Chapter 1

My boyfriend, Marcus Reid, had hearing loss, so he often couldn’t make out what I said.

I asked him to buy a skincare set, but he came home with two.

"I must have heard you wrong again. I'll just give the extra one to Lauren."

I asked him to buy a chocolate cake, but he came home with vanilla.

"I heard you wrong. Lauren likes this flavor, l'll just give it to her."

Later, I carefully designed our future home and asked him to buy a house for us in Southville.

But on the day we were supposed to inspect the house, he drove us all the way to Northville instead.

When he noticed that I hadn't said a word the entire time, he apologized, "I'm really sorry. I didn't hear you clearly. I thought you liked the view here in Northville, so I bought the house without thinking twice."

But I knew his childhood sweetheart, Lauren Hale, worked at a company nearby.

He didn't fail to hear me. He simply never wanted to listen.

At that moment, I suddenly felt completely disappointed. So I calmly said, "Marcus, we're breaking up."

Chapter 1

Hazel's POV

After looking up in confusion, Marcus Reid reached up and touched the hearing aid behind his ear.

"What did you just say? I didn't catch that."

Every time I spoke, he never paid full attention. He knew I would patiently repeat myself.

But this time, I didn't want to say it again.

"Nothing," I answered as calmly as I could.

"Go cancel the house. I already told you we're buying in Southville. It has to be in Southville."

His face instantly darkened.

"A house isn't a shirt. You can't just swap it out. You drew the plans, and I spent months making sure the remodeling was done right. How can you suddenly say you don't want it anymore? Can you stop acting like this?"

The room fell into a tense silence. Just then, the front door suddenly opened.

Lauren Hale unlocked it with her fingerprint like she owned the place. The three of us stared at each other.

When she realized we had been arguing, she bit her lip, her face turning bright red.

"Hazel, please don't blame Marcus. He has hearing loss, so he didn't misunderstand you on purpose. How about I make dinner and cheer everyone up?"

She moved around the kitchen with practiced ease, taking out ingredients and starting to cook as if this were her own home.

Marcus watched her with a gentle smile.

Then, as always, he walked over to help her. The two of them looked so comfortable together, like a perfect team.

But they both seemed to forget that this was supposed to be my home with Marcus.

Just as I was about to leave, Marcus hurried over and grabbed my arm.

"Lauren is being nice enough to cook you a housewarming dinner. Why are you treating her like this? You've gone too far."

This wasn't a housewarming dinner for me at all.

The moment I walked inside, I noticed the whole house looked nothing like the design I had created.

The guest room, which was meant for visiting family and friends, was now twice the size of the main bedroom.

He had even squeezed my carefully designed walk-in closet into a tiny storage room just to make the guest room bigger.

Even the tile on the walls was the shiny polished kind that I had rejected the moment I first saw it.

He had obviously replaced everything with what Lauren liked.

"You two enjoy dinner," I said quietly.

I turned to leave, but Lauren stepped in front of the door first.

"Hazel, I don't know why you're upset, but if you want to yell at someone, yell at me. Marcus has hearing loss. If you raise your voice too much, it'll be hard on him. Please try to understand him."

My anger made me dig my fingernails deep into my palm. The sharp pain only made my emotions stronger.

I had seen her lose her temper at Marcus many times.

Once, she even slapped the hearing aid he treasured most right off his ear.

He had only rushed to pick it up, then begged her to yell at him again because he was afraid he had missed something important.

But every time Marcus and I argued, he would casually take off his hearing aid and let me scream until I looked like a crazy woman.

But from now on, I would never make a scene again.

Chapter 2

"If she doesn't want to eat, then forget it. Let her leave."

Marcus sounded impatient.

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. He glanced out the window and let out a cold laugh. His words cut deep.

"Just don't come crying to me again because you're scared of thunder."

When my stepfather abused me, he would often shove me outside into heavy rain until I passed out.

Ever since then, I had been terrified of thunderstorms. Marcus used to stay by my side through every rainy night.

He knew my biggest fear better than anyone. Yet, in his anger, he still pushed me toward the door.

"Oh!" Lauren's scream pulled me back to reality.

Marcus immediately pulled her into his arms and comforted her softly, "Don't be scared. I'm here. I'll go finish cooking. You just stay here, okay?"

The scene looked just like the way we used to be.

I turned, opened the door, and ran into the pouring rain without looking back. I quickly flagged down a cab.

That night, my fever climbed to almost 104 degrees.

Lauren had already posted a photo on social media of a table full of delicious food with a caption.

"I have my own bedroom in the new house, and it's even bigger than the main bedroom. Someone's housewarming dinner was amazing!"

But I clearly remembered Marcus saying he would never cook because he hated the smell of cooking oil.

Yet he stepped into the kitchen for Lauren.

When I finally came to my senses, I found a phone number buried at the bottom of my contacts.

"You once said there would always be a place for me. Does that still stand?"

The excited and certain answer on the other end made me smile. After taking some fever medicine, I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, a phone call woke me up.

"Hazel, didn't you say you'd come to the family dinner? Why aren't you here yet?"

My body was still burning with fever. "I have a fever..."

"Stop making up excuses. Just get over here. Don't keep everyone waiting."

I dragged myself weak and worn to the Reid Mansion. To my surprise, Lauren was sitting right beside Marcus.

Everyone wore different expressions, but Marcus's mother, Elizabeth Reid, looked especially cold toward me.

No matter how many times I explained that I wasn't marrying Marcus for his money, she always called me a gold digger.

"So, you slept until noon? You really know how to enjoy yourself."

No one noticed the sweat covering my face and my legs shaking from weakness.

And Marcus didn't step in to defend me like he used to.

The criticism from every direction became too much.

I set down my fork and quietly said, "Elizabeth, I'm not marrying Marcus anymore."

Elizabeth froze in shock. Marcus quickly tried to calm her down.

"Mom, she's just joking. Our wedding is already set for the day after tomorrow."

After saying that, he pulled me into a quiet corner.

"Can you please stop being so childish? You know my mom has been looking forward to us having a baby. How could you say something like that to her?"

The one being mocked and blamed was me.

He kept criticizing me without even noticing how sick I looked.

Just as I was about to lose my temper, Lauren looked at me with fake sympathy.

"Hazel, your rosary bracelet is beautiful. Would you give it to me?"

I instinctively closed my hand around it, my chest tightening.

Marcus had brought me that rosary bracelet from a small church in a remote town.

After my mother was beaten to death by my stepfather, Marcus tied it around my wrist with his own hands. He promised it would keep me safe for the rest of my life.

I looked at him unwillingly. "What do you think?"

He said nothing. But the sadness in his eyes told me everything. The person he wanted to protect now was someone else.

"Fine."

Marcus stared at me in surprise.

But I had already taken off the rosary bracelet and casually dropped it into Lauren's hand.

I had already decided to end our seven-year relationship. Compared to that, a rosary bracelet meant nothing.

After I left the Reid Mansion, I received my official job offer. Without hesitation, I booked the first flight to leave.

Chapter 3

After I got back to our house, I started packing my things.

To my surprise, Marcus came home and thought I was packing for our honeymoon.

"You're packing already? You're really excited. But we're going to Antarctica for our honeymoon. Why are you bringing summer clothes? Aren't you going to freeze?"

I froze.

A long time ago, we promised each other that after we got married, we would spend our honeymoon in Northhaven because that was where we first met.

Back then, he kissed my forehead and said, "No matter how many times we come back here, the people beside us will never change."

So, three days ago, I asked him to book the tickets.

I looked at him and asked without thinking, "Aren't we going to Northhaven?"

Marcus impatiently pulled out two plane tickets. The destination really was Antarctica.

But then another ticket slipped out of his pocket. It was for the same date and the same destination.

He froze for a second before awkwardly explaining, "I must've heard you wrong. I thought you wanted to go to Antarctica. I probably tapped the wrong thing while paying, so I accidentally bought an extra ticket."

But the name on that extra ticket clearly said Lauren Hale.

I suddenly remembered that three days earlier, Lauren had shared a bunch of videos of the southern lights in Antarctica on social media.

She had written. "I wish someone would take me to see the southern lights. I'm making a wish."

Now Marcus looked like the one making that wish come true.

He had never truly listened to my voice, and I had never truly been in his heart.

I looked up and forced my tears back.

"Go ahead and refund my ticket."

Marcus completely lost his patience.

"It doesn't matter where we travel. The more people there are, the more fun it'll be. Stop being so picky. You're getting more and more dramatic."

I stared into his eyes, unable to believe those words had come from him.

After I escaped from my stepfather, I went through a period of depression.

Whenever I cried or lost my temper, Marcus always comforted me without complaint.

He would clumsily wipe away my tears and try to make me laugh.

He never called me "dramatic."

I took a deep breath and tried to explain.

"I'm not angry. I just want to..."

Just then, Marcus's special ringtone suddenly went off. It was Lauren calling.

He immediately covered the phone and hurried into the study.

Bang! I wanted to tell him that I was leaving. But the door had already closed. The words never came out.

Late that night, I heard him sighing through the study door.

"She's driving me crazy already. Once we're married, I'm doomed. I stayed with her through her depression. I never complained, but she should know how exhausted I've been."

His words shattered my heart.

A moment later, Marcus suddenly asked in a worried voice, "Are you not feeling well?"

"Okay. I'll come to our place after she falls asleep."

Leaning against the closed door, I let out a bitter laugh.

"You don't have to go through all that trouble. I won't bother you anymore."

With a thick door between us, I heard him calling Lauren's name over and over.

Marcus had always hated voice messages. But now he kept replaying every voice message Lauren had sent him.

I didn't want to listen anymore. So, I went back to the bedroom and slept peacefully.

I didn't even know when Marcus left the house.

Early the next morning, cheerful laughter suddenly echoed from downstairs.

Chapter 4

The living room was packed with family and friends. Everyone was drinking, chatting, and laughing.

Marcus frowned the moment he saw me coming downstairs in my wrinkled pajamas.

"Did you forget today's wedding rehearsal? My parents have been here for a while. Why are you coming down dressed like that?"

The guests looked at me with scorn and mockery, as if they couldn't believe Marcus was marrying someone like me.

Embarrassed, Marcus waved his hand impatiently.

"Go put on a proper dress. Don't make it look like my family treats you badly."

Meanwhile, Lauren was wearing a dress that looked almost exactly like a wedding gown. She looked more like the bride than I did.

I ignored Marcus. Since everyone was here, I planned to officially call off the wedding.

Just then, Lauren walked over and pulled me toward someone.

"Today's a happy day, so I invited someone important to make it even more exciting. You don't mind, do you?"

I looked up, then I froze.

The man standing in front of me was Rick Callahan, my stepfather. The same man who had beaten my mother to death right in front of me.

His voice sounded like a demon's.

"Sweetheart, you're getting married, and you didn't invite me? I came to congratulate you."

Fear and hatred hit me at the same time.

Lauren leaned close and whispered with excitement, "I heard he beat your mom to death, and they still haven't found her body. Yet you're still in the mood to get married? Such a happy day should have your family here too, don't you think?"

My eyes turned red as I stared at the monster who haunted my nightmares every night.

"How do you know about that?"

My voice shook. I looked so out of control that it frightened everyone.

Lauren glanced at the completely confused Marcus.

"One time he made me cry, so he told me your story to cheer me up. Oops... Don't look at me like that."

Slap!

I slapped her across the face.

Marcus immediately shoved me away with all his strength.

"Hazel! That's enough! Lauren invited your family to the wedding rehearsal for your sake. And you went and hit her? Apologize to her right now!"

Lauren buried herself in his arms and looked at me with a smug smile.

Without warning, I burst into laughter. It sounded like a crazy person.

I had trusted Marcus with the darkest and most painful part of my life. Yet he had turned it into a joke. He had even used it to comfort another woman.

Looking into his stunned eyes, I said firmly, "Not a chance. Marcus, we're over."

Marcus's face immediately darkened. He stared at me in disbelief.

I didn't look at him again. I went upstairs, grabbed my suitcase, and left through the back door of the house.

I didn't even say goodbye.

Third-person POV

One hour before the wedding, Marcus impatiently knocked on the door of the bridal dressing room.

"Hazel, stop throwing a tantrum. We don't have time to wait for you today."

The door flew open the next second.

But the person standing there was a bride he had never seen before.

"Stop knocking. You've got the wrong room."

As Marcus stood there in shock, the wedding venue manager came running over, completely out of breath.

"Mr. Reid! I forgot to tell you. Yesterday, Ms. Griffith canceled the wedding venue reservation!"