Chapter 5

Manuel and I had our engagement party a month ago.

That night, Manuel had gotten absolutely wasted. It was the first time I heard him say Hathaway’s name.

We had been together for two years, and I had always known she existed.

But the Millers were ruined. She was no longer a high-society princess.

She, Manuel, and I were no longer from the same world.

Besides, when she left him, she had said some incredibly nasty things to crush his pride.

So, I had never viewed her as a threat.

Until the party ended, the crowd dispersed, and I was helping a drunken Manuel back to his place when I heard him mumbling.

At first, it was just a low slurring: "We're engaged... we're finally engaged."

I thought he was just overjoyed, so I gently ran my fingers through his hair with nothing but love in my heart.

I asked him, "Are you really that happy to be engaged to me?"

Manuel didn't open his eyes, nor did he answer.

He just grabbed my hand, pressing frantic, desperate kisses against my fingertips.

But just as my heart was melting, he whispered her name.

"Hathaway... we're really over now, aren't we...?"

"Why... why did you have to do this to me...?"

"Chloe is great... I'm going to marry her... Don't you dare regret this..."

Those whispered words felt like lightning striking my skull. My entire body went rigid.

In our two years of dating, he had never once mentioned her name or his past.

As his partner, I had always respected his boundaries and never pried, believing he had moved on.

But it took him getting blackout drunk at our engagement party to finally spit out the truth.

He hadn't forgotten her. He had just buried her deep in his chest.

I didn't sleep at all that night. The next morning, Manuel woke up remembering absolutely nothing.

After debating with myself, I decided to bury the incident.

Firstly, we were already engaged. Over the last two years, the business ties between the Alexanders and my family had grown incredibly tight. A broken engagement would cause a massive, unnecessary PR disaster for both companies.

Secondly, Hathaway was nobody now. Even if Manuel still had feelings for her, the chances of them getting back together were practically zero.

But standing on this mountain, I realized how incredibly naive and foolish I had been.

Their love hadn't been erased by time. If anything, the distance had only made it more agonizingly poetic.

Even when Manuel spat venom at her, she still held the ultimate power over his heart.

And I, from beginning to end, was nothing but a rebound. A joke.

The freezing midnight wind seemed to penetrate my very bones. I was completely alone on this massive, pitch-black mountain, surrounded by the eerie rustling of the pine trees.

At that moment, my heart turned completely to stone.