I've always been a goody-two-shoes. The boldest thing I've ever done is falling in love with my older brother's friend, Oliver Anderson.

The day Oliver finds out about my feelings for him, he's left feeling shell-shocked for a long time. But in the end, he still agrees to become my boyfriend.

I thought we loved each other.

But Oliver sends me a video featuring him and another young woman on my birthday. In the video, they did everything a couple can possibly do.

At the end of the video, Oliver glances at the camera casually while smoking.

"Vera, this is my gift for you. Never trust a man this easily."

That's when I feel my confidence getting smashed into smithereens.

That's why when Oliver and that woman show up in front of me, I give up on pursuing him once and for all.

The moment I received the video, I thought it was a present from Oliver Anderson. I played it excitedly, but the content made me see red.

"Oliver Anderson will love Kimberly Yates forever. We'll never be apart. She's the only woman I'll call my wife in this lifetime."

I had no idea how long I sat there, replaying it over and over, almost like I was torturing myself. It was only when my ears got tired of hearing it that I finally had to admit the truth.

The one Oliver truly loved… wasn't me.

In the video, the way he spoiled Kimberly, the way he looked at her—that was the sort of thing I'd never had. He never held my hand when we were out shopping; he never pulled me into his arms and kissed me gently when I got mad.

The time he spent with me felt less like reality and more like some dream he'd woven to last me for a while.

When I saw in the video how Oliver kissed the curve of Kimberly's back with almost religious devotion, I finally broke. I closed the video, as if that could erase everything I'd just seen. Then, I curled up on the couch without making a sound.

I stayed like that in a daze for a long time before my tears finally slid down from the corner of my eyes.

Oliver's friends had told me countless times to let him go. The way they looked at me was like I was their enemy. They said, "If you really love Oliver, you should let him be happy."

Back then, I didn't understand what they meant. I just knew that I needed to do my best to be the perfect girlfriend. Basically, anywhere Oliver was, I would be somewhere nearby.

More times than I could count, he would press his fingers to his temples in helpless frustration and say, "Vera, I'm not going to run away."

I had nodded like I understood, then still ended up calling him all the time to check on him.

In the end, Oliver had given in. He had walked up to me, his eyes as deep as pools that often made me drown in them. They'd been filled with gentleness as he'd looked straight at me and said, "Fine. From now on, I'll be with you."

Everyone who knew him said he'd changed—so much so that it was killing him.

I'd cried and asked him about it, but all he'd done was chuckle. "How can that be? I'm fine."

But at the time, he really had gone quieter and become more withdrawn.

Looking back now, I felt like I'd finally woken up from a long dream. So, it had started all the way back then, hadn't it? Every second he spent by my side, he was suffocating.

I bit my lip, feeling my heart sink all the way into an abyss.

Just as I thought I was about to have a meltdown, Oliver appeared. He'd been standing in the darkness for who knows how long.

He only stepped forth, looking grim, when he heard me start to murmur to myself. I just stared at him dazedly.

He wore one of his usual hoodies, looking tall and lean as he stood before me, his eyes filled with apology. "Vera, do you like the birthday present I gave you?"

My throat seized up. Panic made me want to run; I was terrified that if I stayed for even one second longer, he would cruelly say he wanted to break up with me.

I pretended nothing had happened, but my tears betrayed me, spilling down no matter how hard I tried to hold them back.

Oliver watched me for a long time, then came over and pulled me into his arms, just like when he used to lull me to sleep.

His voice was hoarse, carrying a pressure that left no room for argument. "Vera, you can rest for a while. But after that, I still need to talk to you."

I inhaled his familiar cool scent and nodded dumbly. If only all of this were just a dream.

…

In the end, Oliver never said anything about breaking up. He waited until I woke up before gently sliding his arm out from under my head, numb from being my pillow for too long.

He looked at me like everything was perfectly normal. "Vera, I'm going to a party to pick Kimberly up. I'll come back and keep you company later."

I stayed quiet, only nodding obediently.

His eyes warmed. "Good girl. I'll bring you your favorite soup."

Then, he stood and left.

For a moment, in my dazed state, I thought that maybe I still had a spot in his heart, just like back then, when I stood there blushing as I confessed my feelings for him.

Time ticked by, second after second. I kept my eyes fixed on the door. The tiny flame of hope in my chest burned lower and lower, nearly dying out, yet it stubbornly refused to extinguish.

Then, one of Oliver's friends sent me a message. "If you want to keep him, then come now."

I didn't even have time to think. Before I realized it, I was already at the place his friend had mentioned.

The second I walked in, the woman in the center of the room caught my eye. She was beautiful. Her features looked like they'd been carved from the same mold as mine.

My blood instantly turned to ice.

One of Oliver's friends walked over. The look in his eyes was a complicated mix of disgust and pity. "Did you really think Oliver just randomly got close to you back then? This is why."

It felt like a giant hand had clenched around my heart. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

Oliver saw me. At some point, the smile on his face had vanished. In a flash, he stepped in front of Kimberly, shielding her behind him.

For the first time, I saw wariness and irritation in his eyes when he looked at me. "What are you doing here?"

In that moment, all my emotions drained out of me. I was like a puppet with its strings cut as I stood there in a daze.

A surge of anger rose in my chest out of nowhere, burning and choking. I stared straight at him, my body filling with hurt. "Where's my birthday present?"

He frowned, like he was reassessing me. Then, he laughed. Right in front of everyone, he dragged Kimberly into his arms. With a kind of crazed recklessness, he dipped his head and made out with her.

The room erupted in whistles and cheers, but all I heard was the sharp crack of a slap. It was from my brother, Vincent Hale. "You jerk! Is this how you're gonna treat my sister?"

For a moment, there was chaos. Vincent, who'd always been gentle, had gone red-eyed with rage.

Even Oliver knew he'd gone too far. He just stood there and let Vincent hit him without trying to dodge. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he refused to admit that he'd done anything wrong.

He wiped the blood away, looking at Vincent like he actually found this funny. "Are you really that mad? I told you before not to introduce your sister to me, didn't I? You're the one who didn't listen."

That only pissed Vincent off more. He swung another punch straight at Oliver's face.

Kimberly jumped in fright and burst into tears. Oliver's expression instantly hardened. He snarled at Vincent, "That's enough. Don't overdo it, and we can still be friends."

Vincent let out a derisive laugh. He swore at Oliver, his eyes full of viciousness. "Is this your idea of being my friend?"

Oliver didn't back down. The warmth that used to be in his eyes was gone, replaced by iciness. He warned Vincent to quit while he was ahead.

Vincent's voice dropped so low that it was almost a hiss. "Apologize to my sister, you jerk."

Oliver didn't move. His gaze slid over to me, standing off in the distance, freezing in the cold. He said coolly, "I didn't do anything wrong. I told you from the beginning I was just messing around with Vera. Kimberly is the one I really love. It's not like you didn't know that."

A flush crept up Kimberly's beautiful face. She shot me an awkward glance, then quickly looked away.

My fingernails dug into my palms. The wind whipping through the estate felt like a knife slicing into my chest; the pain carved down to my bones.

I didn't know what else Vincent said, but I could see Oliver getting more and more defensive. He shot me another look and pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Yeah, they were all lies." He let out a mocking laugh. "Be honest—what guy doesn't wanna give it a shot when some young woman confesses to him?"

Vincent exploded and completely lost it. Several people rushed in to break up the fight.

I couldn't stop trembling from the cold, and I felt my blood turn to ice.

In my rush to leave the house, I'd grabbed the wrong shoes. Now, they felt like shackles around my feet. Every step I took felt like walking on glass.

I just stood there, staring blankly at Oliver.

Seemingly afraid that I couldn't hear him clearly, he actually pulled out his phone and called me. I answered in a daze, and his voice came through, every single word painfully clear in my ears.

"Vera, a good girl like you doesn't belong by my side."

I bit my lip, my voice so small that it was almost inaudible. "Then what kind of woman do you like?"

Oliver didn't even hesitate. He ripped the last layer of illusion away without mercy. "I'd bite the woman I love, Vera. I could never bring myself to be that cruel to you."

I hung up on him in a flash, a piercing chill lodging deep in my chest.

I'd known Oliver for years. Maybe he didn't even realize just how relaxed he looked at the moment. I met his eyes and slowly parted my lips. "Oli, I'm letting you go."

I stepped forward and politely greeted Kimberly, Oliver watching. I put real emotion into it and even managed to smile sincerely.

He froze, staring at me like he couldn't believe what he'd just seen. His jaw tightened, and his face hardened, like he was trying to figure out if I actually meant what I said.

"Have you finally come around, Vera?"

I nodded obediently. What was there not to understand? It was just one man that I'd lost. I would meet someone better down the line.

Under Vincent's heartbroken gaze, I took Oliver's and Kimberly's hands and placed them together. "Oli, I wish you both happiness."

Because from this moment on, I genuinely didn't want him anymore.