On our engagement day, my fiancee, Lucille Perry, had her childhood best friend, Derek Miller, show up with a box of handmade cookies as a gift.

Out of basic courtesy, I picked one up and took a bite.

Derek and a few of his buddies burst out laughing. "This mama's boy can't even recognize his own mother's ashes!"

My stomach churned violently. Shocked and furious, I lunged at him to throw a punch, but Lucille desperately held me back.

Derek looked at me smugly and grinned. "Since you already ate it, why don't you tell everyone how your mom tastes?"

I was so angry that I kicked him right in the face.

However, Lucille turned around and slapped me hard across the cheek. "Spencer Bourdain, is this really necessary? Can't you take a joke? Eating a little bit of ashes won't kill you. Look at how petty you're being!"

My heart went completely numb. I quietly pulled out my phone and sent a message to a certain number.

[The wedding reception is ready. All we need now is you, the bride-to-be.]

My kick landed squarely on Derek's face. He fell backward, and blood gushed from his nose.

The entire venue went dead silent as guests exchanged glances, not daring to make a sound.

Everyone knew that whoever Lucille wanted to protect was practically untouchable. Even I, her fiance, was no exception.

Derek struggled to get up from the floor, clutching his face and groaning. He shouted, "Don't you think you're overreacting, Spencer?! Lucille, I think my nose is broken. It hurts so bad!"

The next second, Lucille lifted her leg and kicked me hard in the stomach. She was a former mercenary and the daughter of a mob boss, so her strength was far greater than most men's.

I flew backward into the champagne tower, and the sound of shattering glass exploded as the liquid instantly soaked my entire body. Cuts from the broken glass covered my skin.

Lucille glared down at me with a look that wanted to tear me apart. "Spencer, are you out of your mind?! Derek just mixed a little of your mom's ashes into the cookies as a joke to liven up the mood. Why are you throwing such a fit?"

I froze, realizing she had known about this all along. Then again, of course she did. Without Lucille's permission, Derek could never have gotten his hands on Mom's ashes so easily.

At that instant, the nausea in my stomach was suddenly replaced by a piercing pain in my heart. I doubled over and dry heaved as tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.

Seeing my heartbroken state, Lucille just sneered with disdain. "Look at you! Anyone who doesn't know any better would think Derek killed your mom. Spencer, she's been dead for years now. Haven't you played the devoted son long enough?"

Derek sighed and shook his head. "Lucille, don't be mad. This is all my fault. I just wanted to pull a harmless prank, but I didn't expect Spencer to go this far. Since I'm the one who upset him, I should be the one to apologize."

With that, he made a show of raising his hand to slap himself.

However, Lucille grabbed his arm to stop him. "You didn't do anything wrong! He's the one being petty!"

Hearing that, I laughed bitterly. I spat out the blood in my mouth and shakily stood up.

"Baking my mother's ashes into cookies and making me eat them in front of everyone at our engagement party–that's just a little joke? He didn't just humiliate me; he humiliated my mom, too!"

Lucille's eyes flickered for a moment, as if she realized that she was clearly in the wrong on this one.

At that exact moment, Derek suddenly clutched his head and groaned. "Lucille, my head hurts so bad... Spencer's kick was way too hard. I think he gave me a concussion..."

When Lucille saw the pain on Derek's face, her expression changed again. She hissed, "Spencer, you actually tried to cripple Derek? Now the whole city knows I'm marrying a mad dog like you! Are you trying to humiliate me?!"

She jabbed her finger at me viciously. "If you still care about my reputation, get on your knees right now and apologize to Derek, and bow your head a hundred times! If you do that, I'll pretend none of this happened."

My heart plunged into an icy abyss. All these years, she had forced me to compromise and submit in every way for Derek's sake.

Derek had ruined our engagement party and even insulted my mother's memory. Even so, she still would not side with me, not even once.

Derek spoke up, "Lucille, even if Spencer does apologize, everyone will just think he's doing it because of you.

"How about this... Let's make him eat all these cookies. That way, everyone will think Spencer is the bigger man. What do you say?"

Lucille's eyes lit up. "Hold him down!"

The next second, security guards swarmed forward and forced me to my knees on the ground.

Lucille then pried open my mouth and shoved the cookies in one by one. She did not stop even when I was choking and could not breathe. Finally, the entire box was emptied, and I curled up on the floor, vomiting uncontrollably.

All I heard was Lucille's cold voice. "You offended Derek and upset me, too. I'm not in the mood to marry you today. For the next few days, you'll kneel in the busiest part of downtown every day. I'll think about our wedding when I'm calmer."

As she helped Derek turn to leave, I suddenly spoke up. "Lucille, if you're dead set on protecting this man, then we might as well never get married at all!"

The moment those words left my mouth, Lucille stopped walking.

Derek suddenly coughed and grabbed Lucille's arm, choking up. "Lucille, I can go to the hospital by myself. You should stay here with Spencer.

"I'm such a terrible person, always hurting your relationship without meaning to, and now I've ruined your wedding, too."

Watching his performance made me feel sicker.

However, Lucille seemed blind to it, and she actually pulled him into her arms with concern.

"Spencer, look at you! You've made Derek cry. He said he didn't mean it. What more do you want? I'm not falling for your tricks. Also, I'm not falling for your threats, so stop trying. It won't work!"

She sneered as she looked around at all the guests and continued, "Everyone, you're all witnesses to this. This is the man I'm supposed to marry, and he's this petty!"

With that, she helped Derek up and left without looking back.

I stood there frozen. Eventually, I forced down the sharp pain in my chest and apologized to the guests.

"I'm sorry you all had to witness this. The reception ends here. Please, everyone, go home."

After seeing off the guests, I finally could not hold on anymore. A wave of dizziness hit me, and I collapsed to the floor.

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed. The doctor said my ribs were slightly fractured. My stomach had also suffered internal bleeding from the trauma.

I lay there weak and powerless, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Seven years of our relationship had just gone down the drain. I did not want to face this, but I finally saw Lucille for who she truly was.

Before long, Lucille arrived at the hospital. She was drenched in sweat, and several buttons on her shirt had been torn off.

When she saw I was awake, she awkwardly adjusted her collar, her tone harsh.

"Derek was so upset he cried all morning, so I was busy comforting him. That's why I'm late coming to see you.

"Honestly, you make such a big deal out of nothing, and now I have to run back and forth between you two grown men. You're nothing but trouble."

I remained silent and closed my eyes; those words sounded all too familiar.

When we first got together seven years ago, Lucille had told me that Derek was sensitive and that I needed to be more 'understanding.'

I finally understood what 'understanding' really meant. It meant I was the one who had to swallow every grievance and take the blame every single time.

It worsened when Derek loved to torment me under the guise of joking around. Once, while I was in a meeting with a female client, he barged in and claimed he was catching me cheating on Lucille. In the end, he offended the client so badly that I lost a contract worth tens of millions of dollars.

On the anniversary of Mom's death, he swapped out the candles and flowers I had prepared and replaced them with dog food. He said he wanted the old lady to try something new.

However, Lucille always defended his actions and blamed me for being petty instead.

"Derek jokes with you because he considers you a friend and wants to get along with you. Don't be so ungrateful!"

Three months ago, Derek went even further. At my birthday yacht party, he caught me off guard and pushed me into the ocean to drift with the waves.

It was not until three days later that the rescue team found me, dehydrated and unconscious. My skin was covered in sores and infected in multiple places.

When I woke up in the hospital, all I heard was Lucille comforting him in the hallway. "This isn't your fault. It's his own fault that he can't swim well. If he had just swum back to shore, nothing would've happened."

When I was discharged, Lucille finally showed up. Instead of comforting me, though, she defended Derek again.

She said, "Derek really didn't mean to hurt you, and he's been so guilt-ridden he hasn't eaten in days. Can't you just let it go? I already talked to the police and told them you accidentally fell off the boat yourself, and it has nothing to do with Derek."

From that moment on, my heart slowly went numb.

The hospital room was eerily quiet. I pulled out my phone and opened social media.

Right then, I saw a post Derek had just made. In the video, he had actually dumped Mom's remaining ashes from the urn into a swimming pool.

He scattered them, laughing loudly. "Mrs. Bourdain, you've been cooped up in that jar for so long. Let me let you out for some fresh air."

I was enraged and immediately dialed Lucille's number. After dozens of attempts, she finally picked up.

I could no longer contain my fury and shouted hoarsely, "Lucille! Derek dumped my mom's ashes into the swimming pool. Isn't that at our house? Why didn't you stop him?"

Lucille simply scoffed. "She's already dead and just a pile of ashes. Why are you so worked up? Fine, Derek is in such a good mood for once, so I'll forgive your earlier mistakes–this time.

"Anyway, let's have our wedding next week… But remember: you're not allowed to argue with him anymore, or don't blame me for changing my mind anytime!"

As she spoke, I heard Derek's obscene laughter in the background. "Lucille, why don't we try having some fun in the pool this time? That would be so thrilling."

Lucille brushed me off with a few words and hung up the phone.

Listening to the dial tone, my entire body went cold. This shameless pair was actually going to do that disgusting thing in a pool filled with Mom's ashes.

Did they really not fear any consequences at all?

Just then, my phone received a message from the jewelry store manager.

[Mr. Bourdain, the diamond ring you ordered has arrived. Do you need me to deliver it now?]

[Not yet,] I replied decisively.

I added another line. [I need to reselect the style and size of the ring.]

Three days later, I checked myself out of the hospital and headed home alone. As soon as I entered the living room, I saw Derek lying naked on the couch, and the floor was littered with used condoms.

Lucille had just walked out of the bedroom wearing only lingerie. When she saw me, she was clearly flustered and quickly wrapped herself in a bathrobe.

"You're back? Didn't the doctor say you needed to stay in the hospital for a week?"

She glanced at the things on the floor and rushed to make excuses. "Spencer, don't get the wrong idea. Derek bought these to blow up like balloons for fun."

As for Derek, from the moment he saw me walk in, there was not a trace of surprise on his face. Instead, he deliberately raised his voice.

"Spencer, looks like you weren't hurt that badly. It's only been a few days, and you're already out of the hospital. You weren't pretending to be sick before just to get sympathy, were you?"