Three years after I had made my girlfriend, Sophia Lambert, sleep with her superior, she finally went from being his lover to becoming his wife.

Meanwhile, I barely made it out alive after years of being undercover in a drug trafficking ring. My body was broken beyond repair, and I had returned home only to wait for death.

Sophia arrived with one of her arms wrapped around her husband’s during a charity visit for the poor.

When she saw me standing in line for relief aid, she let out a mocking laugh.

“Benjamin, how did you end up like this?”

I hunched my shoulders. I hid the First-Class Merit Medal for Narcotics Enforcement I had received not long ago.

After a long silence, I asked, “Are you happy now?”

She twirled the diamond ring on her finger in a lackadaisical manner.

“The wedding’s next week. What do you think?

“If you want, you can even become a groomsman. Orlando believes in diversity. His groomsmen comprises of different kinds of guys. He’s just missing someone disabled.”

I shook my head and turned down her offer. “No, I won’t be able to make it.”

The poison in my body had already spread to my heart. I only had a few days left.

Benjamin's POV

After I turned down Sophia Lambert’s offer, she went stiff almost imperceptibly.

Orlando Hulk wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her hair to comfort her.

“Babe, he’s probably busy. Another entrepreneur is coming next week to sponsor the program, and he’ll need to line up for that too.”

The people at the back of the line urged us to move along.

Orlando dropped a double portion of supplies into the satchel hanging across my chest. The extra weight pulled my body downward.

I took a steady breath. I fought back the urge to cough up blood as I struggled to keep my footing.

Even so, my upper body pitched forward, and I crashed to the ground.

The milk spilled everywhere.

I instinctively tried to push myself back up.

But the drug traffickers had crippled my hands using electric shocks during interrogations.

Sophia paused mid-stride.

Orlando crouched beside me and patted me on the back. I saw the humiliating sight of myself writhing helplessly on the ground from the reflection in his satisfied gaze.

“Sorry about that. The rules say one allotment per person. Since you spilled yours, there’s nothing we can do. Even though we know each other, I can’t make an exception for you.”

The people waiting behind us were unaware of the situation. They grumbled angrily at me for wasting food.

Just then, Wendy Zen finished her patrol and happened to witness the scene. She threw down her motorcycle and rushed over.

Her eyes turned red with anger as she confronted Sophia, who stayed rooted in place.

“How can you treat him like this? Do you have any idea what he has done for you?”

Wendy helped me up from the ground. I coughed very badly and shook my head almost pleadingly.

Sophia was about to get married and step into a life of wealth and privilege.

We had missed our chance, and there was no getting it back.

Back then, Sophia’s parents were both narcotics officers. They had rescued me from a transnational child trafficking operation and taken me in.

A few years later, they dismantled the network of the country’s most notorious drug lord. As a result, they became the target of ruthless retaliation.

One died, and the other was left permanently disabled.

Before the explosion at the harbor, Sophia’s mother, Mary Lambert, held back her tears as she entrusted her only daughter to me.

From then on, I swore I would protect Sophia with my life.

For a time, our days were peaceful. We depended on each other, and somewhere along the way, we fell in love.

On our wedding day, a few scar-faced men showed up in the middle of the crowd of guests.

A chill ran down my spine. The day I had feared had finally arrived.

The drug lord had always wanted to wipe out the Lambert family to satisfy his thirst for revenge.

As information filtered down through layers of subordinates, all knew that there was one surviving child in the family.

I took her place and claimed to be the surviving family member.

I was worried that Sophia would notice something wrong, so I slipped her a sleeping pill.

Then, I got into my car and drove the scar-faced men away.

What I had not expected was that, during my absence, a hotel employee had handed out the wrong room key and given it to Orlando. Orlando had pursued Sophia for years. As a result, he took advantage of the opportunity and claimed Sophia.

When I returned from giving my statement at the police station, I saw Sophia covered with a blanket inside the hotel room. She sobbed and demanded an explanation from me.

Orlando navigated both the lawful and unlawful circles. He had recently cleaned up his image and became a businessman. He had sufficient resources to keep someone safe.

He made me realize my own weaknesses.

I did not have a foolproof security team. The drug lord would learn the truth sooner or later.

In the end, I did not explain anything to Sophia.

I only told her that Orlando had always loved her and would take good care of her.

I counted the money right in front of her and walked away.

The moment I turned around, tears streamed down my face.

After Wendy Zen sent me home, she stocked the refrigerator and prepared dinner.

Back then, she was the rookie officer who had stepped into the wedding and pretended to be my bride to help me out of a desperate situation.

She was also the one who introduced me to the police as an informant.

Thanks to Wendy, I was eventually able to help bring the drug lord who had killed Sophia’s parents to justice.

I was about to ask her to stay for dinner when my phone rang.

Orlando dropped the courteous mask he had donned during the day to warn me coldly from the other end of the line.

Tomorrow’s awards ceremony would have Orlando attending as a celebrated philanthropist.

“You know exactly what should and shouldn’t be said.”

Wendy could not bear it anymore. She shouted, “Get lost! If it weren’t for you, they’d never have missed their chance!”

I hung up, but Wendy looked worried. She promised to come back the next day to keep me company.

I looked down at the countless needle marks on my legs and arms.

“Please cover these up with some makeup tomorrow.”

The next day, when I opened the door, I saw Sophia among the visiting delegation.

She wore high heels and carefully picked her way across the uneven pavement of the old apartment block.

She pouted and complained as she clung to Orlando’s arm, “Honey, yesterday wasn’t your fault. Why did you insist on coming here?”

Apparently, Orlando had framed this visit as an apology to me.

I had not expected Sophia to come.

She had hated me to the marrow of her bones.

She believed I had betrayed her and made her sleep with Orlando.

Many times, she showed up barefoot in the middle of the night at what had once been our home. She cried, screamed, and smashed things at the door.

It was not until she saw me walking out hand-in-hand with Wendy that she bit into my arm in a frenzy of despair. She bit it so hard that she left a scar that cut nearly to the bone.

Later, she became Orlando’s most favored lover.

She even egged on Orlando to change the demolition project.

The orphanage where we had grown up together, the streets where we had taken countless walks, and the high school where we had spent our student years had been reduced to rubble.

She would not allow anyone to mention my name.

She never learned from the news that I had been kidnapped a second time by the drug traffickers as an act of revenge.

They had injected highly purified heroin into my body.

The day I left the country undercover for the drug trafficking ring, I knew I might never be coming back.

I wanted to see her one last time.

She agreed at first but left me waiting alone until midnight.

Then, under the cold underground parking garage, she wrapped herself around Orlando like a snake and made up with him on the hood of the car, right in front of me.

The girl who had once been gentle and shy used the most debauched gestures she could to hurt me.

She caught her breath in between and called me.

“Did you finally see it? Are you satisfied now?”

During that undercover operation, I held on to the hatred she felt for me and the bitterness in my heart.

I miraculously survived under the drug lord’s relentless torture.

I even avenged her parents.

When I finally returned with a medal in hand, I thought I could finally explain everything to her.

But the doctor discovered an unidentified toxin in my bloodstream.

Fate really did have a cruel sense of humor.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts. I forced an awkward smile.

I greeted everyone in front of me.

Sophia smiled faintly. My heart skipped a beat before I could stop it.

I had seen that smile countless times in my dreams when I had hovered on the edge of death.

She used to smile sweetly and call me by my nickname.

I once asked her why she always insisted on calling me by my nickname.

She had fidgeted shyly and called me an idiot.

After the television crew finished filming, Sophia’s smile faded from her face. She returned to her usual aloof demeanor.

Orlando casually said to me, “Don’t take it to your heart. She’s always a little aloof around people she doesn’t know well.”

They entered the house. Wendy suppressed her irritation and served them coffee.

Sophia took a single sip before immediately spitting it out.

“Honey, thank goodness I met you. I’m so glad this isn’t the kind of life I ended up living in.”

Wendy naturally caught the mockery beneath her words.

Wendy put the cup on the table with a loud thud. “Aren’t you here to film a charity segment? Do you want to see his medal?”

Sophia looked puzzled. “What medal?”

Wendy was about to say something when I stopped her and dragged her into the room.

I pleaded with her.

“Wendy, just grant me this one wish before I die. Don’t let her find out. Please…”

I stood in front of the full-length mirror as I carefully pulled the collar of my turtleneck shirt higher to hide the wire scars around my neck.

Wendy finally calmed down and continued to cover the festering wounds on my body with thick layers of foundation.

I endured the searing pain and sat on the couch.

In front of the cameras, I flashed a grateful smile and showed my certificate proving my eligibility for government assistance.

“She just remembered wrongly. It’s not a medal. It’s a certificate.”

After the television crew left, Orlando looked pleased that I had not mentioned anything.

Orlando asked me to visit their wedding venue and give my opinions on the decorations.

I wanted to turn down the offer, but he took out a photograph.

“I sponsor the disabled children from the choir.”

Sophia and I had taught the children in the photo during summer volunteer programs years ago.

Something inside me stirred.

I nodded.

Inside the car, Sophia sat in the passenger seat. She wound down the window.

A faint, sweet fragrance drifted toward me. It was the scent of citrus, like orange soda on a summer afternoon.

Soda was her favorite drink. Back then, I always collected bottles and cans in the summer to trade them for pocket money just so I could buy drinks for her.

Bathed in the sweet scent of citrus, she had once leaned close and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek.

“Benjamin, you’re always so good to me! Do you like me or something?”

Whether it was because of the lingering warmth of the sunset or the restless evening breeze, both of us blushed.

Those memories surged through my mind. All that remained in the present was the bitterness of a love that never had the chance to fully bloom.

“Honey, doesn’t it smell of poverty?”

Sophia took out a bottle of perfume from her handbag and sprayed heavy bursts into the air.

I instantly snapped back to the present. Those words felt like a slap across my face. A metallic sweetness rose in my throat.

When Sophia saw me struggle to suppress the urge to vomit, she covered her nose in disgust.

“Don’t you dare throw up in the car! This is a limited-edition model. One of the carpets costs more than what you can afford in a lifetime!”

Orlando smiled indulgently and turned on some music to soothe her.

His gaze stopped on my dejected reflection in the rearview mirror.

“I just love how protective she is. She’s like a kitten and is always ready to bare her claws. It’s adorable.”

I looked away and pretended to admire the scenery outside.

All the while, I fought against the sharp pain in my chest.

The rest of the drive passed in silence.

Along the way, Sophia spotted a bridal boutique.

She suddenly remembered that her bridesmaid dresses were ready for pickup.

She tried one of them and walked out of the fitting room.

The excitement on her face left me momentarily dazed.

The day we decided to get married, she had put on a white dress too.

She had spun in circles and asked me if she looked pretty.

I never once grew tired of saying that she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

A faint smile rose to my lips as I was about to respond to her.

Just then, Orlando’s voice rang out from behind. “My wife, you look beautiful in everything!”

Sophia was so happy that she threw herself into his arms. The two laughed and kissed right in front of me.

I lowered my head in silence.

Later, we arrived at the wedding venue.

I stood at the hotel entrance. When the doorman asked for my VIP pass, I had nothing to show him.

I waited in the biting wind for almost two hours.

The couple finally returned from parking the car.

Orlando was carrying Sophia in his arms. He said apologetically, “We got a little carried away. Sorry about that.”

Sophia was wrapped in his oversized coat. With just a slight glance upward, I could see her thigh revealed through the ripped pantyhose.

“She was wearing a white dress the first time we slept together…”

He gave me a knowing wink.

My entire body felt numb as I forced myself to keep walking beside them.

I no longer had the strength to get angry over the past.

Every surge of emotion only accelerated the spread of the poison in my blood.

I did not want to collapse at the wedding venue, and I did not want to ruin her memories for another wedding.

We skirted around towering columns at the center of the fountain garden.

There stood rows of children rehearsing for the choir.

Back then, these children from the remote mountain village could barely afford enough food to eat. Today, they studied in the city thanks to the sponsorship.

The sight brought me a small measure of comfort.

Sophia changed into a different outfit. She pushed open the glass door entwined with climbing roses.

Orlando entered through the door. I followed behind him.

The moment he let go of the door, it swung back and slammed into my face.

I tumbled into the fountain.

Sophia turned around with a cold expression on her face.

“Benjamin, I spent a lot of effort putting this venue together. If you want a bath, you can find somewhere else to do it.”

Her mocking words reached my ears like distant echoes beneath the water.

Freezing water rushed into my nose. It sent a burning pain through my sinuses.

After my undercover operation was compromised, the drug lord had interrogated and tortured me for information about Sophia’s whereabouts.

It was a form of water torture. They locked me inside a bamboo cage and lowered me into a deep river over and over again.

Ever since, the sight of deep water had triggered involuntary convulsions.

I fought the cramps and seized my legs. I struggled to keep my head above the surface and called for help.

Sophia brushed the water droplets from her clothes and immediately stepped back.

“Why are you acting so pathetic? The water’s only three feet deep!

“Benjamin, you were a swimmer in school! Don’t tell me you can’t even stand up!”