Dante didn't come home that night, and I didn't call him to ask where he was either. I'd already seen Isobel's social media updates.

After leaving the hospital that afternoon, Dante and Isobel returned to Isobel's home to inform her family about her pregnancy. I saw a picture of Isobel's grandmother affectionately holding Dante's hand while saying something to him. He had an unusually tender smile on his face as he stroked Isobel's abdomen with his other hand.

In the five years we'd been dating, Dante only agreed to visit my family with me once, after we'd decided to get married.

Even though it was less than a half-hour drive between our houses, he had never taken the initiative to visit my family before that, not even once. He said he didn't like spending time with older people. It made him feel uncomfortable.

During that visit, he merely treated my family politely, unlike the warmth he showed Isobel's family, which I saw through the photos.

I closed my eyes. Doing my best to quash the bitterness I felt, I turned off my phone.

The next day, I reached out to a few friends and told them that the wedding had been called off.

Dante once said that he didn't like wedding ceremonies. He thought they were a meaningless formality. At my insistence, he reluctantly agreed to have a small wedding ceremony with only our closest family and friends invited.

Everyone around me knew how much I loved Dante. My friends were stunned to hear that the wedding had been canceled.

"Haven't you been in love with Dante for ages? Why have you suddenly decided to break it off with him?"

An indescribable sense of heartache washed over me. It wasn't easy to abruptly terminate a bond that had lasted for two decades. However, as it turned out, our relationship didn't start on an equal footing. All along, I was the one who did my best to keep up with him. He had never paused for me.

At first, I didn't care about that. I told myself that if I could wait until he agreed to marry me, then after we were married, I could keep waiting until he truly loved me.

I was willing to wait until he opened up his heart to me.

Alas, it all changed six months ago when Isobel, his so-called savior, showed up.

At last, I realized that Dante wasn't cold and indifferent to everyone. In front of Isobel, he was always gentle and generous with his smiles. As for me, I was never anything more than a side character in his life.

Still, the hardest thing for me to bear was his deceit. While he pretended to seek my approval, he had secretly made Isobel pregnant through artificial insemination.

It was from that moment on that it finally hit me. There was never going to be a future with Dante and me.

I didn't tell my friends the truth. I simply said that I was leaving for work at a different hospital and would get in touch with them sometime later. Feeling apologetic about the suddenness, I hung out with them until late at night before heading home.

When I got back, Dante had only just arrived as well. Smelling the stench of alcohol on me, he frowned and backed away. He covered his nose and impatiently snapped, "Stay away from me. Don't get any of that alcohol odor on me."

I let out a self-deprecating laugh. He was probably just worried that the alcohol might end up affecting Isobel. After all, she was a pregnant woman.

Without saying anything, I went to the bathroom and took a shower. When I came back out, Dante was tapping away on his phone with a smile on his face.

I spared him a glance before deciding to head to the bedroom to sleep, but he stopped me.

"I need to discuss something with you," Dante said.

I paused in my footsteps. He had said the same thing two weeks ago, when he first told me he wanted to have a baby with Isobel. We'd been arguing ever since then.

Isobel was already pregnant, so what else did he have to discuss with me?

"Let's not go for our wedding photoshoot tomorrow," Dante said.

I checked the calendar on the table. The words "wedding photoshoot" were clearly written in the box for the next day.

I wasn't sure why Dante was suddenly asking to cancel the photoshoot. Nevertheless, I didn't intend on going through with the wedding anyway. If he hadn't said anything, I would've found an excuse to call off the photoshoot. Since he was bringing it up himself, it not only saved me the trouble but also made me feel relieved.

Nodding, I said calmly, "Fine. I'll call the photographer to cancel the photoshoot."

Dante was startled. He hadn't expected me to agree to it so readily. Then, doing his best to hide his uneasiness, he continued, "You don't need to cancel it. Isobel says she might never have a chance to get married, so she wants to do a wedding photoshoot with me. That way, she can pretend like she got married as well and won't have any regrets.

"Isobel and I will do the photoshoot tomorrow. You and I can have a replacement wedding photoshoot in the future."

His tone was calm and nonchalant, as if he were merely describing what he'd like to have for lunch tomorrow. He made it sound like his request was a perfectly ordinary one. He'd done the same thing two weeks ago when he told me he wanted to have a baby with Isobel. Although he phrased it like a discussion, his tone made it clear that he had already made up his mind. He was merely informing me about it.

Dante didn't know there wasn't going to be a "future" with us still together.

"Fine," I replied coolly before heading to bed.

Since the wedding wasn't happening, it didn't matter to me who Dante took wedding photos with.

As he watched me leave, Dante felt a strange, uneasy feeling he couldn't explain. I was too calm. I didn't even question him. All of the arguments and reasons he prepared went unused. He expected me to get emotional and demand to know why he made such a decision, but I showed no reaction at all.

The next morning, I woke up just in time to see Dante get ready to leave. While putting on his shoes, he said to me, "After the wedding photoshoot, I plan on taking a trip with Isobel. She's been longing to go on holiday to Northshore Island, so I'll go with her.

"Keep the wedding simple. I won't be able to attend the rehearsal, so you'll have to make all the decisions. You don't need to ask for my opinion."

While munching on a piece of toast, I curtly said, "Got it."

He wanted me to keep things simple, huh? Well, the wedding wasn't going to have any photos, guests, or an officiant. It wasn't even going to have a bride.

Dante looked at me as I calmly ate my breakfast. After giving it some thought, he added, "After the wedding, let's go to Aerona for our honeymoon. I know you've always wanted to go."

In the past, if I'd heard Dante voluntarily suggesting a honeymoon, I would've happily begun planning for it. After all, I'd asked him countless times to go on holiday with me, but he'd always rejected me. He kept saying that he hated traveling and thought it was too exhausting.

But now, I merely focused on my food without giving him a response.

Dante wanted to continue speaking, but when he saw the clock on the wall, he rushed out the door after saying, "We'll talk more when I get back."

I picked up the calendar and crossed out the words "wedding photoshoot" with a marker.

There were 12 more days left.

After breakfast, I began tidying up the house, clearing it of unwanted items, such as the photo album with fewer than five photos inside, the dust-covered project in the corner, and the couple-themed pajamas that had never been worn.

We'd been together for five years. I had carefully selected every single item in this place, slowly turning the empty house into a cozy home.

If I'd paid closer attention, I would've noticed that Dante had never touched most of these things. He said that even though he was dating me, he was still his own person. He didn't like using couple-themed items. They made him feel like he was being controlled by another.

Since that was the case, it was better to get rid of everything and let these memories disappear as well.

Dante didn't come back for a whole week, but I was aware of his whereabouts at all times. After all, considering how much Isobel loved posting social media updates, it was impossible for me not to.

I saw photos of them soaking in the hot springs, strolling by the beach, and watching the sunrise together. Through social media, I was constantly barraged with sides of Dante I had never seen before.

It turned out that he could indeed do all the things other men did when they were dating someone.

I didn't idle my days away either. The house was filled with too many things. It took me several days to clear everything out.

I also took the time to visit my parents and inform them of my decision to do medical research in Laran. I wouldn't be able to stay in touch with them for a while.

Dad was shocked. "Aren't you and Dante getting married soon? Wouldn't this mean you two will have to live separately?"

Concerned, Mom took my hand and advised me, "You need to give this some more thought, Nina. It wasn't easy for you and Dante to come this far. I'm worried that he won't agree to let you leave to conduct your medical research work. He might just choose to call off the wedding and break up with you…"

I understood my parents' concern. They had seen how adamant I'd been about being with Dante all these years, and they'd long since sensed his attitude toward me.

In the past, they'd subtly tried to warn me. They didn't think I was of much importance to him, so they wanted me to give the relationship some careful consideration. But at the time, I was fully confident and firmly believed that I could change him—that I could get him to accept me completely.

Thus, they decided not to convince me otherwise.

Yet, I was now the one choosing not to have the wedding. After informing my parents of this decision, they remained silent for some time.

I didn't tell them that Dante had gotten Isobel pregnant. I was worried that they wouldn't be able to take the blow. Instead, I told them I wanted to continue pursuing my work in medicine and make a contribution to the industry.

In the end, Dad simply sighed and patted my shoulder, saying, "As long as you don't regret this."

When I got back to the house, I invited my friend, Linda Gardner, over to help me get rid of the items I'd packed. The boxes took up a lot of space in the living room. We had to make several trips to get everything out. Once we tossed all of the boxes into the trash, the house immediately looked rather empty.

Linda took it all in with mixed feelings. She still remembered how excited I'd been when Dante said yes after I proposed to him two months ago. In my exhilaration, I made her spend an entire night drinking with me. I kept going on and on about how my dreams were finally coming true.

Who would've thought that just two months later, I'd decide to call off the wedding?

"I can't believe you're serious about it. I thought you were joking when you mentioned it the other day," Linda said with a look of disbelief. "I saw the way you spent all these years going after Dante. What on earth happened? Why have you suddenly decided to let him go?"

Perhaps the fact that I was leaving in a few days stirred up my urge to confide in someone. I told Linda about everything that happened recently, including Dante's relationship with Isobel, as well as the baby.

Once she heard the whole story, she let out a bunch of expletives, snarling, "To think of all the things you've done for him, only for him to get another woman pregnant before the wedding! And he even expected you to give your permission? What the hell is he thinking?"

I lowered my head and quietened the surge of sorrow I felt.

"Who knows? He said that Isobel saved his life, so he wanted to fulfill her wish."

Linda looked positively outraged. "You saved his life, too! How dare he treat you like that!"

I said nothing in response.