Chapter 3

3 　　After she was rushed to the emergency room, I quietly walked away.

It wasn't long before our paths crossed again.

I went to interview at Lane Enterprises, only to discover she was the heiress of the entire corporate empire.

She recognized her savior immediately and insisted on repaying me.

When I turned down her money, she invited me to dinner, and I finally agreed.

I had saved her life out of basic human decency, not for a reward.

My parents had always taught me never to mock someone in distress and to lend a helping hand if I had the power to do so.

In the weeks that followed, Rowena sought me out constantly.

Gradually, we went from strangers to close friends, and eventually lovers.

Before long, she dragged me to City Hall to register our marriage.

Her mother fiercely opposed our union, convinced I was a penniless gold-digger after their fortune.

Yet Rowena had insisted on marrying me, declaring she trusted my character completely.

Her words had moved me to tears back then.

Besides my parents, she was the only person in the world who had ever believed in me so fiercely.

We never even had a proper wedding. We just signed the papers, and Rowena moved into my modest apartment.

Over the years of our marriage, my mother-in-law never gave me a single warm look, treating me with nothing but cold disdain.

I rarely visited the Lane family estate, focusing all my energy on loving and cherishing the woman who had chosen me.

Our life was supposed to be simple and happy.

Until one day, I brought contract documents to Rowena's office and walked in on Luke holding her tightly in his arms.

Rowena didn't push him away; instead, she nestled against his chest with a radiant smile on her face.

I froze in the doorway, completely numb with shock.

Soon, the entire company was treating me as a laughingstock, whispering that I had been cast aside.

They mocked me, asking how a nobody like me could ever compete with a handsome, filthy-rich heir like Luke Croft.

I had never smoked a full pack of cigarettes in one sitting before.

The bitter smoke stung my eyes until they burned.

By the time I stubbed out the final cigarette, dawn had already broken over the city.

I unlocked the guest room door to freshen up, and Rowena stepped out of the master bedroom at the same time.

Our eyes met in the hallway, but neither of us said a word.

Still furious that I hadn't apologized the night before, she gave me the cold shoulder.

I didn't care anymore. She could act however she wanted.