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.

"Lynette Gibson!" I shouted at Lynette, stopping her just as she was about to walk into the bedroom.

This was probably the first time I had ever lost my temper like this.

As it was, if she'd openly admitted to cheating and told me she'd fallen in love with someone else, I'd get out of her life and never bother her again. I couldn't understand why she chose to hook up with Zac while pretending to still be in love with me.

It truly disgusted me.

"I know this brand, Lynette. The suit costs 600 dollars to buy. I've been with you for seven years, but you gave the suit you designed to another man and bought a random suit off the rack for me instead. How I wish I could dig out your heart and see what it's made of."

As soon as I said that, Lynette finally had a flicker of panic in her eyes. However, it soon vanished, and she retorted in annoyance, "Why else do you think I lied to you? It's only because I knew you'd kick up a fuss for no reason.

"Besides, I've already decided that I'll design a new suit for you later on."

"I only want the suit you previously designed. As long as you get it back and give it to me, I'll drop this matter," I declared.

I kept my eyes fixed on her, hoping to see even a flicker of hesitation in her expression.

Alas, there was none to be found. She looked just as angered as ever.

"I know you hate Zac and want to snatch away everything that I give him. I'm going to make myself clear to you right here, right now," Lynette declared. "I won't take back what I've already given away. If you keep causing a scene over this, I'm going to break up with you."

"Sure. Let's break up," I swiftly replied, my tone icy.

In the past, she always threatened me with a breakup, and it would always be enough to alarm me. I didn't want to leave her. We'd been together for so many years and had braved through far too many storms as a couple.

But now, being in a relationship with her felt more like a shackle than anything else.

Lynette flew at me and slapped me hard. That wasn't enough for her, so she even bit down on my arm with so much force that I could feel her teeth tearing through my skin.

In the past, whenever she had a depressive episode, she would do this to me as well. Every single time, I'd bear through the pain and hold her close as I comforted her.

But this time, I shoved her away with all my strength. After crashing onto the floor, she stared at me in shock.

"Y-You're seriously upset?" Lynette exclaimed.

Only then did I realize that all along, she'd assumed I wasn't actually upset about the situation.

Well, that wasn't a surprise. In the past, whenever she did something with Zac that displeased me, I would end up forgiving her soon after. I'd never meant it when I said I wanted to break up with her, either.

"Lynette, I've already announced to our friends that we're no longer engaged. I've made up my mind to break up with you. I bought this house with my own money, and you never contributed a single cent toward it, so you have no claim over it. Kindly leave at once."

Lynette's eyes went wide. It seemed hard for her to believe that I had just uttered those words.

I couldn't be bothered to entertain her any longer, so I hauled her out of the house. Just as I was about to close the door in her face, she flew into a frenzy and started hitting me.

"Evan! It's just Zac! Why are you so upset when nothing happened between us?"

But I simply shoved her off and slammed the door shut.

She continued ranting outside for a while, but soon, the noise subsided. Through the peephole, I saw her take a knife out of her bag and hold it to her throat.

"I'm giving you one last chance, Evan! Open up right this minute, or I'll kill myself!"

Lynette always used this method to force me into giving in to her demands, but now, we weren't a couple anymore.

Without opening the door, I said coldly, "We no longer have anything to do with each other, Lynette. That means it's none of my business whether you choose to kill yourself."