Chapter 1

At the wedding reception, Kael approached me with eyes full of love, only to brush past me and take the bridesmaid's hand instead.

I thought his face blindness had kicked in, so I quickly separated their tightly interlocked fingers.

The bridesmaid, embarrassed and angry, shoved me away forcefully:

"Get lost! Don't touch my husband with your filthy hands!"

I was shocked and asked her what she meant.

She sneered and slapped the marriage certificate in my face, then pointed towards the screen in the banquet hall:

"You think you can marry into the Shaw family after cheating before the wedding and having another man's child die in your womb? Did you think my Kael was picking up trash?"

On the screen, intimate photos of me leaving the abortion clinic at the hospital with Kael's arch-nemesis were playing.

And on the marriage certificate, there was unmistakably a photo of him and Scarlett.

Holding back my anguish, I turned to Kael and asked:

"You're calling off the wedding over something so trivial?"

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1

The ballroom was already abuzz with chatter from the guests, sparked by the photos scrolling across the screens.

My words were like water droplets hitting hot oil, causing the onlookers' gazes to grow even more contemptuous, their mouths showing no mercy.

My mother-in-law was the most enraged, grabbing a champagne flute and smashing it against my face.

"A small matter? Cheating before the wedding with Kael's sworn enemy, getting pregnant and then having the nerve to secretly get an abortion with him? You call that a small matter?"

"I've never seen the likes of this in all my years! A loose woman like you ought to be tarred and feathered!"

Glass shards cut a bloody gash above my eyebrow, mixing with the ice-cold alcohol, turning my vision red and staining my pristine white wedding dress.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my eye, ignoring my mother-in-law's fury and the criticism from others, fixing my gaze steadily on Kael.

"Kael, you're calling off the wedding because of this?"

I persisted in asking.

I didn't care if others misunderstood me, but how could Kael not believe me?

How could he publicly call off our wedding to marry my bridesmaid, his good 'buddy' Scarlett?He couldn't see how hurt I was. Once again, he took Scarlett's hand, only then deigning to look at me as if throwing me a bone:

"Faye, Scarlett was right. Even with the evidence smacking you in the face, you still won't admit it."

"I may be face-blind, but I'm not blind! I gave you a whole damn month to come clean, but you played me for a fool!"

Kael's words were like a razor-sharp knife, stabbing deep into my heart.

His icy stare was a stark contrast to the man who had gazed at me with such tender passion this morning. It was as if they were two different people entirely.

No wonder he'd been hot and cold with me ever since I was rescued from the kidnapping.

He'd ask me bizarre questions out of the blue, and even took me to see a psychiatrist.

How laughable that I thought he was just concerned about me, when in reality he'd already tossed me aside like yesterday's trash.

"I waited until today to expose you so everyone could see your true colors. Having to put on an act with you every day has been making me sick to my stomach!"

As Kael finished shouting, his eyes reddened slightly, as if my betrayal had left him heartbroken.

After loving him for five years, to end up like this... I couldn't bear the thought of us parting ways with this misunderstanding between us."Faye, the baby was yours. The miscarriage happened because you offended someone, and I was kidnapped and abused as a result. Caelan happened to rescue me, but by the time he did, the baby couldn't be saved. I asked him to keep it a secret because I didn't want to hurt you, and I didn't want someone as proud as you to feel humiliated knowing your sweetheart was saved by your arch-enemy."

I blurted it all out in one breath, but my heart sank.

Because Kael's eyes showed no change, only growing colder.

He let out a bitter laugh, as if he'd just heard the most ridiculous joke.

"Faye, do I look like a sucker to you? If you two weren't involved, why would Caelan be so kind as to save you?"

He let go of Scarlett's hand, stepped forward, and looked down at me:

"You think I'd believe this kidnapping story? What about those intimate photos of you two? Are they fake? Was the baby in your belly fake too?"

I opened my mouth, but found myself unable to defend myself.

When I was kidnapped, I had just found out I was pregnant and hadn't had the chance to tell him.

When Caelan rescued me, I had been beaten so badly I couldn't walk, and could only let him carry me.

Even Caelan could put aside our differences to save me and choose to stay quiet for my happiness, but Kael wouldn't believe me.He'd rather believe the superficial evidence than listen to a single word of my explanation.

"Kael, don't listen to her nonsense!"

Scarlett stepped forward, clinging to Kael's arm, looking at me with utter contempt:

"This kind of woman is just an ungrateful bitch. All these years you've treated her like a precious gem, afraid she might break, and yet she's hooking up with your sworn enemy. Who knows, maybe getting close to you was Caelan's idea from the start!"

I stared at her smug face, feeling a wave of nausea wash over me.