I looked at her calmly. "Let's do it, Lauren. Let's cancel the engagement for real this time."

Lauren stared at me in shock. Then, she seemed to remember something and snorted coldly. "Did you forget the last time you tried to leave? You couldn't even last a day before you came back crying and begging me to forgive you.

"What's your plan this time? Same thing? How long will it last? One day? Three days? Don't come crawling back again, crying and begging me like a child!"

I ignored her and walked out without looking back. This time, I held out longer than ever. A whole week passed, and I never once went to see her.

Even when she kept indulging Gregory, provoking me just like before—sending me little updates of their sweet moments together—I still didn't go to her.

The comments were relentless. They were all standing up for Lauren.

"Cameron, do you have any idea how much Lauren misses you? She's been abusing alcohol and has already drunk herself into stomach bleeding!"

"She actually hates Gregory. She only acts close to him to make you jealous!"

Even when being advised by those with an omniscient perspective, I still refused to believe she would get that upset over me.

I still remembered the day of the school anniversary ceremony. Lauren stood on stage as the freshman representative, giving her speech. She shone so brightly that even the spotlight seemed dull beside her.

I fell for her at first sight. So, I gathered all my courage and handed her a love letter. She read it out loud in front of everyone and let the whole crowd laugh at me.

Then, she casually tossed the letter into the trash.

From that day on, I was always the one beneath her. She had no interest in me, so she rejected me time after time. Still, I shamelessly pursued her. Even when she constantly compared me to Gregory, I never resented her.

At last, Lauren agreed to be with me. Even then, she remained distant. I always thought our relationship existed only because I forced it. Thus, I was careful about everything, never daring to go against her.

Now that I knew the truth, I suddenly felt like a complete joke.

I thought we would finally go our separate ways, but Lauren suddenly came looking for me. "Even though our engagement is off, our parents are still out of the loop. Don't you think we should talk to them?"

Honestly, I didn't want anything more to do with her, but Mr. and Mrs. Sink had always been nice to me, so I thought I owed them an explanation.

To my surprise, Lauren didn't take me back to her family home. Instead, she brought me to an event hall. My heart skipped a beat because this was the place I had personally chosen for our wedding.

The decorations for the ceremony, the design of the stage, and even the dishes for the wedding reception had all been my choices. However, since Lauren kept breaking off our engagement, the venue reservation had been canceled just as many times.

Now, ironically, it was filled with guests—relatives and friends of hers were there, along with many big names from the business world and a few media outlets she had invited.

Why did Lauren bring me here? What was with the crowd? Was she planning to marry me today? Had she finally learned how to love me?

I watched as she walked toward me step by step. My heart pounded wildly in my chest. I even started persuading myself that as long as she treated me well from now on, I would forgive her.

Lauren came closer by the second. Just as I was about to reach out, she walked straight past me and took Gregory's hand instead.

At that moment, my heart seemed to stop. The pain was so sharp I could hardly breathe.

Lauren didn't spare me a single glance. She interlocked her fingers with Gregory's and walked up to the stage under everyone's gaze.

She picked up the microphone and announced solemnly to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my and Gregory's engagement ceremony. Thank you all for coming to witness our love."

Then, she took out a ring and proposed to him with deep affection in her eyes. "Greg, will you spend the rest of your life with me?"

He nodded excitedly. "Of course!"

Lauren carefully slid the ring onto Gregory's finger, then kissed him passionately in front of everyone. At that moment, feathers began drifting down through the hall, landing lightly on everyone's shoulders.

I picked up one of them. This was the wedding ceremony I had dreamed of countless times. I had bought these very feathers myself. Now, she was giving them to someone else.

The crowd saw the romantic scene and showered them with congratulations. At the same time, the laughter and ridicule aimed at me came crashing like a wave.

"I told you so. Ms. Sink is way better with Gregory! I don't understand how an elite like her even began to fall for Cameron in the first place."

"I bet Cameron won't leave her alone. Look, he's even crashing her engagement ceremony."

"What's Cameron doing here at Lauren and Gregory's engagement ceremony? He's not here to crash it, is he? How shameless!"

"Look at him. He's really like a clown."

They pointed and murmured at me. Even the media turned their cameras on me, painting me as an arrogant, delusional man trying to steal someone else's woman.

I ducked to avoid the lens, and the hatred in my chest brewed heavily. Why did Lauren do this to me? Why did she lure me here? Why give me hope, only to crush it later?

It was then that Lauren finally noticed my sadness. She assumed it was me being jealous and felt a surge of pride. Little did she know, my feelings for her vanished the moment she took Gregory's hand and allowed everyone to ridicule me.

I fled in shame to the restroom and locked myself in. I clutched one of the feathers and finally couldn't hold back my tears. Even then, Lauren wouldn't leave me alone.

I could hear her voice with Gregory nearby. They engaged in a sloppy kiss, broken now and then by her soft gasps and moans. "Oh, Greg…"

Gregory was seemingly aware of my presence in the next cubicle, seeing that he also deliberately let out a few groans. Not only did she not reject him, but she reciprocated with more passion, tearing off his clothes.

During that, Gregory said some things to provoke me. "You know, Lauren… I know all these decorations came from Cameron's ideas. Won't he be upset, considering you're giving them all to me?"

Lauren didn't seem to care. "And? Not just these, but I'll even give you his wedding suit and our house. Of course, if you want, I'll even make some adjustments for you."

Gregory spoke through gasps, "You're so good to me, Lauren…"

I couldn't hold it in anymore. My body reacted by coughing up a mouthful of blood. When they heard me retching, they didn't stop but only got louder.

I stumbled out of the place, running until I could run no more, collapsing onto the ground. I knew what Lauren had been doing all along. She wanted to make me jealous, to push me into begging her like I always had.

But all that pushing and threatening had left me with nothing but regret and resentment. I hated myself for always giving her the chance to hurt me. If I went back to her now, I would deserve all the humiliation.

I cried until I had no strength left, and finally, I made up my mind to leave. Just then, Gregory appeared. He stood there with a smug grin, as if daring me to react.

"Why are you hiding here all alone and crying, Cameron? You look so ridiculous. No wonder they're calling you a clown."

He leaned closer, smirking, and purposely revealed the hickey on his body. Softly, he taunted, "You have no idea how eager Lauren is whenever she's with me. She almost broke her back bending for me…"

I glared at him in fury, unable to understand why he had to come here just to taunt me. I was about to turn and leave when he grabbed my wrist. "Say, what would Lauren do to you if something happened to me?"

Then, without warning, he stumbled backward, rolling down the stairs.

I jumped back in shock, still trying to process what had just happened. The next thing I knew, Lauren suddenly appeared and shoved me. She then helped Gregory up to his feet, glaring at me with fury.

"Did you just push him?" she questioned me.

I shook my head frantically. "I didn't! He fell on purpose! He's trying to set me up!"

However, Gregory, wincing in pain, insisted it was my fault. "He pushed me, Lauren… He's jealous that you've given me your wedding venue, so he tried to hurt me…"

I opened my mouth to explain again, but Lauren slapped me sharply. "I've heard enough! There's no one else around but you. You're jealous of my relationship with Greg, so you pushed him and tried to kill him!

"I know you've always been jealous, but I never expected you'd be so cruel! If anything happened to Greg, I'd never forgive you, Cameron!"

Then, in a voice sharp as steel, she ordered the staff, "Lock him up in the cold storage. That should give him a lesson."

I covered my face, staring at her in disbelief. "I told you it wasn't me, Lauren! Why won't you just check the surveillance? Will it kill you just to believe me one time—"

Yet, the staff had already grabbed me and thrown me into the cold storage. Right before the door closed, I saw Lauren walking further and further away with Gregory around her arms.

I banged on the door, calling for help, my body shaking uncontrollably from fear and cold.

Just then, the live comments flashed before my eyes again.

"Lauren may seem angry on the outside, but deep inside, she's enjoying it! She thinks Cameron is finally jealous!"

"In reality, she doesn't want to punish him. Nothing happened with her and Gregory anyway. It's just an act to make Cameron jealous. Of course, you can't put up a convincing performance without going all out. In this case, Cameron will have to suffer."

Reading those comments, I began to wonder if it was all just a hallucination. Did Lauren truly love me? If she did, why would she punish me in such a cruel way?

I curled up, shivering violently. The cold seeped into my bones, each breath sending a stab of pain through me. My consciousness grew dim, my breathing shallow, and finally, I went unconscious.

…

I didn't know how long I was out, but when I slowly came to, the cold storage door was open. I forced myself to stand, wobbling on unsteady legs, and limped out.

It was freezing in there. I had to get away. I had to go home.

As I was passing by the hall, I was suddenly stopped by the security guard. "Freeze! You must be the thief!"

My mind went blank. Before I could react, they had already dug into my pockets and pulled out a shattered vintage watch. "Mr. Cooper, this should be the watch you lost, right?"

Gregory took it and nodded repeatedly. "That's it! This was my mother's heirloom… How did it end up shattered like this…"

He then turned to me, his face filled with hurt, as if accusing me. "Cameron, I know you hate me because of my engagement with Lauren, but wasn't pushing me down the stairs enough? You had to break my mother's watch, too?"

He sank to the ground, forcing tears to come out. "I'm sorry, Mom… I couldn't even protect the one thing you left me…"

His movement allowed everyone to notice the bruise marks on his body from the earlier fall. They gasped, staring in shock.

"Gregory, did Cameron do this to you?"

Gregory nodded confidently, and that was all it needed to fuel everyone's anger. The crowd shot me condemning glares, whispering among themselves on how they planned to deal with me.

"This kind of underhanded behavior deserves serious punishment!"

I shook my head frantically, trying to explain myself. "It wasn't me! I didn't steal anything or push him down the stairs! Gregory staged everything! You have no right to punish me! I'm calling the police! They'll find out the truth and—"