Chapter 1
A month before the wedding. Ethan Williams disappeared. I searched the entire city but couldn’t find him anywhere.
On the seventh day of his disappearance, I received a message saying he had been spotted in Los Angeles.
I flew there overnight.
On a ship. I finally saw him.
As I was about to knock on the door and enter, I heard his scornful laughter: “I only pursued Sophia Johnson to spite
Oliver Smith.”
“Now that I’ve gotten her, it feels boring.”
I froze in my tracks.
He didn’t seem drunk at all, but rather very sober.
So, some very hurtful words come out of his mouth: “And after tasting her charms, I find her quite dull.”
Suggestive laughter erupted around him.
“As expected of Mr. Williams, conquering the untouchable beauty.”
Ethan seemed to relish this flattery and continued, “Don’t be fooled by how she chased Oliver Smith as if her life depended on it. She’s inexperienced, what a pity…”
“A pity about what?”
Ethan slowly exhaled a puff of smoke. “It’s a pity that although I’m her first man, I’m not the first man she’s loved.” “She liked Oliver Smith for ten years. Who knows if her heart is truly clean?”
“If he wasn’t my nemesis, and I didn’t want to spite him by winning over Sophia, I wouldn’t have bothered acting like a devoted, lovestruck man.”
Someone joked, “You’ve been dating her for three years now, Mr. Williams. Why are you lamenting about it now?” Ethan looked irritated and spoke coldly, “Precisely because I pursued her for so long, I feel resentful about it.” Someone in the crowd continued, “I heard she’s been looking everywhere for you, almost going crazy. You’ve been gone for so many days, is everything okay?”
Ethan took a drag of his cigarette and laughed mockingly as he exhaled the smoke, “Isn’t it fun to humiliate her by running away from the wedding?”
I saw no trace of guilt, tenderness or love in his expression.
Only the satisfaction of having gotten his revenge.
Of having finally waited for this day.
My fingernails dug into my palms. My heart felt like it was being stabbed with needles, the pain suffocating me.
I had always thought Ethan Williams would be my salvation and final destination.
I made sure my feelings for him were genuine affection, not just gratitude, before agreeing to be with him.
That day, he joyfully set off fireworks across the city..
After three years together, he bought an island in my name and proposed, filling the sky with lanterns.
I thought this was love, romance.
I never imagined it was all an act he put on to get back at Oliver Smith.
So all those years of deep affection and support were just a performance?
In a daze, I recalled some past events.
