The moment Marcus saw Cecilia, his eyes darkened.

Without another word, he abandoned Lucy and rushed up to the third floor, his eyes blazing. Everyone watched as his entire body trembled, his face drained of color. He was shaking so badly that when he reached Cecilia, he pulled her into his arms as if afraid she might collapse.

“Cecilia, listen to me,” he said hoarsely. “This was just a scene for a short film. Don’t get the wrong idea. You know I designed this ring myself. You don’t like being in front of the camera, and Lucy’s hands look a lot like yours. I wanted to surprise you. Once the footage is edited, the whole city will see it as an advertisement.”

His trembling hands hurriedly slid the ring onto Cecilia’s ring finger.

But she immediately felt it was wrong.

The ring didn’t fit.

That wasn’t her size.

Downstairs, Lucy’s face had gone pale. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared helplessly at Cecilia and Marcus.

Marcus’s voice suddenly turned cold.

“Miss Garnett, my wife is angry. You should explain yourself. If you don’t, you won’t need to come back to work at the Leedon Group.”

Lucy’s voice trembled, humble and subdued.

“Ms. Summer… this wedding was only for the commercial shoot. I was the planner. The campaign is for Mr. Leedon, and it will be broadcast across the city three days from now—on your anniversary.”

Marcus smiled charmingly and wrapped his arms around Cecilia.

“See, Cecilia? Everything I did was for you. I’ve always done everything for you. I love you, and that will never change. Cecilia, you’re the love of my life.”

Every word Marcus spoke sounded like a vow Cecilia had trusted for twenty-seven years.

She had never doubted his love.

Yet now she suddenly realized something.

Even after betraying her, Marcus could still declare his love in front of everyone as if nothing had happened—still gentle, still affectionate.

Lucy froze when she heard those words.

Only then did she seem to understand something.

Tears streamed down her face as she forced out a trembling smile.

“Ms. Summer… I wish you and Mr. Leedon a lifetime of happiness… growing old together… and having children.”

The words **having children** pierced Cecilia’s heart like a blade.

She looked toward Lucy.

Lucy was crying so hard her entire body shook. Then she turned and ran without looking back.

Marcus shouted after her, his voice raw with desperation.

“Lucy!”

Then he lost all composure and sprinted downstairs after her.

Cecilia watched him push through the crowd, chasing after Lucy.

In the next instant, a car screeched to a halt.

With a violent crash, it slammed into Lucy and sent her flying.

Cecilia stood frozen on the roadside as Marcus’s anguished scream tore through the air.

“Lucy! No!”

He lunged forward and caught Lucy before she hit the ground.

Everyone saw what happened next.

Lucy struggled to throw herself into Marcus’s arms, shielding him with her body.

In that instant, her fragile body took the second impact of the car.

There was a deafening crash.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Lucy kept coughing up blood, crimson pouring from her mouth. The ground beneath her was quickly soaked red.

Marcus collapsed to his knees, trembling as he held her, tears filling his eyes.

“Lucy, stay with me. I’ll take you to the hospital right now.”

Blood streamed from Lucy’s lips as she weakly whispered, “Baby… Marcus… save our baby… please…”

Cecilia saw Marcus slowly raise his head.

His eyes were bloodshot as they locked onto hers.

“I told you, Cecilia,” he snarled through clenched teeth. “Lucy and I never had anything. I told you it was just a scene. Why won’t you believe me? Why did you have to drive her and our child to death just to be satisfied?”

In that moment, Cecilia saw pure hatred flicker in Marcus’s eyes.

The crowd began murmuring.

Donovan Mendes spoke first, his voice cold.

“Cecilia, Marcus loves you so much. Even though he had to marry Lucy because of his grandfather’s arrangement, he still sent her abroad for nearly seven years—for your sake.”

Others quickly joined in.

“Exactly. Marcus was only protecting you. That’s why he let Lucy film the commercial today. He didn’t want you getting tired.”

“Cecilia, you’re being too harsh. Lucy just loves Marcus. She’s never asked for anything in return. Such a kind girl… how can you be so unforgiving and leave her with no place at all?”

Their words were filled with accusation and judgment.

Once, everyone said she and Marcus were the perfect match—the golden couple, made for each other. Friends had always believed they were destined to be together.

But now those same people stood on their moral high ground, judging her. They accused her of ruining what was supposed to be a pure relationship. And somehow, they even blamed her for his seven-year deception.

Lucy was rushed into surgery, and Cecilia followed behind.

Marcus had only suffered minor scrapes, but he refused to let the doctor examine him. He insisted on waiting until Lucy was out of surgery.

Lucy had lost too much blood. The baby didn’t survive. Because of the hemorrhaging, her uterus had to be removed.

Marcus looked devastated, pain written all over his face.

“Lucy, I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have sent you abroad for seven years. I shouldn’t have ignored you. And I shouldn’t have mistaken everything you did for me as something Cecilia had done.

“I loved the wrong person. I thought she was the one.”

Cecilia listened, stunned and confused.

Did Marcus really believe Lucy had been the one doing all those things for him?

Tears filled Cecilia’s eyes as she wiped them away with trembling fingers.

But she had done so much for him over the years too—quietly, in the background.

Since she was five years old, she had been his blood donor. Marcus had a rare condition that caused dangerously low platelet counts and required regular transfusions.

As a child, she had been terrified he might die.

Her parents tried to stop her, but she insisted on donating blood for him again and again.

That was also why she had always been so sickly growing up, while Marcus gradually became stronger and healthier.

Later, in middle school, her parents tried to force her to leave, afraid she would sacrifice her life for him.

Marcus believed she had been allowed to stay because he knelt outside the Summer family’s house for seven days, begging them not to take her away.

But the truth was different.

She had threatened to kill herself if her parents separated them.

Only then had they finally given up.

Now she watched Marcus regretfully confess how cold he had been to Lucy—how he loved her and should never have ignored her.

Cecilia suddenly wanted to tell him that she felt the same.

If she had known their love would end in ruins like this, she would never have let it begin.

She walked toward the elevator, tears blurring her vision.

At that moment, Marcus suddenly collapsed onto the floor.

This time, she made a different choice.

She wasn’t going to save him anymore.

Night fell quietly.

Cecilia sat alone in her villa while her social media exploded with activity.

Everyone she and Marcus knew was sharing the same video.

In the clip, the bride’s face was hidden, while the groom slipped a ring onto her finger.

But the captions all said the same thing:

“Mr. Leedon and Mrs. Leedon’s seventh anniversary!”

Cecilia’s lips curled into a cold sneer.

Seventh anniversary…

Marcus and Lucy’s anniversary too.

Who exactly were these people celebrating?

Someone had posted footage from their wedding online, and it had quickly spread across the internet.

Everywhere, people were congratulating her.

“So happy for Mrs. Leedon!”

“Mr. Leedon and his wife are adorable. So sweet!”

“Another fairytale romance!”

Meanwhile, Marcus lay unconscious in the hospital, completely unaware of the storm brewing online.

Her phone suddenly rang.

She answered.

“Cecilia, Marcus urgently needs a blood transfusion. You need to come to the hospital and donate.”

Her eyes filled with tears—but they burned with cold fury.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Leedon. I’m not his wife, or even his girlfriend. I have no obligation to save him. I’m not connected to him in any way.”

“…You know everything?”

Cecilia let out a cold laugh.

“Thank you for what you did seven years ago. Because of you, I won’t have to deal with a divorce from Marcus now.

“If he bleeds to death tonight, I won’t attend his funeral either.

“I’m nothing to him.”

The old man’s voice turned icy.

“You, Cecilia, are just like your grandfather.

“You will always be the person I hate the most.”

Then he hung up.

Cecilia didn’t sleep the entire night.

Instead, she spent hours sorting through every memory she had with Marcus—holding tightly to the quiet, burning rage in her heart.

She grabbed a hammer and smashed every wedding photo, one after another. Glass shards scattered across the floor.

All the clothes Marcus had bought for her, along with the jewelry and handbags, she packed up and sent off. By midnight, everything had been shipped to a second-hand auction house.

She also destroyed the gifts they had exchanged since childhood—the stuffed bunny Marcus had bought to comfort her when she cried as a little girl, and the stacks of practice books for the college entrance exams that he had forced her to finish, tutoring her day after day.

One by one, she carried everything out to the yard and set it on fire.

Her phone buzzed again.

A strange message appeared.

“I never realized how much he loved me—he was even willing to risk his life for me.”

Cecilia replied with a single line.

“Lucy, congratulations. You’ve finally recycled my trash.”

Three hours later, she heard that Marcus had woken up.

At the Leedon family hospital, there had always been five bags of blood stored for him—just in case.

For years, his health had been stable, and he had never been seriously injured. Even so, every six months, she had blood drawn and stored for him, just in case Marcus ever needed it.

But after last night, those five bags of blood were probably gone within five hours.

Just like that, the twenty-seven years between them had been used up completely.

Bodyguards forced her to the hospital.

When she pushed open the door to the ward, she saw Marcus holding Lucy in his arms.

His eyes burned with anger.

“Cecilia! You bribed the doctors so that Lucy lost her baby. And on top of that, you had them remove her womb.”

She froze as Marcus accused her of causing Lucy’s miscarriage.

A nearby doctor immediately said, “Mr. Leedon, it was Ms. Summer. She said that if I didn’t remove Mrs. Leedon’s womb, my entire family wouldn’t be able to survive in this city.”

Marcus released Lucy and walked toward Cecilia.

For the first time, he grabbed her by the throat.

“How could you use money and power to hurt her like this? When did you become such a cruel person?”

Cecilia’s eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him.

The fury and anguish on his face were no longer meant for her.

Pain tightened around her neck as Marcus’s grip grew stronger.

She curled her lips into a faint smile.

“Marcus, it’s just a womb. If money can buy her life, I’ll gladly pay for it.”

His expression darkened with rage.

Without warning, he slapped her hard.

She fell to the ground, fragile and stunned.

His voice was cold as steel.

“Take her to the operating room. Remove her womb.”

Two doctors stepped forward and restrained her.

Cecilia stared at him in disbelief.

“What are you saying? Marcus, what are you going to do to me?”

His icy gaze locked onto hers.

“You can’t owe someone forever, Cecilia. Since you owe Lucy, then pay her back. Once everything is settled, I’ll still take care of you the way I always have.”

With a single glance from him, the two doctors quietly dragged her away.

She tried to struggle, but a doctor pushed an anesthetic needle into her arm.

Almost instantly, her vision began to blur.

Through her fading consciousness, she saw Marcus pulling Lucy into his arms again.

“Lucy, don’t cry. When you cry, it breaks my heart.”

Her awareness slowly drifted away, memories from her youth flashing through her mind.

She was twenty years old, crying in Marcus’s arms.

Marcus smiled mischievously and whispered teasingly, “Cecilia, I love it when you cry. When you do, it really turns me on.”

So that was what real heartbreak meant for him.

When a woman cried for him, that was what made his heart ache.

A sharp pain suddenly tore through her abdomen again.

Through the haze of anesthesia, she faintly heard the voices of the doctors—and Marcus.

“Mr. Leedon… Ms. Summer already had an uterine procedure earlier. Do you still want her uterus removed?”