Chapter 1

Lucas Hart had fought in underground boxing rings for five years, and he finally stepped onto the World Championship stage.

To support his fights, I washed dishes at a diner during the day and delivered food at night.

Lucas had once held my cracked hands and cried until his eyes turned red, and he swore:

"Nina, when I win the World Championship, I'll make sure you live a good life."

But on the day he walked toward the World Championship stage, I said I wanted to go with him.

Lucas stayed silent for a few seconds, then brushed me off.

"What would you even do there when you don't understand it?"

When he won the title, I was crouching down washing dishes.

On the TV screen, Lucas stood there in high spirits, giving his acceptance speech.

I felt happy for him, and then I heard the reporter ask who he wanted to thank the most.

Lucas's gaze seemed to meet mine through the screen, and his lips moved.

I tightened my grip on the greasy plate in my hand, and a wave of expectation rose inside me.

But in the next second, Lucas's familiar voice came crashing down.

"The person I want to thank the most is my love, Sophie Blake."

Before I could react, my best friend, whose name had just been mentioned, smiled shyly and ran onto the stage, then kissed Lucas deeply.

The applause and blessings of the whole world surged in at that moment.

I stared at the two people hugging tightly on the screen.

Then I lowered my head and looked at my own rough, cracked hands.

Silently, I put down the plate in my hand and called my dad.

"Dad, I agree to go back and inherit the family business."

1

After I hung up, Sophie's updated Ins post popped up.

A nine-photo grid.

In the picture, a man's slender hand was interlaced with hers, and that glittering gold medal rested against her chest.

【Nothing in the world is happier than my husband winning his match while I happen to be by his side.】

I casually liked the post and turned off my phone.

The dark screen reflected my sallow face.

The apron on me was covered in water stains and grease.

I was only twenty-five, yet a few strands of white hair had already appeared at my temples.

I took off my apron and went to the back kitchen to resign to my boss.

"You've worked here for so long, and you're always the last one to leave every day, so why are you suddenly leaving?"

The boss was cooking, and when he heard me say I was quitting, he looked a little surprised.

Lucas often got injured from boxing, and sometimes when he came home, his fingers would be terribly swollen.

To buy him a good pair of gloves, I worked part-time jobs like my life depended on it, and sometimes I stayed busy at the diner until after midnight before leaving.

I let out a soft laugh and put the apron on the counter.

"I'm a little tired, and I want to rest properly for a while."

After I left the diner, Lucas sent me a message.

【Nina, I'll be back later.】

I did not reply, and I followed the address in Sophie's photo.

Outside the plaza downtown, a crowd of onlookers and reporters had gathered.

Hot-air balloons with Sophie's name on them floated in the sky all around.

Lucas knelt on one knee inside a heart made of candles and rose petals.

He held a ring in one hand and offered it to the shy-faced woman in front of him.

"Sophie, will you marry me?"

Amid the lively teasing and blessings from the people around them, Sophie's ears turned bright red, and she reached out with teary eyes.

"Of course I will~"

Lucas carefully slipped the ring onto her pinky.

The crowd instantly erupted, and everyone began clapping.

Reporters pushed forward one after another to interview them.

Lucas held Sophie and looked at her with a gentle, unwavering gaze.

Then he turned his head toward the reporters' cameras.

"I promised Sophie that I would marry her if I won the match, and now, I've finally done it."

I stood outside the crowd, my nails digging deep into my flesh.

I felt as if all the blood in my body had frozen, and I could not stop trembling.

I remembered the night I delivered food until midnight and ran into thugs at the mouth of an alley.

To protect myself, I was beaten by several burly men until my left eye became severely blind.

Lucas knelt beside my hospital bed, held my cracked hand tightly with red eyes, and made me a promise.

"Nina, don't worry, when I win the match, I'll be able to propose to you."

"On that day, I will make you the most beautiful bride in the world!"

And now, I looked at the heart-shaped balloons floating all over the sky.

My heart felt as if it had been struck hard by a blunt object, and my nose stung.

I could no longer hold back my tears.

As if afraid someone would see me in such a wrecked state, I pushed through the crowd and ran away like I was fleeing.

I did not know how I got home.

At ten o'clock that night, the door opened.

Lucas changed his shoes in the entryway, and the fluorescent light switched on with a snap.

When he saw me sitting on the couch and staring straight at him, Lucas jumped in fright.

"Nina? Why are you sitting there in the dark this late?"

I did not speak and just stared at him.

There was now a Strawberry Bear bracelet on his wrist.

I had seen Sophie wearing one in her Ins post, and theirs were a couple's set.

Lucas drank a glass of water, walked over, hugged my waist from behind, and rubbed his face against me.

"I'm so tired today, and you have no idea, I almost lost this afternoon."

He leaned closer and tried to pinch my cheek, but I turned aside and avoided him.

The gardenia scent Sophie always used drifted into my nose.

A wave of nausea surged inside me, and the emotion I had buried suddenly exploded.

"Don't touch me!"

Lucas froze, and his raised hand stiffened in midair.

His face darkened instantly.

"What are you throwing a tantrum about? Are you still mad because I didn't let you go watch the match?"

I raised my head and looked at his face, which was still as handsome as before.

Yet at this moment, I found him unbearably fake.

I opened my mouth and asked directly:

"When did you and Sophie get together?"

2

Lucas froze in place, and when he looked at my trembling body, panic flashed through his eyes.

I looked into his eyes and stubbornly asked aloud.

"You said you wanted to marry me, so was all of that fake?"

I clenched my fists, wishing so badly that Lucas would tell me right now that everything was fake.

That I was dreaming.

But after a long moment, he suddenly let out a scoff.

He leaned lazily back against the couch.

"You know everything?"

He raised his hand and gently wiped away the tears at the corner of my eyes, just like before.

With a soft laugh, he rubbed the top of my head.

"Although I can't marry you, you can still continue being my lover."

"Now that I've won the match, I have everything, and other than a wedding, I'll give you whatever you want."

"It's just a marriage license, and it doesn't mean anything."

I looked at the man's mouth opening and closing.

He still looked the same as before.

Yet at this moment, I found him unbelievably fake.

I remembered the night five years ago when he held my hand and said he wanted to give me a good life.

I was held tightly in his arms, and he said that when he made a name for himself, we would get married.

Back then, the young man's eyes were full of me.

I ignored my dad's warnings, and because I was afraid Lucas would feel inferior because I was a wealthy heiress, I never told him.

I resolutely gave up wealth and luxury, and I stayed with him through hardship while he fought illegal matches.

I thought that when Lucas finally made a name for himself, we really would get married.

But now, I thought of the way he proposed to Sophie.

In the end, he succeeded, and the first person he abandoned was me!

Overwhelming emotions surged up inside me.

I shoved him away and shouted with red eyes.

"Lucas Hart, don't you think you're disgusting?"

Lucas lost his patience, stood up, and looked at me indifferently.

"Nina Sterling, you should be thanking me right now, because you have nowhere to go after cutting ties with your dad for me."

"Now, other than me, where else can you go in this huge Harbor City?"

He patted my face, picked up a bath towel, and walked toward the bathroom.

"Stay by my side like a good girl, and stop making trouble all the time."

I stared at the tightly shut door and collapsed completely to the floor.

I tilted my head back and refused to let the tears fall.

My phone vibrated, and my dad's driver, Mr. Finch, called.

"Miss, the boss has arranged everything, and I'll come pick you up in two days."

"Okay."

After I hung up, I went to the bedroom and started packing.

I did not have much luggage, and one suitcase held everything.

Lucas rarely bought me anything, and I understood that boxing was hard for him.

All the money I earned was saved to buy Lucas protective gear and gloves.

I could not even bear to buy myself a decent piece of clothing.

After I finished packing and dragged the suitcase up, a sharp sinking pain suddenly came from my lower abdomen.

I curled up on the floor and reached toward my thigh.

A blinding red fell into my palm.

I looked at my slightly swollen lower belly, and half a month ago, I had found out I was pregnant.

But because I had crouched for long hours washing dishes, the baby was in danger.

The doctor had warned me that if I did not go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible, both the mother and the baby could be in life-threatening danger.

But when I saw the expensive follow-up fee, I still did not tell Lucas.

The sinking pain in my lower abdomen grew stronger and stronger, and blood gushed out from between my legs.

Footsteps sounded outside the bedroom, and Lucas had finished his shower.

Hope sparked inside me, and I gripped the floor and crawled toward the door, wanting to ask him for help.

"Lucas… save me…"

All the strength in my body seemed to have been drained away, and I used every last bit of effort to squeeze out my voice.

I kept slapping the door.

"Nina, are you in there?"

Lucas heard the faint slapping at the door, frowned, and was just about to walk toward the bedroom.

Just then, a knock suddenly came from outside the front door.

"Lucas, when I got home, I found my place had been completely ransacked, and I'm so scared…"

Sophie's soft, delicate voice rang out outside the door.

Lucas could no longer care about the movement in the room, and he quickly walked to the entryway and opened the door.

"How could a thief get in, and it's so cold, but you didn't even put on a jacket."

"Come on, I'll go back with you and take a look."

The conversation outside the door drifted over, and the sound of fabric rubbing followed.

Then the front door was shut.

The whole house fell silent again.

I lay on the floor with a pale face and felt blood keep flowing out of my body.

My throat seemed to be gripped tightly, and the pain made it so I could no longer make a sound.

My phone vibrated, and Lucas's message came in:

【Something came up, so I'm heading out for a while, and don't wait up for me, sleep early.】

3

Tears streamed from the corners of my eyes, and the hope that had lit up in my heart completely fell through.

I used the last of my strength to call 91