In the three years I spent unconscious in a hospital bed, Julius Carter took care of me day and night without complaint. The very first thing he did after I woke up was get down on one knee beside my hospital bed and propose.

That night, while scrolling through social media, I came across a female influencer who looked strikingly similar to me.

[Another date with my boyfriend today!]

[He took me to an upscale restaurant for dinner and bought me the diamond ring I wanted. He's the sweetest!]

The top comment read: [You're showing off so much. I bet you're just a sugar baby!]

She fired back immediately with a reply. [Being a sugar baby takes skill, too. Looking like a pig won't get you that kind of treatment.]

[My boyfriend is the heir to the Carter family. Another nonsense from you, and I'll have my lawyer sue you!]

My breathing hitched. Since when did Julius Carter have a girlfriend?

Rage overcame me, and I tapped on her profile, ready to send her a private message. That was when I noticed a post pinned to the top of her page. The photo showed a pair of long, elegant hands placing food onto someone's plate across the table, and on the back of that hand were two small moles. They were the exact same two moles Julius had.

Staring at the two moles, identical in both shape and placement to Julius Carter’s, my breathing hitched. My fingers trembled uncontrollably as I zoomed in on the photo.

“No… That’s impossible…”

How could Julius be cheating on me?

I widened my eyes and examined every detail in the picture, desperately searching for something different. I kept telling myself I had made a mistake and that it couldn’t be him.

Three years ago, his mother had looked down on me because I was an orphan, so she hired someone to kidnap me. When I was moments away from losing my virginity, Julius charged in without a second thought and saved me.

While the kidnappers chased us down the highway, our car lost control and slammed into a massive tree. In that split second between life and death, I shielded him from the fatal impact and fell into a coma. After that, Julius personally sent his own mother to prison and nearly cut ties with the entire Carter family.

In fact, when I finally woke up, the first thing he did was propose. And with our wedding only seven days away now, how could a man like that possibly cheat on me?

I opened Lea Hart’s profile. As I scrolled further, my heart sank. Last month, Julius traveled to Franco on a business trip and took the opportunity to finalize the details for a custom jewelry set worth over a million dollars for me. Yet, on that same day, Lea had posted a photo collage tagged with a location in Franco.

I opened the images to see that she was wearing a jewelry set identical to mine and that a man’s hand was wrapped tightly around her waist. Even then, I refused to believe it.

Who knows? Maybe they just happened to own the same design.

The next second, however, when I saw the watch on that man’s wrist, I couldn’t stay calm anymore. The dial clearly displayed the initials J and C. It was the one-of-a-kind watch I had custom-made for Julius.

Now, I could no longer lie to myself. Julius had really cheated on me, and the thought of it made my stomach churn. Stumbling to my feet, I rushed into the bathroom, where I collapsed beside the toilet and retched so hard that even stomach acid came up.

Silent tears slid down my face. As I raised my head and looked at my reflection in the mirror, I suddenly recalled a conversation we’d had years ago.

Back then, I had asked him jokingly, “Julius, what would happen if one day one of us cheated?”

He had wrapped his arms around me, his gaze intense and almost obsessive. “Then that person shall never find love again. They’d have to spend the rest of their life alone.”

At the time, I had laughed and called him ruthless. Now, the memory felt like the cruelest joke imaginable.

After leaving the bathroom, I picked up my phone and searched for a professional disappearance service. Then, I dialed the number.

“I’d like to purchase your highest-level death simulation package. The date will be… seven days from now.”

It would be the day of our wedding.

Before I could finish speaking, a surprised voice sounded behind me. “Clara, who are you talking to at this hour of the night?"

My heart leaped out of my chest, and I immediately hung up.

Julius walked over and ruffled my hair, his eyes full of affection. “Being all mysterious, huh? Are you planning some kind of surprise for me?”

I fought the urge to pull away and forced a smile that looked more painful than tears. “Yeah. I’ve prepared a surprise for you. You'll find out when the time comes."

The moment he saw my pale face, his brows furrowed. Concern filled his eyes as he cupped my cheeks.

“Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling sick?”

Just as I was about to throw all the evidence in his face, the doorbell rang. Frowning, Julius walked over and opened the door.

Standing outside was a petite young woman who looked remarkably similar to me. It was Lea Hart.

“Mr. Carter, there’s an urgent document that needs your signature.”

The moment Julius saw her, his body stiffened. He quickly snatched the file from her hands and signed it, but Lea showed no intention of leaving.

Biting her lip, she looked up at him and said, “Mr. Carter, the rain is really heavy outside… Could you drive me home?”

Julius’s expression changed instantly. He glanced at me instinctively before his expression hardened.

He refused. “I’m sorry, Miss Hart. I need to stay with my fiancée. You’ll have to find another way home."

As soon as he closed the door, he explained to me as if nothing had happened. “She’s a new artist the company just signed. She doesn’t understand professional boundaries. I’ll have her manager talk to her tomorrow.”

With that, he stepped forward, intending to pull me into his arms, but I instinctively avoided his embrace. Under his confused gaze, I stared at the two red moles on the back of his hand and spoke.

“Julius, after spending three years looking at a face that resembles mine so closely, did you ever find yourself tempted?”

Julius froze mid-motion. For a split second, panic flashed across his deep, dark eyes.

“That’s ridiculous. We work at the same company. It's impossible not to run into each other. If you don’t like her, I’ll have her transferred. Okay?”

I took a deep breath, ready to throw the photo in front of him and demand an explanation. However, before I could speak, a shrill scream suddenly came from outside.

“Mr. Carter! I'm scared! Please don't leave me alone!”

A flicker of concern appeared in Julius's eyes. Yet, just as quickly, he lowered his gaze. When he looked at me again, he was once more the gentle, attentive fiancé everyone admired.

“You weren’t frightened, were you? Don’t worry about her. You don’t look well. You should go back to the room and get some rest.”

As he spoke, he guided me toward the bedroom, but his eyes kept drifting toward the door. Watching his distracted expression, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“Go check on her. A young woman came all this way at night because of you. If something happens to her, how will you explain yourself?”

Julius looked at me. He hesitated a little before he finally nodded.

“Clara, it’s late. Stay inside, and whatever happens, don’t come out. I'll... walk her home. I’ll be back soon.”

With the click of the lock, the front door closed.

I stood up and pulled back the curtains. As I watched the taillights disappear into the distance, I felt strangely calm.

Hours passed, and the rain grew heavier, but Julius still hadn’t returned. Lightning split the night sky, followed by a deafening crash of thunder. The sound instantly pulled me back three years. Back to the night I was kidnapped, it had been storming just like this.

As the memories came flooding back, I instinctively curled up, trembling, and let out a cry without realizing it.

“Julius…”

However, the empty room swallowed my voice whole.

Tears rolled silently down my cheeks. Back then, when I was terrified and screaming for help, I had called his name the same way, and he had appeared like a light in the darkness. Without a second thought, he had rushed to my side and shielded me. Yet now, he was with another woman.

Just then, my phone vibrated. A text message from an unknown number interrupted my thoughts.

[Miss Sink, thank you for lending Julius to me. He said he'll be spending the night with me. You don't mind, do you?]

I stared at the cheap trick, finding it ridiculous, and immediately locked my phone screen.

Once upon a time, I believed Julius was my entire world. For him, I had given up my dream of becoming a professional dancer. Yet now, with surprising calmness, I opened the Rusco Ballet Academy’s website, completed an application form, and purchased a plane ticket for seven days later to Rusco.

Even after midnight, Julius still hadn’t come home. Just when I thought he wasn’t coming back at all, my phone suddenly rang.

The voice on the other end sounded frantic.

“Miss Sink? Your husband, Julius Carter, has been in a car accident! He's at Central City Hospital and urgently needs a blood transfusion!”

When the call ended, the text message from the anonymous sender was still displayed on my screen. I let out a quiet laugh before grabbing the suitcase I had packed and heading to the hospital.

In the blood transfusion room, I calmly completed the tests and sat through the transfusion. As I watched the blood bag slowly fill, exhaustion washed over me.

Before I left, a nurse stopped and looked at me with admiration.

“You and your husband are so lucky. You're both RH-negative. It's such a rare blood type. You must be soulmates. Coming all the way here in a storm like this… You both must be so in love.”

I lowered my head and smiled faintly. In love? Maybe we were once. After all, when I was in a car accident years ago, Julius had also risked everything to donate his blood for me.

At that thought, I heaved a long sigh, and my mind became clearer than it had been in years.

I said to myself, ‘Julius, we’re even now.’

Almost unconsciously, I made my way toward Julius's hospital room, thinking I would take one last look at him. However, before I got to the door, a sweet voice drifted out from inside. Through the glass window, I saw Lea lying on top of him.

“I’m sorry, Julius. If you hadn’t been protecting me, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

Julius looked at her with dark, unreadable eyes.

“If you hadn’t shown up at my house without warning, none of this would’ve happened. If Clara finds out, I won’t let you off the hook.”

Lea pouted playfully as her hands wandered across his chest.

“You’re so mean. And what exactly are you going to do to me?”

The next second, desire filled Julius's gaze, and he lowered his head to kiss her neck.

“Just you wait…” he muttered, his voice rough with unbridled ferocity.

Watching the two of them kissing passionately, I simply raised my phone and recorded the disgusting scene before me.

Right at that moment, my phone rang, and everything inside the room froze. Through a single pane of glass, Julius and I locked eyes.

“Clara!”

I instinctively walked away, but in the next second, Julius rushed in front of me and grabbed my wrist. His voice was filled with panic and desperation.

“Clara, listen to me. It's not what it looks like. I just had something in my eye. Don't misunderstand.”

At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to throw the video in his face and see how he could explain his way out of it.

However, before I could speak, Lea cut in with a gentle voice. “Clara, please don’t be upset. There’s really nothing going on between Julius and me…”

Watching them play their parts so perfectly, I suddenly lost all interest in exposing them. Instead, I flashed Julius a bright smile.

“You don’t need to explain. I trust you.”

Relief flickered across his eyes the moment he saw I wasn’t making a scene. Then, he turned to Lea and spoke firmly.

“That’s enough. You should go.”

Lea looked unwilling to leave but eventually turned around and walked away. Only then did Julius's gaze fall to my soaked pant legs. The concern in his eyes was obvious.

“I’m sorry, Clara, for making you worry. It’s just a few scrapes. It’s nothing serious. I’ll be discharged soon.”

I didn’t respond.

After we got home, he prepared a cup of warm hot chocolate for me and blow-dried my hair. When his warm lips brushed the side of my neck, he leaned down, intending to press his lips against my chest. However, I instinctively turned away and avoided his affection.

“Not tonight. I'm tired.”

He paused. Then, he twirled a strand of my hair around his finger as he said softly, “Do you remember when we first got together? Every time there was a thunderstorm, you’d crawl into my arms and leave marks all over my arm from how tightly you held on–”

In the darkness, I cut him off. “Julius, if I had never woken up… would you have found someone who looked like me to take my place?”

After a long silence, he pulled me closer. His voice was hoarse but unwavering.

“No. Clara, nobody could ever replace you. You're the only woman I've ever loved.”

I closed my eyes, finding it ridiculous, and didn’t say another word.

The next day, Julius canceled his meetings and took me to a bridal boutique for a custom wedding dress fitting. Once upon a time, I had dreamed of wearing a wedding gown. Now, staring at my reflection in the mirror, all I felt was bitter irony.

Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out beside me.

“So? Why did you ask me here? To show off that you’re finally marrying my son?” Mrs. Carter, Julius’s mother, sized me up with open disdain and added, “Lea has called Julius away. Whatever you have to say, say it quickly.”

As soon as she said that, a text message from Julius appeared on my phone.

[Sorry. Something urgent came up at the office. Pick whatever you like. If you love it, we'll buy it.]

A snicker escaped me. Even on a day like this, he couldn’t stay away from her.

Looking at Mrs. Carter’s smug expression, I finally said, “You once said that if I left Julius, you’d give me ten million dollars. I want you to help me get the divorce papers done. I’ll leave on the wedding day.”

A mocking smile curled on her lips. “And here I thought you had some pride.”

Not long afterward, she arranged for someone to deliver divorce papers that already bore Julius’s signature.

“Don’t even think about playing games with me. You’ll get the money when the divorce is finalized.”

Gripping the documents tightly in my hands, I finally realized that my freedom was here.

When I returned home, Julius was sitting in the living room with a grim expression. The moment he saw me, he looked up.

“Clara, what did my mother say to you today?”