Chapter 2

"They aren't fake," I explained quietly.

Tristan had recorded those secretly. He had to fly abroad for a week for a major bidding project, but that day happened to be our 100-day anniversary.

Back then, I was studying for my master's degree and often stayed up late organizing notes. He had secretly used my recorder to leave those three sentences.

During the year he was missing, there were so many nights I couldn't get through. I survived by listening to that recording on loop.

Tristan turned to me. "Listen. I don’t care how much I loved you before. Right now, Melanie is my only girlfriend."

Right in front of my face, he deleted the files, completely wiping the memory card.

That was the last recording of his voice I had. The rest had already been destroyed by Melanie.

I wasn’t willing to accept this. I couldn't accept that the boy who once looked at me with nothing but absolute devotion had completely forgotten and discarded me. I couldn't accept standing by and doing nothing while he loved someone else.

Everyone told me to let it go. But...

"Tristan, did you really forget everything? Did you forget when we were ten, I had a high fever and you carried me on your back for a mile just to hail a cab to the hospital?"

"Did you forget how we skipped classes to climb walls just to see a concert? Did you forget how you kept practicing your speech to propose to me..."

Melanie’s expression grew increasingly panicked. She clutched Tristan’s arm, looking at his tense face.

"Tristan... if you remember, will you stop wanting me?"

Tristan's face suddenly went cold. "Enough! I don't want to remember any of it!"

The next second, a painful yank pulled at my ear. My hearing aid was ripped away and clamped in Tristan's hand.

My eyes widened in panic. "What are you doing? Tristan, give it back!"

Tristan walked to the window and threw it out.

"I don't want to hear another word from you."

I scrambled to the window, leaning out so far to catch it that I almost fell.

Tristan reacted instantly, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me back, yelling in anger, "Sera! Are you insane?! Do you want to die?!"

Melanie was visibly startled by my reaction.

"Maybe I am insane," I whispered.

Tristan froze. "You can hear me?"

Suppressing the bitter ache in my chest, I spoke coldly, "I can read lips. Everything you say, I know."

I pushed him away and ran downstairs to find the hearing aid.

This hearing aid was a gift from Tristan.

He once said, "Sera, let me be your ears."

He also said, "Once all the family drama is over, we’ll get married."

I held the shattered pieces of the hearing aid in my palm and sobbed uncontrollably in the rain.

I went to the hospital alone to get fitted for a new hearing aid. I sat quietly in the corner of the hallway, watching people pass by.

In the past, whenever I came to the hospital, Tristan was always by my side.

He would handle all the paperwork, treating me like a fragile princess.

I unlocked my phone and saw Melanie’s Instagram post.

[So happy @Tristan]

I hesitated for a second before clicking on the video.

On the screen, Tristan was wearing a tailored suit, kneeling on a red carpet, holding a diamond ring as he proposed to Melanie.

"Melanie, from the moment you saved my life, I knew I belonged to you. I will use all my love to make you happy. Will you marry me?"

Melanie covered her mouth in tears of joy. "Yes! I do!"

As she nodded, Tristan let out two tears, pulled her up, and kissed her.

The heartwarming scene did nothing to warm my frozen heart.

My vision went black, and I collapsed in the hospital hallway. The only person who rushed over to take care of me was Hazel.

Hazel signed to me with teary eyes, "Rest up. I put your phone on silent. Just sleep. Everything will be better tomorrow."

I drifted into a restless sleep until a loud bang woke me up.

Hazel was violently pushed to the floor by Tristan. He stormed toward my bed.

Before I could react, his hands wrapped tightly around my throat. His fingers turned white from the sheer force, his veins bulging. It felt like he wanted to crush my neck.

As suffocation took over my brain, Hazel scrambled up, using her small body to frantically pull Tristan away.

She was mute, unable to scream. She could only watch in terror as my pale face turned purple.

"Tell me! Where did you hide Melanie?! She’s your sister!"

Desperate, Hazel grabbed a vase from the nightstand and smashed it over Tristan's head.

A drop of blood fell onto my cheek. Tristan snapped out of his frantic state, his grip on my throat loosening, though his red handprints remained bruised on my skin.

Tristan clutched his bleeding forehead, looking tortured. "Sera... Melanie is missing. I’ve searched the entire city and I can't find her."

He pulled out Melanie’s phone. "The last text she sent was to you."

[Sera, Tristan proposed to me. I thought about it all night, and I feel so guilty. I’m giving him back to you. You must take good care of him like we agreed. I won't ever show my face to you guys again.]

"What agreement? What did you agree with her?"

Due to the lack of oxygen, my vision was blurry. "I don't know where she is."

His hands tightened again. "Stop lying! Who else would want her gone besides you?"

"So... that's the kind of cheap, malicious person I am to you."

Seeing the last spark of light fade from my eyes, Tristan froze for a split second.

"I’ll say it one last time. I didn't kidnap anyone."

Tristan was on the verge of losing his mind.

Outside, the storm raged on. In the quiet hospital room, a sharp ringtone broke the silence.

"Tristan! We found Melanie's location using her GPS. She's at the edge of the cliff! Hurry, she's going to jump!"

Tristan glared at me, then dragged me out of the hospital bed.

"You’re coming with me to explain everything."

Hazel tried to block him, typing frantically on her phone, but Tristan completely ignored her.

He brutally ripped the IV needle out of the back of my hand, making me gasp in pain.

I was thrown into his car. Before I could even buckle my seatbelt, he slammed on the gas. He drove like a maniac through the storm, nearly hitting several cars.

With a loud screech, the car skidded on the wet road and crashed into a tree. Terrified, I reached out to check on Tristan's condition.

But he ignored me, restarted the engine with bloodshot eyes, and fought the steering wheel.

It wasn't the first time I'd seen him look this desperate. But this time, it wasn't for me.

"Melanie, you have to be okay..."

The scent of blood filled the car. Five minutes later, we finally arrived at the edge of the cliff along the highway.

The rain poured down, soaking Melanie’s dress in mud.

"Melanie! Don't do anything stupid! I swear I only love you!" Tristan screamed.

She sobbed loudly. "Don't come near me! I can't live with this guilt and my love for you. Please forgive me for being selfish!"

Tristan shoved me toward her. "Sera! Tell her! Tell her you’ll announce to the media that we broke up mutually!"

Our love story had been highly publicized by the media, and our engagement was public knowledge.

I turned to look at him, but his eyes were completely fixed on Melanie.

He roared at me, entirely blind to the last shred of hope dying in my eyes.

"Say it!"