I decided to see Babur one more time and talk things through. I would tell him I didn't blame him for what he had said.

As long as he still loved me, I would stay with him.

I would even start learning how to be a proper wife. One day, I would stand by his side and fight my way up Gilded Row with him.

I told Lacey every detail of my plan. Her eyes flickered for a moment, but she didn't interrupt.

As we were heading out, she gently removed the necklace from my neck.

"Valeria, Babur said he didn't like you looking like that. Maybe he wants you to dress more… simply?"

Lacey handed me a few photos. I recognized the girl in them. She had been the top student in our class, and I'd heard she was already studying at an outstanding school.

I styled myself to match the photos.

I tied up my long blonde hair, removed my manicure, skipped the makeup, and put on a plain pair of glasses.

The sexy mini skirts were replaced with jeans that covered my legs completely.

"Oh my God, Valerie, you look like a total academic overachiever now," Lacey exclaimed dramatically.

I looked at myself in the mirror and managed a small smile.

This time, I thought, Babur would finally believe I was serious.

I would tell him I wasn't just someone who knew how to dress up. For him, I could learn anything.

I left quickly and headed toward the apartment where I had lived for three years.

Every minute on the way, I replayed the scene of our reunion in my mind.

He would hold me like he used to, kiss my face, apologize for everything. Maybe he would even take out a ring and propose, fulfilling the promise we had made.

With that hope, I hurried all the way to Babur's place.

Babur was indeed kissing a girl. She had golden curls, flawless makeup, and the trendiest manicure.

A sexy mini dress clung to her curves. She looked so much like the old me.

And the man who had claimed he hated that version of me was kissing her like he meant it.

My body reacted before my mind could catch up. I screamed and rushed forward, forcing them apart.

For a split second, panic flickered in Babur's eyes. Then it hardened into contempt.

"Who is she?" the girl asked, confused.

Then I heard Babur's cold voice. "A fan. You know how it is. I used to be captain of the school baseball team. Plenty of girls had crushes on me. I just didn't expect her to be crazy enough to follow me home."

Babur's words pierced my heart like arrows.

All the strength drained from my body.

Even as he wrapped his arm around the girl and walked away, I couldn't move to stop him.

I watched Babur help her into the car. The smile on his face was sweet, just like the one he used to give me.

The car drove off, shrinking into the distance until it disappeared completely.

I leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the ground. The pavement was hard. The rug I had once bought for the doorway was gone.

I remembered when we first moved in together. I told him I loved pink, and he had laughed, wrapping his arm around my waist, indulging me as I replaced all the furniture with pink pieces.

"Valerie, this is our home. You can turn it into anything you like."

He knew I had grown up living in my aunt's house, always longing for a place of my own.

He had placed the key in my palm and promised that I would be the only lady of this home.

I had believed him. Slowly, I had left pieces of myself in every corner of that house.

And now, those traces had been wiped away by his own hands, just like his love for me, erased without a mark.

Leaning against the door, I felt sorrow spreading through me.

How had it come to this?

He said he didn't like girls who only cared about dressing up. So I traded my pretty mini skirts for plain jeans.

Yet he had just been kissing another girl dressed exactly the way I used to be.

The image of their intimacy replayed in my mind again and again.

Tears kept spilling from the corners of my eyes.

I had to ask him.

Why was it acceptable for someone else, but unforgivable for me?

I didn't know how long I had been sitting there. My tears had nearly run dry when headlights suddenly washed over my face.

I opened my eyes just in time to see Babur stepping out of a car.

The girl was gone. He glanced at me, frowned, said nothing, and tried to walk past.

Just as he was about to close the door, I gathered what little strength I had left and forced my way inside.

I shoved Babur with all my strength, knocking him to the floor.

He looked up at me, disgust written all over his face.

"What are you doing, Valerie? If you don't get out right now, I'm calling the police and reporting you for trespassing."

Babur's voice was vicious, as if I weren't the woman he had loved for three years but a burglar breaking into his home.

Humiliation and panic rose in my chest.

But I refused to leave. I needed answers.

"I'm not going anywhere, Babur. Who was that woman? We just broke up. Are you already with someone else?"

I leaned in on purpose, as if trying to prove I still had some pull over him.

Before, that was all it took. He would wrap his arm around my waist, kiss me, carry me back to the bedroom.

This time, he scoffed and shoved me away.

"That's none of your business. Valerie, I've made myself clear. We're over."

It felt like something sharp was stabbing my heart over and over again.

"I never agreed to this," I said, my voice thick with bitterness and pleading. "I don't want to break up, Babur. Have you forgotten the three years we spent together?"

I searched his eyes, begging to find even a trace of reluctance.

But there was nothing there. No regret. No softness. Just cold contempt.

"Stop making a scene, Valerie. Don't make me hate you even more."

He lit a cigarette and sat back on the couch. Then he grabbed a magazine and tossed it in front of me.

On the cover was a handsome man, and beside him stood the girl I had just seen kissing Babur.

"Look carefully, Valerie. That's Daphne Smith. The youngest daughter of the Smith family. Her brother is the richest man in Ardania. Her mother is one of the most renowned professors in finance. And she herself is a student at Redmont University."

His tone brimmed with admiration as he praised Daphne's beauty and intelligence. Then he looked at me, a mocking curl tugging at his lips.

"And you? Valerie. A near-zero exam scorer who stayed home waiting for a man to support her like a parasite. How could you ever compare to her?"

His cruelty cut through me like a blade.

He seemed to have forgotten that I could have worked. My grades had been terrible, yes, but I also had a beautiful face, which gave me other options.

When we graduated, a talent scout had approached me about becoming a model or an actress.

Babur had refused on my behalf.

He said he would work hard and provide for me, that all I needed to do was stay beautiful and wait to be his wife.

And now he was calling me a parasite living under his roof.

Shame, humiliation, heartbreak flooded my chest.

I should have stood up and walked away, preserved what little dignity I had left.

But I couldn't let go of three years so easily.

He was the first man I had ever loved. I had even imagined the names of our future children.

I bit my lip to keep from crying.

I couldn't give up without fighting for one last chance.

If nothing else, I owed it to those three years.

I stared at his handsome face, and a desperate idea took root.

"If I get into Redmont University too… would you come back to me?"

Babur paused mid-drag. He turned to look at me, something amused flickering in his eyes.

I lowered my head in embarrassment. He must have thought I'd lost my mind.

Someone like me, who always ranked last in exams, getting into Redmont? It sounded ridiculous.

I kept my head down, letting Babur's gaze roam over me.

After a long silence, he finally spoke. "Fine. Valerie. Show me how serious you are."

He actually agreed.

A spark flared inside my chest.

In my excitement, I almost forgot he had just broken up with me. I stood up and threw my arms around him.

"Thank you, Babur. Thank you for giving me a chance."

He didn't push me away. Instead, he lightly wrapped an arm around my waist, his tone laced with something almost playful.

"I'm looking forward to your results."

For a moment, he seemed like the gentle Babur I used to know.

He drove me back to Lacey's place.

When Lacey saw me stepping out of his car, she rushed over and grabbed my hand.

"Valerie, did you get back together with Babur?"

"No, not yet. But he promised that if I get into Redmont, we'll get back together."

Just thinking about Babur returning to my side filled me with endless courage.

I clenched my fists, determination hardening inside me.

"I will get into Redmont University. I'll become a woman worthy of Babur."

I started going to the library.

After three years away from studying, I forced myself to focus on the books in front of me.

But within minutes, frustration crept in and I set the book down.

The truth was painful. I barely understood what I was reading.

Just as I was sinking into disappointment, my phone chimed. Babur had sent me a message.

"How's the studying going? I've sorted through some of my old books. You might find them useful."

I nearly jumped out of my seat.

That message felt like proof he regretted everything, like he was helping me win him back.

I agreed without hesitation.

When I arrived at his place, the rug by the door had somehow turned pink again.

"You're here. Valerie, I'll grab the books for you."

When he placed the neatly stacked books in my hands, I deliberately brushed my fingers against his palm.

"Thank you, Babur. But I don't really understand them. Could you teach me?"

"Of course. Come to the study."

I sat at his desk while he stood behind me, his arms braced on either side of my shoulders, almost as if he were holding me. His chest pressed lightly against my back, his scent surrounding me.

"What part don't you get?"

His lips hovered near my ear, his breath sending a shiver through me.

I pointed at a random paragraph.

He explained patiently, but my attention stayed fixed on his handsome face.

I wished time would freeze right there, keeping this gentle version of Babur beside me forever.

Night fell quickly. I sat there twisting my fingers nervously.

Would he send me away again? The thought gnawed at me.

But Babur took my hand and looked at me gently.

"Valerie, it's late. It's not safe for you to go back alone. Why don't you stay?"

I squeezed his hand back without thinking. Everything that followed felt inevitable. When morning sunlight streamed through the window, I was gazing down at his sleeping face.

Sweetness spread through my chest. It felt as though we had returned to the early days of our love.

Babur stopped saying those cutting, cruel things to me. He even unfroze the card he had given me.

When I cautiously asked if I could move back in, he offered to help me pick up my things from Lacey's place.

"Did you two get back together?" Lacey asked quietly. She looked exhausted.

I assumed she had just been overworked lately.

"I think so. We never said it outright, but he's treating me the way he used to." I answered with a smile.

Lacey's expression shifted again. She pulled me aside and showed me a post on Instagram.

"Does the necklace around Daphne's neck look familiar?"

I glanced at it and realized it was the same design Babur had given me before. But I brushed it off.

"It's a popular design. I guess we have similar taste, same necklace, same man. But the necklace might be identical. Babur isn't. There's only one of him, and he's mine."

The thought made me smile.

Lacey looked like she wanted to say more, but Babur had already finished loading my bags.

I waved goodbye and moved back into our home.

Everything seemed to return to normal. I was once again the rose Babur kept sheltered and pampered.

But he grew busier than ever. He left during the day and came home late at night, sometimes carrying the faint scent of women's perfume.

"It's for networking. You know how the finance world works," he said.

And I chose to believe him.

The Redmont prep books were soon abandoned in a corner.

Babur was back with me. I no longer needed admission to Redmont to win him over.

Time passed quickly, and the day came for Babur to leave for Redmont.

He didn't allow me to see him off, claiming he wouldn't be able to leave if he saw me.

What he didn't know was that after he left, I secretly bought a ticket to Baybridge.

I had already picked out an apartment there. I planned to study alongside him.

I finalized the lease with the landlord and headed to Redmont Campus to surprise him.

From a distance, I saw Babur standing at the entrance with his friends.

I ran toward him, already picturing the delight on his face when he saw me.

But as I drew closer, I heard one of his friends ask, "Babur, aren't you already with Daphne? Why are you still letting Valerie live with you?"

What?

My knees nearly gave out. Babur was seeing someone else?

That couldn't be true. It had to be a joke.

But Babur's answer shattered the last illusion I had left.

"Daphne's from a powerful family. I can't push her too far. Not like Valerie. She's pretty and easy. We're not married. Might as well have some fun with her while I can."