I had been in a relationship with Harry Chalamet for ten years.

He stood up for me and even ended up in the hospital after a fight.

He financially supported me in my education by laboring on construction sites.

Even my friends could tell that he was madly in love with me, and I believed it too.

Just when we were about to get married, I noticed he often secretly stared blankly at a photo. But the person in that photo wasn’t me…

Harry Chalamet leaned against the balcony. He was lost in thought as he stared at the photo in his hand.

I could not see his face clearly under the hazy moonlight.

A cold breeze blew in from the balcony, and I coughed lightly.

He froze for a moment. Then, he instinctively closed the balcony door. “You’re awake?”

I suppressed the bitterness I felt and forced myself to ignore the fact that he had hidden the photo as fast as a lightning strike. “I feel a bit thirsty.”

Harry smiled softly and poured me a glass of water. “Aurora, you could’ve just told me. Why come out here on your own?”

I stared at him closely. An unreadable emotion shone in his eyes.

I noticed a hint of relief in his gaze. He was relieved that I had not noticed the photo in his hand.

“I’m going back to bed now.”

Right after I finished saying that, he lifted me in his arms. “I’ll go back to bed with you.”

I felt like I was trapped inside a hot oven in his arms. “Why are your hands and feet so cold? Don’t come out in such thin clothes next time. You’ll catch a cold. Let me take care of things for you.”

Unlike the past, this time, I found his comforting words unusually displeasing to hear.

I had the urge to ask, “Who is she? Do I look like her? Do you love me?”

Countless questions screamed in my mind. Yet, none came out of my mouth. I merely made a sound of acknowledgment.

This was the second time I had caught him secretly looking at the photo.

The first time I caught him was two months ago while I was trying on the wedding dress in the boutique. He waited for me on the couch.

The female assistant helped me adjust the wedding dress. Her eyes were filled with envy. “Not many men come with their fiancees to try on wedding dresses these days. Madam, you’re a very lucky woman indeed.”

I blushed. My heart filled with joy.

The moment I came out of the fitting room, I saw him lost in thought and looking at his wallet.

From that angle, I saw a photo inside.

The woman smiled radiantly in the photo. She wore a long white dress and had two cute dimples.

She looked lively, energetic, young, and high-spirited. Somehow, we looked alike.

But I was very certain that the woman in the photo was not me.

I was not young anymore.

I did not remember how I felt at that moment. All I remembered was that we had one of our worst fights that night.

I cried and lost my temper. I destroyed our photos. I turned the house into a mess.

Harry was not angry. When I grew tired of crying, he hugged me. He kissed away the tears on my cheeks and said, “Aurora, you’re a good girl. I love you. I only love you…”

His heart ached for me, and the emotion in his eyes was real. I decided to trust him.

But the suspense in my heart only intensified.

I started to pay close attention to his behavior. Once again, I saw him staring at the photo.

I felt bitter. My eyes welled up. Suddenly, the figure of a young man appeared in front of me.

I was only four years old when I met Harry.

As far as I remembered, I was an orphan.

My mother got pregnant out of wedlock. She insisted on having me. But she had a hard time during labor and died of a hemorrhage.

Everyone said that I killed her because I was cursed. Since no one knew who my father was, I was practically an orphan.

Everyone stayed away from me. My uncle was the only one who carried me in his arms and made me happy.

The others warned my uncle. “No woman would want to marry a man with a child.”

My uncle just laughed. “No worries. I only care about my little girl. When I grow old, she’ll take care of me.”

When I was a few months old, I started to babble. My first word was “Uncle!”

My uncle giggled. He lifted me high in the air. “You’re so smart! You can talk already!”

When I was three years old, my uncle lost his job. We had no choice but to cram ourselves inside a dilapidated house.

Nonetheless, my uncle did not give up. He took me to buy lottery tickets.

He said, “After every storm, there always comes a rainbow.”

Unfortunately, I failed to bring him good luck.

We did not win the lottery.

My uncle chuckled. “It’s okay. We’ll win one next time.”

Later, our hardship finally ended. My uncle married my beautiful aunt, and he bought a mansion.

But they left me inside the dilapidated house.

I cried and went after them. “Uncle! Uncle!”

My aunt glared at me. “David has been kind enough to raise you up to this age. You need to move on with your life on your own in the future.”

I became an orphan again.

There lived a strange young man near the dilapidated house. He was a loner. His face was always dirty, so I could not tell what he looked like.

I was so scared of him that I stayed really quiet at night.

The night my uncle left me, I sobbed inside the dilapidated house.

The strange man gave me a box of pizza the next morning.

I froze as I stared at him. I was aware that pizza was not cheap. My uncle and I had only eaten that pizza twice.

But the strange man pushed the pizza into my hands. “I bought it just a while ago. Eat it while it’s still fresh.”

His voice was a little hoarse.

I was very reluctant to accept his food. But hunger pangs made my stomach growl.

I noticed that he looked a little blush on his dirty face. “Use the cutlery. It’s clean.”

How could a child resist such temptation? I licked my lips and ate the pizza.

“Why did you cry last night?”

Upon hearing this, I sniffled, and tears streamed down my face again. “My uncle abandoned me.”

The strange man looked stunned for a second. He felt helpless and wanted to wipe away my tears. But he paused for a moment before touching me.

He raised his voice a little and said, “Don’t cry. You’re not abandoned. I’ll adopt you!”

“Really?”

“Yes.” He promised. “So long as I’m alive, it’s not a problem for me to provide for you.”

His voice was loud inside the shabby house. But it somehow soothed my fear and anxiety.

When I was in my most helpless state, it was the same strange young man, whom I was wary of, who offered me a helping hand.

Little did I expect him to provide for me for more than two decades since then.

How did a teenager provide for a four-year-old child?

At that time, I was too young. Harry was a tall guy in my eyes. But he was, in fact, thinner and shorter than most of his peers.

No employer wanted to hire him. He had no choice but to work illegally inside a fast food restaurant.

He received a dollar per day. So, he earned thirty dollars a month.

At night, he was a scavenger and collected discarded items. When he returned, he would often bring me candies.