Evelyn did not come home that night. After I refused to cook for Simon, she blocked my number without a second thought.

Instead of waiting, I packed up and drove back to my hometown. I felt a strange pull to retrieve some of my old childhood belongings.

I was not entirely sure what Evelyn had told my mother, but as soon as I stepped out of the car, it became clear that her words had already reached home. My mother was standing at the door, her arms crossed, looking as though she had been waiting for me for hours.

The moment she realized Evelyn was not coming with me, her face immediately darkened.

Mom still did not know the truth that Evelyn would never set foot here again. Deep down, she had always looked down on me and my family, treating us with a kind of disdain she never bothered to hide.

"You haven't made up yet?" my mother asked sharply.

"It's too complicated to be fixed," I replied.

No sooner had the words left my mouth than her hand connected with my face, hard and fast. Half my face throbbed as I felt the familiar sting of her slap.

In front of the whole neighborhood, with people passing by and glancing at the scene unfolding, my mother grabbed the broom by the door. She struck me again with the same ruthless frustration she used to discipline me when I was a child.

Each hit landed with force, relentless and filled with frustration.

"Eve told me everything," she yelled between strikes. "Do you even understand how lucky you are to be with someone like her? You should be grateful. Grateful! It's a blessing you don’t deserve, a fortune earned over several lifetimes. And here you are, wasting it."

"You're just jealous, you're being selfish, you're mean!"

"You better figure it out, you hear me? No matter what it takes, whether you have to beg on your knees or hang your own neck, you’ll marry Evelyn, or don’t even think about coming back here!"

Suddenly, a cold wind swept through and the sky opened up as rain poured down.

My mother finally stopped.

She blocked the door, threw my things into the rain-soaked street and shouted, "Get out! Even if you die, you better die as a part of the Hartwell family!"

The trophy I had earned as a child, a symbol of my pride, hit me square on the forehead, drawing blood. The rain mixed with my own blood, streaming down my face as I knelt to pick up the scattered remnants of my past from the muddy ground.

That was when a Bentley pulled up beside me.

The car door opened and Evelyn stepped out of the car.

She held an umbrella in one hand and with the other, she grabbed me roughly from behind, dragging me toward her car.

"Vince, have you learned your lesson yet?"

"No one in this world will ever love you the way I do."

"Come back home with me. As soon as we return, you have to apologize to Simon and you’ll still be my future husband."

She threw her coat over my shoulders, but the smell of Simon's cigarettes still clung to the fabric, overwhelming me.

I turned my head away, looking out the rain-blurred window at the scenery as it passed.

The numbness in my chest spread, swallowing everything whole.

I used to see Evelyn as my salvation, someone I could confide in, someone who would understand my deepest thoughts and feelings. But now, I realized she had taken my pain and twisted it into something she could use to control me, to manipulate me.

She was never my salvation.

And she certainly was not worthy of my sincere love.

The only way I could truly live, the only way I could ever be happy, was by leaving her and walking away from the hollow place we once called home.

As these thoughts swirled in my mind, Evelyn’s phone rang, snapping me back to reality.

"Evelyn, why aren’t you here yet? Everyone is waiting for you."

"They’re teasing me, saying team events should be attended by couples. I’m barely holding up here without you..."

Evelyn glanced at me awkwardly.

For a brief moment, I could see the wheels turning in her head, as though she was weighing the pros and cons of leaving me behind, but she quickly realized it would be inappropriate, especially after everything that had happened.

"Vince, why don’t you join us for the company’s team event?"

In the past, I was never allowed to simply set foot in Evelyn's company.

I was always the outsider, kept at a distance to avoid interfering with her work. Even when I brought her lunch, I had to wait outside, handing the food over to her assistant while I stood at the door like some kind of delivery boy.

But now, this invitation was something different. An unprecedented offer.

I slowly reached for a tissue, wiping the blood still dripping from the wound on my forehead. Then, after a moment, I answered, my voice calm and deliberate.

"Alright."

I arrived in front of everyone, my clothes soaked through, completely drenched and feeling utterly embarrassed.

Evelyn deliberately picked up her pace, walking ahead as if she could not bear to be associated with me. It was painfully obvious that she was afraid of being seen with me, worried about what others might think if they saw us together.

When Simon caught sight of me, his lips curled into a pout, clearly displeased.

I overheard Evelyn's soft voice, which was meant only for his ears but loud enough for me to catch. "I don't feel sorry for him. I just want him to humiliate himself. "

"I want everyone to see that without me, his life is worse than that of a stray dog."

Surrounded by mocking stares and whispers, I felt a strange sense of calm wash over me.  Perhaps, I had reached the point where the heartache had become so frequent that I simply had grown numb to it.

Raising my hand, I calmly asked the waiter for a blanket. Once it arrived, I sat down on the sofa, watching people move about, chatting and drinking, enjoying the lively atmosphere of the event around me.

Just at this time, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a call from Matthew.

He said he had reached out to a few companies for me and I was welcome to have an interview at any time.

Just as I was about to hang up, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Evelyn staring at me with confusion written all over her face.

"Who were you talking to? What interview? Where are you planning to go?" she asked suspiciously.

Without missing a beat, I lied casually, "No one, nowhere. Just advertising sales."

Her frown eased as though she was finally satisfied with my answer.

"That sounds about right. Even your own parents have abandoned you, so where else could you possibly go?"

"The rain has stopped and there’s nothing for you to do here. You can go home now."

"And don’t forget to wash my coat when you get back."

I did not bother responding. Instead, I threw her coat onto the sofa without a second thought.

Simon, who had been watching me the whole time, tilted his head slightly before pulling Evelyn toward the exit with him to see me off.

As I walked out to the side of the road, something unexpected happened.

Simon stretched out his leg and deliberately tripped me.

I felt my body lurch forward, completely off-balance, tumbling toward the rose bushes that lined the sidewalk.

"Vince!"

Evelyn tried to reach out and pull me. However, as soon as Simon groaned, she immediately turned around and returned to his side.

By doing so, she left me to fall straight into the thorn-filled bushes.

The sharp thorns pricked into my skin and the muddy ground made my humiliation complete.

I struggled to get back on my feet, covered in dirt and scratches. As I finally stood up, I saw Evelyn bending over, her expression soft and gentle. But she was not looking at me. No, she was tenderly wiping the water stains off Simon’s shoes.

She glanced at me, casting a guilty glance in my direction.

"Vince, are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital."

"Evelyn." Before I could respond, Simon’s eyes welled up.

"You promised to spend the day with me. It’s the anniversary of when we first held hands. How could you leave me all alone?"

Evelyn's eyes darted between us.

She hesitated, torn between her two worlds.

"I'll just go to the hospital by myself. You can’t leave early since you’re the boss," I said.

Evelyn let out a sigh of relief, almost as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Then be careful. I'll bring you your favorite cheesecake when I get home."

Cheesecake? It was Simon's favorite, not mine.

Whatever. I did not see the point in correcting her anymore. After all, in her mind, I was always the one who could be left behind, the one who could be sacrificed.

Instead of wasting time waiting for a love that was never truly mine, it was smarter to cut my losses and leave before I got hurt again.

At the hospital, the doctor carefully removed the thorns that had pierced my skin.

As I watched the sharp barbs being pulled out, it felt like every bit of love and devotion I had poured into my relationship with Evelyn was being extracted too, leaving my body.

The next morning, I received a call from Evelyn. She called me on Instagram for the first time.

"Why aren't you answering the phone?" she demanded.

"Didn't you block my number?"

A few moments later, her voice came. "I'll be home in half an hour and I'll bring you freshly baked cheesecake and egg tart."

"By the way, I also bought a new engagement ring."

"I’ve really treated you awfully these past two days," she added. "I won’t do it again in the future."

I glanced at the clock and replied calmly, "We have no future."

Unfortunately, Evelyn had already hung up.

There were still three hours left until noon.

I sat there, considering my next move, then decided to open her laptop. I tried a few different passwords, but none of them worked. Finally, it worked with Simon's birthday.

I just sat there, staring at the screen, waiting for Evelyn to come home.

Half an hour passed.

Then, an hour passed.

I picked up my phone and scrolled through the latest updates. Unsurprisingly, Simon had posted again.

This time, he was sitting in the passenger seat of Evelyn’s car. They were holding hands, fingers intertwined, both wearing matching rings.

I could not help but smile at the absurdity of it all.

I logged into Evelyn’s email account and typed the story of Evelyn Hartwell and me over the past seven years, as well as the cheating evidence collected during this period. With a few clicks, I sent it all using her name and email.

Then I calmly closed the laptop, picked up my suitcase and walked out the door.

With that, I went to the airport alone.

While checking in, my phone buzzed incessantly with countless messages and missed calls.