Bella packed up her things and went to her parents' home.

The place was as she remembered: a lavish villa boasting grandeur and elegance. The villa next door, meanwhile, belonged to the Fox family.

Damian and Bella were childhood sweethearts. Everyone who watched them grow up knew he treated her as royalty—the queen of his heart. Bella, for her part, was never seen apart from Damian.

Her mom had said that even as a toddler, Bella was laser-focused on Damian alone. She would hug him tightly and would not let go.

Damian, who was five when she first did that, simply reciprocated her hug. He did not even push her away.

The families had joked that this was the first time Damian looked so serious. He had always been a perpetual frowner even as a kid, but he had never looked so protective until that day. It was such a cherished memory that their families still mentioned it from time to time.

Her parents were pretty jealous of the bond between Bella and Damian, too. The first word Bella learned to say, incidentally, was not "Mama" or "Papa." It was "Damian."

The entire house was a memory capsule. Every little thing here reminded Bella of him.

Rodrigue and Stella Valdez were surprised to see Bella home, but pure joy at seeing their daughter supplanted it soon. Stella made a feast boasting all of Bella's favorite foods to commemorate her visit that evening, and it was a genuinely happy dinner.

However, Bella spoke precious little during the meal. She sat in sullen silence most of the time.

She visited Rodrigue's study after dinner. He leaned against his chair and affected a cheery tone, but his eyes showed curiosity. "What's wrong, darling? You look despondent."

Bella rummaged through her bag and presented a photo of Damian and Dakota together.

Rodrigue examined it carefully. His easy smile faltered.

He could read the subtext of the photo way too fine: Damian was giving his heart to a different woman. He also knew that Bella hated sharing her favorites with others.

He looked up at his daughter. "What are you planning to do?"

Bella cast her eyes to the floor. "Call off our engagement."

Bella and Damian had only gotten together after they finished high school. Then, on that very same day, Damian and his family came to propose their engagement. It was so abrupt that it didn’t sit well with Rodrigue.

Rodrigue nodded. "Got it. Once the Foxes are home, we'll bring this up with them."

Silence. Warm tears rolled out of Bella's downcast eyes and splashed onto the backs of her hands.

Pained, Rodrigue tried to pry open Bella's clenched fingers to comfort her.

He discovered her nails had dug so deeply into her palms that they'd broken the skin.

"Oh God!" he whispered. Carefully, he tended to the wounds.

Bella gritted her teeth in silence. When he finished, she finally looked up. "I'm fine, Dad."

Damian called her that night. He was panicking. "Kitty's gone, Bella! I came home and it's not where it should be!"

"I gave it away," Bella said coldly.

He froze.

In that silence, she heard an angry female voice crying out, "How could you, Bella?! How could you give Kitty away?! Who do you think you are? This is irresponsible!"

So, Dakota was there, too. She continued sharply, "You've had Kitty for a long time! How could you be so heartless to give Kitty away just like that?!"

Bella's grip tightened around her phone. Her chest undulated in pain. Was she upset that Dakota was shouting at her through Damian's phone, who passively allowed her to do so while saying nothing? Or was she upset that these two were still together?

"Dakota, enough," he finally spoke up tiredly. "I'll buy you a cat, alright?"

Bella hung up the call and bolted into the bathroom. Her stomach was churning. After some retching, she threw up. She had to steady herself with the sink after that before blacklisting Damian's number.

-

Claire could tell Bella was in a bad mood. She decided to drag her unhappy friend out of the house to go shopping. Bella was not that interested, but she relented.

It was a warm, sunny day. The streets were bustling.

Claire had always loved decking herself in all kinds of accessories. She was especially defenseless against expensive jewelry, so as usual, Claire brought Bella into one of these shops.

Seeing the blinding light reflecting off the jewelry display across the glass cabinets made Bella feel a little relaxed. Growing up as the lonely child in a super wealthy family, Bella was never left wanting for these things.

Damian also loved buying all sorts of delicate gifts for Bella ever since they were children. Once they got older, he would buy her things that would only number in millions of dollars.

Bella used to think these were all representations of his undying love for her, but now? It just made her feel bitter.

Claire got what she wanted. They were about to return happily when Claire froze and asked quietly, "Is that Damian?"

Bella followed her gaze. Damian and Dakota were holding hands as they perused a row of bracelets.

Claire pursed her lips, frowning. "Those two are disgusting. Let's get outta here!"

Unfortunately, Dakota had already noticed them. She made her way to them, beaming. "Oh my, is that you, Bella? Fancy seeing you here, too! Wanna join us on our shopping? Damian's buying me a necklace."

"Oh, I see," Bella replied icily.

"It's not what you think," Damian added quickly. "Dakota was crying the entire night because of Kitty, so I originally wanted to buy a new pet cat to make her feel better…"

"Sure," Bella remarked quietly. She looked at him as though he were a stranger.

"Well…" Dakota interjected sweetly, "Damian thought it might not be a good idea to buy a cat. I mean, what if it dies or goes away someday? I might feel bad and cry the whole day again! So he decided to buy me a cute cat-shaped necklace instead! Isn't he just the sweetest?"

She raised her hand. A silvery necklace dangled from her palm. A cat-shaped pendant gleamed softly.

"It looks good," Bella remarked flatly.

Damian could tell something was wrong from her tone. "Look, this was nothing, okay? It was just… whatever."

"Oh, really?" Bella scoffed. "What happened to being busy with work? I wouldn't expect you to have enough free time to spend hours on a 'whatever' gift."

"It's not like that! Dakota's feeling upset, okay? I just wanted her to feel better."

Bella glared at him icily. "So, when she's upset, you wanna do things to make her feel better. When I'm upset, you want me to shut up and stop throwing tantrums."

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Save your breath," Bella continued. "Come on, Claire. Let's not waste time over here."

She circled around Damian and Dakota and left the shop.

Damian watched her darkly. Dakota, meanwhile, caressed her necklace with a small, satisfied smile.

Bella and Claire decided to shop at an establishment owned by the Valdez family. Unfortunately, they met another person they would rather not see at all, who asked, "Why are you here?"

It was Daryl Stelter—Dakota's younger brother. Annoyed, Bella ignored him.

Daryl was irritated by her sullen treatment and tried to grab Bella by the wrist. Claire caught it before Daryl succeeded, glaring and questioning him, "What were you trying to do?"

He swung his hand away from her grip with a glower of his own. "Why are you putting on airs, Bella? Because your daddy's filthy rich? Is that why you're ignoring me?"

Bella glared at him icily. "Why should I give a nobody even a second of my time?" she snarked.

The shopkeeper noticed the hostility between her boss and the customer and stepped in. "Excuse me, sir, but please leave our shop."

It was humiliating to be booted out of the shop while everyone watched. An angry Daryl stepped closer to Bella, but before he could do anything to her, security was already blocking his path.

Even more irritated now, Daryl shouted, "Why are you doing this to me?! What the hell is this even for, huh? No wonder Damian calls you 'A Drama Queen.' You seriously think you're some hot shit!"

Claire turned to Bella instinctively. She was worried about how Bella would feel about this.

Bella shook her head at her and patted Claire's hand comfortingly. Then, she turned to Daryl, hardening her gaze. "Do you honestly think you deserve to talk to me at all if it weren't because you're one of Damian's associates?"

Daryl's face was red from rage, but security effectively blocked him from any physical response. In the end, he was forced out of the shop. No one could hear whatever verbal vomit he threw out as he was taken away.

Bella returned home and received a text from an unknown account. It was a video taken by someone who was filming in secret. It appeared to be in a club or a bar.

Damian was the subject of the video. Dakota sat so close to him that their skin touched.

"Looks like it's from Bella. Are you sure you don't wanna pick it up?" she asked, eyeing his ringing phone.

"Hell no. She never stops pestering me. She's so unbelievably self-centered," Damian replied. His apathy and aloofness were undeniable. "I wish she were as considerate as you."

To hear a voice—one that was once used to bring comfort and security to Bella—demean her like this hurt.

Once upon a time, whenever Bella suffered from insomnia, Damian would call her himself, no matter how busy he was. He would talk to her and tell her tales until she fell asleep. He did not change that even when he was busy finding his footing in the company shortly after he inherited it from his family.

For once, Bella realized honey could be poison. She felt as though someone had run a knife into her chest and twisted it.

She remembered how many times he had refused to answer her calls these days. He would later tell her he was just busy with work and told her not to overthink it.

Bella trusted him all the time. She would even tell him to take care and get some rest. She really believed he was trying to not let his work interfere with their relationship, but now she knew—he simply thought she was annoying and self-centered.

Bella returned to her room in a trance. She started smashing all of the things from him she had hoped would last forever—she now wanted them broken and gone.

By the time she regained her senses, her room was already filled with glass and ceramic shards. She had not even noticed the accidental cuts on her arms and legs from her rampage. She was bleeding.

Stella had come rushing to her room following the commotion. She threw her arms around Bella, sobbing, "Oh God, my baby girl… What did you do? You're hurt!"

Bella stared at her mom silently.

All her life, she lived in Damian's shadow. When her parents were busy, Damian was her companion. When she was being picky with food, Damian was the one who managed to make her eat. Damian was the one who taught her homework. Damian knew everything she liked and disliked.

He was the one who loved her the most. And now, he was the one who hurt her the most.

-

The next day, Robert and Margo Fox hurriedly returned from their business trip. As promised, Rodrigue and Stella took Bella with them for a visit.

To Bella's surprise, Damian was there. He had even brought Dakota along.

He was greatly stunned by the Valdezes' appearance. He started to panic. "B-Bella! Mr. and Mrs. Valdez! I…"

"Please don't misunderstand us! I'm just here to get a work folder from Damian," Dakota quickly interjected.

No one paid her any attention at all.

Damian hurried toward Bella and tried to grab her hand, but she swung it away. He approached her anyway, lowering his voice in equal parts anxiety and reconciliatory, "Don't act like that, Bella! I know you're still mad, but why didn't you answer my call last night? I've been worried sick about you!"

Bella took a brief glance at his face and ignored him. Instead, she addressed his parents. "Mr. Fox, I want to cancel my engagement with your son."