Chapter 1

We had been together for eight years. To celebrate, my girlfriend booked a hundred-million-dollar yacht to propose to me.

I had just finished my final therapy session and headed to the date with a heart full of hope.

But instead of a romantic evening, I heard her childhood friend, Jude, making a joke out of my binge-eating disorder.

The proposal video had been swapped for a humiliating clip of me having a breakdown and stuffing my face.

The triggers were too much. I had an episode right there and ruined the entire setup.

Waverly blamed me for making her lose face in front of everyone. She had the guards toss me into the freezing ocean to "sober up."

"If you want to act crazy, do it at home. Just because you're sick doesn't mean people can't talk about it," she shouted.

The icy water rushed into my nose, and I nearly drowned while she went back inside to party with Jude.

At that moment, my heart completely died. I decided to agree to the arranged marriage with the Sinclair family.

But on my wedding day, she showed up like a madwoman, trying to steal me back.

1

The temperature was below zero, and I had lost all feeling in my body.

The surprise proposal I had waited so long for had turned into a living nightmare.

In my triggered state, I had devoured a cake that was secretly laced with glass shards.

My mouth was a bloody mess, but I couldn't even feel the pain.

Not far off on the luxury yacht, bursts of laughter echoed through the air.

Waverly Winthrop and Jude Kingsley were at the center of a drinking game.

Jude took a mouthful of whiskey and leaned in toward Waverly.

He got so close that there wasn't even an inch between them, and she didn't pull away.

With a smirk, Jude kissed her directly, passing the liquor from his mouth to hers.

The air was thick with a heavy, romantic tension, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

I looked away, unable to watch another second of it.

My hands clenched at my sides, and a sharp, stinging pain flared in my chest.

The female doctor stitching my wounds thought she was hurting me and slowed her movements.

I took a deep breath and shook my head to tell her I was fine.

A moment later, Waverly pulled away from Jude, looking satisfied.

She turned and caught my eye. Her expression shifted into a frown as she walked over.

"Soren Sterling, why are you so good at acting? Are you playing the victim for sympathy again?! You just took a little dip in the water!"

I looked at her calmly. Suddenly, everything felt completely meaningless.

Jude followed her, suddenly putting on a pathetic, wounded face.

"Soren, are you still mad at me? I was just joking with you earlier."

Seeing my silence, Waverly assumed I was being difficult.

"Soren, you had a freak-out and ruined the proposal in front of everyone, and now you're blaming Jude?!"

"Go home and think about what you did! Otherwise, forget about us ever getting married!"

She ordered the bodyguards to kick me off the yacht and send me away.

Her words were like a jagged blade stabbing into my heart.

When I was ten, my parents and I were kidnapped by my father's rivals.

On the fifth day, my grandfather arrived with the ransom money.

But to make sure I got out alive, my parents died in an explosion right in front of my eyes.

Ever since then, I suffered from a cycle of binge eating and restriction.

Whenever I was triggered, I would lose control and eat until it hurt.

It was the darkest part of my past.

Then I met Waverly. She was like a little sun that warmed up my cold life.

When she first saw me have an episode, she held me and cried, feeling my pain.

She encouraged me to see a doctor and promised she would always be by my side.

But after Jude returned from abroad, everything changed.

Every time we had a fight, she would call me a psycho without hesitation.

She would watch coldly as I broke down, knowing I couldn't leave her, waiting for me to kneel and apologize.

Only then would she hide her disgust and pretend to forgive me.

I never knew she had recorded so many videos of my worst moments.

She even let Jude show them to everyone as a cheap joke for entertainment.

Now she was threatening me with the wedding again, but I didn't care anymore.

As the boat hit the dock, my thoughts returned to the present.

I realized tears were streaming down my face, even though I tried to stay numb.

I acted like nothing was wrong, but it felt like I couldn't breathe.

The guards dumped me on the pier and sped off.

The harbor was miles away from the city, and I was wondering how to get back.

Suddenly, a black Maybach pulled up and stopped right next to me.

The back window rolled down, revealing a bright, beautiful smile.

"Soren Sterling, let me give you a ride home."