I had finally accepted Lucas’s proposal after his 99th attempt, believing he would fulfill his promise to marry me. But on the eve of our wedding, he not only called it off at the last minute, making me a laughingstock, but also abandoned me to go on a stargazing trip with his childhood sweetheart Tiffany. I begged him to honor our engagement. Instead, he forced me to go rock climbing barehanded and catch 520 fireflies, all to make Tiffany smile. It was an absurd romantic gesture that I was coerced into. When a mudslide suddenly hit, he left without a second glance, carrying Tiffany in his arms. I was trapped on a cold, steep cliff for three days and nights without food or water, my body temperature dropping dangerously low. My body froze, and so did my heart that once loved him. Even when Lucas later apologized profusely, I could only respond with a bitter laugh. “Stop pretending. You disgust me.” I was hanging from a dead tree halfway up the mountain. The violent impact from falling off the cliff left me in excruciating pain. I couldn’t move, with broken bones all over my body. Only the taste of blood in my mouth kept me barely conscious. “We found her!” When I was discovered, Tiffany was livestreaming my rescue. She hugged my battered body while crying, her manicured nails digging into my wounds that were deep enough to see bone. “Chloe, you’re so reckless! How could you gamble with your life like this?” “Don’t leave the campsite on a whim just because you’re upset. You’ve not only broken Lucas’s heart, but also wasted public resources.” “This time, I’m donating $2 million to the disaster-stricken area on behalf of the Lu family. I hope it can atone for Chloe’s sins.” After her repeated gentle persuasion, Lucas reluctantly picked me up in his arms. He was extremely reluctant to have any physical contact with me. My body was left suspended in mid-air, like a piece of garbage he found repulsive. A clap of thunder sounded. It seemed to pull me back to those three desperate days. Fear made my stomach churn violently, forcing a trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth. Lucas’s expression changed abruptly, and he immediately let go of me in disgust. “Are you addicted to acting now?” Looking at me trembling on the ground, he impatiently called for someone to put me on a stretcher. “Chloe, stop pretending.” “It’s your own fault for being unreasonable, insisting on joining our stargazing trip without even basic safety awareness.” “Look at the stupid thing you’ve done, causing me so much trouble.” The more he spoke, the angrier he became. “It was Tiffany who went to great lengths to contact the rescue team for you, praying for your safety every day.” “You’ve wasted manpower and resources just to save your worthless life. You’ll never be able to repay her.” I curled up, staring at the countless wounds on my body as tears streamed down my face. The fireflies that were meant to witness their love almost became witnesses to my death. Their hypocritical kindness crushed my dignity and innocence bit by bit. My tears seemed to spark a flicker of complexity in Lucas’s eyes. He clicked his tongue and took off his jacket to drape over me. “Alright, you’ve overacted. You look ugly when you cry. Aren’t you usually good at holding back your emotions?” For the first half of my life, I had compromised and endured everything just to marry him. But in those short three days of being lost, my heart had turned to ashes. I no longer wanted to survive falling off a hundred-meter cliff. I didn’t want to be a desperate, clingy girlfriend anymore. I refused to beg on my knees for his love. My battered body was punishment for loving him. The love I had accumulated over the years was worn away along with my broken bones and spilled blood. When I woke up again, I was alone in the intensive care unit. My body was full of various instruments and tubes. The doctor said there were thirty steel nails embedded in my body. Tiffany came in arm-in-arm with Lucas, fussing over me. She was holding a bowl of yam and cilantro porridge that I hated most, like leftover slop. It was as if they were the loving couple, not us. Tiffany raised my hospital bed, wanting to feed me the porridge herself. Sensing my resistance, Lucas grabbed my chin, forcibly prying open my mouth. The scalding porridge rolled down my throat. I struggled desperately but knocked over the bowl. The intense burning sensation left my entire arm red. “Who allowed you to waste Tiffany’s kindness?” With that, Lucas picked up the bowl and smashed it against my head. Wet strands of hair stuck to my forehead. Compared to the torment of waiting to die slowly, this humiliation was nothing. I peeled off the rice grains and vegetable leaves from my head, stuffing them into my mouth without missing a single one. Lucas looked at me with disgust, throwing a wet wipe at me. “Chloe, are you a beggar? How revolting.” I chewed mechanically. Taking in Tiffany’s provocative smirk from the corner of my eye. They had candlelit dinners. Meanwhile, I had gnawed on tree bark just to stay alive, even swallowing insects raw. Staying alive had become a luxury. In the end, I was the one covered in scars, I was the one bearing the brunt of rumors and slander. Perhaps the only thing I had damaged was their secret love affair.
The nurse came in to change my dressings. Lucas immediately ordered her to disinfect the room. He fanned his nose in disgust, telling me to change into clean clothes. While looking for clothes, I accidentally found the wedding photos I had secretly cherished. In the photo, Lucas wore a rare smile. During every moment I was on the verge of collapse while trapped on the cliff, This photo had always given me strength. But now, it was nothing more than a thin piece of paper. After changing, I stumbled back to the ward. The VIP room originally booked for me by Lucas’s grandfather had been given to a regular crowded ward after Tiffany’s exaggerations. The noisy, cramped space was filled with endless complaints and crying. This time, I didn’t make a fuss. I just silently dragged my injured body back and forth. As I was almost done moving, Lucas stopped me. Beside him were Tiffany and his best friend Chris. My once close friend looked at me, the fallen dog, with mockery all over his face. Chris spoke with sarcasm, “Well, well, you survived a near-death experience and you’re still alive?” I clutched the rough hem of my clothes, feeling a deep, stinging pain in my heart. When we first got engaged, they had mocked me for being delusional. I never argued back, even humbly trying to please the Lu family’s housekeeper. But what I thought was loving the whole family for Lucas’s sake was just wishful thinking in his eyes. The thunder and rain were all blessings he bestowed upon me. His slightest smile could make me give up everything. A slight frown from him could also drag me into the abyss. Chris found a news article and handed it to me. “You’ve been pestering Lucas for so many years, but he never had you in his heart. Now that this news is out, even Lu Corporation’s stock price has been affected. How could he accept someone with such a bad reputation as his wife?” “Luckily Lucas was wise enough to call off the wedding and stay away from a jinx like you. I advise you to know your place and stop getting between Tiffany and Lucas!” Seizing on my weakness, those who already disliked me became even more vicious. They twisted the facts, deciding I was the culprit. Threatening the interests of Lu Corporation, destroying Lucas’s love. No one blamed Lucas for suddenly calling off the wedding. No one was outraged that Tiffany was pursuing a man who was engaged. And no one cared if I was in pain during those three days. I trembled all over. Meeting Lucas’s cold gaze, I instantly crouched down covering my head. “I’ll be good, don’t abandon me.” I knelt at his feet trying to beg for mercy. But Lucas pulled his leg away. One step and I would have rolled down the stairs, the pain of falling off the cliff overwhelming me again. “Save me!” “Chloe, you…” There was no expected pain. Lucas had pulled me into his arms. He pushed me away with some frustration, his tone icy: “I’ll marry you.” I was stunned. Lucas was convinced I would be grateful. So he tried every means, even ruining his own reputation, to break off the engagement. How could he possibly want to marry me now? I opened my mouth but couldn’t speak. But he smiled coldly: “We won’t register the marriage. It’s just for show.” “To control public opinion and make the stock price rise.” Tears instantly gushed out. He wanted to pretend to be deeply in love. To stand on the moral high ground and gain a good reputation before bowing out. In his eyes, I was trending gossip, a tool to be used. But never his wife. Before he finished speaking, Tiffany smiled coyly, “Lucas, you’re so bad.” She walked in front of Lucas, fixing his tie. Casually playing with her hair, revealing the huge diamond ring on her ring finger. I lowered my eyes and swallowed the bitterness in my throat. I no longer had the strength for hysterics.
Chris kept taunting me viciously. Insulting me to no end. I looked at the crimson seeping through my bandages, walking past them to go downstairs and check out of the hospital. I wanted to hide away, not wanting to endure the cold hospital and indifferent Lucas anymore. He wouldn’t give me the sense of security I needed most. Just let me fend for myself. At the stairway landing, Lucas grabbed my wrist. “You’re half crippled now.” “If you leave me and check out, how many more people do you want to harm?” I pried his fingers off one by one. Three days ago, I was barely clothed and starving, dangling precariously halfway up the mountain. Listening to wolf howls, too afraid to sleep, terrified until dawn. At my most desperate, I even thought about jumping off the cliff to end it all. From beginning to end, I was the one covered in scars, I was the one bearing the brunt of rumors and slander. Perhaps the only thing I had damaged was their secret love affair. Seeing my resistance, Lucas irritably pushed me against the cold, hard wall. “Stop being so delicate, okay? Be a good girl and listen. I can give you anything except love.” “Why can’t you be more considerate of me like Tiffany? Is that so hard?” “If you keep acting like this, you might as well have died at the bottom of that cliff.” His increasingly harsh words were like a curved blade. Slowly cutting open my deepest fears. The back of my head hit the wall hard, my pupils gradually losing focus. My hands weakly pounded on his shoulders as I kept repeating, “Let me go.” Lucas was annoyed and picked me up in one motion. But he didn’t know that my determination to get away from him had reached its peak. In my desperate struggle, I collided head-on with a nurse’s treatment cart. I fell among countless shards of broken glass. My wounds reopened, a bloody mess. The clean clothes I had just changed into were in tatters again. “Chloe!” Lucas was startled and carefully tried to reach out to help me up. But I lay on the ground gasping for breath, only managing to stand with difficulty with the nurse’s support. My avoidance made a murderous aura emanate from him. “You hate me touching you? Then why did you desperately beg me to marry you?” “Now you’re even playing hard to get?” I was dizzy, my ears ringing. His malicious speculations shattered the rose-colored glasses I had for him piece by piece. The light that had kept me alive went out. I could gather 520 fireflies for him, even if it wasn’t for me. I could obediently stay put, even if he didn’t come to rescue me first. But I couldn’t accept that he never even thought about finding me. So I’m tired, I don’t want to love anymore. “Chloe, I’m very disappointed in you. How did you become like this?” I didn’t understand where the pain in his eyes came from. This question should have been for me to ask him. I vaguely remembered five years ago, when my mother was on her deathbed. After donating a kidney to Lucas’s grandfather, her only wish Was to secure my engagement to Lucas. He personally carried my mother’s coffin, silently wiped away my tears, and held me in his arms like a treasure. “No matter what happens in the future, I will never abandon you.” But in the face of the raging mudslide, My tears dried up once again. All because Lucas had broken his vow.
My emotions completely collapsed. I remembered my mother’s dying wish for me to be happy. Then I thought of how desperate and lost I was on that rainy night. I hugged myself tightly, my eyes red-rimmed. “It hurts so much, Lucas.” “Why didn’t you save me? The cliff was so dark and cold. I won’t cling to you anymore, just don’t leave me alone.” “I’ll give you back to Tiffany, please don’t abandon me.” “Stop torturing me…” He looked at my shaking shoulders, unable to say anything harsh. He couldn’t help but soften his tone. “Chloe, I’m right here. I didn’t abandon you. What’s wrong?” “Didn’t you jump off the cliff yourself to get sympathy?” Lucas carried me back to the Lu mansion and called for a private doctor to take care of me. He carefully used a cotton swab to moisten my lips. “If you don’t want to stay in the hospital, then come home.” “Tiffany and I are both here. She’s sensible and will take care of you.” “I’ll let bygones be bygones for what happened before, but why are you so afraid?” I suddenly felt a bit wronged and choked up, ready to explain. But before I could open my mouth, a graceful figure affectionately leaned against Lucas. Tiffany pressed her bleeding fingertip to his lips. “Lucas, I cut my finger while making food for Chloe.” “Can you blow on it for me?” Lucas’s furrowed brow showed his distress. “You should have let me do it.” I looked at him in disbelief. Lucas was a male chauvinist who never stooped to cooking because of his privileged upbringing. If I had cut my finger, he would probably just scold me for being clumsy. I closed my eyes in despair. Lucas tucked me in and sighed. Seeing this, Tiffany suddenly spoke up: “Chloe, Lucas and I grew up together. I can tolerate your resentment towards me given your engagement.” “But last time during the camping trip, that was the company’s new project. We were just doing a site survey.” “You shouldn’t have thrown a tantrum, stolen supplies and hidden in the mountains, then jumped off the cliff before we arrived.” “Because of your scandal, Lu Corporation lost hundreds of millions in revenue. Can you take responsibility for that?” After her embellished account, Lucas snorted coldly, a self-mocking smile on his face. “I almost fell for your tricks again.” “Tiffany, don’t bother with her. This kind of scheming woman will bite you harder the nicer you are to her.” A sense of powerlessness washed over me. I wanted to argue with red-rimmed eyes. But I could barely choke out a complete sentence through my sobs. “She’s lying…” Lucas raised his hand high. Even my crying became shaky with fear. My eyes brimmed with tears as I bit my lip hard, refusing to let them fall. He swept everything off the bedside table with one motion. After staring at me deeply for a moment, he left without looking back. Only my whimpers remained in the large guest room. I covered my chest as large teardrops fell on my face. Hearing him gently comforting Tiffany through the wall, I laughed bitterly, “Lucas, let’s end this.” “I don’t want to love you anymore.” I found the agreement Lucas’s grandfather had once given me. I signed my name. ———-This is the cutoff point———-
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