At my engagement party, a female dog was sitting on my fiancee’s seat.

Her guy best friend, Ryan Anderson, was holding the leash.

“Bro, don’t take it personally. Your fiancee drank too much the night before at her bachelorette party, that’s why I’m letting her sleep in for a bit longer.”

Everyone looked at me mockingly as they laughed. I felt as though someone had slapped me.

All the guests had arrived, but Lily Smith showed up late.

“It’s our engagement party today. Are you asking me to marry a dog?” I asked as I suppressed my anger.

Lily grabbed Ryan’s sleeve and glared at me impatiently.

“What are you talking about? Ryan saw that I was too tired, so he let me rest for a bit longer. Are you seriously offended?

“As my fiance, you should be more understanding, like him!”

It felt ridiculous and wrong to me. My heart sank as I stood up.

“Fine, since he treats you so well, you should marry him then!”

“Lily, this is our engagement party! He’s replacing you with a dog! Who do you think he’s insulting?

“He’s insulting both of us at the same time! How can you say that it’s a joke and just forget about it?”

My blood was boiling with rage.

In order to give Lily the perfect engagement party, I had personally planned every single detail. I even went to the flower market and hand-picked every single flower displayed on the tables.

However, she let her guy best friend humiliate me by implying that I was marrying a dog.

“Leon, I told you that Ryan was just letting me sleep in a little longer! Why are you always accusing him?”

Lily grabbed Ryan Anderson’s arm with teary eyes. She stared at me in disappointment.

“Have you forgotten that time I almost drowned when I was young? I’d have died if it weren’t for Ryan, who yelled for help!

“He’s a lifesaver! I treat him as an older brother. He’s only helping to fill in the gap because I was late to our engagement party. Why are you so petty?”

It was always the same.

Every time I had a conflict with Ryan, she would pull up the same lifesaver story to shut me up.

It was as if I should allow him to intrude in our lives without hesitation to thank him.

My friends could not stand it anymore. They started to speak up for me.

“Lily, we don’t really want to say this, but why is another man taking care of you when you sleep? Who would be able to take this?”

“That’s right! You’ve been in a relationship with Leon since college. It’s been five years now, and he worked so hard on this engagement party. You, on the other hand, are humiliating him over another man.”

Ryan’s friends retorted in mockery when they heard that.

“Leon is just an unwanted child from the orphanage who got adopted by a pair of useless parents. It’s a blessing for him to be able to be with a wealthy girl like Lily. Why is he making a fuss over nothing?”

Lily froze, but she did not speak up for me.

“Ryan’s the heir to Anderson Corporation! I really don’t understand why Lily would choose a loser like Leon.”

“Stop this!”

My knuckles had turned white from clenching my fists as I glared at Ryan.

Rage surged in my bloodstream. I wanted to hit Ryan.

My parents rushed over to stop me. They said in a low voice, “Leon, let it go. The Anderson family is too powerful and rich. We can’t afford to offend them.”

My parents had sacrificed a lot after adopting me. I could not even think about putting them through any trouble.

Looking at my parents’ pleading gaze and Lily’s annoyed face, I took a deep breath and announced loudly.

“Hello everyone, I’m sorry about the interruption at today’s engagement party.”

I turned around to look at Lily and said calmly, “I think we also need more time to reevaluate our relationship.”

After that, I left the humiliating scene with my parents.

After the engagement party, Lily did not call or text me.

I thought my five-year relationship had ended.

It was not until Friday night that Lily suddenly showed up at my door with a full face of makeup on.

“Leon, I made some soup for you… Can we talk?”

She was carrying a thermos and was looking at the floor. She seemed meek, like she usually was.

I could smell the food she had prepared. It was similar to what she had made me in the past.

Despite being rich, she was willing to cook for me.

When I thought about that and our five-year relationship, my heart softened.

“I was wrong the other day… I shouldn’t have talked to you like that,” she said apologetically and hung her head low.

“But Ryan… his personality has always been like that. He doesn’t have any ill intentions. But you shouldn’t disrespect him like that in front of everyone. You should apologize to him, and we can all move forward from this, alright?”

She was here to speak up for Ryan.

My heart sank.

“He humiliated me, and you want me to be humiliated all over again? Lily, are you really that stupid or just delusional?”

Lily was enraged when she saw that I was not backing down.

“What do you want? What’s the point of holding a grudge? Isn’t it better to just move on?”

Just as we were stuck in an impasse, someone knocked on the door twice. Ryan showed up at my door with a displeased look on his face.

“Leon, I heard that you were still angry, so I’m here to apologize to you.

“I went overboard with a joke at your engagement party. I’m sorry about that.”

After that, he walked into my house uninvited and pointed at Lily’s thermos.

“Well, it’s not a big deal anyway. Let’s drink that soup, and let bygones be bygones.”

Lily looked at us in delight. She thought that we were about to reconcile.

However, as he picked up the thermos, he whispered sarcastically in my ear, “Why don’t you have a good look at yourself? You’re just a poor orphan. How can you compare with me?

“Lily treats you like her new toy, nothing more.”

After that, he dropped the hot soup on me!

My skin was immediately red and swollen. I stood up abruptly in pain and could not hold my anger back.

“Ryan, what the hell are you doing?”

My eyes were bloodshot as I aimed my fist at his face.

He dodged and pretended to lose his balance. He then dragged me along with him as he rammed into a rack.

The flower vase on the rack fell onto the floor and smashed into pieces.

When we fell to the floor, Ryan grabbed my hand and pushed it forcefully against the sharpest piece of porcelain!

The porcelain slashed the birthmark on my arm, and blood immediately soaked through my sleeve.

I could not speak because of the pain. Ryan looked smug. However, he immediately held his hand and yelled, “Ahh!!! My hand! Leon, why’d you hit me?”

Lily, who was stunned, snapped to the present. However, all her attention was focused on Ryan.

“Ryan, are you alright?” She held Ryan’s hand and examined it anxiously.

There was a thin red line on his wrist.

My arm, on the other hand, was bleeding profusely.

“Leon, you’re so heartless! Ryan came here to apologize to you in good faith. How could you hit him?”

I held my bleeding palm and stared at her in disbelief.

“He started this first, Lily. Look at me! I’m the one who’s injured!”

“Ryan just likes to joke around, and he definitely wouldn’t accuse someone innocent. You should stop slandering him!”

Lily looked at me in disappointment.

“Stop arguing with me right now. Ryan’s hands are important to him. He plays the piano! Will you compensate him if something happens to his hands? How can you be so careless?

“I’ll take him to the hospital. You should take care of yourself.”

At that moment, the pain from my wound could not compare to the pain I felt in my heart.

Lily helped Ryan up and rushed out of my apartment. She did not even spare me a glance before she left.

When I looked at them leaving, tears streamed down my cheeks from the pain. I had completely given up on Lily.

With my uninjured hand, I trembled and called the ambulance.

I got five stitches on my arm, and it left an ugly scar.

When we were in college, Lily would tear up at the most minor injury that I got from playing basketball. She would treat my wound with utmost care. She often said she was worried I did not take care of myself.

However, she had not even spared me a glance when Ryan had hurt me.

I felt uncomfortable with the stitches on my hand.

I wanted to get some fresh air. When I walked out of the emergency room, I bumped into Lily.

She was holding a tube of ointment for Ryan. She was momentarily stunned when she saw the stitches on my arm and stopped me.

“Leon…

“I was afraid that Ryan might’ve sought revenge against you. If his family’s legal team sued you, you wouldn’t have been able to recover from it.

“But… I’m sorry for neglecting you. Let’s go on a boat ride this weekend, just the two of us. Let me make it up to you, alright?” she said pleadingly.

In the past, I would have given in. However, at this moment, I just felt tired.

She left me and followed Ryan, and she could do that again.

I did not want to feel abandoned, and I wanted a proper closure for our five-year relationship.

“Alright.”

As the yacht sailed out into the sea, a person whom I wanted to see the least stepped out from the cabin. It was Ryan.

“Why are you here?” I suppressed my anger and asked.

“Ryan didn’t feel that we’d be safe on our own. He said that he knows how to sail a yacht, so it’d be safer with him here,” Lily said.

My biggest concern when it came to safety was Ryan.

“Either he leaves, or I do,” I said.

Lily’s smile froze on her face.

“Leon, it’s Ryan’s birthday today! Can’t you just sit down and have a proper conversation with him today?

“You’re my fiance, and he’s my lifesaver. Please don’t make this more difficult for me, alright?”

It seemed that this little outing she had put together for me had been for Ryan instead.

I felt numb.

At the same time, the yacht started to sway violently. It seemed like it was sinking.

“What’s wrong?” Lily looked petrified.

“There’s something wrong with the generator.

“Leon, the only other man here is you. Come with me to take a look.”

After that, he leaped into the sea.

However, just as he hit the water, he let out a piercing scream.

“Ah!!! My leg! My leg’s cramping!”