My boyfriend, also my childhood sweetheart, is awakened. He realizes he's the male protagonist in a romance novel, and I'm the female side character. He tells me that I'll never leave him according to the plot. So, he's sure that I won't break up with him.

He cheats on me with the female protagonist for two years and does everything a couple should do. It's only when I decidedly dump him that he realizes what a dumb plot he's believed in.

On the day I returned to the country, my boyfriend, Sean Hoult, threw me a welcome home party. However, my old friends all eyed me with looks of dissatisfaction and resentment as they made sarcastic comments.

Someone remarked, "I'm amazed. Who would've thought that the person who up and left would actually be shameless enough to come back?"

The others chimed in, expressing their agreement.

"I know, right? She's so shameless."

When I left the country, Sean had been gravely ill with barely any hope of survival, and his business was in dire straits.

In just two years, he made a miraculous recovery, and even his business had soared to new heights.

However, Sean knew why I left the country.

I turned toward him, but he remained quiet, showing no intention of standing up for me.

All of a sudden, a woman named Cynthia Tucker picked up her wine glass and stood up. When I saw her face, I was momentarily stunned.

She shared an uncanny resemblance to me, but the words that came out of her mouth were filled with malice.

"Daphne, I'm dying to know if you don't get nightmares from the guilt of abandoning your boyfriend for the sake of your career."

Everyone fell silent, and Sean remained quiet still. Gripping my glass, I replied, "Are you my friend or Sean's, Ms. Tucker? Why are you trying to interfere with our private matter?"

Cynthia was startled, her face turning a little pale. She retorted, "It doesn't matter who I am. Do you know what Sean had to go through for the last two years?"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became. She lifted her hand and threw the wine in her glass at my face.

Some of the people around us chuckled, while others said I deserved what I got.

I was a mess. The wine kept dripping down my face. Even my hands shook as I felt an overwhelming sense of rage and humiliation.

I raised my glass too, but Sean, who had been silent the whole time, stopped me. He also instinctively shielded Cynthia behind him.

"Don't push it, Daphne!"

I froze immediately. It was impossible for me to ignore the reproachful tone of his voice. I hadn't even done anything. I was the one who had been criticized and had wine splashed onto my face.

In the past, whenever someone said anything negative about me, Sean would get so upset that he would flip the table over and demand that the person apologize to me.

Yet, this time, he merely stood aside and watched as someone else insulted me. He even expressed his concern for someone I didn't even know.

What was his relationship with Cynthia?

Seemingly realizing that he had overreacted, Sean hastily added, "Daphne, what I meant is, you just got back. Don't be upset because of someone else. I'll accompany you upstairs to get changed, okay?"

Sean dragged me off. Once we got into the elevator, he held me tightly.

"It's been two years since we last met, Daphne. I missed you so, so much. I really did."

He explained to me that Cynthia was a medical assistant who had helped him a lot the last two years, so he kind of owed her.

His explanation felt a bit off to me, but the suspicion and humiliation I felt melted away as he held me in his arms.

Having been apart for two years, I was consumed with my longing for him. I had missed him very much too.

Sean and I had known each other for 27 years. We were childhood sweethearts and had been in a relationship for ten years now. We were inseparable from each other.

Nevertheless, when I was alone in the room, I kept thinking about the way Sean had protected Cynthia earlier.

The nagging feeling in the back of my mind intensified when I went to the bathroom downstairs to touch up my makeup.

An indescribable stench lingered in the air.

Cynthia was leaning against the sink, using a tissue to wipe the handprints off the mirror.

Her makeup was smudged. Tears clung to the corners of her eyes, and there were used tissues scattered on the floor as well.

It was obvious what had just taken place.

Cynthia saw me, but she didn't feel embarrassed at all.

"It's such a bother, really. I already said I didn't want to do it here, but he's so in love with me that he couldn't wait any longer. I'm sure you know who he is, Daphne. After all, he's… pretty good at it."

I said nothing, but I started clenching my fists without even realizing it.

My relationship with Sean was built over two decades. It wasn't that easily shaken.

But, when I saw the button on the floor, it felt as if I had been hit on the head with a hammer. It looked exactly like the buttons on Sean's shirt.

Feeling dazed, I ran back to the lounge where the party was. Sean and his friends were chatting away happily.

He, who was always impeccably groomed, had a missing button on his shirt.

…

It had taken less than half a day for me to go from being overjoyed at being reunited with my boyfriend to being confronted with the fact that he was probably cheating on me.

Sean took me back to the riverside villa. He kept kissing my cheek.

Staring fixedly at him, I asked, "Sean, is there anything you want to tell me?"

However, I saw no trace of guilt or evasiveness in his eyes as he replied, "Yes. I missed you so much every day. I hated my stupid body for being so weak."

Something warm dripped onto my shoulder.

"I've really missed you. I love you so much. I won't ever let you leave my side again—not even for a second."

Growing up, Sean was known as the most fearless and mischievous among the children in our neighborhood. I was probably the only person he ever cried for. It seemed clear to everyone that he was truly in love with me.

He would shed his tears for me, and yet, in the middle of the night, he ran off to the balcony to make a call when he thought I was asleep.

"Why did you provoke her today?" Sean said to the person on the other end of the line. "I'm not mad at you. I know you're just indignant on my behalf."

Indignant? It was as if I had wronged him.

Back then, I had a ton of great opportunities here, but Sean had gotten severely ill with an unexplainable condition. I abandoned everything I had going for me back home to head abroad just so he could have a greater chance of survival.

Anyone else could've been justified in their criticisms of me, but not Sean. He had no right to do so.

I continued to hear bits and pieces of what Sean was saying out on the balcony.

"Don't come over tonight. She just got back. It wouldn't be good for me to ask for a breakup now. Be good and wait for me, okay?"

My tears soaked into my pillowcase.

Sean and I were childhood sweethearts. When he was a child, he loved squeezing my cheeks and shyly calling me his.

When he turned 17, in a rare display of seriousness, he waited at my house with a bouquet of my favorite roses. He was so nervous that his entire body was trembling.

"Daphne, I swear I will always love you."

And yet, he was on a call right now, coaxing his other lover.

"I love you, of course. You're the only one I love," he said.

An excruciating pain rocked through me. Sean, the man I had loved for ten years, had really cheated on me.

He seemed to have sensed something, for he turned around and met my gaze. Instantly, he stiffened.

"Daphne…"

He put his phone away and, with great difficulty, walked back to me.

Lying on the bed, I quickly stopped my torrent of tears.

"Who were you on a call with in the middle of the night?" I asked. "What were you talking about?"

Exhaling in relief, Sean lay down beside me before replying, "It was just a work call."

Sean seemed to have gotten sharper. Even though I didn't ask about Cynthia, he took the initiative to bring her up.

"Daphne, I have something to tell you," he said.

He told me that when he first saw Cynthia, he mistook her for me, but she had fallen in love with him at first sight.

"Perhaps that's why she was hostile toward you today," he explained. "But I'm loyal to you! Daphne, I swear I will never have anything to do with her."

I closed my eyes, allowing my tears to fall down onto the bed.

He held me and said affectionately, just like he had many times in the past, "You know how much I love you."

In the past, Sean's unbridled love for me made me have full faith in him. But If I hadn't seen that button, or if I hadn't stayed awake and heard everything he said just moments ago… I would've believed him now.

Soon, Sean drifted off to sleep, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep.

After a while, I noticed that his phone lit up.

He got up and left as well, leaving a cold emptiness beside me.

Every fiber of my body had been brimming with joy and excitement when I flew home. All I could think of was how good it was to never have to be apart from the person I loved ever again.

But now, I felt like I had been placed in a chokehold. I could scarcely breathe.

I stumbled to the balcony to get some fresh air, but I ended up seeing two people in a tight embrace.

Cynthia wasn't the type of person who could be good after all.

Sean, who had just sworn he would never have anything to do with her, had a reproachful look on his face, but he also looked undeniably happy to see her.

Cynthia seemed to be cajoling Sean about something. Pointing at the swing in the garden, she said something to him.

Sean's expression was dark as he picked her up and briskly made his way to the swing. Soon, the two were going at it on the swing.

I was consumed by an overwhelming sense of disgust.

Sean had made that swing himself. Everything in this villa had been made by him. He said this was going to be our marital home, so he wanted to make everything himself. It would be more meaningful that way.

"I'll be loyal to you forever, Daphne. You will be the only woman who will ever set foot into this house," he said.

The swing jerked with every movement they made.

It was June, but I felt chilled to the bone. Fighting through the pain that made me tremble, I rushed to the bathroom and vomited my guts out.

An hour had passed before Sean returned. As if nothing happened, he hugged me from behind as usual and peppered my forehead with kisses.

…

When I woke up the next day, the swaying swing in the garden reminded me that what I saw hadn't been a dream.

I tried to keep myself busy to numb myself, but the cracks in my heart couldn't be filled.

Somehow, Cynthia got ahold of my contact and texted me.

"We've been living together. He promised to cook dinner for me after work. By the way, I love the swing at your place a lot."

The mug I was holding slipped out of my hand, shattering into pieces.

By the time I realized what I was doing, I had already gotten into a cab that was now stationed outside Cynthia's place.

I saw Cynthia and Sean walking hand-in-hand. She swung his hand back and forth while saying that she wanted to have roast beef.

Sean, who, as far as I knew, had never done a single household chore in his life, shook his head helplessly and said, "Alright. I'll make anything you want."

Love really could change a person.

Cynthia gleefully threw herself at him, and the two kissed for a long time before finally separating.

Sean once promised me he would never get involved with Cynthia, and for a brief moment, I wanted to believe him.

What a fool I was.

The cab driver asked me how much longer I planned to sit in the car. Tears streaming down my face, I turned to him and said, "Look at them. Don't they look happy?"

"They do. It's so good to be young."

The screen of my phone lit up.

"I have a business meeting tonight, Daphne. I'll be home a bit late."

However, the next day, I found out that Cynthia hadn't summoned me over just to show off how happy she was.