We grew closer after that. He was the only boy in my life.

During his final year of high school, He got accepted into the nation’s top university. However, he mysteriously disappeared on the day he was supposed to start university.

I had searched for him in a frenzy.

In the end, my father, Henry, used his connections to find out that he had been abducted because his stepmother was afraid that he would go after his rightful inheritance.

That night, when I found him in an abandoned warehouse, he was severely injured. Yet, he had clenched his teeth and did not allow a single tear to fall.

I had cried and begged Henry to save him.

Thus, Henry traded a contract worth 100 million dollars for Noah’s freedom. He let Noah go to university.

From the shadows, Henry helped Noah, introducing him to people and mentoring him to become an heir.

Indeed, Noah was the most amazing person I had ever known.

As long as he wanted something, he would get it. No matter what, he was the most exceptional person in any room.

Whenever I looked at Noah, I only felt admiration.

“You’re amazing. A capable person like you should be my husband.”

Of course, Henry did not do all this out of the goodness of his heart.

I did not have the mind for business, so he needed to find someone to take over the family business.

On the day that Noah was to take over the Pratt Group, Henry asked if Noah would marry me.

Noah accepted.

He dropped to one knee before me, holding a ring that he had made himself.

“Ginny,” he had said, “I’m not doing this as a marriage alliance. I really do want to marry you. You will always be the wife of my dreams.”

The ring was crudely made, but the gesture was still so sweet that I felt enveloped in love.

I had believed that to be my happily ever after.

But fate had cruel plans for me.

When I was in university, I learned that my roommate could not even afford to eat, so I decided to sponsor her and took her home.

That day, Noah had come to see me and had bumped into Yvonne at the door.

He had frozen in place, and I could see an emotion in his eyes that I had never seen before.

I later learned that Yvonne had risked herself to save him when he had been abducted.

From that day on, I treated Yvonne as something of a savior. I sponsored her studies and integrated her into our lives.

I even believed that I was helping Noah to repay Yvonne’s bravery.

However, I never considered that, in the process of repaying this debt, I would lose myself in it.

The cabdriver sent me to my destination, and I paid before getting out of the car.

Before I left, the cabdriver looked around the place I lived, and his eyes showed a hint of pity.

“Don’t stay here too long, miss. Go home quickly. Your parents will be worried about you.”

The words were like an unexpected knife and struck me right where it hurt.

In a daze, I remained in place. My eyes stung.

Home? I did not have one anymore.

I could not hold back my tears, as I was thrown back six years into my memories.

Back then, I had the warmest and most loving home.

I was the apple of my parents’ eyes. They had set my engagement party for my birthday. They wanted me to be doubly happy on that day.

Before the big day, they had gone all over the city to get me a specially designed wedding dress in secret.

My mother, Alicia, had caressed my face while staring at me with bedazzling love. “We went all over the city to find you the dress that suits you best. My darling, you must be happy.”

Lost in the haze of love, I had not known that it would be our last conversation.

When they were out collecting my wedding dress, my parents were killed in a terrible car accident.

They left without even a last goodbye.

I had been ripped apart by guilt and pain upon hearing the news.

It was all my fault. If not for me, they would not have suffered such an end.

During that time, Noah never left my side. He helped me to arrange my parents’ funeral matters and comforted me whenever I broke down.

“You need to get it together, Ginny. Henry and Alicia’s biggest wish was to see you happy. You can’t let them down.”

I believed him.

To fulfill my parents’ wish, I went through with the engagement party.

That day, I put on the wedding dress my parents had so lovingly acquired for me and walked into the event venue.

Yet, when I passed by the lounge, I saw something that I would never forget in my life.

Inside, a man and a woman were tangled together, naked.

I covered my mouth in disbelief.

“Are you really going to get engaged to her, Noah?” Yvonne asked in a tearful voice.

“Yes.” Came Noah’s reply. It was hard to read his emotions in his answer.

“What are we going to do, Noah? I really love you.”

“I only love you. I’m only getting engaged to Virginia for her parents’ shares. Yvonne, you’ll have to endure this for the time being.”

Noah’s words cut me to the core.

At that moment, I could almost hear my heart breaking.

I had been wearing the wedding dress that came at the price of my parents’ lives while standing on the cusp of the happiness they hoped so much that I would have.

Yet, what I heard was the scheming of my fiance, who wanted to use me for all I was worth.

I felt the blood turn to ice in my body, and it was as if my heart had even stopped beating.

I wanted to rush inside to ask him how he could do this to me. But, in the end, I turned around and walked away.

I was a coward. I did not even have the courage to question Noah.

I had gone from walking on the clouds to the depths of despair. It had only taken the blink of an eye.

Like a ghost, I drifted back to my own lounge and looked at myself in the mirror, still in that wedding dress.

What a joke.

The dress felt like an ironic insult.

A thought born of weakness popped up in my head. Maybe I had misheard it. Maybe they had some kind of reason for doing this.

Maybe I should give Noah another chance.

After all, I had nothing and no one else other than him.

At that point, I still felt some hope for him.

When I walked out in the wedding dress, Noah had already left.

Yvonne leaned against the wall and slowly straightened her clothes.

On her neck was a hickey that seared my eyes.

“I’m the one he loves. He’s only with you for the Wiley Group’s shares.”

I clenched my fists so hard that my nails cut into my palm.

“I’ve treated you like a sister. How could you do this to me?”

Yvonne laughed as though she had heard the world’s greatest joke. “Oh, Ms. Wiley, everything you’ve done for me is a reminder that you have everything! That you got it the moment you were born!”

She suddenly grabbed my hand in a grip as strong as steel.

“Why is it that I saved him, but you get to end up with him? You sponsored me, but that’s all just a fake show of generosity!”

I tried to explain, but she suddenly used the hand she was still holding to shove herself.

She fell backward and let out a pitiful scream.

The cry attracted all the guests.

Noah rushed out from the crowd and held Yvonne in his arms.

Noah looked at me with fury in his eyes. “What are you doing, Virginia?”

Yvonne huddled into his embrace, and tears fell from her eyes.

“Noah, don’t blame Ginny. Maybe she thinks we’re too close.”

I looked at Noah and spoke in a voice so soft it was nearly inaudible, “Do you really think I’m that kind of person?”

Noah opened his mouth, but before he could say something, the acrid smell of smoke assaulted us.

“Fire!”

Tongues of flame sprang up.

“Follow me!” Noah grabbed my wrist, but he suddenly let go again.

He looked past me at Yvonne, who was curled up on the floor.

In that instant, it was as if time stopped.

I saw the struggle in Noah’s eyes. His fists were clenched. In the end, he bent down to lift Yvonne in a bridal carry.

“I’m taking her outside first, Virginia. I’ll be back for you.”

That was the last thing I heard him say.

The smoke was so thick that I could not even open my eyes. I tried to escape, but the fire had spread too quickly. Flames blocked my path.

I kept inhaling smoke, and I could feel my consciousness slowly ebb.

In the end, my vision blacked out, and I lost consciousness.

I did not even know who had saved me from the fire. When I woke up, I was lying in a bed in the hospital.

I waited for a day and a night, but Noah never showed up.

On the day I was discharged, I packed up all my things.

When I passed by another ward with a half-open door, I paused. Noah was sitting by the bedside and carefully helping Yvonne take her medication.

His choice was clear.

I picked up my bags and left the hospital without looking back.

My phone rang and pulled me from my memories.

“Darling, have you finished dealing with everything back there? When will you be coming home?”

My voice took on a subconscious hint of joy. “It’s all done. I’ll be home next week.”

“Come home quickly, darling. I miss you.”

I chuckled softly. “I miss you, too, hubby.”

After hanging up, I turned to leave, but then I walked into someone.

Noah stood before me with bloodshot eyes, his body trembling.

“You’re married?”