"I have everything now, please, don’t leave me. I can’t bear it…"

By the time his words faltered, the tears began to fall, each one heavy and relentless, like stones crashing into the depths of my heart.

I was numb, yet my legs moved on their own. I followed him out of the car, my heart pounding with each step as we neared the fiery chaos, the scene surrounded by a sea of onlookers and rescue teams.

While others scrambled to escape, Mathias was the only one pushing forward, desperate to dive into the flames.

Fear seized me, and instinct took over. I grabbed his hand and held him back with everything I had.

"Mathias, you don’t know how intense the fire is or what’s inside! Charging in like this is madness!"

"The rescue team’s already here. They’ll bring her out!"

I had lost my parents to flames; I couldn’t bear the thought of losing Mathias, too.

But without warning, he jerked my hand away, his force pushing me to the ground with an intensity I hadn’t seen since that day at the auction.

I crashed to the earth, my ankle protesting, the bandages soaked in a sickly mix of red and yellow. Yet, the pain in my body was nothing compared to the torment searing my heart.

Mathias didn’t even spare me a glance.

"I can’t lose Nathalia again."

"No one can stop me!"

And with those words, he turned and rushed straight into the fire.

In that instant, the world around me blurred, and I was back in that inferno, watching helplessly as flames devoured everything I loved.

I couldn’t let Mathias face the same tragedy.

Without a second thought, I ran after him.

But I barely took a few steps before a beam crashed down, striking my leg.

The pain hit me like a tidal wave, and I crumpled to the ground, helpless. All I could do was shout, desperate to be heard, hoping someone would come.

The smoke choked me, the air thick and suffocating as it stung my throat.

Then, out of the haze, a pair of hands reached for me, warm and firm, pulling me into safety.

They seemed to be asking how I was, but I couldn’t answer. My voice had abandoned me, hoarse and weak. Through my blurred vision, I could barely make out the person’s face.

Before I lost consciousness, all I could hear was the frantic shout of someone above me,

"She's seriously injured! Get her to the hospital immediately!"

When I woke in the hospital, the world outside buzzed with news. Mathias had pulled Nathalia from the flames, and their love story was now a legend.

"Ten years of devotion, unwavering until death."

"True love reveals itself in times of crisis."

"Only death can tear them apart."

The comment sections were flooded with praise, while others couldn’t hide their venom, calling me a homewrecker who had schemed my way into his life.

Hiding behind the banner of “true love conquers all,” they called me a shameless woman, determined to tear Mathias and Nathalia apart.

Even the nurses who tended to me couldn't help but throw disdainful glances my way.

Some even whispered just outside my hospital room.

"Did you hear? Mathias ran out of his engagement party straight into the fire for her."

"Everyone's saying his fiancée's position is about to change hands."

"I’d say it’s a done deal."

"Well, it’s what Irene deserves. She shouldn’t have meddled."

"She was just deluding herself. The two women are in the same hospital, only one floor apart. But how many times has Mathias been here? Nathalia barely got a scratch on her, and he’s called in the best doctors, staying by her side day and night, treating her like she’s the world’s most precious gem."

"Sigh, if only I could meet a man as devoted as Mathias…"

Their voices faded, drifting down the corridor like the remnants of a storm.

I simply closed my eyes, letting silence wrap around me like a suffocating shroud.

My ankle was shattered, the pain sharp and relentless, and a stubborn respiratory infection clung to me like a shadow.

In the week I spent in the sterile embrace of the hospital, I had already undergone five surgeries, each one leaving me more hollow than the last.

Mathias came to see me once, just once.

He left me with nothing more than a cold, distant sentence. “Irene, please take care of yourself.”

And just like that, he disappeared from my life.

Every time I woke from the fog of anesthesia, the doctors mentioned how I cried, my tears spilling uncontrollably as if my heart couldn’t bear the weight of its own agony.

But now, there were no more tears left to shed.

I wondered, was this how it felt when the heart died, a long, torturous ache that made every breath a struggle?

Somehow, though, I survived it.

For a month, I lay in that sterile room, the hours crawling by.

When the day finally came for me to leave, I had hoped to find Mathias, to speak to him, to have the conversation we should have had all along.

But when I reached his room, the nurse told me he had already left, without a trace, seven days ago.

I sent him a message, hoping that somehow, he would make time to meet me one last time.

After ten years, I deserved to say goodbye properly.

Despite the pain gnawing at my leg, I hailed a taxi and forced myself into it.

When I arrived home, the weight of everything hit me. I began packing up my life, every corner of this place that had once been filled with warmth, now devoid of meaning.

I loaded the last of my things into the truck I had arranged, the one that would carry me away from everything that had once been ours.

And everything Mathias had given me, the gifts, the emerald necklace that shimmered with memories, I left behind without a second thought.

Mathias had always been sentimental.

This house, his old home, was the place where everything started. The place where, when we first came together, I moved in without hesitation.

Even now, despite his wealth and status, he never left. This house was his anchor.

I ran my fingers across the wallpaper, the one I had carefully chosen, and for a moment, it almost felt like a forgotten memory. But then, something caught my attention, a strange sensation, a twist in the air.

My fingers trembled as I peeled back the wallpaper, an uneasy feeling creeping up my spine. What I uncovered made my heart race with dread and disbelief.

Underneath the wallpaper, I found the wall covered with a painting, Mathias holding Nathalia in his arms, a picture of perfect devotion. The words written beside it were like daggers.

‘Nathalia, this is our first home. I will never leave.

Every night, I hold Irene in my arms, but the only person I think about is you.

Will you ever come back?

I have everything now, so why haven’t you returned?

Irene wants to marry me, but I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone other than you.

Nathalia, I really… I can’t hold on much longer…’

Each sentence felt like a flame searing through my chest, burning my heart alive as it fought to keep beating.

Now, it all made sense. No wonder Mathias had kept me from touching the renovations. This wall, this damn wall, had been filled with his longing for Nathalia.

How laughable. The wallpaper I’d so carefully chosen had only served to blind me to the truth.

Mathias wasn’t sentimental; he’d been holding onto her all along.

And? I had never been anything but a punchline in his story.

My nails dug deep into my palm, the sharp pain barely registering as I numbly stared at the words on the wall, reading them over and over like a cruel mantra, torturing myself until the last remnants of my heart’s attachment turned to smoke.

With a steadying breath, I placed the keys on the table, no longer hesitating. Without another glance, I turned to leave.

Then, my phone buzzed, and I finally received a reply from Mathias. [If you want to talk, come to the Belmont Haven Hotel.]

I went. I kept my promise.

But Mathias wasn’t there.

Instead, Nathalia stepped out of a hotel room, draped in an expensive designer suit, her every step radiating grace.

The jewelry she wore sparkled like the cruel glint in her eyes as she looked me over, her gaze dripping with provocation.

“Mathias doesn’t even want you anymore, and yet you’re still clinging to him. Don’t you find that pathetic?”

A sudden clarity hit me.

“That message… you sent it from Mathias’s phone, didn’t you?”

Nathalia let out a laugh, a sound of pure derision as if her silence had already answered my question.

Since that was the case, there was no point in wasting another breath on her. I turned to leave.

But before I could take another step, Nathalia’s voice drifted from behind me, laced with mockery.

“Irene, if you have any self-awareness, you’d tuck your tail and run. If you wait until Mathias throws you out himself, things won’t be so easy for you.”

Her words made me pause.

“And what if I don’t leave?”

I never went looking for trouble, but that didn’t mean I had no temper.

Nathalia let out a laugh, richer and more condescending this time.

“You’re not still dreaming of becoming Mrs. Mathias, are you?” she scoffed.

“How ridiculous. Back when he had nothing, you sold everything to help him get back on his feet.”

Her gaze turned to pity, dripping with false sympathy.

“I even heard you sold the house your dead parents left you… all for him.” She clicked her tongue. “So devoted, so hopelessly in love.”

“But tell me, what did all that loyalty get you? Nothing. Mathias still doesn’t love you. The moment I so much as beckoned, he tossed you aside like garbage. He wouldn’t spare you a second glance even if you sold yourself.”

The mention of my parents’ house sent a sharp pain through my chest, so sudden it nearly stole my breath away.

Out of gratitude for saving his life and the love I once thought was real, I abandoned everything my parents left me and stood by Mathias through his darkest days.

We had endured hardships, suffered injustice, and weathered storms. But never, not even at our lowest, had I felt regret as bone-deep as I did now.

I had foolishly believed that love, tempered by trials, would only grow stronger.

The truth was crueler. My love had been misplaced from the very start.

Yet Nathalia wasn’t finished.

“Oh, you still don’t know, do you?” She tilted her head, feigning pity. “Those online rumors calling you a shameless homewrecker? Mathias orchestrated all of it himself.”

My breath hitched.

“He wanted to protect me,” she continued smoothly. “He didn’t want me to suffer any backlash, so he threw you to the wolves instead. He let the entire internet rip you apart… just so I wouldn’t have to endure a scratch.”

Something inside me snapped.

So that was the truth.

If I had a mirror in front of me, I knew exactly what I would see: bloodshot eyes, raw betrayal, and a woman who had given everything… for a man who had never deserved it.

The sharp clack of Nathalia’s heels echoed through the room as she strode toward me, her gaze dripping with malice. She reached out, tilting my chin between her fingers, her touch deceptively gentle.

"Honestly, I don’t care whether you leave or not," she murmured, her lips curving into a slow, venomous smile.

"Because what I really want… is to ruin you completely."

Before her words could even settle in my mind, she suddenly tore at her own blouse, sending buttons scattering to the floor. With swift, practiced movements, she mussed up her hair, then seized my wrist and forced my hand to strike her again and again.

Then, as if on cue, she crumpled to the floor, her body trembling, tears spilling down her cheeks in violent torrents.

"Miss Hale," she sobbed, her voice breaking. "I know you hate me, but how could you force me to do something like this?" Her fingers clutched at her chest as she gasped out her next words.

"I’d rather die than agree to it!"

With a sudden, dramatic lunge, she grabbed a fruit knife from the coffee table, angling it toward her throat.

Instinct took over. I surged forward, reaching to stop her.

But before I could even touch the blade, a brutal force slammed into me, sending me crashing backward.

"Nathalia!"

The next moment, Mathias had her wrapped tightly in his arms, his voice thick with desperation.

Nathalia let the knife slip from her fingers, collapsing against him as she sobbed uncontrollably, her entire frame quivering like a fragile bird seeking shelter in his embrace.

"Mathias, you finally came."

"If you hadn’t, Miss Hale would have already sent me to President Liam’s bed!"

I had slammed into the corner of the table, pain searing through my already bruised lower back, leaving my vision swimming. The agony threatened to pull me under, but I bit down on the pain and forced out a hoarse, desperate rebuttal.

"I didn’t!"

"How could I possibly do something like that?"

"Mathias, after everything we’ve been through, do you really believe something this absurd?"

For a fleeting second, something in his expression wavered. His brows furrowed ever so slightly, hesitation creeping in.

But before that moment could solidify, Nathalia whimpered, tightening her grip on his sleeve, her fragile form quivering against him as though she might shatter at any second.