"Let’s get married as soon as possible," said my fiancee, Clementine Knaupper, out of nowhere during dinner.

I froze with the spoon in hand. Over the last three years, I proposed to get married seven times, and she turned me down all seven times with all sorts of reasons.

Then, she told me with a shifty look in her eyes, "I… I’m two months pregnant. The pregnancy is going to start showing soon."

I set aside my spoon and stared intently at her. "You were on a business trip two months ago, weren’t you?"

She gulped before stating in a troubled voice, "The baby… is my assistant, Stanley Brickley’s. I had too much to drink that night, and I thought it was you.

"The doctor says if I get an abortion, it will be difficult for me to have children again. After we get married, we can announce my pregnancy. We can tell people it’s our baby.

"Then, I will send Stanley and the baby away. They won’t come back after that."

I looked at the woman I had loved for seven years, and for the first time, I felt like I was looking at a stranger.

"Clementine, let’s call off our engagement."

The color drained from Clementine Knaupper's face as she cried out, "No way! Have you forgotten how important our arranged marriage is to us?"

I clenched my fist and had to force the tears from coming out as I calmly met her gaze.

"Fine, I'll let you take your pick.

"Option one. We call off the engagement, and you'll marry him instead. You will pay what you owe me according to what is stated in the original engagement contract.

"Option two, you get rid of the baby and cut things off with him for good. We can still proceed with the engagement on the condition that I get to amend some of the terms."

Clementine froze. She looked at me like she was looking at a stranger.

"Luke Everett, what are you talking about?" Her voice dropped several decibels and became filled with equal disbelief and anger. "How could you be so heartless?

"How can you make me abort the baby when you know I have health issues? How am I supposed to live with it for the rest of my life?"

I looked at the woman who had once sworn to spend the rest of her life with me. There was marked disappointment in her eyes.

"Clementine, do you expect me to raise someone else's child for you? How do you suppose that I am the heartless one here?"

That was when she approached and tried to reach for my hand.

"Luke, you know I love you. What happened between him and me was just an accident. My involvement with him now is only out of obligation, not love."

I pulled away from her.

Her hand was left hanging mid-air. When she spoke again, her tone was low and grave with a lethargic weariness that made me cave in so many times in the past.

"We have been together for seven years. Are you going to call off the engagement because of this?"

I leaned back in my chair and suddenly felt washed over by a wave of exhaustion.

"Do you remember what was written in the engagement contract? It says that regardless of gender, our child will be the rightful heir to both of our families' assets.

"If you want me to raise this child, wouldn’t the child get to claim everything when he or she grows up?"

The words struck Clementine like a heavy blow. She turned pale in an instant and struggled to defend herself. "I could sign another agreement, have the child relinquish all inheritance rights. That way, we don't have to worry about that child contending with our child when..."

"I don't believe you." My tone was faint, but the conviction behind it was firm.

Clementine fell silent. She never imagined that I would ever say something so fatal to her.

For seven years, I had trusted her wholeheartedly. Tonight, everything changed.

I looked square into her eyes. The same pair of eyes that had witnessed the entirety of my youth.

When I proposed getting engaged to her when we were eighteen years old, my palms had been sweaty from nerves. She had held my hand and assured me, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

During our four years in university, we spent countless hours in the library and worked on our assignments together. I still remember how she would bring me something to snack on whenever we pulled all-nighters.

During our first two years studying abroad, we lived in a small rented apartment. She used to cook for me even though she was clumsy in the kitchen.

When we finally returned home, I assumed that everything was going to fall into place for us. That was the first time I proposed that we officially get married.

At the time, she had rejected my proposal because she wanted to focus on her career after having just taken over the family business.

The second time I proposed, she asked me to wait until a project was finalized.

Then a third time, a fourth time, and a fifth… The reasons she gave became increasingly cursory.

The seventh time was on my birthday last year. Again, she told me to wait a little longer because she wanted what was best for me.

All that only for me to be told that she was pregnant with her assistant, Stanley Brickley’s child.

When she finally broke her silence, her voice was faint.

"Just give me a week to sort out things with the child. Will you please just give me one more chance?"

I looked at her.

Her eyes were frayed with red. I could tell she was anxious.

I suddenly had an impression that she looked like a stranger.

"Alright. One week." With that, I grabbed my coat and walked out.

"Luke!" She called out after me, but I didn’t turn around.

It was raining outside. I got into the car, then I looked at my reflection using the rearview mirror. My eyes were red and swollen, but there was a sharp look of clarity in my eyes.

In that instant, I suddenly realized how meaningless it all was: the engagement, the relationship, all of it. The woman I had loved for the last seven years of my life had made a joke out of me.

It was all too meaningless.

Three days later, it was my birthday.

My family threw me a birthday party. They invited our business partners, as well as the mutual friends I shared with Clementine.

Over the years, Clementine and I made it a tradition to share the first dance.

"Luke, where’s Clementine?" Mom asked softly. Her eyes were glazed with worry.

"She’s on her way." I smiled and took a sip of my champagne.

As soon as I said so, Clementine rushed in. She was dressed elegantly and looked beautiful as ever, but there was an unmistakable look of weariness threaded underneath her brows.

She approached me hastily to take my hand. "Sorry, something came up at work."

"It's fine." I had to fight back the instinctive urge to pull away while I forced myself to smile.

Soon, our friends gathered around us and began to ask with suggestive looks.

"Hey, Luke, when are you two going to get married?"

I did not answer.

Clementine's smile was somewhat stiff as well. "Very soon. We’re just waiting for Luke to say yes."

When I spoke, my tone sounded far more indifferent than I expected. "We’ll see how things go."

When the party was about to begin, they began to cheer.

"Clementine, it's time for the first dance! Go on, get your fiance over here!"

She smiled obligingly, but her head was fixed to her phone the entire time.

I stood next to her and glanced at the screen. That was when I noticed the name on the display.

Stanley Brickley.

Messages were flooding in. Her finger hovered over the screen, but she did not open them.

Her mind wandered somewhere else from then on.

When the music for the first dance began to play, she hardly noticed when I offered my hand for a dance. When she looked at her screen again, her expression changed.

"Luke, something urgent came up. I have to go." Her voice was anxious. "Stanley has been a little erratic, and I’m getting worried about him being at home by himself. I have to check up on him.

"Please tell everyone I have to go. I’ll be back once I’m done."

My response was relatively calm. "Clementine. It’s my birthday today. The first dance is about to begin."

She fell silent for several seconds. "I’m sorry. I just don’t want something to happen to him. Wait for me. I'll be back before you know it."

With that, she turned and ran out.

I stood and watched as she anxiously paced out of the venue.

It seemed as if the air was sucked out of the room. I could feel countless pairs of eyes piercing through me from all directions like sharp needles.

Some of them were out of sympathy, others out of mockery. Some even took pleasure in my suffering.

I could feel Mom’s worried gaze and could still hear people murmuring between themselves.

I walked towards the dance floor.

The music was still playing, and everyone was waiting.

I took the microphone and announced with a smile, "Clementine had something urgent come up, so I’m afraid the opening dance will have to be canceled. Help yourselves, everyone."

This started off a round of commotion downstage. I put the microphone down before walking out of the hall.

The corridor was quiet. I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

Then, my phone vibrated. It was Clementine texting me.

"Luke, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

All I sent was a perfunctory reply, "Ok."

"Please don’t be upset. I already made arrangements for him to leave tomorrow. I promise it will be quick this time."

I suddenly chuckled when I looked at the text.

It had been three days since she told me she would settle matters in a week. And yet, one phone call was all it took for her to abandon me.

I was not going to believe her anymore. She had been telling me to wait for far too long.

When I got home after the party, it was almost midnight.

Mom was waiting for me in the living room. Judging by the look on her face, she was not impressed at all.

"What’s going on with Clementine? How could she leave you hanging with so many people around?"

I sat down and poured myself a glass of water. "Mom, I would like to look for another partner."

Mom froze.

I looked calmly into her eyes.

"Didn’t Miss Keegan from Hafort mention an engagement with me in the past? I’m interested."

Mom stared at me for what seemed like ages before releasing an exhausted sigh, "Have you thought about it thoroughly?"

"Yes."

My phone vibrated again. It was Clementine who had sent me a stream of messages, but I did not open them.

Her name, which was once capable of stirring all kinds of emotions within me, was nothing but an insignificant symbol displayed on the screen now.

It had been seven years. It was time to move on.

By the fifth day, I had yet to see any tangible outcome of Clementine "settling matters". Instead, all I received was a visit from Stanley himself.

He had somehow found out where I live and had shown up at my front door with his eyes visibly red and swollen from crying.

"Mr. Everett, I beg you…" He got on his knees.

"Mr. Everett, the baby is innocent. The doctor said that if Clementine gets an abortion, it will be very difficult for her to get pregnant again in the future…"

He looked up at me with tears streaming down his face.

"I don’t need status or anything else, all I want is for Clementine to give birth to our baby and..."

I fixed a look at him. He was a twenty-two-year-old fresh graduate. Just from looking at his eyes, I could tell he was a young grasshopper who had yet to be exposed to the harsh realities of the world.

"Do me a favor and get up first."

Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist and cried out sharply, "I won’t get up until you say yes!

"Clementine told me you love her, don’t you? Even if the baby isn’t yours, how could you bear to be so cruel to her?"

My wrist was starting to hurt from his nails digging into my flesh.

Just as I was about to speak, a figure rushed in through the doorway.

It was Clementine. She immediately grabbed Stanley and pulled him behind her to shield him before turning to me with a sheepish look in her eyes.

"Luke, you can take it up to me if you have any problems. Don’t pick on him."

Time seemed to stand still.

I slowly withdrew my hand and observed the red streaks left on my skin. I was already on the verge of breaking down. What she did was the nail in the coffin that sent everything crashing down.

Meanwhile, she stood protectively in front of Stanley like a valiant knight. All the while, Stanley cowered behind her like a frightened puppy. They looked like a perfect match.

I felt a sharp throb somewhere deep in my heart.

My voice was faint when I spoke, "Clementine, your actions speak louder than words. It seems to me that deep down, you think the baby you have with him is worth more protection than I am."

"No!" She cried out while lunging forward to take my hand, only for me to pull away.

"Luke, I'm pregnant, and my emotions are running wild because of hormones. I only came because I was worried something would happen to him… I don’t want him to get himself hurt or…"

When she heard Stanley sobbing behind her, she instinctively turned to look at him. The concern she had in her eyes when she looked at him stamped out the last bit of affection I had for her.

With that, I prepared to dismiss them. I did not want to risk losing control if this got drawn out any longer.

Clementine grabbed my arm.

"Luke! We need to sit down and talk it out properly. I’ll call your parents and mine. We can settle this in person…"

I shrugged off her hand. "There’s nothing to talk about. I already said everything I needed to say that night. Now take him and leave!"

I proceeded to head upstairs.

"Luke!"

I did not bother to turn back. All I wanted was to get out of this suffocating place.

Soon, I heard the door shut behind me. They were gone.

I stood on the stairs for a while. I felt a stinging sensation in my eye, but no tears would come out. That was how I found out that when someone was truly heartbroken, they lose the ability to cry entirely.

Soon, my phone rang again. It was Dad calling.

"Luke, the Keegans have agreed to the engagement. They want you to visit as soon as you can."

I looked out the window. It was getting dark outside.

"Sure."

Before I departed for Hafort, I had to renew my passport.

The next afternoon, I drove to the immigration hall. As I was driving across the highway, I was thinking about the weather in Hafort.

Based on what the Keegans told us, they had a warm climate all year round, even during the winter. That sounded good. I hated the winters in Ambrough. It was too long and too cold.

Suddenly, I heard a loud crash.

Bang!

Whatever it was had detonated from the rear and side of the car simultaneously. I would have been launched forward if not for the seatbelt jerking me back with such force that I nearly passed out.