1

Chapter 1

One month before our wedding, my boyfriend Ethan chose to marry his first love, Judy, instead.

"She has cancer. She only has less than a month left. This is her dying wish, and I have to make it happen for her."

I strongly refused, but he went behind my back and married Judy anyway.

That's when I realized—he never cared about me at all.

Whatever feelings I had left for him vanished completely.

I packed my belongings and, before the wedding, applied to join a medical research facility for classified research.

When Ethan found out, he went absolutely crazy with regret.

......

One month before the wedding, my boyfriend Ethan got his marriage license with his first love, Judy, and even took several intimate selfies.

They announced their marriage on Instagram with great fanfare—

"We're married! Thank you for years of companionship, Ethan. He loves me so, so much, and he says he'll stay with me forever."

In the photo, Judy wore a white dress, leaning against Ethan's chest, holding flowers in her hands.

Ethan posted a picture of himself kissing Judy's forehead, his eyes tender.

I stared at the screen, my chest feeling like it was being stabbed with needles.

Messages from friends kept flooding in.

"Sarah, what's going on with you and Ethan?"

"Isn't he your fiancé?"

I typed back: "We broke up."

As I tapped those words onto the screen, I also shattered the last shred of my dignity.

After Ethan learned I'd announced our breakup, he immediately came storming over to find me.

"What do you mean we broke up? I don't agree."

"So what? You married her but still want to maintain a relationship with me? You want me to be your mistress?"

My words clearly enraged him. He pointed at me furiously: "Judy has cancer. The doctor says she only has a month left. She wants to get married before she dies. She's my first love—I can't just stand by and watch her leave with regrets. Can't you just grant her this?"

I stood there frozen, as if someone had slapped me across the face.

I almost laughed: "Did you even ask me? When did I ever agree to let you marry another woman?"

He avoided my gaze, looking somewhat guilty, but also as if he hadn't expected me to push back.

After all, we'd been together so long, and I'd always given him whatever he wanted.

"It's just a marriage certificate. She doesn't have much time left. For me, this is about repaying a debt... You have to understand—she once saved my life."

I looked at him like I was looking at a stranger.

Just then, Ethan's phone rang. After answering, his expression immediately softened.

"Judy, you're feeling dizzy? Wait, I'll come to the hospital right away."

He hung up and rushed toward the door. Then, remembering something, he turned back to look at me: "I don't want to fight with you. Go cook something and bring it to the hospital later. The doctor says Judy needs to eat light foods now, nothing too greasy."

Ethan left in such a hurry he didn't even grab his coat.

The door slammed shut with a "bang," leaving only cold silence in the air.

I stared at that door, my fingertips still trembling.

My heart felt like it had been crushed inch by inch, aching unbearably.

We'd been together for four years. From our first meeting to his proposal, I'd stayed by his side through his lowest points, helped him secure research funding, and given up opportunities to study abroad for him.

I thought I was the most steadfast person in his life.

But it turned out—I wasn't in his heart at all.

And now, I needed to let go of my feelings for him too.

I boiled water, made a bowl of noodles, and ate it myself.

The noodles were bland and tasteless, yet they made me feel free for the first time.

By afternoon, my phone wouldn't stop ringing.

Ethan's name flashed on the screen, over and over.

On the other end, his voice was ice-cold.

"Sarah! Where's the food I asked you to bring? Why isn't it ready yet? Didn't you hear what I told you to do?"

He seemed furious that I'd disobeyed him for the first time.

I pressed the hang-up button and blocked his number.

In that moment, my world finally became quiet.

Evening came.

My phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number.

I opened it.

[Sarah, how does it feel to have your fiancé marry someone else? Pretty humiliating, right?]

[But don't worry, I have a little surprise for you. Take a look—you can't even hold onto your own man. You're a complete failure!]

Then a pregnancy test result was sent over.

—Positive.

—Gestational age: Four weeks.

—Patient name: Judy Collins.

I stared at those lines, blood instantly draining from my body.

Four weeks.

That was exactly when Ethan started staying out all night, the same period when he began refusing any intimate contact with me.

So during those days, he wasn't "busy with projects" or "working overtime."

He was sleeping with her!

My stomach churned violently, and I nearly threw up.

He used to say he hated women who had sex before marriage.

"I want to wait until after we're married."

At the time, I thought he was a man who valued relationships.

Now I understood—he didn't not want to do it. He just didn't want to do it with me.

The person he liked was never me.