I was adopted by the Lloyd family, and they were family friends with the White family.

During my first visit to the White family’s home, I fell in love with the cheerful Desmond at first sight.

He was not as moody or reserved as Benjamin Lloyd.

Both of our parents started to tease me when they caught me sneaking glances at Desmond.

“We were joking about marrying our children in the past, but we unexpectedly had two boys. Now that we have Eunice, we may proceed with what we agreed upon back then.”

“Alright.”

Desmond did not reject the idea. Instead, he put his arm around my shoulders.

That was how I naively developed feelings for my first love.

He treated me really well too.

During school days, he would arrive early at the Lloyd’s family house to pick me up.

He would also bring me around to have desserts at different malls during the summer break.

I slowly fell in love with him.

Once I learned that he did not want to inherit his family business and wanted to be a doctor, I immediately let go of my dream of becoming a designer to become a medical volunteer.

I thought we would be together forever.

After Desmond found out about my decision, he pulled me into a tight embrace and said sweet nothings like, “Eunice, I’ll definitely protect you in the future!”

I believed what he said.

From that day onwards, we were official.

It had been seven years.

However, in these seven years, I was basically treated like a joke.

Initially, I thought he only had sympathy toward Connie, who had the same background as I did.

Instead, he fell in love with her.

“Did he bully you? I’ll give him a piece of my mind. Don’t cry.”

Benjamin was comforting me. Meanwhile, he took out his cell phone to give Desmond a call.

However, Desmond did not answer.

Benjamin was furious. He no longer looked as gentle as he had looked when he was comforting me.

Furious, he smashed his cell phone on the floor.

This was the first time I had seen him lose his temper.

His eyes narrowed behind his gold-framed glasses. I shuddered involuntarily.

Benjamin realized my discomfort, so he immediately put on a smile.

“Let’s ignore Desmond. I’ll take you away from this place.”

Alright, I no longer wanted Desmond.

Desmond would never be able to let Connie go.

Connie first appeared in our lives when we were in our third year in college.

She resembled me when I was younger. She was timid and careful, and it was easy to sympathize with her.

When I saw that she was being bullied in the washroom, I took her under my wing and into my friend group.

Initially, I wanted her to be more confident.

However, I slowly realized that Desmond would keep looking at her.

He was tutoring Connie on her thesis on my birthday.

He was taking care of Connie’s cat when I was sick.

He treated Connie even better as time passed.

All those things ached my heart.

I was once so disappointed in Desmond, so I broke up with him over a text message.

Initially, he thought I was just looking for attention, so he ignored me.

After a month, he realized that I was serious about it.

He started to panic.

He was flustered when he appeared before me. He hugged me tightly.

“Eunice, I was wrong. I only thought of her as a younger sister since Benjamin has you as his younger sister. I was jealous of him, so I thought I could finally brag to him now that I have one too.”

After seeing how anxious he was, I believed him.

I really bought his words.

They started to distance themselves from each other, and I thought that he really loved me.

However, after this incident, I realized that he was treating her as a lover.

Desmond only rushed to see me 3 days after I was admitted to the hospital.

He had just walked into my ward when Benjamin punched him in his face.

I slept the other day after being comforted by Benjamin. He had asked someone to retrieve the surveillance footage from the banquet hall.

Even though the position I was standing in was dangerous, it should only cause some superficial wounds.

However, Desmond had pushed me into danger when he was trying to save Connie.

Benjamin was angered by what he saw, so he immediately wanted to confront and scold Desmond.

However, he did not expect to see Desmond’s latest social media post.

In the photo, Desmond was dressed in his engagement suit as he shared a Ferris wheel cabin with Connie.

Desmond was kneeling before her.

He was gently holding Connie’s legs as he treated her wound.

It was barely a scratch—so small you’d miss it if the photo wasn’t zoomed in.

The gentleness he showed her made my heart ache.

However, judging from the angle, Connie seemed to be the one who took the photo and posted it.

Desmond had never posted anything on social media, and he did not like to share his life online.

So it had to be Connie—trying to show me that she mattered more than I did in his heart.

***

"You're being so unreasonable!" Benjamin yelled at him. His voice cut through my memories.

“What do you mean I’m being unreasonable? Benjamin, I know how you feel about her. But you're just her foster brother. You should keep an appropriate distance from her!”

Desmond’s words angered me.

Even though Benjamin had always liked me, he had kept his feelings hidden. He had never confessed his love to me.

He would not cause me additional trouble.

If it were not for his high fever two years ago, I would have never found out about his feelings. While I was taking care of him, I overheard his mumbles.

He had protected me like a true older brother all these years. He had never made any inappropriate advances.

After hearing what Desmond had accused Benjamin, I no longer wanted to turn a blind eye.

I immediately understood what Benjamin was referring to the other day.

He would want to use the Lloyd family’s power to protect my happiness.

“Eunice, it’s only been three days since I last saw you. Why are you hurting me like this?”

I immediately laughed at his pitiful expression.

He really thought I was hurting him.

What about my child? What about my injured legs?

“Let me take a look…”

Desmond wanted to step forward and examine my legs, but I forcefully pushed him away.

Doing that caused me a lot of pain. My forehead was covered in sweat, and my hair was drenched in sweat too.

A hint of concern finally appeared in Desmond’s eyes when he saw my pained expression.

“Eunice, it’s all my fault. Just let me take a look at your injury, alright? You can scold me or hit me all you want after you get better.”

He had not been this gentle to me for a very long time.

I was momentarily stunned.

He used to be this anxious when I was sick in the past. And he was the one who performed my surgery.

A minor appendix removal surgery would make him nervous, despite having a lot of experience.

I had just been given anesthesia when his eyes welled up with tears. His hands were also trembling.

After the surgery, he disregarded his colleagues and kissed me in front of them.

He also cried.

Due to that incident, we became the model couple in his hospital.

Every single girl was envious of me.

However, even though he did love me in the past, it did not change the fact that he no longer loved me.

When I wanted to end it with him, I saw the hem of a white skirt just outside the door.

“I can forgive you as long as you completely cut Connie off. I’ll forgive you then.”

“Eunice, why are you targeting Connie? She doesn’t have any family. She only has me. Don’t you feel sorry for her?”

Desmond was unhappy about it, and he frowned.

I glared at him. He was not even willing to lie to me about his true feelings.

However, I was unwilling to accept defeat over a seven-year relationship!

“In the past, I did feel sorry for her. However, after seeing that she did not keep her distance from a taken man, I knew I had the wrong impression of her.”

“Eunice, Connie has never said anything bad about you. Instead, you’re the one who constantly badmouths her. When did you turn into such an unreasonable person?”

I took a few deep breaths and asked him to get lost with the coldest tone.

However, Connie walked in with tears in her eyes. She immediately started to accuse me.

“Eunice, Desmond has already apologized to you. Why can’t you forgive him? If you feel uncomfortable, I’ll leave.”

Connie was wearing the white dress that I had custom-made.

It was part of a couple’s outfit, and it matched what Desmond was wearing.

I planned to wear that dress for our vacation and wedding photoshoot after our engagement ceremony.

However, she was wearing it instead.

So, I said, “Let’s break up. You don’t deserve me.”

After a long while, he stared at me in shock and disbelief.

Just when he wanted to salvage our relationship, Benjamin walked in with the doctor and nurses.

When he saw that my face was pale and angry, he immediately asked Desmond and Connie to get out of my hospital ward.

After the doctor finished his examination and confirmed that I had just pulled a muscle and was fine, Benjamin finally relaxed.

We were left alone in the hospital ward. He then looked awkwardly over at me.

“Eunice, Desmond was talking nonsense just now. Please don’t take it to heart.”

He sounded hesitant. I immediately understood that he was affected by Desmond’s words.

After this betrayal, I had a different thought.

“I know why you rejected the blind dates our parents have been arranging all these years. However, I have only just come out of this relationship. I can’t give you an answer.”

When I said that, I was thinking about how well he had treated me all these years.

When I first joined the Lloyd family, everyone was laughing at me for trying to be a princess when I was a pauper.

Everyone at the private school looked down on me.

Some people would lock me in the bathroom and dump my books in the sink. They would also pour their makeup remover into my water cup…

Every time it happened, I would hide in a corner and cry.

After Benjamin found out, he forced my bullies to apologize to me at the school field.

He would personally send me to school and fetch me back. He would also bring me snacks that I liked.

From that day onwards, everyone knew that the heir of Lloyd Corporation was protecting me. No one dared to bully me anymore.

Throughout the ten years that I was staying with the Lloyd family, Benjamin had taken care of me.

He was irreplaceable to me.

Actually, after the first time I broke up with Desmond, my feelings for him had decreased.

However, Benjamin’s parents had asked Desmond to take care of me before they passed away in a car accident.

I felt that they would only rest in peace if I married Desmond.

Hence, during that period, I tried to hold onto Desmond. I tried to fall in love with him again.

I had never thought about Benjamin’s feelings.

I looked at Benjamin while feeling guilty.