Chapter 1
Gavin had long decided that I was to be his future wife, and he had spent ten years pursuing me with unwavering determination.
But on the night before our wedding, I overheard a conversation between him and a friend.
“You’re really going to marry Vera? What about that girl you’ve been seeing behind her?” his friend asked.
Gavin fell silent for a moment. “She’s just a substitute. How can she compare to Vera?”
“If she doesn’t make a fuss, I might keep her around. Vera’s cool with it, she won’t mind.” he added casually.
However, the next day, that girl made a scene at our wedding.
When she pushed me off the stage, Gavin rushed forward without hesitation to protect her.
It was all because she had pressed a shard of broken glass to her neck, threatening, “Choose me or choose Vera?”
Seeing this, Gavin was in a panic, so he shoved me aside as he snapped, “Get away from her! I’m taking her to the hospital. If anything happens to her, I’ll make you pay!”
In that moment, my heart shattered.
That very night, I bought a plane ticket to leave the country to walk away from him.
The next day, when I called him, Gavin’s voice
crackled through the phone, filled with anger and impatience.
“Vera, why can’t you sign the surgery consent by yourself? Just for these petty things? You’ve been botherin
me with all these calls.”
because Lilia has it too? I’m already exhausted so stop making things worse, okay?” he added, his tone harsh. “Why you have to get yourself injured just Since Lilia had caused such a commotion at the wedding, Gavin had disappeared with her for half the day.
This was the twentieth time I had called him.
The first nineteen calls had all ended abruptly with
no
answer.
I paused, feeling the coldness in his voice, and pleaded,
“It was Lilia who pushed me.”
“The doctor said they need a family member to sign. Since you’re already at the hospital, can’t you just come sign the consent form in a few minutes?”
But Gavin’s reply was to hang up the phone with a sharp click.
Resigned to the predictable cutcome, I sighed. “Bring me the consent form. I’ll sign it myself.”
The doctor hesitated. “Would you like to try contacting Mr. Locke again? Maybe he didn’t hear you clearly?”
“Yesterday, he had the whole hospital on standby, just in case Lilia showed up and caused more trouble at the wedding. He wanted to make sure you’d be
taken care of if anything happened.”
“Back then, even if you just had a little cold, Mr. Locke would call in every doctor for a consultation and stay by your bedside for three whole days.” “If he found out you broke a bone because of Lilia, he’d lose his mind. You know you’re the most important person to him.‘
I forced a bitter smile. I had once believed that I was the one Gavin cared about most.
But now, it seemed that was no longer true.
After my insistence, the doctor finally handed me the form, allowing me to sign it myself.
Right up until they wheeled me into surgery, I was still holding out hope that Gavin would come see me one last time.
All I got was an Instagram post from Lilia.
”
It was a looping clip where Gavin cradling a steaming bowl of soup, blowing on it gently before offering it to her, then tucking her in with such care.
The caption read: “You said three years by your side was your greatest luck. Now I’ll spend the rest of my life answering that love.”
Lilia smiled, her happiness radiating from the photo.
It was hard to believe that only days earlier, she had been drinking herself into a stupor after Gavin had abruptly broken up with her.
She had stumbled into me, tearfully accusing me.
“Three years I spent as Gavin’s little secret, giving him everything I had. And you know what? He wouldn’t even lay a finger on me. Kept saying, ‘Vera’s
Chapter 1
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the only one I’ll ever marry.‘ So tell me, what makes you so special?”
“I tried to make soup for him like you did, but Gavin slapped me, saying I was nothing like you. I’m not as pretty, not as gentle. He told me not to try and imitate you.”
Her voice had been full of emotion. “He said I was just a substitute, that I’d have to leave once you came back. Vera, why did you have to come back? Why couldn’t you just die over there?”
At that time, Gavin had been furious when she insulted me. Without hesitation, he slapped her and threw her out of the house.
His eyes had been cold as he glared at Lilia. “We’re done. Stop pestering me. How dare you curse Vera? Are you insane? If you want to die so badly, just do
it.”
“Vera is the irreplaceable one. There’s no one else in my heart.”
But today, at the wedding, he had rushed to Lilia without a second thought.
He was frantic, like he was afraid of losing something precious, and hurriedly took her to the hospital.
My surgery was completed quickly, and when the anesthesia wore off, I slowly regained consciousness.
Just then, Gavin burst into my hospital room, walking briskly towards me.
Figured he’d finally come to his senses and visit me out of guilt. But no–first thing he does is grab my IV hand from under the covers, turning it over like Jhe’s checking for counterfeit bills.
When he didn’t find what he wanted, he just snapped at me.
“Vera, where’s your wedding ring?”
“Give it to me! Now!”
