I stayed by William Gavin's side for three years and proposed to him three times. He rejected me each time.

With a look of utter disdain, he said, "Every time I see that scar on Whitney Spencer's stomach, I remember the baby that died in there. It just makes me think she's dirty."

The words pierced my heart like a knife.

And yet, I still asked him to marry me a fourth time.

"Check out William Gavin on social media! The guy who swore he'd never get married just said he wants to tie the knot!"

I was in the middle of frantically applying scar cream on my stomach when my hand froze.

With trembling fingers, I quickly opened my feed.

Sure enough, William had posted just five words, "I want to get married."

And because of those five words, the group chat went wild.

"No way! Did Whitney Spencer actually manage to convince him to marry her? Don’t tell me she’s pregnant again and using it to force his hand?"

"God, that’s so shameless! I thought she was just devoted, but turns out she’s manipulative as hell!"

I read the messages with a self-deprecating smile.

Three years of humiliating persistence. No wonder no one respected me.

But I couldn’t care about their ridicule right now.

I just needed to know if William truly agreed to marry me this time.

I went straight from the hospital to the place where they were gathered.

After taking a deep breath, I smiled and pushed the door open.

The lively room fell silent in an instant.

William stubbed out his cigarette, lifted a hand, and smirked. "Come here."

My eyes instantly lit up. Had I waited long enough?

Just as I stepped forward, someone bumped into me from behind.

I steadied myself against the doorframe as the woman who had brushed past me walked straight to William’s side.

She had a delicate appearance.

William gently pulled her into his arms and introduced her to everyone. "This is Jennifer Ross, my fiancée. What are you all standing around for? Say hello."

At that moment, I froze. It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head, leaving me utterly humiliated.

The room went dead silent for a beat.

Then, as people processed his words, they scrambled to greet her.

I was the only one left standing there like a fool.

How could this be happening?

Desperate, I pulled out an engagement ring and begged, "William, please don’t marry her. I’m begging you–"

Jennifer stared at me.

William let go of her and lazily tapped the table, smiling. "Alright."

He took the ring and, in the next second, tossed it straight out the window into the Hartwell River.

My heart stopped for a moment as we had designed that ring together.

Now, he discarded it without a second thought.

"Go fish it out, and I’ll marry you."

He said indifferently. It was as if he was making the most casual remark in the world.

One of his friends hesitated. "William, isn’t that a bit much?"

"Yeah, it’s the middle of winter. Asking her to jump into the river for a ring, it's basically impossible. What if–"

"Did I ask for your opinion?" William cut them off abruptly. He then turned to Jennifer. "How about a bet? Let’s see how long it takes her to find it."

Jennifer giggled and whispered something in his ear.

He chuckled, his arm wrapping around her as they laughed together.

Watching them, I felt an unbearable chill seep into my bones. My heart, once burning with passion, now laid in ruins.

Without hesitation, I dove into the river.

The December water was ice-cold. It felt like sharp needles against my skin.

A harsh, stinging sensation filled my throat.

The dark water below seemed like a gaping abyss, waiting to devour everything.

It was just like what had happened back then.

'William, I can’t hold on much longer.

'What else can I do? Marrying you has been my only wish in this life.'

Biting my tongue to stay conscious, I frantically searched the riverbed for the lost ring.

Eventually, exhaustion took over. My body went numb.

Someone pulled me out and threw a blanket over me.

I barely had the strength to hold it up.

Shivering, I dragged myself toward William.

He was kissing Jennifer on the couch.

It was a slow, lingering kiss filled with warmth and tenderness.

Even the onlookers seemed moved by it.

I sat there quietly.

It felt like an eternity passed before they finally parted.

With what little strength I had left, I held up the ring and whispered, "William, I did it."

He slapped my hand away, sneering. "Pathetic."

"Let’s end this, Whitney."

His voice was cold and filled with nothing but disgust.

Despite my frozen, trembling body, those words cut through me more deeply than any blade.

I looked at the man I once loved with everything I had. The man who now only wanted to be rid of me.

"William, we used to love each other so much. Why? Why can’t you just love me a little longer?"

My voice broke into a desperate plea.

But William abruptly stood, his voice like a whip. "Shut up! Don’t bring up the past again!

"You think you’re still the same Whitney from back then?" He smiled in cruel disdain. "Every time I see those scars on your stomach, I feel sick.

"They’re a constant reminder that a child died there. That you are beyond filthy."

Each word pierced deeper than the last.

Tears that mixed with the river water dripped from my hair.

I clutched the blanket, desperately trying to cover my stomach. My voice cracked. "William, no, it’s not like that–"

That scar on my stomach, coiling like a centipede with its claws, was truly ugly.

But in reality, it was proof of the love William and I once shared.

Years ago, his mother disapproved of me because I was an orphan. William was willing to sever ties with his family just to marry me. But on the day of our wedding, he got into a car accident, and I disappeared without a trace.

I only returned six months later, with this scar on my stomach.

Everyone said I was a gold digger who ran off the moment William had his accident, only to come crawling back after being dumped by someone else.

Ever since then, our love turned to resentment and revenge.

But what he didn’t know was that after the accident, he had been gravely injured and needed a kidney transplant. I was the one who had donated mine to save him. I then went into hiding to recover for six months.

I couldn't tell him because I was dying. I had late-stage kidney failure.

I didn’t want him to live the rest of his life burdened with guilt.

I just wanted to spend the little time I had left by his side. I wanted to complete the wedding we never had.

With only a week left to live, he still refused to marry me.

The room was filled with the sound of my muffled sobs, yet William remained unmoved.

He grabbed my chin and asked, "What is it then?"

"I–" I hesitated, unable to say the words in the end.

William let out a cold laugh, pulled Jennifer into his arms, and walked away.

I could no longer hold myself up. My body collapsed to the floor.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital.

My doctor, Mike Sommer, looked furious. "You had a high fever all night. Your condition has worsened. Whether you make it through tonight depends on luck."

I let out a shaky breath. "So soon?"

But I still hadn’t finished the wedding with William.

Wouldn’t it be a shame to die just like this?

I smiled bitterly and asked Mike to keep my condition a secret. Then, despite his protests, I discharged myself and returned home.

As soon as I stepped inside, I saw William sitting on the couch. He stared at me gloomily.

"Why didn’t you just die out there? Why did you come back?"

His words sent a shiver down my spine. 'I am dying,' I thought.

I ignored the sharp pain in my heart and said softly, "William, I agree to the breakup. I won’t bother you anymore.

"But I have one condition. Give me a wedding. No marriage license, no legal ties, just put the ring on my finger yourself, like a real husband would."

I asked carefully, knowing he would refuse.

However, I still held onto a faint glimmer of hope.

"Fine. I’ll do it."

His unexpected answer made my heart pound.

I quickly said, "After the wedding, I’ll disappear from your life forever. I won’t interfere with you and Jennifer."

The moment I finished speaking, his expression turned icy. He clenched his jaw. "What a deal, huh? Whitney, I’ll make sure to play my role as your husband at the wedding."

The way he emphasized the word 'play' sent a sharp pain through my heart, but I was satisfied.

William hated me so much that he arranged the wedding for that very night.

That was fine. I might not even make it to tomorrow.

A bloody taste filled my mouth. I swallowed a handful of painkillers and put on my wedding dress before heading to the venue.

But when I arrived, there were no flowers and no guests.

Williams was also nowhere to be found.

Had I come too late?

Stumbling, I searched every corner of the hall, but to no avail.

Panic crept in as I reached for my phone to call William.

Suddenly, the giant screen in the center of the hall lit up.

On it, William, dressed in a tailored suit, was kneeling before Jennifer in her white gown.

He was proposing.

"Jennifer, marry me," he said.

"I, William, swear to love you and only you for the rest of my life. I will never let you down."

It was the same vow he once made to me.

Now, it felt a knife stabbing into my heart.

I collapsed to the floor, unable to believe what I was seeing.

William had played me again, and I was foolish enough to believe him.

I couldn’t hold it back anymore. Blood gushed from my throat, pain ripping through my body as if I were being torn apart.

With the last bit of my strength, I lifted my head, desperate to see William one more time.

But in the end, I couldn’t.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

I died alone on a night no one would remember.

Later, an ambulance took my body to the hospital.

I hovered above as a ghost, watching Mike desperately try to save me, only to collapse in defeat, sobbing on the ground.

"Thank you, Mike," I whispered, but he couldn't hear me.

Then, he reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and glanced at it before dialing a number from his own.

I floated closer.

It was William’s number.

"What?" William answered almost instantly.

"No–" I wanted to stop Mike, but it was useless.

"Mr. Gavin, this is Whitney’s doctor," Mike said, his voice hoarse. "Please come to the hospital as soon as possible."

"Doctor? Hospital?" William let out a chuckle.

"What, did she fail at one trick and switch to another?

"Let me guess. Now she wants me to believe she’s dying?

"Tell her this. If she’s going to die, she'd better do it somewhere far away so I don’t have to see it."

Mike put down his phone. Disbelief was written all over his face.

I murmured softly, "William still hates me to the core."

'Fine. Leaving was the best ending anyway.'

But before I could even process the thought, my soul was suddenly pulled right in front of William.

Inside a lavishly decorated villa, he tossed his phone aside. He then turned and grabbed Jennifer by her shoulders before pressing her down onto the couch.

Jennifer let out a soft gasp, her eyes filled with teasing allure as she wrapped her arms around William. She smiled. "Aren't you afraid that if you mess with Whitney like this, she'll really get mad and run away for good?"

William sneered indifferently. "She wasn’t afraid of me being mad when she ran off with another man back then. She got knocked up, dumped, and came crawling back to have me marry her. She treated me like trash. It’s disgusting. Why shouldn’t I get back at her?"

His thumb brushed against Jennifer’s lips as he added coldly, "I only have enough space for one person in my heart. Besides, I won't tolerate any form of betrayal.

"If she really runs away this time, then good. I’ll finally be rid of her."

I stood there listening, and in that moment, I understood that this was just another act of revenge. I should have known.

He wanted so badly to get rid of me. Now that I was finally dead, no one would bother him anymore.

He should be relieved from now on.

It was what I had wanted too. So why did it still hurt so much?

Looking at the man I had once loved so deeply, I whispered, "Be happy, William. I hope you and the one you love will be happy forever."

For the next few days, William spent his time between nightclubs and Jennifer’s place. He never once returned to our house.

It was another wild night.

A group of people lay sprawled across the club’s lounge, drunk and laughing.

Someone said, "The way William ditched Whitney at the wedding was epic! She’s probably hiding somewhere and bawling her eyes out."

William swirled the liquor in his glass, smirking in agreement, but his face was obscured in the dim lighting, making his expression unreadable.

Another voice chimed in, "A gold-digging woman like Whitney must be losing her mind right now. Imagine watching her perfect, rich husband slip right through her fingers!"

"Exactly! She deserves to be left hanging a little longer."

"Yeah, women like that are just shameless."

The conversation grew more and more outrageous.

I stood there, listening to every word. Tears welled up in my eyes.

"Don’t worry. From now on, I’ll never bother him again," I said to no one in particular. Not like they could hear me.

I turned to drift away, hoping to catch a breath, but suddenly I heard a loud collision.

Crash!

A glass shattered against the floor, shards scattering in every direction.

William shot up from his seat. His expression was ice-cold.

"All of you, shut the hell up!"