My girlfriend and her so-called little brother got a hotel room together and got caught in a police raid on prostitution.

When I went to bail them out, she had red marks all over her neck.

She was busy comforting the “brother,” who was covering his face and crying.

“Luigi forgot his keys when he went out, so I booked a room for us. Listen, we just talked about work. Don’t get the wrong idea!”

In the past, I would have confronted her. But this time, I didn’t want to see that cold, piercing look in her eyes anymore.

I just calmly signed the paperwork without saying a word.

Someone from the case team asked me. “Family?”

I shook my head. “Just a neighbor.”

After that, I lowered my head and sent Mom a message.

[I agree to the arranged marriage with Miss Somerset. Give me three days. I’ll come home then.]

——

After leaving the police station, Eugene Bellinger, looking utterly dazed, got into the passenger seat.

I couldn’t be bothered to say much and was about to start the car when he grabbed my wrist—only to turn to Zelda and say, “Zee, I… I’m scared of riding in someone else’s car.”

His eyes shimmered with unshed tears, his brows furrowed as he acted scared.

I casually shook off his hand. “Then get out.”

With that, the atmosphere in the car instantly turned cold, and the idiot’s expression grew even more pitiful.

From the back seat, Zelda’s voice was cold.

“Wallace, can you stop being so selfish and heartless? You know Luigi has trauma from his sister’s car accident. Can’t you be a little more understanding? Ugh! Gosh! Forget it! Get out—I’ll drive.”

Then, she got out of the car and yanked open my door with a loud bang.

A gust of icy wind rushed in, making me shiver.

But I didn’t move. I just stared at her.

“Get the hell out!” she snapped.

The always-composed woman I knew was suddenly rough, forcibly unbuckling my seatbelt and trying to drag me out.

Truth was she wasn’t strong enough to pull me out by force.

But I couldn’t bring myself to resist her.

I stumbled as she yanked me out, nearly falling.

She took the driver’s seat without sparing me a glance and gently stroked Eugene’s face.

“Don’t be scared. I’ll take you home first.”

“Oh, Zee, you really are so good to me.” Eugene shot me a glance, half-intentional, half-unintentional.

In the end, my girlfriend only left me with one sentence. “You’re a grown man. Go home by yourself. I’ll take Luigi first—I’ll be back soon.”

And then, they sped away.

I saw Eugene reach for the back of Zelda’s head and kiss her.

Just then, my phone vibrated. With stiff fingers, I answered the call.

“Cy, have you seen Allie’s photos?”

Allie, short for Alouette Somerset—my arranged fiancée.

A delicate and elegant woman.

On the other end, Mom’s voice carried relief.

“Finally, Cy, you’ve come to your senses. Your dad’s getting old, you know. He’s been furious about you running away all these years. I’m glad you’re coming home, son. Just have a child with Miss Somerset, and everything will be perfect.”

I looked up at the tiny moths fluttering under the streetlights, memories colliding in my mind.

Back then, I ran away because I didn’t want this kind of life.

Then I met Zelda, and I thought I was incredibly lucky.

Seven years together—I watched her grow.

I proposed multiple times, only for her to brush me off with three words. “It’s too soon.”

Deep down, I knew something was wrong. But I kept deceiving myself.

I was such a fool, thinking she was as devoted as I was.

But now, I realize I was wrong—so completely, utterly wrong.

In the end, I took a cab home by myself.

No matter how I acted, Zelda still felt a little guilty.

So it wasn’t long before she came back too—just in time to see me throwing things away.

The models I once treasured were all taken out and casually tossed into a bag.

“Aren’t these your favorite little toys? Why did you throw them away?” Zelda looked at me in disbelief.

“Decluttering,” I replied casually, just hoping she’d hurry up and take a shower.

Eugene didn’t wear cologne, but I could always smell his scent on Zelda.

It made me want to throw up.

She paused for a moment, not noticing anything unusual, and continued talking to herself.

“Well, getting rid of them is fine. You can always buy the new models when they come out. Or we could put them in our future house together—it’s the same thing, don’t you think?”

Her sweet, delicate voice reached my ears as if she were truly seeing our future.

She was watching me, trying to gauge my reaction. I knew that, but I pretended not to notice.

Normally, I would’ve already pulled her into my arms and kissed her.

But now, every time I thought about kissing her, all I could see was her flirting with Eugene.

It was like I was picking up someone else’s leftovers.

Soon, my indifference bored her.

Zelda was perceptive—she knew I was angry. But since I was always the one to back down first, she had gotten used to it.

She saw no need to appease me.

Tonight was already a rare concession.

While she went to take a shower, her phone buzzed non-stop.

Annoyed, I picked it up and glanced at the screen.

Eugene had sent her several photos of the two of them in wedding attire.

In the pictures, Zelda looked stunning in a wedding gown, her figure graceful and elegant.

The way she gazed at Eugene was filled with sweetness, and a dull ache throbbed in my chest, followed by overwhelming anger.

So, all of her impatience was reserved just for me.

There was a time when I desperately wanted to see her in a wedding gown.

I spent money reserving several gowns, just waiting for her to try them on.

I had imagined what she would look like in one.

But she kept standing me up.

“It’s all the same. You know I’m lazy—what’s the point of trying them on?”

I still remember the frown on her face when she said that.

Back then, I thought Zelda was different from other women.

I thought she didn’t like trying on clothes because she trusted my taste.

But looking at these dozens of photos, that sweetness was real.

There was no sign of impatience at all.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Suddenly, a rush of warmth hit me.

Zelda yanked the phone from my hands, her grip surprisingly strong, pushing me aside.

“Don’t you know that’s private?” Her face was flushed from the heat, but her voice was chilling.

I silently looked down at my palm and noticed that a long scratch from her manicured nails was already bleeding.

To be honest, even if she hadn’t come in just now, I wouldn’t have kept scrolling.

I had already gone through those thousands of flirtatious messages.

Reading them from midnight till dawn.

Wanting to wake up the woman sleeping beside me, but feeling numb and giving up each time.

Who would’ve thought?

Seven years together, yet our chat history was always just me talking to myself.

Once in a while, when she was in the mood, she’d reply with a single emoji.

I used to think that was just her personality—cute in its own way.

But looking back now, I was nothing but a fool.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have looked at your private messages,” I apologized sincerely.

Zelda froze.

She hadn’t expected me to react like this.

“Those photos… Luigi said I looked good in those gowns, so I just tried them on, that’s all. Don’t get the wrong idea.

“Besides, haven’t you always wanted me to try on wedding gowns?

“And… his sister passed away. He said he wanted to see what she would’ve looked like in a wedding gown.”

She pouted and leaned into me, wrapping her arms around me, and pressing her face close.

“You’re not mad… right? I’m sorry, okay?”

I silently listened to her poor excuse.

Maisie, Eugene’s sister, was a friend of Zelda.

At the time, Zelda was at a critical stage in starting her business and encountered difficulties.

Maisie was bringing her flash drive, but she got into a traffic accident on the way.

Not long after being taken to the hospital, she passed away.

Before she died, she asked Zelda to take care of her young brother Eugene.

Zelda kept her promise and took great care of him.

At first, she kept her distance, restrained and formal. But over time, she even started involving herself in the small details of his daily life.

I let out a soft sigh, thinking about how I’d be leaving in just a few days.

Might as well lay everything out in the open and save us both some time.

“We never really figured things out between us… but honestly, if you and Eugene got married, that wouldn’t be such a bad—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Zelda looked up and slapped me across the face. A stinging sound rang through the air.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Luigi only sees me as a sister! Do you think he’s as careless as you?”

The side of my face burned with pain.

Yeah. Eugene wasn’t like me. He wasn’t careless.

I had always tolerated everything Zelda did, letting go of past grudges like they never existed.

My eyes burned. My fists clenched tight.

She must’ve noticed my reaction because her expression shifted. A flicker of panic crossed her face before she softened her tone.

“I didn’t mean it like that… I’m sorry, okay?”

For a second, I almost found the courage to tell her everything.

“Zelda, in a few days, I’m actually getting—”

But I was cut off by her phone ringing.

Zelda answered the call.

The voice on the other end echoed through the quiet bedroom.

“Zee, I had a nightmare… I dreamed that my sister got into a car accident… I woke up, and suddenly, I just really wanted to see you. Can you come over?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be right there,” Zelda answered urgently.

She threw on a random coat and was about to leave when she suddenly seemed to remember something.

“What were you about to say?”

But I had already buried my emotions.

“Nothing. We’ll talk when you get back.”

But the next morning, the other side of the bed was untouched.

Since I’d be leaving soon, I simply quit my job.

I had packed up a lot of things last night—most of them were for donation.

When I stepped outside to hand the packages to the courier, I noticed a commotion at the apartment across from mine.

Workers were moving in brand-new furniture.

Even with all the people around, my eyes landed on Zelda in an instant.

She was leaning against Eugene’s chest, directing the workers as they arranged the furniture.

Zelda had always cared about these details.

Back when we first moved in, she did the same—took time off just to oversee everything.

She once said, “If you don’t put effort into setting up a home, it’s just a rental.”

But now, my home hardly had any trace of her left.

“Sir? Sir? Your shipping code?” The courier’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

The people inside the next apartment had clearly heard as well.

Just as the courier left, Eugene walked over with a bright smile.

“Dude, Zee said I keep having nightmares, so she bought this place. From now on, we’re neighbors!”

He stepped closer and then patted my shoulder, looking all cheerful and friendly.

This guy took my place—there was no way I’d ever like him, so I ignored him and turned to go back inside.

But suddenly, that lunatic punched himself in the face and stumbled backward—right into a worker carrying a cabinet.

His lower back slammed against the sharp edge of the cabinet.

“Ah!” he cried out in pain.

Hearing the commotion, Zelda rushed out.

She lifted him, her eyes overflowing with concern.

She gently blew on his injured face.

Then, she turned to me, looking completely stunned.

“The heck, Wallace? Are you some kind of psycho? You just go around hitting people?”