On New Year's Eve, my boyfriend, Leon Parker, proposed to Charlotte Rain in front of all our relatives. 

I didn’t cry or make a scene. All I wanted was an explanation for the years of love I had invested in him.

Then, I overheard a conversation he had with his brother.

“You’ve been together with Annabelle for so many years. Have you never had any feelings for her?”

“Feelings? What are you talking about? I only kept her around to entertain myself and kill some time.”

“Aren't you worried she’ll leave you?”

“That’s impossible! We’ve been together for five whole years. She’s so used to being with me that she could never leave me even if she wanted to.”

After that, I had a whirlwind marriage with a blind date my family matched me with, and our wedding just so happened to be on the same day as his.

Before his wedding, he was on edge, worried I’d show up to make a scene. That was when he saw the wedding invitation I posted online.

“Mom, could you give me the contact for the blind date you got me the last time?”

There was silence on the other end for a moment before my mother, unsure, asked, “Have you finally made up your mind that you’re going to break up with that Parker brat?”

I smiled bitterly. Scenes from the video I saw just now replayed in my mind again.

Moments ago, a video of Leon Parker proposing to Charlotte Rain had accidentally been posted on his brother’s feed. Now, all of our friends and relatives knew that Leon was getting married. The only problem was that he wasn’t getting married to me, the girl who had been with him for the last five years.

Upon sensing my prolonged silence, my mother proceeded to advise me seriously, “Anna, I’ve told you that Leon is not a man you can count on. I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses.”

“I’ve sent you the contact. Just give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll help you find someone else.”

I grunted and chatted with her for a little longer before ending the call.

Then, I heard the sound of the door unlocking. I turned in the direction of the door to see Leon walking into the house. He casually set his bag aside as he always did and then came up to me to hug me.

“I haven’t seen you in two days. Did you miss me?”

I quietly pulled away from his embrace, asking him, “Weren’t you supposed to spend a few more days with your parents? Why are you back so early?”

“I missed you and wanted to come back to see you as soon as possible.”

He reached out to ruffle my hair, but the second he did, I noticed the ring on his middle finger. It was the same one from the video—the matching ring he exchanged with Charlotte in the video I saw yesterday.

Suddenly, I felt a stinging sensation up my nose, accompanied by an urge to cry. I lowered my head and tried to play it off.

Then, I asked candidly, “Leon, we’ve been together for many years. Don’t you think it’s time I meet your parents? Maybe we could start talking about getting married?”

His expression stiffened for a moment before he gave me the usual dismissive answer.

“There’s no need to rush things.”

That was it. My tears finally spilled over, falling onto the floor.

He wouldn’t take me to meet his parents, but he could propose to Charlotte in front of them?

It was New Year's Day yesterday, and he had shot down my suggestion of going back to see his parents with him. He told me he wanted to see them by himself.

I didn't push him, figuring I’d spend the first day of the new year by myself. However, the same night, I saw the video posted online.

Leon was seen getting on his knees and giving a heartfelt vow, promising Charlotte forever. It didn’t take long for the video to get deleted, but I had seared it into my memory.

Beyond heartbroken, I decided to go to his place to confront him, wanting an explanation. However, when I was at the door, I heard him and his cousins chatting inside the house. That was when I realized the love I thought we shared over the last five years was nothing but a farce.

When I recalled what he said, the pain felt as fresh as ever, like a knife twisting in my chest. I looked up at the man whom I loved more than anything in front of me, the tears beginning to pour.

Leon panicked and scrambled for a tissue to wipe my tears with.

“Don’t cry, Anna. You want to meet my parents, don’t you? I’ll find time soon and take you to meet them, I promise.”

In university, Leon was a star in the sports faculty. Not only was he handsome and popular, but he was also an amazing basketball player. I, on the other hand, was known as the beauty of the art faculty, so it was no surprise that people tend to associate both of us as an item.

After hearing about him again and again, I gradually developed an interest in him too. Then, during a basketball game, he made a slam dunk, and I was mesmerized.

We exchanged contact, went out to dinners and movies, and started dating like any other couple. By our junior year, we were officially together. He was very kind and caring to me, and it felt like I was his entire world.

The year we graduated and started our internship, however, he reconnected with Charlotte.

Charlotte was just as attractive as I was, but the difference lay in that she was a far more bold and expressive person. More importantly, she was also Leon's childhood best friend, so they had a shared history, one I could never be part of.

At first, Leon would gladly recount their past stories to me, but later, he started to dismiss me by claiming that I wouldn’t understand their past connection. It was like a wall had gone up between us—one made of memories that didn’t include me.

Eventually, I asked him if he ever had feelings for Charlotte.

He responded by patting my head and assuring me with a warm smile, “If there had been anything between us, why would I be with you?”

Now that I thought about it, he had most likely said it just to brush me off.

He held me in his arms and comforted me for a long time. He swore he’d take me home to meet his family soon.

I got tired of crying by then, and my stomach was starting to growl.

Leon looked at me tenderly, “Hold on. I'll cook something for you.”

With that, he pulled out some ingredients from the refrigerator to make me a sandwich.

I sat on the couch and looked at him from behind. For a moment, I couldn’t tell if this was reality anymore.

Then, his phone rang. After he answered it, his face tensed up, and he rushed out of the kitchen.

“Anna, please make the sandwich yourself. Something urgent came up, and I have to go now. I might not be back tonight. No need to wait up.”

With that, he grabbed his coat and rushed out of the house before I could even get a word out.

I went into the kitchen and stared at the half-made sandwich on the plate, suddenly losing my appetite.

Back in bed, I slept for two hours until I jolted awake from a nightmare. The first thing I did was check my phone, and that was when I saw a text from my best friend, Lily Jordan.

“Anna, when did Charlotte and Leon get married?”

I scrolled through her previous messages and found out the true reason Leon left the house in a hurry.

Lily was a nurse and had just admitted a man who had been wounded in a traffic accident. When the family members were sorting out the paperwork, she heard them mentioning that Leon was the man’s son-in-law.

I chuckled at the thought. It turned out the reason he left was because of Charlotte.

After that, I gathered myself mentally and went to work.

My father ran a large company. Thanks to my degree being directly related to the family business, I smoothly transitioned into the company after graduation and became the department manager within a couple of years.

As soon as I arrived at my office, my assistant brought me a document.

“Miss Rain, we need your signature on this project. All the paperwork’s complete.”

I opened it and went through it briefly. It was a joint project with Parker Corporation, but I had the impression that Parker Corporation wasn’t a good fit for that project.

“Has my father approved it?”

“No,” my assistant responded, a little taken aback. “Wasn’t it you who told me that any projects that involve Parker Corporation should be conducted with their best interest in mind?”

I certainly remember saying that at one point.

At the time, I had assumed that it was only a matter of time before I married Leon and became family, so it made sense to support each other’s business. However, now that our relationship had deteriorated, I had to reevaluate the financial situation.

“We can proceed this time around but forget about what I said last time. From now on, the priority when it comes to project selection is our company's profit.”

After a busy day of work, I was tired and starving. Thankfully, Lily had suggested grabbing dinner at the restaurant across from the office.

After we agreed on the time and place, I packed my belongings and headed downstairs.

We entered the restaurant together. Since it was dinner time, the restaurant was packed, but we managed to get the waiter to give us the only empty seat in the corner.

Just as I was about to order, I heard a familiar voice.

“Anna, what a coincidence running into you here.”

I turned in the direction of the voice and found Leon and Charlotte sitting in front of us.

Leon looked a little uncomfortable when he saw me, but he managed to come up with a convenient excuse in time, “I was just about to call you to join us, and here you are.”

Charlotte greeted me with a smile, “Anna, why don’t we sit together? There’s more than enough room!”

I noticed two new customers stepping into the restaurant, and after thinking about it briefly, I got Lily to move over to their table.

While Leon called the waiter over and asked for two extra sets of utensils, I inspected the dishes on the table. Nearly every dish contained spice.

I was very fond of spicy food, but Leon had a sensitive stomach, so I avoided cooking spicy food to accommodate his palette. In time, I stopped eating spicy food entirely. However, Charlotte, on the other hand, was very fond of spicy food.

I watched Leon take one bite after another without so much as a wince. My heart was so broken that I was completely numb to it all.

Then, Charlotte whispered something in Leon's ear, which got him to turn to me.

“I’ll be right back. Enjoy your food, girls.”

As soon as he walked away to look for the waiter, Charlotte's expression shifted. The smile on her face had disappeared.

“Annabelle, I’m sure you know that I’m going to get married to Leon very soon, yet you still cling to him. Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

She made sure to flaunt the diamond ring on her finger as she said that.

Incensed, Lily tried to get up to defend me, but I managed to hold her back just in time.

I grabbed a tissue to clean my lips before meeting Charlotte’s gaze.

“Charlotte, I don’t think stealing someone’s boyfriend is worth bragging about. Would you like me to expose you to the world?”

“You…”

Charlotte was about to say something when something suddenly caught her eye and made her pause. Then, without warning, she grabbed a cup of water on the table and splashed its contents all over herself.

I was confused as to why she had done that when I heard Leon’s voice.

“Charlotte, are you okay?”

Leon stepped forward urgently and helped pat her dry.

I observed the way his fingers stroked across her cheeks and chest from time to time in an intimate way.

Charlotte whimpered with tears in her eyes, “Leon, it was Annabelle. She’s jealous of me and…”

Lily, enraged, was about to blow up in anger at that point. I was also about to say something when the ground beneath us trembled and I could see the water in the glasses shaking.

Someone cried out, “It’s an earthquake. Run!”

I reacted quickly by taking Lily’s hand and evacuating the restaurant.

Just as we were about to make a run for it, Leon carried Charlotte in his arms and ran past me, even tackling me to the floor.

“Don’t worry, Charlotte. We’re going to be fine.”

The situation had descended into chaos. I was trampled on several times before Lily managed to pick me up on my feet, and we managed to scramble out together.

As soon as we stepped outside, I spotted Leon nearby with Charlotte wrapped tightly in his arms.

He sounded relieved. “I’m glad we managed to make it out safely…”

Then, as if he just remembered me, he glanced back at me, his eyes meeting my cold, indifferent gaze.

He averted his gaze and stated hesitantly, “Anna, everything happened so suddenly, I didn’t mean…”

Lily could not take it anymore. “Enough of that! If that quake had been worse, you could’ve killed her when you knocked her down!”

Leon pursed his lips and stayed silent. Lily was going to keep going until I shook her head to tell her to stop.

Then, I shot an icy look at Leon. “Don’t bother explaining. Charlotte must have been frightened, and isn’t her dad in the hospital too? You should be with her.”