At the wedding reception, Seraphina, in her wedding gown, walked straight to her ex-boyfriend. “Brad, I can’t marry you.” “You really think Seraphina would marry a cripple like him?” the man beside her sneered. “You’re just the Sterling family’s lapdog.” I didn’t care. I simply shrugged, slipping the ring off my finger and offering it back. Later, Seraphina begged me, claiming she loved me, that she wanted to marry me. But in this new life, the debt I owed was finally paid. I looked at her, my words measured: “Seraphina, I actually never wanted to marry you.” I didn’t use my cane for the wedding ceremony. My leg was definitely getting tired now. But what truly drained me was dealing with the scene playing out. Guests whispered around us, but my fiancée had her arm wrapped around another man. I knew him. She’d dated him for three years, and after he left, she’d cried for him night after night. And now, Brad, right in front of me, was practically shouting: “You actually thought Seraphina would marry a cripple?” “Leo, you’re just the Sterling family’s lapdog. How could Miss Seraphina marry a poor nobody like you?” “Now that I’m back, you can get lost.” I looked at Seraphina, my gaze unwavering. “Seraphina, is this what you want too?” Her eyes welled up with tears, but she looked at me with conviction and said, “Leo, I can’t marry you.” “If you felt bad, you wouldn’t be doing this on our wedding day.” She could’ve called off the engagement weeks ago. But no, she had to satisfy her first love’s pathetic ego, turning me into the biggest joke of the night. “I’m sorry, Leo. You’re really a good person. You’ll find someone who loves you.” “Who’d want him, a cripple? And look at how broke he is.” Brad spoke without filter, as if that would somehow crush me. I slipped the ring off my finger and handed it to her. “You two can keep this. Maybe for your future.” Then I walked away. But what they didn’t know was, I secretly sighed in relief. I owed her a life, and now it was paid. I was finally free.
“Leo, what the hell happened?” My best friend, Mike, was ready to fight for me. “Didn’t Miss Seraphina Sterling practically beg to marry you?” “Is she treating marriage like a game?” “You almost lost your leg for her, and she’s actually dumping you for it!” I’d handled all the wedding arrangements and procedures myself. I hadn’t slept well in days, and all I wanted was to catch up on sleep. “Just let me sleep for a bit longer.” “You’re still sleeping?” Mike ripped the blanket off me. “Your fiancée just ran off with another guy, and you’re still thinking about sleep?” “Didn’t you dislike Seraphina anyway? Shouldn’t you be throwing a party now that she’s gone?” Sleep was clearly out of the question, so I sat up, annoyed. “Well, yeah, that’s true, but didn’t *you* like her?” “Mike, you probably won’t believe me, but I actually never liked her.” One look at his face, and I knew he didn’t believe me. Honestly, if I didn’t know the truth myself, I wouldn’t have either. Because the entire city knew I was madly in love with Seraphina. And my willingness to be her obedient lapdog, all for “love,” had already become the laughingstock of our entire circle. Everyone thought my days as a simp were finally over, but who’d have thought this wedding would brand me as the ultimate laughingstock? Just then, my phone rang. It was Seraphina. I didn’t want to answer, but Mike snatched it. He answered directly, “I want to hear what this heartless woman has to say.” A groggy voice came from the other end. Seraphina sounded half-asleep. “Leo, pick me up at ten. I have a beauty appointment today.” I hadn’t even spoken yet when Mike snapped, “Miss Seraphina, why don’t you have your husband pick you up? What? Did his leg break overnight?” Seraphina seemed to wake up then and quickly mumbled, “I forgot…” I chuckled. “It’s fine, Miss Seraphina. Please don’t contact me again.” “Leo, do you really have to be so formal with me? You can’t even call me by my name anymore?” She sounded so wronged. “I know you’re mad, but I really love him. You always knew that…” “Miss Seraphina, there’s no need to discuss our relationship anymore.” With that, I hung up. And blocked her on every single platform. “Leo, you actually blocked her?” Mike’s surprise made me laugh. “Why wouldn’t I?” “Come on, you always gave in when you two argued. She’s probably waiting for you to apologize. Let’s see how long you can resist contacting her this time.” “Forever.”
“You absolute disgrace!” Mr. Sterling smashed an antique right in front of me. It shattered into pieces. I didn’t even see what it was. “You really are a menace! How could you let her behave like that?” Mr. Sterling was clearly furious, his face red and his neck veins bulging. But more than anything, he was angry that we had embarrassed the family. His words sounded like he was scolding Seraphina, but they were mostly aimed at me. Scolding me for not controlling Seraphina, and for not being able to win her over from another man. “Mr. Sterling, I’m not sure what Mr. and Mrs. Sterling meant.” In other words, Seraphina’s parents were there that day, and no one intervened. They just let me be humiliated. Why was it my fault now? “Get her back here! If she doesn’t come, tell her never to bother coming back!” Mr. Sterling yelled at his son. “This is a huge scandal. If she’s not ashamed, I am.” “That… what’s his name, Brad? Wasn’t he the one who went abroad before?” Mrs. Sterling quickly nodded. “That Brad, I don’t know what kind of spell he cast on our Sera. I’m just about to lose my mind…” She started crying. Mr. Sterling tried to comfort her while speaking to Mr. Sterling senior. “I’ll make sure to discipline her properly later.” Once we left the Sterling family mansion, Mrs. Sterling immediately stopped crying. She turned to me. “You useless thing! I entrusted my precious daughter to you, and you let her run off with another man?” “Mrs. Sterling, Seraphina has always loved Brad.” “That just proves how useless you are! I don’t care what you do, even if you have to grovel, get her to come back!” I shook my head, pulled a card from my wallet, and handed it over. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, I’m grateful for all these years you’ve taken me in. This is the money you spent on me. I saved it for a long time. Consider it repayment for your kindness.” “Leo, what’s the meaning of this?” Mr. Sterling’s face clouded with displeasure. “Are you trying to cut ties with the Sterling family?” “No, Mr. Sterling, it’s not that. It’s just that Seraphina doesn’t want to marry me, and I don’t want to force her.” With that, I said my goodbyes and left. Cutting ties was definitely necessary, but the Sterling Corporation would still need me. I patted my leg. To save Seraphina back then, my leg was almost crippled. Now, it was almost fully recovered. I never said I’d be a cripple forever, but they seemed to take it as gospel truth. I took off my glasses and tossed them directly into a trash can. Seraphina used to say she liked quiet, bookish guys. So I’d forced myself to wear glasses, to act refined and polite, all because I owed her a life. But now, there was no need to pretend anymore. So that night, when I was drinking at a bar, Seraphina stormed over, clearly furious. “Alright, Leo, aren’t you allergic to alcohol? What on earth are you drinking?” I swirled the glass in my hand, unfazed. “Just a little something. What’s it look like? Booze.” “You took off your glasses… are you not even nearsighted?” “Miss Seraphina, I just don’t want to wear glasses. You also once said you only wanted to marry me. What’s your excuse now?” I stood up. “We’re all con artists here, so let’s not debate who’s better at it, shall we?” I hadn’t expected to see Seraphina here, and more importantly, the young woman she’d brought with her looked familiar. She just seemed completely out of place in this bar. “Leo, I thought we were still friends.” Seraphina suddenly softened her tone. “I know I was impulsive this time. Please don’t talk to me like this. Can you forgive me?” “Miss Seraphina, there’s no need for any of that between us. Let’s just live our own lives from now on.” Just then, Brad appeared. He charged at me, shouting, “What a lowlife you are! Sera doesn’t even like you, yet you’re still clinging to her!” I didn’t utter a single word of persuasion, but I certainly delivered a punch. Brad was all height and no fighting skill. How could he be a match for someone like me, who grew up in an orphanage? I knocked him to the ground, and he was still shouting, “Leo, you’re just a low-class hooligan! I’ll make sure you get kicked out of Sterling Corp!” “Oh yeah? I’m waiting.” I rolled up my sleeves after hitting him. “But Brad, if you pull that stunt again, I’ll beat you every time I see you.” Seraphina looked like she’d never seen me so arrogant before. She was terrified, helping Brad up, unable to speak. “Leo, I’m so disappointed in you! I never thought you’d be like this. You’re from the Sterling family! How can you just resort to violence at the drop of a hat? What kind of behavior is that?” Seraphina clearly still thought I was the old me, the one who’d lower his voice and constantly pamper her. She instinctively spoke from a position of moral high ground, scolding me. “Miss Seraphina, you probably don’t know me very well. This is who I really am.” Besides, there was a lot more she couldn’t accept. For example, I was adopted by the Sterlings. And she, wasn’t even the real heiress.
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