After designing a one-of-a-kind suit, Lynette Gibson declares online, "This suit is not for sale. It's a gift to the man I love the most."

She tells me she'll give it to me on the day we get engaged.

That day finally comes along, but she doesn't show up at our engagement party. Instead, she gives the suit to her assistant, Zac Fisher.

Lynette and I have been together for seven years now. For the first time in our relationship, instead of confronting her about it, I simply announce to all our friends that she and I are calling off the engagement.

"The bride-to-be hasn't even shown up for the engagement party? What a joke!"

"How embarrassing it is to see the groom-to-be standing up there alone."

While the guests muttered among themselves, I stood on the podium, spamming Lynette Gibson with calls. But all I got in response was the automated message from a robotic female voice again and again.

It was now 1:30 pm. All of our friends, including me, were waiting for her. None of us had eaten yet.

"I'm sorry, everyone. Something urgent must've come up with Lynette. As for the engagement party today—"

Before I could finish speaking, my phone started ringing.

Henry Turner, a mutual friend of Lynette and me, was calling. I'd reached out to him earlier while looking for her.

"Evan, I just received word that Lynette is currently abroad," Henry informed me.

"She's abroad?" I repeated anxiously.

It was supposed to be our engagement party today. We'd already agreed that she would arrive at the hotel on time today, no matter what. She was still at home yesterday, too, but she was gone when I woke up this morning, and I hadn't been able to get in touch with her since.

"Yes. She went abroad for a fashion show, and she has publicly unveiled the new suit she designed," Henry said. "Also, she gave the suit to Zac Fisher. The news has gone viral on social media."

My heart lurched. I quickly checked the news and saw the trending topics.

"Lynette Gibson Gives Suit Away"

"The Man Lynette Gibson Loves the Most"

The online community was abuzz over the fact that Lynette had given a suit she'd specially designed to an ordinary man. As it was, the suit was made of insanely expensive fabric that she only obtained after searching for three years.

She'd also spent a great deal of time on the design, and the suit was undoubtedly one of a kind.

Lynette had previously posted a sketch of the suit on social media, captioning it with, "This suit is not for sale. It's a gift to the man I love the most."

That very night, after she made that post, she promised me she'd give it to me. She said she wanted to see me wear it at our engagement party.

However, not only had she not given it to me, but she didn't even show up at our engagement party.

"Don't read too much into it, Evan. I'm sure Lynette has her reasons," Henry advised me.

Alas, I could no longer process what he was saying. Too much had happened today. My mind was in shambles.

"Thanks, Henry. I'm fine."

After ending the call, I felt completely drained of strength. I looked around the ballroom, which I'd personally decorated for our engagement party. I took in all of the guests sitting at the tables below.

My heart clenched bitterly.

Lynette had gone too far this time.

Just then, I suddenly got a call from her. As soon as I answered, her annoyed voice rang out, "I know it's the engagement party today, but didn't I tell you I had to go abroad for some urgent business? Just handle the engagement party yourself."

"When did you tell me that?" I shot back, my voice tinged with anger. "This is our engagement party, Lynette, not some random gathering. Everyone is waiting for you."

"Why are you raising your voice at me?" Lynette snapped. "Even if I forgot to tell you, you should've already figured out for yourself that I'm busy. You shouldn't have spammed me with calls to harass me!"

Lynette and I had been together for seven years now. Never had she felt more like a complete stranger to me than right this moment.

Just then, a voice came from her end of the call, "Let's grab something to eat, Lynnie."

As soon as I heard that, the call was dropped. Within seconds, I got a message from Lynette.

"Just deal with the engagement party yourself. I'll be back once I'm done with work."

At that very moment, my heart shattered for good.

I shouldn't have forgiven her time and time again. Once a person's heart had wavered, there was no turning back.

After calming myself down, I announced to all the guests present that Lynette and I were calling off our engagement. Neither of us had parents. My only living relative was my grandmother, and since she was ill, she wasn't here today.

Therefore, I could easily make the decision alone.

Everyone was stunned to hear what I said, but I also heard someone whisper, "No wonder the engagement was called off. Lynette has found herself another man, and she even gave him such an expensive suit!"

Lynette was a famous fashion designer. All of her designs were bestsellers.

As it was, the suit had caught the eye of a fashion house that wanted to mass-produce it, but she'd declined the offer.

"This suit means a lot to me," she stated haughtily. "I won't be selling it."

At the time, I was still deluded enough to think she'd give the suit to me. I'd imagined how envious everyone would be when they saw me wearing it during our engagement party.

But instead, I'd become a laughingstock.

Once I'd done what I needed to do, I left the ballroom.

On the way home, I checked my phone and saw that Lynette had posted on social media.

"I hope things will keep getting better for you. May you find every success in your career."

In the photo, Lynette and Zac were leaning toward each other, their heads extremely close together. She had a blissful smile on her face, and he was wearing that suit she'd designed.

They looked like such a perfect match.

Lynette didn't seem to care that we'd been together for seven years. I'd argued with her countless times because of Zac. The worst fight resulted from the fact that she'd spent the night at his place.

A friend of ours told me that, and when I found her, she was still lying in Zac's bed. Even though he wasn't lying beside her, I saw the hickeys all over her body. That was all the proof I needed.

I'd been furious then. I told her I wanted to end our relationship and leave Sallington for good.

But she held me tightly and kept apologizing to me, saying, "It's not what you think, Ev! It only happened because I was drunk. From now on, I'll keep my distance from him. Please don't leave me. I'll die without you!"

Lynette had been diagnosed with depression in the past. During the darkest period of her life, I was the one who stayed by her side to help her get through it.

She'd made a genuine attempt on her life before, so for the sake of ensuring that she didn't do it again, I chose to put up with her transgression.

After that incident, she did keep an appropriate distance from Zac, so I thought she'd truly learned from her mistake.

But now, she'd completely disappointed me. It was the final straw that broke the camel's back. Every single thing she'd done today was enough to turn my heart into stone.

I sent Lynette a message, informing her that I'd called off the engagement and that I was going to hire people to move out all her belongings from the house.

We were staying in the house she asked me to buy when we first got together. She said she'd always dreamed of having a house in Sallington, so I poured all my savings into buying the house.

Later on, once I finally managed to save up some money again, she invested all of it into her business. We became so poor that we could barely even put food on the table.

She kept apologizing to me then, but I didn't hold it against her. On the contrary, to help her succeed, I even worked myself to the bone to earn more money.

Back then, I had a day job, and I spent nights taking on part-time jobs to earn even more money. I never got more than four hours of sleep each day.

Eventually, Lynette found success and became a renowned fashion designer.

I'd heard before that when all was said and done, love came down to a person's conscience. My life was now proof of that.

The movers were halfway through taking Lynette's things out when she suddenly showed up with a garment bag in hand.

After angrily stopping the movers, she confronted me. "Evan Stewart! What's this supposed to mean, huh? You actually called off the engagement just because I was busy with work? And you're throwing my things out of the house?"

"Work, you say?"

I wanted to laugh at that. Staring her straight in the eye, I told her, "The story about you and Zac has already gone viral online, Lynette."

Despite hearing that, however, she didn't show the slightest trace of guilt. Instead, she snapped at me, "Do you even know why I did that? Why are you always so self-centered, Evan?

"You always act like whatever you think of me is the absolute truth, and you refuse to believe me, no matter how I try to explain myself!"

"Go on, then. Explain yourself. I'm listening."

I was curious to hear what kind of explanation she could give this time.

"Zac has cancer!" Lynette shrieked at me. "His dying wish is to own a suit I designed."

"So because he has cancer, he's more important than me now, and you'd readily skip out on our engagement party for his sake."

I eyed her coldly.

It hurt me to see her act this way. Honestly, it broke my heart. Even though we'd been together for so many years, that still meant nothing compared to Zac, who'd suddenly appeared in her life.

"Why are you stubbornly insisting on your twisted logic?" Lynette snapped, her teeth gritted from anger.

This was always the way she reacted. Whenever I brought up Zac, she'd lose her temper.

"You're almost 30 years old now, Evan! Don't you know how important it is to cherish every person's life? How can an engagement party be more important than someone who's about to die?" she continued screaming at me.

"Zac has cancer! He doesn't have much longer to live. Every day that passes is one less day I'll get to see him."

Lynette's principles had long since fallen out of alignment with mine. At that moment, it finally hit me that she and I could never go back to what we had before.

With a self-deprecating chuckle, I replied, "Let's just assume I don't know any of that, Lynette. Either way, I'm breaking up with you. Let's not keep in touch anymore."

A loud crash rang out. Lynette had grabbed the vase off the coffee table and thrown it to the floor, her eyes alarmingly bloodshot.

"Can you stop throwing a tantrum?" Lynette fired at me. "I've already rushed back overnight because of you. I know you're upset about the suit because I'd promised to give it to you, but it was an emergency. Besides, it's just a suit. I can just give you another one."

She tossed the garment bag she'd brought with her at me.

"I designed this suit, too. Now stop causing a scene. I'm tired. I want to get some sleep."

The garment bag came flying at me, but I didn't catch it. It fell to the floor, and the suit slipped out.

I saw the label. It belonged to a small brand that sold good-quality items at a pretty affordable price. Many people were loyal customers of that brand.

Why did I know about it?

Well, I bought from the same brand, too, and I'd seen that suit before. It cost 600 dollars.

I looked into Lynette's eyes once more and still saw no flicker of guilt in them. For the life of me, I couldn't understand how she had no qualms pulling such a sickening stunt.

She'd clearly bought the suit off the rack, yet she claimed she'd designed it herself.

Reminded of all those years of my life I'd wasted on her, I could no longer hold back my emotions.