Chapter 1

On Valentine’s Day, my fiancé, Declan Whitmore, was rushed to the ER in the middle of the night with severe food poisoning after eating undercooked wild mushrooms.

In his delirious haze, he blurted out, “Brielle, I’m so sorry... If I hadn’t been dead broke back then, I never would’ve ended up with Vivian.”

I was Vivian Thornfield.

And Brielle Ashcombe was the girl he had loved and lost—his unforgettable ex.

He seemed to have forgotten that after the Whitmore family went bankrupt, Brielle abandoned him without a second thought and fled abroad.

Over the past eight years, I was the one who paid off every cent of his debts and stayed loyally by his side.

I calmly called off our engagement and tossed the ring straight into the trash.

He sneered, “Can’t you be a little more open-minded? Brielle would never throw a petty tantrum like you.”

I smiled faintly. “Fine. You’re trash anyway—you can go right back to her.”

Chapter 1

When Declan brought up his wild mushroom food poisoning at the party and turned it into a lighthearted joke, all his friends laughed along.

I couldn’t bring myself to smile.

I sat silently in the corner, keeping my head down as I ate, trying my best to suppress the swell of discomfort inside me.

“Vivian, why aren’t you saying anything?”

Sabrina Hollowell looked at me with a smile, though blatant malice glinted in her eyes.

She was Brielle’s best friend and Tristan Lockwood’s girlfriend.

“You’re not actually having a meltdown, are you?”

Bursts of laughter erupted across the private room.

With Sabrina and Tristan leading the charge, more people chimed in.

“If you ask me, you’re the lucky one.”

“Declan might still have Brielle in his heart, but isn’t he still going to marry you anyway?”

They tossed remarks back and forth, building on each other’s words. Without having said a single word, I had already been put on trial and found guilty.

I turned my head to look at Declan. He was sipping his coffee in silence, his eyes hazy and unfocused as if looking off into nowhere. It was as though the noise and commotion in the room had nothing to do with him.

Seeing him like this, I knew he wouldn’t stand up for me this time either.

“Sabrina, as far as I know, you aren’t Tristan’s first girlfriend either,” I said. “And if Brielle is really as wonderful as you say, why did she run off without a trace the moment Declan hit rock bottom?”

My words clearly struck a raw nerve.

Sabrina leaped to her feet, pointing an accusing finger at me. “Don’t think that tying Declan down makes you better than Brielle! You don’t even compare.

“If Brielle hadn’t gone abroad, a knock-off like you wouldn’t even have stood a chance!”

The sharp, shattering sound of a glass slamming onto the floor echoed through the private dining room.

Declan, who had looked distant and aloof just a moment ago, was now radiating pure hostility.

Seeing his anger, everyone instantly shut their mouths, barely daring to breathe.

Before I could react, Declan’s large hand clamped tightly around my throat.

“Apologize, Vivian. You don’t deserve to speak Brielle’s name.”

I met his gaze, enunciating every word. “I won’t! I did nothing wrong.”

“Fine. Good. Very good,” Declan sneered. “I’ve been way too soft on you.”

His grip tightened violently.

The air in my lungs began to thin out rapidly.

The crowd watched on with amused, mocking expressions.

It was only when I was on the brink of suffocating that someone finally spoke up to persuade him. “Declan, let go. She isn’t worth saving, but going to prison over someone like her isn’t worth it.”

Declan didn’t listen at all. Brielle was his soft spot—touching her name was strictly off-limits.

The force in his hands didn’t weaken in the slightest.

Realizing they couldn’t talk him down, the others stepped forward to pry his fingers off.

“Your baby is calling! Declan, hurry up and answer!”

Brielle’s voice shattered the silence.

It was her custom ringtone. Even though they had been broken up for eight years, he still couldn’t bring himself to change it.

Declan released his grip, letting me collapse onto the floor after losing all support.

He answered the call instantly.

When it came to Brielle, he wouldn’t keep her waiting for a single second.

On the other end of the line, Brielle’s voice rang out as bright and cheerful as summer sunshine. “Declan, I’m back in the country! Come pick me up.”

In an instant, the heavy, suffocating atmosphere transformed into pure excitement.

Everyone in the room was buzzing with energy.

A second later, the crowd filed out of the room one after another, leaving only Sabrina standing over me, looking down arrogantly.

The sensation of suffocating had been unbearable, and I was still greedily gasping for fresh air.

“Weren’t you acting all tough just a moment ago?” Sabrina scoffed, a smug grin plastered across her face. “Now that Brielle is back, just sit back and watch every bit of the happiness you stole slip right out of your hands.”

She laughed triumphantly, her heart full of satisfaction at the sight of my total defeat.

Chapter 2

I rarely attended Declan’s social gatherings.

His inner circle disliked me, and they made no effort to hide it.

A humiliating situation like tonight’s was no coincidence.

Every single time, Sabrina was the one initiating it.

They disliked me for one simple reason: they believed I was beneath Declan.

Declan, Brielle, and the rest of their group had grown up in the same wealthy social circle.

Brielle was vibrant, dazzling, a high-society heiress who excelled at everything.

I, on the other hand, was just a hearing-impaired student who relied on scholarships to get through college.

Without my hearing aids, I couldn’t even manage basic communication.

Declan also came from a prominent family and possessed striking good looks.

People like them were born with silver spoons, admired wherever they went.

Their golden-couple fairytale was supposed to have a happy ending.

Fate, however, played a cruel joke on them.

When the Whitmore family collapsed, Declan was left buried under a mountain of debt—an overwhelming figure with endless zeros.

And Brielle left.

Those debt collectors became not only Declan’s nightmare, but mine as well.

Once, Declan was beaten until he was covered in blood. Dragging a broken leg, he desperately crawled to the entrance of the convenience store where I worked, pleading for me to save him.

I wasn’t even scheduled to work the night shift that day.

Looking back, I was incredibly grateful that a coworker had switched shifts with me.

If she hadn’t, I didn’t dare think about what would have become of Declan.

I hid Declan in the storage room.

The loan sharks followed the trail of blood into the store. Every single one of them stood over six feet tall, their biceps practically as thick as my thighs.

When I told them I didn’t know anything, one of them raised his fist, ready to strike me.

I pulled out my hearing aids, stood my ground, and stared them down with my chin held high.

With my other hand, I dialed the emergency police line.

Fearing trouble with the law, they turned and ran.

Only after confirming they were truly gone did I tremble as I went to check on Declan.

He had lost so much blood that he had gone into shock.

After handing over the shift to my coworker, I rushed him to the hospital and spent every last cent I had to pay his emergency medical bills.

When he woke up, he asked who I was.

I knew he didn’t remember me.

But I would never forget. Back when people used to call me deaf and toss my hearing aids around to mock me, he was the one who berated them and retrieved my hearing aids for me.

I personally nursed him back to health over the next three months.

The look in his eyes when he turned to me shifted from unfamiliarity to complete reliance.

Later, I stayed by his side as we slowly paid off his debts, piece by piece. In a moment of deep affection, he wrapped his arms around me.

“Vivian, once every cent of this debt is cleared, I’m going to give you the wedding of the century.”

A cold touch brushed against my skin as a simple silver band was slipped onto my ring finger.

He kissed me, promising that in the future, he would replace it with the grandest ring imaginable.

Eight years had passed, and he had finally paid off his debts.

We were finally about to get married.

And then, Brielle came back.

Chapter 3

I sent Declan a text ending our engagement.

At two in the morning, I was still packing my bags.

Over the years, I had built this house piece by piece into a real home. My attachments to it ran deep.

Just as I was debating whether to take a small keepsake, a message from Declan finally came through.

He completely ignored my breakup text.

“Viv, did you make it home?

“I’m not coming back tonight. Don’t wait up, go to sleep early, and make sure you lock the door.”

I didn’t reply.

If he truly cared about my safety, seven full hours had passed since we went our separate ways. Seven hours... What had he been doing all that time?

The answer was painfully obvious.

Two hours ago, Brielle had posted an update on social media.

“My prince promised he’ll protect me forever.”

The photo showed two hands intertwined. In the background, the rumpled hotel bed sheets made it clear what had just taken place.

A familiar suffocating feeling rushed over me, far worse than when Declan had choked me earlier.

I always felt that posting intimate moments on social media lacked class. But she did it specifically for me to see—to flaunt that Declan had abandoned me and chosen her.

There were times in the past when I doubted whether Declan truly loved me. He never said the words out loud, and he understood very little about me.

Until one New Year’s Eve, when I had severe abdominal pain. It was a holiday night, and barely anyone was out on the streets. Unable to flag down a cab, he carried me on his back for miles, sprinting all the way to the emergency room.

When I woke up, Declan was sitting by my bedside, his eyes bloodshot from staying up all night.

The moment he saw me open my eyes, tears fell down his face as he gripped my hand tightly. “Vivian, please don’t ever leave me.”

The nurse nearby teased softly, “You have no idea how worried your fiancé was. He cried the entire night.”

That was the moment I felt certain he loved me.

When he was poisoned in the ER, I had my doubts. But now, I didn’t believe a word of it anymore.

Brielle got what she wanted.

In the comment section, her and Declan’s mutual friends showered them with congratulations.

Sabrina was especially vocal.

“Now that his true love is back, that trash, Vivian, better know her place and back off,” she said.

She was right about one thing: I was leaving.

So I hit the “Like” button on the post and left a comment of my own: “Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness together. Stay together forever, and may you have eight kids.”

The moment I left the comment, Declan’s messages flooded in like a storm.

I didn’t read a single one. Then came call after call.

Irritated by the noise, I muted my phone and tossed it aside. I didn’t even notice that my phone eventually died from the relentless influx of incoming calls.

Half an hour later, I finished zipping up my suitcase.

Just as I stood up to leave, Declan walked through the front door.

He glanced at my suitcase, his brows drawing into a tight frown. “Vivian, how long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?”

A classic line straight out of a cheater’s playbook.

“Trash belongs with trash. You two deserve each other.”

I pulled off my engagement ring, tossed it straight into the trash can, gripped my suitcase handle, and walked toward the door.

Behind me, he spat through gritted teeth, “Vivian, mark my words—you’ll regret walking away from me!”