When Cynthia Lynch's company was on the verge of bankruptcy, she finally agreed to be my girlfriend.

I secretly used my family's resources to help her company flourish for the five years we were together.

On the eve of her company's public offering, Cynthia finally agreed to marry me, saying she would make me the happiest man in the world.

But then, I accidentally discovered chat logs between her and her best friend on her computer.

[I'm marrying Frederick Cabot just to spite Richard.]

[I believe Richard won't just stand by and watch me marry that man.]

[As long as Richard is willing to come back from abroad for me, I'll dump Frederick, this backup and marry him.]

Seeing this, I didn't hesitate to have my family pull all their investments.

Let this tragic couple have each other.

——

"Dad, withdraw the shares of Cynthia Lynch's company in a few days."

The company was about to go public. If my father withdrew the investment, it would be a disaster for Cynthia.

"How dare that woman, Cynthia Lynch, cheat on you! I'll go settle the score with her!"

Although I'd been lying low in Cynthia's company all these years, my father recognized my capabilities.

When my father learned about the situation, he was furious.

"Dad, I'll settle this score with her myself," I replied coldly, with a hint of hoarseness in my voice.

My father knew I was a deeply devoted person. He sighed, told me to handle it well and hung up.

However, my gaze remained fixed on the computer screen, on those shocking chat logs that had shaken me to the core.

Cynthia was my junior at the university.

I spotted her in the crowd at first glance during first-year orientation and my heart skipped a beat for the first time.

Later, when some thugs harassed her, I got into a brutal fight with them for her, ending up with my head covered in blood. That's what brought us closer.

Unfortunately, she had a long-distance boyfriend during college. So, no matter how I pursued her, she remained cold towards me.

Looking back now, I was pathetic.

Her indifference made me want her more, strengthening my desire to conquer her heart.

Until the year she graduated, she suddenly sought me out one day and asked me to drink with her.

However, she drank a lot that day. Afterward, she started crying, saying her boyfriend had betrayed her and gone abroad. She cursed all men by the lake, saying none of them were any good.

Finally, she leaned on my shoulder and cried for a long time.

From that day on, I wanted to show her through my actions, that there was a man in this world who truly loved her.

After graduation, she started a cosmetics company. But within a year, it went bankrupt and she was in millions of dollars' debt.

I stayed by her side through the darkest time in her life and she slowly recovered.

That's when she finally agreed to be my girlfriend.

So, I convinced my dad to use our family's resources, secretly helping her behind the scenes to get her company back on track.

For five whole years, the company was finally about to go public.

On the day the company's IPO application was approved, I proposed to her while she was in high spirits.

After considering it for a day, she actually said yes.

I was so excited I couldn't sleep all night, thinking we could finally have our happy ending.

Who would have thought that all of this was just her way of spiting her "unreached first love."

The very same man who had once abandoned her.

Meanwhile, I was just a pawn.

I feared I would become a joke to everyone on the wedding day.

Cynthia hurried out in the afternoon. I didn't know why she left so quickly, but she forgot to log off the chat messenger on the computer.

Although the chat history made me feel so heartbroken that I couldn't breathe, I still opened her social media update.

Because I had never seen her social media.

She seemed to have never posted anything. Even when we went on a trip, she didn't post any sweet photos of us together.

But when I opened her social media account at that time, I found out that she had actually posted something.

It's just that she had blocked me all along.

Soon, I found a photo of a man in her circle of friends.

Although only his arms were exposed, the IWC watch on his wrist was particularly eye-catching.

Because I had seen it in her bag some time ago.

I thought the IWC watch was a gift she carefully prepared for me.

However, it was actually given to another man.

So, it wasn't that she didn't understand romance.

She didn't want to bestow her romance on me or waste it on me.

Just then, my phone rang.

"Frederick, get over here now! Cynthia's gotten into a fight with someone! I'm worried she's going to get bullied!"

On the phone, I could faintly hear Cynthia's indignant voice.

"You bastards, you must apologize to my boyfriend!"

My heart clenched painfully.

I wasn't even with her; the boyfriend she was referring to definitely wasn't me.

I wanted to know what exactly had happened tonight, so I put on my jacket. As I went to the shoe cabinet, I discovered the pearl necklace I had given her lying quietly on the floor.

Looking closely, several pearls were already cracked.

One of them was even crushed to pieces under the heel of a high-heeled shoe.

I created this pearl necklace by diving repeatedly into the water to collect river mussels, then carefully hand-selecting each pearl one by one.

I was utterly exhausted after collecting the mussels that day.

Yet, she didn't cherish it at all.

I bent down to pick up the pearl necklace and threw it into the trash can with an expressionless face.

Then I took a taxi to the bar where Cynthia got into a fight with someone.

As soon as I arrived at the bar, I found a man holding her tightly in his arms.

The man was wearing the valuable IWC watch in his hand.

"Those guys accidentally spilled alcohol on Cynthia's friend just now and she got into an argument with them."

"She drank a lot tonight. I'm worried she'll cause a scene."

One of Cynthia's friends hurried over to explain.

Once I realized what had happened, I couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

I remembered when I accompanied her to meet with a client. The deal failed and the client purposely splashed wine in my face.

Even then, she didn't get this angry.

Instead, she blamed me for not understanding 'table manners' and said I was the reason we lost the deal.

Seeing Cynthia go up to confront them again, her friend quickly rushed over to hold them back.

"Cynthia! Stop it, stop it! You're getting married soon, please don't make a scene!"

Still, Cynthia roughly shook her friend off.

"Who says I'm getting married?"

"This bastard spilled a drink on my boyfriend! You think we can just let this go?"

"No one's leaving until they apologize!"

Cynthia was drunk and staggered when she walked.

This also embarrassed some of her friends who knew me at the scene.

They couldn't help but look at me.

I smiled coldly, then stepped forward and slapped the man who was confronting Cynthia.

A sudden silence fell over the room.

"You bastard! You fucking dare to hit me, huh?"

After a moment of silence, the other person flew into a rage, lunging at me wildly.

Meanwhile, I just wanted to see Cynthia's reaction.

If she could get this furious for her so-called boyfriend, then what about me, her fiancé?

However, Cynthia shoved me hard in the chest, roaring.

"Why are you here to make trouble? Haven't I had enough chaos tonight already?"

"You're just making things worse!"

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut.

She then looked at the other man, self-righteously declaring, "Now we're even! Get lost!"

The other party was quite rational, especially after seeing my gloomy face. He didn't dare continue making trouble and finally left while cursing.

After he left, Cynthia collapsed onto the sofa.

Her friend came over, looking flustered. "Frederick, don't think it wrong. Cynthia's just drunk. She didn't mean any of that. This is Richard Stone, an old high school classmate of hers. He just got back from abroad."

I glanced at Richard. There was a faint smirk at the corner of his mouth.

His eyes were full of smugness and disdain.

"Richard, this is Cynthia's fiancé, Fred … "

Before she could finish, Cynthia suddenly shot up from the couch.

"Coworker! He's just a coworker, not my fiancé!"

Her words were like a sudden stab, making my body tremble.

The atmosphere instantly became incredibly awkward.

After a long silence, Cynthia's friend quickly tried to smooth things over, handing me a glass of wine.

"Frederick, let me offer you a toast."

Unexpectedly, Cynthia, who had just slumped back down, sat up again. She glared at her friend and snapped.

"Don't you know he is allergic to alcohol?"

It was true; I am allergic to alcohol and she knew it.

But what I hadn't expected was Richard's reaction.

"Cynthia, you're drunk. Lisa was toasting Frederick, not me."

Only then did Cynthia seem to relax.

"Oh, well, he can drink. He can really hold his liquor!"

"He's the best drinker in the whole company!"

When I heard that, it felt like something in my chest shattered with a loud crack.

It crushed my heart into pieces, leaving it bruised and bleeding.

A few years ago, I remember attending a business dinner. Before going, I had already told her that I was allergic to alcohol.

Still, she quickly insisted that I toast each client individually as soon as we arrived.

She said it would be embarrassing if a man didn't drink at an event like this.

That day, I ended up in the hospital from drinking and she even blamed me for being useless, collapsing after just a little alcohol.

Yet, despite such a harsh lesson, she still hadn't remembered my allergy.

It could only mean one thing: I had never truly been in her heart.

This time, I came holding onto one last shred of hope.

But now, it's shattered completely.

Just then, Richard stood up and said to me.

"Since you're here, why don't you take Cynthia home? I just got back, so I can't really look after her tonight."

"Oh, and remember to make her a cup of ginger honey water when she wakes up tomorrow. She loves it. If she doesn't have it, she'll have a headache all day."

"And don't forget to cover her with a blanket at night. Whenever she drinks too much, she sleeps restlessly."

Every word from Richard told me he seemed to know Cynthia better than I did.

Today, he was just dumping this mess on me.

I stared at the triumphant look in Richard's eyes for a long time, really wanting to punch him.

However, I eventually held back.

I wanted to see just how long they planned to keep up this charade.

On the way back, my eyes burned terribly.

But as a man, I didn't want to cry.

I didn't want to seem so weak.

Five years of dating, plus the four years I spent pursuing her.

I'd loved this woman for a full nine years.

Yet, this was the outcome.

I couldn't help but think about the chat logs I saw earlier.

She said that as long as Richard was willing to return from overseas, she'd dump me, the backup and marry him.

It turned out I'd just been a backup plan all along.

Today, she got what she wanted.

No wonder she'd rushed out so eagerly this afternoon; she must have been going to the airport to pick up Richard.

At this time, Cynthia's phone vibrated. I opened it and found that it was a message from Richard.

However, my gaze immediately fixed on his profile picture.

They'd actually switched to the couple avatars, probably at that gathering just now.

I remember hiring a famous cartoonist to draw a beautiful avatar for Cynthia and me last year.

I excitedly asked Cynthia to change her avatar.

She'd immediately scolded me, calling me childish and telling me to focus on work.

Now, she'd switched to an even more childish one with Richard.

Then, I felt a small box inside Cynthia's bag.

I carefully took it out.

The moment I saw the DR logo, my breathing quickened uncontrollably.

My hands were shaking even more.

The shallow breathing made me lightheaded; the world around me started to spin.

Finally, I still plucked up the courage to open the box.

Inside was indeed a DR diamond ring.

The two letters RS were engraved on the back, which was Richard's name.

I'd begged her countless times to get a DR ring for our marriage.

After all, each man could only customize one in his lifetime.

Still, she'd never agreed.

She said it was just a gimmick.

Yet, she'd simply been waiting for Richard Stone to engrave his name on this most crucial ring.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

Then, while Cynthia was asleep, I used her fingerprint to open Richard's message.

[Honey, don't forget to pick out your wedding dress tomorrow. I'll come pick you up then.]

Boom! Seeing that message, my head buzzed.

I had brought up the wedding dress with her multiple times and she always told me to pick one for her. Whatever I liked would be fine.

She even said that she could pull off any style with her figure.

But the truth was, she never really cared what I chose.

She never even considered appearing in the most beautiful wedding dress at my wedding.

At that moment, I really wanted to punch the car window a few times.

However, when I saw the driver in front of me, all I could do was clench my fists and desperately try to hold back.

Men don't cry!

My fingernails dug deep into my flesh.

I could only use physical pain to replace the pain in my heart.

I tried to let go of this love I'd held onto for nine bitter years.

The next morning, as Richard had said, I still made her the ginger honey water.

She took a sip and spat it out.

"What are you making? Why did you add ginger?"

"Don't you know that I hate the smell of ginger the most?"

I remembered Richard clearly saying she loved the taste of ginger honey water.

Soon, I understood.

She didn't like the taste of ginger honey water; she liked Richard's taste.

She liked the taste of her first love.

Even if this first love had once abandoned her and gone abroad.

However, I hadn't slept a wink last night and had thought a lot about this relationship. Looking at her now, surprisingly, I wasn't angry. I simply poured the whole glass of ginger honey water into the trash can.

After Cynthia put on her shoes, she said coldly, "The company's going public soon; I have a lot to do. Don't cause me any more trouble."

With that, she turned and slammed the door as she left.

I knew she would accompany Richard to pick out the wedding dress.