Chapter 1

At our engagement party, just because I refused to let Garrett Sutton’s foster sister wear my bridal gown to my own wedding, he strangled me until I blacked out from oxygen deprivation.

“You know Brooke has a weak heart! You deliberately triggered an episode! You’re pure evil!”

While I lay in critical condition at the hospital, the two of them went on vacation.

After returning refreshed, Garrett acted magnanimously:

“Clara, kneel down and apologize to Brooke at tomorrow’s department town hall. Then I’ll forgive you, and our wedding next week will proceed as planned.”

I said nothing. I just packed my bags and checked out of the hospital.

Garrett assumed I was throwing a petty tantrum and turned our master bedroom into Brooke’s private suite.

It wasn’t until seven days later that he accidentally discovered I had joined a classified deep-space aerospace program and would never return to his side.

In that exact moment, he completely lost his mind.

1.

The day I signed the nondisclosure contract happened to be New Year’s Eve.

Director Walker personally walked me to the front gate and reminded me gently:

“Clara, there’s no set return date for this mission. You have ten days before departure, so spend them well with your family.”

Snow fell softly from the gray sky, and every house in town was lit with festive warmth.

I stood alone on the street corner for a long time before hailing a cab and giving the driver a familiar address.

After being together for twenty years, I owed him a proper goodbye.

Before my raised hand could knock, the front door was yanked open.

Garrett stood there expressionless, his words colder than the biting winter wind.

“Clara, how can you be so vicious?”

“Brooke just suffered another heart attack because of you. How dare you show up here to trigger her again?”

Digging my nails into my palms, I forced a faint smile.

“Just spend one last New Year’s Eve with me, Garrett. Just this once.”

I had never begged anyone before in my life.

Throughout our twenty years together, he had treated me like a cherished princess.

Even after Brooke showed up and caused countless arguments between us, he was always the one to bow his head first.

Now that I was leaving forever, I didn’t want to carry any regrets.

Seeing my humble demeanor, Garrett’s expression softened slightly, but a thought seemed to cross his mind and his anger surged again.

“You’re trying to pull another scheme, aren’t you? Clara, I’ve never met someone as sickening as you.”

I bit my lower lip so hard it bled, unable to speak a single word.

Last year, an accident occurred at our research lab. While fleeing, I injured my leg, and Garrett came to pick me up. At that exact moment, Brooke had a sudden heart attack.

She barely survived resuscitation.

Afterward, Garrett pinned the entire blame on me.

“Is that Clara? Sweetheart, come in and eat!”

“Yes, Clara, please come inside!”

Martha and Brooke spoke up simultaneously, breaking the tense standoff.

Garrett stepped aside, warning me under his breath, “Behave yourself. Don’t start anything.”

Inside, the living room felt warm and cozy.

Brooke sat snuggled next to Martha, acting like a sweet daughter.

Garrett naturally walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down beside them.

Once upon a time, I was the one sitting in the center of that warmth.

I averted my eyes.

Swallowing the bitter ache in my chest, I put on a gentle, polite smile.

“Happy New Year, Mom.”

The moment Martha saw me, she hurried over, examined me from head to toe, and pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Clara, thank God you’re all right. I only just heard you were hospitalized―it scared me half to death.”

It seemed Garrett hadn’t told his mother the truth about our fight.

My parents had died when I was young, and the Sutton family had raised me as their own daughter.

Martha was in fragile health and spent most of her days at home sustained by medication.

Garrett and I had agreed to keep the engagement party small and intimate with close friends to keep things stress-free for her.

Perhaps I was lost in my memories for too long, because my expression must have seemed distant.

When I looked up, I met Garrett’s chilling, warning gaze.

He knew very well that I loved his mother like my own flesh and blood.

My heart throbbed with a sharp, piercing pain.