

"What the hell? How did you bear that pain for so long? You were stung so many times!

"Joe is such a jerk! How could he leave you behind like that?"

Charlotte gave me an emergency bandage as she complained about them.

"You can't ignore the wounds. They're starting to get inflamed. We need to get you to the hospital."

My heart sank when we arrived at the hospital entrance. I saw Joe's car parked nearby.

After I was given a drip, I bumped into Joe while my swollen arm was raised.

He was taken aback when he saw the wounds on my arm. He started to get worried.

"Why didn't you say anything when you got stung so many times, Simone? Is it serious?"

Joe wanted to check my arm when his phone rang in his pocket.

The man who had been so concerned about my well-being suddenly flew into a rage.

"Just stay in the hospital! Why must you insist that I stay by your side? Stop acting so pitiful!"

Erica's sobbing could be heard over the phone. I knew Joe would give in again.

Just as I expected, Joe hung up and turned to me.

"Wait for me at home, Simone. I'll be back tonight."

"Let's break up, Joe. I'm tired of this."

Joe looked at me in exasperation, as if questioning why I was making a joke that was wasting everyone's time.

We had been in a relationship for three years. We had broken up before, but we somehow always made up and got back together.

The last time we got into a fight and broke up was when Erica made a huge mess at our engagement party.

Joe had been particularly furious then. He slapped Erica and gave her the cold shoulder.

"Leave, or you're going to regret what I'll do to you."

Back then, Joe grabbed Erica by the wrist and dragged her out to the road.

When he returned, he knelt before me in front of all our relatives and elders, and promised nothing like this would ever happen again.

After that, Joe proved his loyalty to me by deleting Erica's contact and blocking her on all social media.

"I'm twenty-seven, Simone. All I want to do is spend the rest of my life with you. I don't want anybody else."

As he declared his love for me, Joe took out a diamond ring from his pocket called the 'Lover's Eye'. He had designed it himself, and he put it on my ring finger.

I believed Joe in that moment. I had so much hope for the future back then.

However, my hope diminished every time we argued, and now, nothing was left of it.

I ignored Joe and took a cab home.

Our new home was now a complete mess. The air was filled with the strange stench of the hornet wine.

The smell made me retch so much that I lost my appetite for dinner.

Late that night, I woke up from the pain in my swollen arm. The space next to me in bed was still empty.

He promised me he would be home tonight, but he broke his word again.

I sneered. I had no idea why I even thought he would keep the promise.

The next morning, I called Joe's mother, Maria Fulham, to talk about cancelling our wedding.

She was surprised, but did not want to lose a daughter-in-law like me, who was perfect for their family. She tried to talk me out of it.

"Simone, you've already registered your marriage with Joe. Don't be rash about this.

"Besides, your wedding is next month, and we've already sent out the invitations. You should give Joe another chance."

I closed my eyes. My voice choked in my throat, and I had no idea what to say.

It was tempting to tell her that Joe and I had not yet registered our marriage.

Joe and I had planned to register it on the 17th of last month.

However, Erica somehow found out about it. She called Joe before we stepped into City Hall.

"Joe, I was assaulted. I don't want to live anymore!"

Erica cried hysterically about what happened, barely able to breathe between her sobs.

"All I remember was drinking too much the night before, and I woke up in a hotel room. I'm so scared! Am I… Am I dirty now?"

Joe's heart tightened. He quickly comforted Erica and tried to get her to call the police.

"Don't panic. Put on your clothes and check the surveillance cameras. I'll come over right now and go to the police station with you."

I tugged Joe's sleeve and said bitterly to him, "Joe… We haven't registered our marriage yet.

"Can't you tell what's going on? Why are you still so stubborn? Don't you know what Erica's going through?"

He said, "You were molested before as a child, so how can you not understand the pain Erica is going through?"

My mind went blank. Joe's words were like a knife to my heart, and I could hardly breathe.

Joe was the only person I had ever told about being molested by my relative when I was young.

However, he used this information against me to go help another woman.

I watched as my fiancé called a cab without hesitation to go to another woman.

Even though the situation turned out to be a misunderstanding, we never mentioned registering our marriage again.

I thought it no longer bothered me, but the memory still pained me.

"Maria, I've made my decision. The wedding is off!"

Joe finally came home at eight that night.

He did not look well. He sounded exhausted when he spoke to me.

"Simone, do you really want to cancel our wedding over something so minor?

"I promise to cut all ties with Erica after we get married."

The whole situation was torture to me right now. I did not want to wait until we got married.

I shook my head and smiled bitterly. I relished in my revengeful tone as I spoke sarcastically, "Joe, are you sure we're able to spend the rest of our lives together?"

His expression turned grim. He suddenly pulled me into his arms and kissed the back of my neck.

"Give me another chance, honey.

"I'm begging you!"

I took a deep breath. I wanted to push him away so badly.

However, his hands were like lead as they wrapped around my waist so tightly that I could hardly struggle.

I closed my eyes and decided to give him one last chance.

Joe finally kept his promise this time. He ignored Erica whenever she came over to cause trouble.

He focused on his work as he prepared for the next season's preview of his jewelry collection.

"This time, the theme I'm designing for is 'eternal love'. I'll be using our love story as the background and core of the design to publicize the idea behind this concept…"

Joe rambled on about it while looking lovingly at me.

I felt nothing as I looked into his eyes. On the contrary, I had a bad feeling about things.

The wedding went forward as planned. Joe was busy juggling work while organizing the wedding too.

On the day I was trying on my wedding gown, I received an anonymous message that looked like the sender was showing off.

"Simone Carter, I always get what I want. You don't even stand a chance against me!"

I frowned. I quickly recognized it as a taunting message from Erica.

The first thing I did was block the sender. After that, I called Joe to ask him what he was doing.

"Honey, I'm busy working on the next season's jewelry collection preview. My team has invested so much money and work into it. We're aiming to hit a new high in our advance sales."

Joe sounded excited about it, which made me let my guard down.

"Also, it's our wedding the day after tomorrow. I won't forget about it. Don't worry, honey!"

Joe hung up. I felt relieved.

I hoped nothing would go wrong this time.

The night before the wedding, the nagging feeling that something was wrong only grew. I kept feeling like something was about to happen.

I called Joe again to ask him where he was.

This time, he sounded a little annoyed and slightly breathless.

"I'm finishing up the last piece with my colleagues, so it won't be a distraction during our wedding tomorrow. I'm working hard until late tonight—"

I suddenly overheard a voice in the background, and I frowned.

Before I could ask about it, Joe quickly explained, "My colleague fell down. I need to take a look at him."

The moment Joe hung up, my mother called me in a panic. She sounded like she was breaking down as she fired a question at me.

"What happened, Simone? Why didn't you tell me anything?

"You're my only daughter. How can I not worry when you're facing something like this?"

My mother sounded more anxious by the second. She must be really mad about something.

My mother suffered from severe asthma, so she should not be agitated. I tried to comfort her patiently.

"What's going on, Mom? Nothing's wrong with me…"

The next second, I received messages that my mother had forwarded to me.

All sorts of unseemly photographs appeared in front of my eyes.

They were all passionate pictures of Joe and Erica in bed.

Their naked bodies clung to each other like Siamese twins in a tight embrace.

She had also forwarded a voice recording that lasted a little more than ten seconds of their erotic, breathless pants. It burned my ears.

It featured the boyfriend who had just claimed he was hard at work in the office.

I clenched my phone tight as I stared at the obscene photos. My heart felt like someone had just squeezed it dry.

There was no doubt that Erica was doing this on purpose to get me riled up.

I did not dare to think about my mother's reaction when she received these messages.

Just as my brain went blank for two seconds, my mother wheezed and fell hard on the ground. The call was cut off.

Something broke inside me, and I went into panic mode.

"Mom!"