Meredith continued talking beside me, but I couldn't focus on a word she said. All I could hear was the news that, after we broke up, Silas had drunk himself to the point of causing stomach bleeding.

I remember, after his hospitalization, Silas hated the smell of alcohol. Even when I had a sip, he would furrow his brows and lecture me about it.

While wiping my face, he'd ramble on about everything, always trying to reason with me. I loved watching him scold me like that, with his face all scrunched up. At those moments, Silas's eyes were filled with nothing but me.

But now...

Just before I was about to leave, Silas suddenly pulled me into his arms, ignoring Meredith's gaze, begging me to stay.

Silas cried as he said, “Emily, I’m sorry. I promise I won’t let you suffer anymore. Please, don’t leave me.”

“What about your mom?” I tried to push him away, but he only held me tighter.

“Emily, trust me. I’ll solve this. I won’t let you suffer. I won’t let my mom make things hard for you.”

“But…”

Before I could finish my sentence, I was defeated by the redness in his eyes. I slowly wrapped my arms around him and whispered, “Okay.”

Silas promised that after we were married, he'd stay here with me and wouldn’t return to his hometown.

For every holiday, he'd come with me to visit my family, and I wouldn't have to deal with his side of the family anymore.

Looking at Silas, eyes still red, I realized that after all these years, my heart was softening.

Strangely, Meredith didn't oppose this time. In fact, I could swear I saw a brief smile on her face, though it quickly disappeared.

I wondered if I had imagined it, but that smile had been so obvious.

After Silas and I made up, the preparations for our wedding went smoothly. Even Meredith, who had always opposed the idea, began to warm up.

As she put it, seeing how much her son liked me, she had no choice but to accept me. While I still didn’t like Meredith, the wedding preparations went by without much trouble between us.

My parents, too, had agreed to the marriage after seeing Meredith's change in attitude.

Dad had always liked Silas. He admired that Silas had earned his position at the company through hard work, and not long ago, he had been promoted to manager.

Dad was very optimistic about Silas, often joking that I didn’t deserve him.

The wedding preparations were hectic, but as I watched Silas and my soon-to-be mother-in-law working tirelessly, a sense of unease settled in my chest.

And as the wedding day grew nearer, that feeling only grew stronger.

I asked Silas why his mom had suddenly changed her mind. He pulled me into his arms and said, “I almost died for you, Emily. My mom couldn’t bear to see me hurting myself, so she finally agreed.”

But no matter what he said, I couldn’t shake the unease in my heart. With the wedding half-prepared, I had no choice but to force myself to keep going.

I wasn’t sure what felt off, but my gut told me something wasn’t right. So, on the side, I hired Griffin Vale, a private investigator I’d known since childhood.

I hoped he could find me a clue, something to set my mind at ease.

During this time, Silas awkwardly approached me, saying that Meredith insisted the wedding must be held at their hometown.

“Why? Why must we go back to the old place? Didn’t we agree that after the wedding, we wouldn’t need to go back there?” I snapped at Silas, my patience starting to wear thin.

Silas’s eyes turned red in an instant. “Emily, getting married in the hometown is so the people who’ve seen me grow up can witness my happiness.”

I lowered my voice and patiently explained, “If you want them to see, I can send cars to bring them here. I’ll take care of their accommodations, too. Why does it have to be at your hometown?”

“I know your family’s rich, but have you ever thought about me? Have you considered what the people in my village will think of me?”

“Are you really looking down on the village I grew up in? Or is it that you just don’t care about me?” Silas’s voice trembled with hurt.