I stood there, frozen, my entire body numb. The ringing in my ears drowned out everything else, and the shock left me dazed, almost paralyzed.

It couldn’t be… It couldn’t be true.

Maybe… maybe Damon was just having dinner with a friend, or... or maybe they were discussing something business-related.

I tried to push away the ugly possibility, desperately clinging to any excuse to convince myself that the man I had chosen was still the one I loved.

It wasn’t until tears started falling in large, heavy drops, their coldness snapping me back to reality, that I realized what was happening. In a panic, I fumbled for my phone in my bag, my fingers trembling slightly as I gripped it.

I pressed the phone to my ear, but it felt like I couldn’t hear the dial tone—only the loud, frantic beat of my heart in my chest, as if it were trying to break free, each thud louder than the last.

“Hey honey, what’s wrong?” Damon’s voice came through the phone, his familiar warmth and affection still there, his tone dripping with the same passion he’d shown me nine years ago.

But the man in front of me didn’t look like the shy seventeen-year-old who had once gazed at me with longing.

I stood motionless, yet it felt as if I were being pulled into a twisted, hopeless world.

The boy who had looked at me with such intensity at seventeen and the Damon at twenty-six, sitting in a café, holding another woman, blended together into one confusing, distorted image.

“Are you missing me? Wait until I finish up with some company stuff, then I’ll be back, okay? Love you, honey.”

The call ended, but I stood there, staring at the couple inside, torturing myself as I watched the girl turn her head away in annoyance. Damon sighed and rubbed her head, a helpless smile pulling at his lips as he pulled her into his arms, whispering softly to her.

“Honey… when I’m successful, I won’t let you work so hard anymore. I’m going to make you the happiest person in the world.”

The words echoed in my mind. I remembered how, at twenty-three, Damon had said the same thing to me on a summer night after we’d closed a business deal. Under the moonlight, I’d felt as if we were destined to grow old together.

Back then, he held me the same way, with a look filled with tenderness and love, as if I were the most cherished thing in his world.

How... how could things have turned out like this?

A crushing sense of helplessness and confusion hit me like a tidal wave. My eyes stung, and I collapsed to the ground, pressing my hands to my face as tears silently slipped through my fingers.

[Damon says he’s been tired of you for a long time. The one he loves now is me!]

The message flashed on my phone, sending a sharp tremor of anger through me. I looked up, and my gaze collided with Lisa Sinclair’s mocking eyes. She grinned at me before leaning in to kiss the man in her arms.

I quickly averted my gaze, turning away as if I were running from the scene. I couldn’t bear the thought of how those two were entwined. Just the thought of that mouth—once the one that kissed me—now pressed against another woman’s sent an indescribable pain slowly spreading from my heart to my limbs.

I don’t even know how I made it home.

I collapsed onto the couch, numb, my eyes staring blankly at the empty space in front of me. The images from earlier, along with memories of the past, swirled together in my mind, a chaotic, blurry mess.

The pain in my body, mixed with the agony in my heart, left me disoriented. In the haze, I almost thought I saw it again—the summer nine years ago, when a boy walked toward me, holding a bouquet of white roses.

I could see the unease and eagerness in his eyes. Suddenly, the dam inside me broke. I couldn’t hold back the ache in my chest any longer. I opened my mouth, but all that escaped was a shattered sob. Tears fell in heavy streams, staining my cheeks.

I watched the boy, his hands trembling, clutching his shirt as he hurried toward the girl standing with her back to him. He turned his face away, taking deep breaths, and his outstretched hand wavered as he reached for her.

“Zoey, I like you.”

The girl turned, revealing delicate features, her eyes full of mischief and playful arrogance. Despite the affection in her gaze, she responded with a teasing, “If you can pass all ninety-nine tests, I’ll say yes.”

Back then, Damon would do anything for me. He’d cross the city just to get me a mango pudding from a particular shop. He remembered every little thing—how I liked my food spicy, how my coffee had to be seven parts sweet, how I needed strawberry milk every afternoon from the campus kiosk, and how he always carried my favorite strawberry-flavored candies in his pocket.

Damon, you know how petty I am…

“Why… Why…”

I curled up on the couch, overwhelmed by a storm of emotions crashing over me. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and whimpered helplessly.

“Honey, why are you sleeping here?”

I opened my eyes to see Damon rushing toward me. He placed the cake he was holding on the table, then gently lifted me, cradling me in his arms as he carried me toward the bedroom.

He laid me down on the bed, then tenderly placed my feet on his lap, wrapping his warm hands around them.

The familiar gesture made my heart tighten, and I stared at him, momentarily stunned.

A few years ago, before the company went public, we had nothing. We lived in a cramped basement. In the winter, it was unbearably cold, and with my weak constitution, my feet would turn to ice. He would always warm them up for me like this.

I stared at Damon, his face hidden in the shadows, and for the first time, I realized that I couldn’t see the past as clearly anymore.

“Honey, you were amazing today. My assistant, Peter Winters, already got a collaboration offer from that company.”

I didn’t respond. I just watched him, trying to figure out if his eyes held real affection or just empty words.

When Damon saw I was silent, he leaned in, trying to kiss me. His movements were as sticky and familiar as they had always been.

But as he leaned closer, the sickly-sweet scent of his cologne hit me, and the disgust rising from deep inside me made me suddenly turn my head and gag.

His movements faltered. After a brief pause, he gently placed his hand on my back, patting me softly. But I recoiled, as if his touch had burned me.

Damon froze for a moment, his voice softening. He reached out, taking my cold fingers in his, crouching down to look into my eyes.

“I’m sorry, honey. Work has been overwhelming lately. I haven’t had time to be with you. Please don’t be mad at me.”

I let out a low, dry laugh, my throat aching. I pulled my hand away from his and turned my face.

“No time to be with me?”

Liar.