Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I followed behind Ethan Bennett, caught up with him, and pulled at his sleeve. He stopped but didn't turn around. Fighting back tears and masking the quiver in my voice, I said, "Please, don't leave me."

He turned his head coldly, yanking his hand out of mine abruptly. His face was expressionless, his eyes like an icy mountain, revealing unwavering determination. Seeing him like this, it felt as if a knife was slicing my heart into pieces one by one. I was overwhelmed with sorrow, yet I held back my tears—this was my last shred of dignity.

A few months earlier, this man I loved with all my soul suddenly said to me, "My first love is back." I froze in place, confused. He went on, "Let's break up. I'm going to be with her."

I had never imagined we would end up like this, nor had I thought he would be the first to walk away in this relationship.

Even a woman like me—someone who used to frequent nightclubs and get into fights—had turned over a new leaf because of him. I changed myself to fit his preferences, and in the process of gradually losing myself, of no longer being who I was, he told me out of the blue that he was leaving.

In this love that drove me to the edge of madness, I finally understood: promises have an expiration date.

"Why did things between us turn out like this?" I couldn't help but step back and ask. "I was doing fine on my own. Why did you have to come into my life? First, you showed me all the joys of the world, then abandoned me and threw me into the depths of hell to suffer. Why did you leave when I loved you so much, when I couldn't live without you? Haven't you loved me at all these past few years?"

He stared at me for a long moment, then slowly uttered two words: "Never."

Those two words hit me like a thunderbolt, shattering my heart into dust. It felt as if the sky had collapsed, and my world was destroyed. I asked, "If you never loved me, why did you chase after me in the first place? Why did you agree to be with me?"

"Because you look decent enough, and I was single at the time. It was just for fun." With that, he turned and left. The knife wounds I'd gotten from fighting to stand up for my friends didn't hurt half as much as his words. I leaned against the cold corridor wall, overwhelmed by pain, watching his figure fade away as I covered my mouth to muffle my sobs.

After months of entanglement, our two-year relationship finally came to an end that day.