Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My father passed away after a long battle with illness.

The day before his funeral, my fiancé went to the courthouse to get a marriage license with his first love.

When I confronted him about it, he merely looked at me with impatience.

"Her dad has terminal cancer, and his dying wish is to see her walk down the aisle," he snapped.

"I am just doing a good deed. Can you stop being so selfish for once?"

When I called him that night, his first love answered the phone instead.

"Derek is in the shower," she said sweetly. "Is there anything I can tell him for you?"

I said nothing and quietly hung up.

Late that night, Derek called back, his voice thick with exhaustion. "I have wedding dinners to host for the next few days. Do not bother me with your dad's funeral."

Once again, I stayed silent.

I simply slipped off my engagement ring, threw it in the trash, and canceled all our upcoming wedding plans.

***

My father's memorial service was kept small and simple, exactly as he had wished.

I greeted the guests with a blank expression, throwing myself into the arrangements to numb the grief tearing through my chest.

On such an important day, Derek Holloway, the man who was supposed to be my husband, never showed up.

My father had spent his final years worrying about my happiness, so I handled every single detail myself to ensure everything went perfectly.

Although the guests tried to remain polite, their eyes were full of pity.

Still, their whispers drifted into my ears.

"His own father-in-law passed away, and he cannot even be bothered to show up? What kind of ungrateful jerk is he?"

"No respect at all. I have no idea how his family raised him."

"He is probably out playing the devoted groom for someone else. Disgusting."

A few close family friends grew increasingly furious, spitting on the ground in disgust.

I offered them a weary smile and let them vent. Our relationship had been a running joke for a while now.

I had already grown numb to the humiliation.

Besides, Derek was busy celebrating his dream wedding with Chelsea Evans, so why would he care about seeing my father one last time?

His heart was no longer with me, so keeping him around was pointless.

More than that, I refused to let his presence taint my father's final farewell.

As the casket was slowly lowered into the earth, the man who loved me most in this world was gone forever.

Staring at his portrait on the headstone, my strength finally gave out.

I dropped to my knees before the grave and broke down into uncontrollable sobs.

It was my foolish devotion to the wrong man that had caused my father so much grief before he died.

After the service ended, I sent Derek a brief text with trembling fingers.

【It is all over. Dad is gone.】

No reply came.

He was probably busy playing the most handsome groom in the world, or swept up in his romantic honeymoon bubble with Chelsea.

Even if he saw the message, he would not care.

Just like he had never cared about me.

None of it mattered anymore.

Why should the feelings of a stranger affect me?

Yet, the moment I unlocked the front door of our apartment, my phone chimed with a video from Chelsea.

In a lavishly decorated banquet hall, Chelsea threw her arms around Derek's neck, kissing him deeply while the crowd cheered.

For the first time, I saw a tender, bashful smile spread across Derek's usually cold face.

It turned out he knew how to smile like that. He had just never smiled that way for me.

In the video, a guest shouted playfully, "Derek! Do you love our Chelsea more, or that useless ex of yours?"

Hearing the insult directed at me, Derek merely scoffed with disdain.

"Chelsea, obviously! Do not even bring that woman up! Being with her was the biggest mistake of my life, and just looking at her makes me sick!"

The crowd erupted into roaring laughter.

Chelsea wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and pointed at the camera with a smirk.

"Send it to her right now! Let her see how truly happy we are!"

Derek chuckled in agreement.

"Her dad just had to pass away this week. I bet he did it on purpose to keep her from coming to ruin our wedding. How pathetic."

My hand shook so violently that I nearly dropped the phone. I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood just to keep from screaming.

To him, my father's death was nothing more than an inconvenient attempt to ruin his celebration.

How could a human being be so utterly heartless?

Clinging to the very last shred of naive hope, I dialed his number.

After several unanswered rings, the call finally connected.

Chelsea's smug voice floated through the speaker.

"Derek just stepped into the shower. He is completely exhausted from our big day. You understand, right?"

I instantly hung up.

Yeah, I understood perfectly well what kind of trash they were.