I had been engaged to Atlas Payne, a powerful CEO, for five years. This was the 21st time he had canceled our wedding ceremony.

The first time, his secretary, Jasmine Scott, sprained her ankle. He left me by the roadside and rushed to the hospital.

The second time, Jasmine cried and made a scene on the eve of our wedding, so he left me alone on the red carpet.

The Payne family was powerful, while I was merely the daughter of a housekeeper. Therefore, everyone advised me to just deal with his mood swings.

Every time Atlas left me behind, he would solemnly apologize and promise me that the next wedding attempt would definitely go smoothly.

I kept believing him. Even though I was not the family's legitimate mistress, I still handled all the family affairs for him. I waited and waited, but the wedding ceremony never came. All I received was news that Jasmine was pregnant.

This time, I had no reason to convince myself to stay.

"I will never let you leave my side. If you ever disappear, I’ll make sure to use my family's influence to find you."

The sweet words he once said to me were now a cage that trapped me.

On Christmas Day, I prepared to leave him for good. I started a fire at home. Even the most powerful family would not be able to find someone who was supposedly dead.

Years later, I unexpectedly came across Atlas kneeling at my ‘grave’. He was always so stern, but now, he was crying and begging me to come home and see him again.

Today was the 21st time Atlas Payne had promised me that we would have a wedding ceremony. He had arranged the church, flowers, and fine wine, yet I did not even want to change into my wedding dress.

He had broken his previous promises twenty times. I was not the only one smiling mockingly—the guests were, too. However, they were afraid to show it because of Atlas's power.

"Mrs. Payne, it's time to get dressed up." The butler, Alfred Dane, handed me the wedding dress. When he touched my hand, he was startled to feel my burning-hot skin.

A few days ago, Atlas' secretary, Jasmine Scott, called him. He left me by the roadside to go meet her.

By the time Alfred picked me up, all my clothes were soaked through. I still had a high fever to this day. I sighed and dizzily went to get changed, but a cold voice came from behind me.

"Don't rush to get changed yet. Jasmine is in the hospital, and I'm planning to see her first. I'll try my best to come back for the wedding dinner. If I don't make it, you can handle things like you did before."

After saying that, Atlas kissed me on the cheek and left in a hurry.

Usually, at times like this, I would hold his hand, begging him not to leave with red eyes. Now, I simply kissed his cheek in return and smiled slightly. "Be careful on your way there."

Atlas looked at me with surprise before noticing my flushed cheeks and frowning. "Why is your face so red? Are you feeling embarrassed?"

Before I could explain, he smiled slightly and put on a rare look of satisfaction. "Naomi, don't worry. I'll be back very soon."

He then drove off as fast as the wind. It was unclear whether it was to see Jasmine as soon as possible or to get back for the wedding as fast as he could.

It was probably for the former. After all, between Jasmine and me, he would always choose Jasmine.

For example, he would unhesitatingly give her my haute couture gown at dinner if she liked it. He would also refuse to drink a drop of the coffee I poured for him when he worked the night shift, but he drank all the milk Jasmine poured for him. Atlas disliked milk and always complained about it smelling fishy and unpleasant, but it did not matter when Jasmine was the one giving it to him.

While thinking about that, I felt a small ache in my heart.

After calming myself down, I forced my weary body into the church to apologize to the guests waiting at the wedding venue.

Feeling their teasing glances, I silently returned home.

As soon as I entered the door, I collapsed to the floor. I did not have the strength to get up, so I just lay there.

Just as I was about to faint, a message popped up on my phone. It was a picture from Jasmine.

It was a pregnancy test report, and it was positive.

There was also a short caption.

Jasmine: [Ugh, I wish you could’ve seen Atlas's expression when he found out I was pregnant. It was unforgettable.]

My heart felt like it stopped beating when I read her message.

Atlas and I had never tried for children during our five years together, simply because he disliked kids.

He always used condoms. Though he took it off when things got intense a few times, he would make me take the morning-after pill. He knew I liked children, but it did not make him change his mind.

Now, Jasmine had gotten pregnant with his child so easily. It was not that he disliked children—he just disliked me.

My phone slipped from my hand and fell to the floor.

Even though the heater was on, the floor was still freezing cold.

I looked at the message again, feeling like I really should give up this time.

When I woke up again, I was surrounded by private doctors.

"Mrs. Payne, you have a high fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. If we hadn't discovered you in time, you might’ve almost died." Their tone was urgent, but I remained calm.

I had almost died, huh?

"Hurry and inform Mr. Payne!" Alfred urged from the side.

I interrupted, my voice as soft as it could be, "No need. Mr. Payne is very busy right now. He doesn't like being disturbed, even if it's by me."

“Mrs. Payne...” Alfred sighed. "Mr. Payne is just seeking a bit of novelty for a while. Once he gets tired of her, he'll come back to you. After all, you two grew up together."

His tone was filled with regret because he had witnessed Atlas and me grow up from children into adults. He had witnessed both Atlas breaking his vows to me time and again, as well as us loving each other so much that we were willing to sacrifice our lives for the other.

However, all of this was in the past. Atlas had changed, and he no longer loved me. He was in love with someone else, and she was pregnant with his child. We did not have a future together, so it was time for me to let myself go.

After the medical staff left, I began to think about strategies to escape.

Atlas was powerful, with informants all over the world. No matter where I fled, he could easily find me. The only way to escape completely was to fake my death, and the best way to die was in a fire.

Atlas feared nothing except fire. Years ago, his mother died in a fire, leaving him with severe trauma. This was the only way he would not dare rescue me.

However, perhaps I was overthinking it, because Atlas might not come to rescue me regardless of the situation I was in.

After all, Jasmine could become Atlas' wife once I was gone.

With this in mind, I let out a long sigh and contacted a friend abroad, asking him to arrange a new identity for me in Buldaria.

Once I faked my death and escaped, I would go there to start a new life.

I transferred my assets and started packing, sending out some expensive items in advance. Halfway through packing, I realized I had very few belongings, most of which were gifts from Atlas. There were also things that held shared memories, such as a collection of love letters he wrote for me and photos of us from every Christmas.

I caressed the corner of his smile in the photo frame, my eyes stinging with tears. We were so deeply in love back then.

Atlas walked in just in time to see this. "What are you doing?"

I immediately put the photo frame back and whispered that I was fine.

Atlas paused, glanced at the frame, and a hint of guilt flashed in his eyes. He helped me to bed, touched my forehead, and spoke gently yet reproachfully. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

A gust of wind blew in from outside, sending the cheap perfume on him into my nostrils. It made me nauseous, so I brushed his hand away. "It's just a fever."

Atlas stared at his dangling hand, startled. I had never refused his touch before. "Are you mad at me?"

Hearing my silence, he chuckled and pulled an exquisite box from his bag. Inside was a necklace I had liked for a long time.

Atlas gently put it in my hand, whispering in my ear, "A belated apology. Naomi, I promise I'll be on time next time."

His eyes held a seriousness I had never seen before, but I knew there would be no next time.

Atlas sat by the hospital bed and chatted with me for a while. He was unusually patient, but I did not want to listen to him anymore.

Seemingly sensing my perfunctory attitude, Atlas did not say any more. He stood up, walked to the window, and lit a cigarette. "Naomi, Jasmine is pregnant."

The pungent smell of cigarette smoke spread through the room.

I did not expect him to say it so brazenly. "Yeah, I know."

Hearing my words, he seemed to forget to breathe. It was not until he choked slightly that he came to his senses. "You don't mind?"

"It would be useless even if I did, right?" I gave him a bitter smile.

Atlas was taken aback. He turned around, extinguished the cigarette butt, walked up to me, and gently cupped my face. "Naomi, don't get mad, and don’t act like I’m treating you badly. Don't worry! Once this child is born, I'll break up with her once and for all. We'll raise this child together."

Having said that, he lowered his head and kissed my lips. The kiss was aggressive, seemingly expressing dissatisfaction with my nonchalance.

I did not know how much time had passed before he let go.

Seeing my dazed look, he smirked in satisfaction. "But don't mention the wedding ceremony before she gives birth to the baby. It might complicate her pregnancy if she finds out."

He turned around and left, tossing a black card onto the table. "There's no spending limit on this card. Use it to have some fun next year. Consider it your compensation."

I heard the door close. I threw back the covers and went to the window to watch him disappear into the snowstorm with a red bag. He was heading toward a black car in the distance.

The car door opened, and a petite girl rushed out and threw herself into his arms.

Atlas immediately took off his coat and wrapped it around her, afraid she would get cold.

The pair looked as sweet as newlyweds.

I watched from the window for a long time, until the car lights disappeared into the distance, before turning back to my room. I turned my head to look at the oil lamp on the table. It was a small antique that Atlas had specially bought. I imagined it falling to the floor and bursting into flames.

While I was deep in thought, my friend from Buldaria, Felix Green, called. "Naomi, your new identity is registered, and the house has been purchased. I'll be waiting for you at the airport in two days."

I hummed in reply. "Thank you, Felix."

A silence fell across the other end of the line. He suddenly sighed. "Naomi, are you sure you're giving up on Atlas? There's no turning back after you leave. After this, Naomi Lindell will cease to exist."

"I really don't want him anymore." I sent him a screenshot of Jasmine's recent social media post.

The photo showed them sitting in an incredibly romantic restaurant. She raised her right hand as Atlas slowly put a diamond ring on her ring finger.

I realized then that Atlas had only returned to retrieve the diamond ring worth tens of millions of dollars.

Below the picture was a caption.

Jasmine: [This is the best day I've ever had. It’s been full of surprises after surprises!]

Seeing this, I smiled bitterly. Today was truly the worst day of my life.

"You saw it, didn’t you? It's not that I've given up on Atlas, it's that we don't want each other anymore."