I run into my former sister-in-law, whom I haven't seen in ages, during a prenatal checkup at the hospital.

Wynne Jenkins glances at my belly. And just like she always does, her face crinkles with disdain as she starts nagging me.

"Look at you, wandering around with a pregnant belly at your age," she hollers. "What if something happens to my baby nephew? Can't you be a little more sensible and stop making Sean worry all the time?"

She must have forgotten.

A year ago, Mom was gravely ill. Her only wish was to see me married with children.

I staked everything and proposed to Sean Jenkins.

On our big day, I waited from dawn until nightfall—only to receive a 30-second voice message from him.

"I won't show up at the ceremony, and I won't marry you. This is what you get for bullying Lav."

Mom was so enraged by Sean's recklessness that she suffered a heart attack and passed away.

After taking care of her funeral, I erased every trace of myself. With what little I had left, I fled Horton—while Sean was still abroad, skiing with Lavender Quinn.

And yet now, Wynne says, "Sean spends more than two weeks every month flying around looking for you. He's lost nearly 20 pounds in less than a year.

"He's been waiting for you, Janelle. Now that you're back, please stay and build a family with him."

I smirk and raise my hand, flaunting the ring on my finger.

"Sorry, I like to keep a low profile. I'm already married, but we kept the ceremony simple. That's why you didn't know."

"Janelle, do you have any idea how close Sean came to losing his mind looking for you this past year? Someone almost died because of you! Sean only skipped the wedding to clean up your mess, but you just left. How could you throw away eight years of love like it meant nothing?"

I had just come out of the fetal monitoring room, replying to my husband's message on my phone, when my former sister-in-law, Wynne Jenkins, blocked my path.

She was stunned for a moment, then immediately hurled accusations my way. Even after a year, she still looked as arrogant as every Jenkins in the family.

Back then, it was Sean Jenkins who was two-timing. But to Wynne, it was my fault.

I felt nothing hearing his name again. It was like touching a scalding cup—the burning sensation would last for two seconds, then vanish.

Calmly, I met the babbling Wynne's gaze and said, "I broke up with Sean a year ago. What you're saying has nothing to do with me."

She froze for a moment, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Everyone knows you're Sean's simp!" she blurted out. "You do nothing but watch him all day, terrified that some woman might get close to him. How could you ever give up?"

Her condescending gaze fell on the bulge of my belly, then she scoffed. Her eyes were identical to Sean's, and now, she was looking at me with those very eyes—as if I were a stray dog.

I had endured that look in her eyes for the past eight years.

Sean came from a family of prestigious doctors, while I was from a single-parent family in the slums. When I decided to pursue him, everyone laughed, calling me a fool going for someone way out of my league. But in the end, he accepted me.

Then, they called me a total suck-up, betting on when he would dump me. Some bet a week, some a month, and some three months. No one expected me to stay by his side for eight years.

At the beginning of the eighth year of our relationship, Sean was busier than ever.

Yet in the few messages we exchanged each day, a woman constantly appeared in our conversation.

I asked Sean if he had eaten, and he said his colleague had picked up his meal—it was spicy. I asked if he wanted to watch a movie, and he said everyone was celebrating his colleague's paper, so there was a dinner gathering.

Later, when I got sick and asked if he could come home for a bit, he said his colleague had messed up an experiment and got scolded, so he had to stay and deal with it.

Something about these messages felt off. Soon enough, my intuition was confirmed.

On our monthly date, I got tickets for a concert Sean liked. But during that rare time together, he kept checking his phone. I felt a little annoyed but told myself he was busy, and it wasn't easy for him either.

"Who's interrupting you even on your day off?" I whispered.

"Lavender's modeling after my experiment. She messed up the data, so she's asking me," he replied casually.

Lavender Quinn was Sean's junior colleague. I didn't know what to feel, except pity that after all the effort we'd put into buying the tickets, neither of us had really paid attention.

On the way back, Sean pulled out his phone again. I couldn't take it and slammed it shut.

He frowned at me.

Looking him in the eye, I said teasingly, "You've missed two monthly dates already. I finally got you here, yet you're constantly on your phone. And you keep talking about your colleague. I'm going to get jealous now."

I thought he'd take it lightly and mention her less. Little did I expect him to get angry.

Sean's expression hardened. "Janelle, when did you become so petty? I'm just helping her because I want her to improve faster. That's all."

After that night, he started giving me the cold shoulder. Messages I sent him went unanswered.

On the third day, I got a message from him.

"I don't have any appetite. Make me something light, and bring it to the lab."

Taking it as a signal that we were making up, I took the day off and went to the market to buy ingredients. I cooked as quickly as possible and headed for the lab.

But as soon as I opened the door, I found Sean kneeling in front of a woman, gently rubbing her stomach. His voice, which was always cold and indifferent, was now filled with warmth and tenderness.

"How are you feeling? Better?"

"Much better, Sean."

My mind went blank in an instant. Thoughts raced through my mind, making my chest ache.

The woman suddenly looked up, blushing and pushing Sean away.

"Sean, stop! Someone's here."

Only then did Sean finally notice me at the door. He got up and frowned.

"Jan, this is the lab. Why didn't you knock?"

I gave him a deadpan look and sneered. "If I'd knocked, I wouldn't have seen what just happened, would I?"

Standing beside Sean, the woman stuck out her tongue and whispered, "Miss, you've misunderstood. I've been having period cramps, and it was getting so bad that I couldn't carry on with the experiments. Sean helped me because he had no choice."

Sean walked up to me and reached for the lunchbox. "The lab is short-staffed right now. Lavender hasn't eaten because she's been unwell. Give me the lunchbox."

He sounded nonchalant, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

I wanted to laugh out loud—I had been nothing but a joke all along. Pain gripped me and lashed out relentlessly.

"You rubbed her stomach because she was in pain. You let me cook for her because she had no appetite. When did you start being so attentive to someone else?"

I thought I was screaming my heart out, but my voice was hoarse and broken.

Sean, however, didn't think there was something wrong.

"Lavender's an essential member of the team," he responded evenly. "If she's well, our research can progress quickly. Can you stop projecting your twisted ideas about relationships onto us?"

I gave him a long look, then spun around and left with the lunchbox. I'd rather feed it to a dog than to Lavender.

In the next instant, Sean yanked the box from my hands so hard that I lost my balance and tumbled to the floor with it. The meal I had spent two hours preparing turned into a complete mess.

Sean's expression darkened. "You're making such a scene during lunch hour. Happy now?"

I knelt on the floor in silence, my hands bleeding from the cut caused by the broken lunchbox.

He froze, instinctively reaching out to help me up. But I pushed him away.

Enduring the pain, I hauled myself back on my feet and walked away.

After that, Sean texted me a few times. I didn't respond to his messages, and he stopped sending them.

A week before my birthday, I thought I'd have to spend it alone. But just before midnight, Sean appeared in front of me despite the pouring rain, holding a cake. He put a necklace on me and apologized.

"That day was my fault," he said. "I didn't make you feel secure enough, and that's on me. Don't worry. Once this project is over, I'll talk to my family about our wedding."

After eight years together, this was the first time he had ever given me a promise like that. I counted the days, eagerly anticipating our wedding. But I would later realize that day was still far away.

After we reconciled, Sean came home every day after work, and we enjoyed our time together. For about two weeks, life felt peaceful. Then he became busy with work again.

One day, I went to dinner with my boss. As the meal ended, I noticed Sean sitting in the corner of the restaurant with Lavender.

Before I could approach, I heard him say, "This is to thank you for your suggestion. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to coax her. She used to be obedient and sensible—she's nothing like that now. Honestly, I'm sorry for dragging you into our mess that day."

Lavender suddenly looked in my direction. She flashed a smile at Sean, and said, "I heard you've been with Janelle for eight years. Why aren't you married yet?

"Do you really still like her? I don't want to see you spend your life with someone you don't love, and I don't want you to waste her time either. Promise me you'll be honest. I won't tell anyone."

I froze.

Silence stretched on for a few seconds before Sean finally said, "No matter how good a dish is, you'll get tired of it after eating it for years. But if it suddenly disappears from the menu, I can't bear it. So I'll leave it as it is."

My chest tightened, and I felt like I was on the verge of suffocating.

I strode toward him and grabbed a glass.

The moment he saw me, he immediately shielded Lavender behind him.

"Janelle, what are you doing here? Are you following me?"

His accusations and the way he was so protective of Lavender sent a dull ache throbbing in my chest. I could no longer hold back and threw the drink in his face.

The commotion drew the attention of other patrons.

Meanwhile, Lavender panicked and tried to wipe his face.

"Janelle, you can't treat Sean like that, no matter what."

I ignored her and stared right at Sean. He gently nudged Lavender aside and wiped his face.

"Janelle, no wonder you have no friends!" he spat. "No one wants to be close to you. Who could possibly tolerate your temper?"

The glass slipped from my grasp and shattered.

I never thought Sean would be so harsh toward me for another woman's sake, nor did I ever imagine he was capable of turning my trauma against me.

When I was young, Dad cheated and died with his lover at sea. Mom struggled to raise me alone. Yet, my poor family and ordinary life made me a target for bullying. I was even locked in the restroom after school as a prank.

Back then, Sean had appeared like a savior and rescued me. As he passed by, he told me not to blame myself for others' mistakes.

But now, he had completely contradicted that.

I looked at him, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face.

Yet he didn't even glance at me. He left with Lavender, leaving me in the restaurant.