Chapter 1

My girlfriend of seven years, Elara, rejected my proposal for the seventh time on her birthday.

As I was in the kitchen, heartbroken, making her favorite dessert, a popular local video popped up on my phone's feed.

In the video, Elara was wearing a beautiful white wedding dress, holding out a ring with tears in her eyes.

"Julian," she said, her voice thick with emotion, "will you marry me?"

Watching the two of them kiss passionately in the video, I finally understood that the rumors weren't just rumors.

But after I finally gave up and left, she was the one on one knee, begging me to marry her.

I stared at the screen, my mind a complete blank.

A moment later, I looked over my shoulder at Elara, who was sitting in the living room.

She was smiling, typing a message on her phone with a sweet expression on her face.

I’d seen that look before, back when we were in the honeymoon phase of our relationship.

Maybe my stare was too intense, because Elara looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Seeing her act so normal, I just silently shook my head.

I knew the process for making mango mousse by heart.

I methodically diced the mango, mixed in the gelatin, and folded the whipped cream into the mango puree. I poured it all into the mold and put it in the freezer to set.

As I waited, I felt a strange sense of calm, like I was an empty shell just standing there, devoid of any emotion.

It wasn't until Elara walked into the kitchen and gasped that I snapped out of it.

"Kaelen, what happened to your hand!"

I looked down and saw a long, deep cut on my left ring finger.

A small pool of blood had already formed on the floor.

It was weird. My brain told me it should hurt, but the pain signals never seemed to arrive.

I just stared blankly at the wound.

Elara rushed over, grabbing my hand with a worried look on her face. "How could you be so careless? That's a deep cut, we should go to the hospital."

Looking at the genuine concern on her face, I started to wonder if the person in that wedding dress was really her.

When I didn't respond, Elara’s brow furrowed, her voice filled with worry.

"What's with you today? You've been spacing out all evening."

I shook my head, coming back to reality. "Just thinking about the next proposal," I said, forcing a casual tone.

Her hands paused for a second. "We've been together for so long," she said, trying to sound relaxed. "We don't need a piece of paper to prove anything."

Those words sent me back to earlier that day.

At the stroke of midnight, I had taken a small box from my drawer. Before I could even open my mouth, Elara had spoken.

"Kaelen, you know I'm not ready to get married yet."

It was my seventh proposal, and her seventh rejection.

The first time was on our fourth anniversary. She said, "My career is just starting. I'm not thinking about marriage."

The second time was two years ago, when she was promoted to manager. She said, "My career isn't stable yet. I'm worried getting married now will cause problems later."

The third, fourth, fifth time...

After a while, she stopped even bothering with excuses.

I had wondered if she didn't love me anymore, but in the small, everyday moments, I could still feel her affection so clearly.

That's what I always told myself.

Until I saw that video while making her damn mango mousse.

Elara was on a beautifully decorated stage, in a white wedding dress, holding a ring and proposing to another man.

Her eyes were red, her voice choked with emotion.

"Julian, today is our third anniversary. In the time we've been together, you've taken such incredible care of me, both at work and in life."

"You're the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Let's get married."

Her speech moved everyone in the crowd to tears.

If it hadn't been Elara saying those words, I would have been moved too.

Julian. I'd heard that name many times.

The rumor at her company was that Elara was having an affair with her boss.

So, the rumors were true after all.