Chapter 6

"Finally, we're married, Victor..."

The whisper slipped into Victor's ear like a serpent—soft, sweet, yet laced with deadly poison.

Signe stood so close beside him, her triumphant smile carved clearly across her face. Her slender fingers flaunted a diamond ring on her fourth finger—a symbol of the shattered heart that had never been invited to this celebration.

Victor remained silent. His gaze was empty, cold, and devoid of joy.

"I'm truly happy, Victor… You're mine now," Signe added, her hand resting on his arm as if to assert her possession.

But Victor didn't respond. He didn't smile, didn't speak, didn't even glance at her. His eyes were fixed straight ahead—on the cheering guests, on the flashing cameras capturing this lie of a moment.

"Enough," he murmured inwardly. "I just need to endure one more week. Just one more week… until I can see her—the only reason I'm still breathing: Saga."

He closed his eyes for a second, trying to push away the image of the woman he shouldn't be missing—not today, not on his wedding day. A woman who didn't even know that the man who secretly loved her… had already been sold by fate to his family's ambition.

One week from now, Saga would graduate as a medical doctor. And to be there on her big day, Victor had agreed to the biggest gamble of his life.

He had struck a rotten deal with Mariana—his own mother.

"The engagement will proceed as planned, Victor," Mariana had said then, her voice sharp and unwavering.

"But please… just let me attend Saga's graduation. That's all I ask. After that… do whatever you want."

Mariana had stared at him for a long time, then slowly smirked.

"Fine. Then next week, you won't be engaged—you'll be married to Signe. If you dare back out, I'll kill myself again."

***

"Let me go, Signe."

Victor's voice was hoarse, almost unrecognizable, as he pushed the woman off his lap.

"What are you saying, Victor?!" Signe gasped, her evening gown slipping off her shoulders, barely covering anything. "You... you wanted me! I know you did!"

"No. There's only one thing I want now... to leave."

Signe froze. Her chest and neck flushed with rising anger. "You're my husband, Victor. You think you can just walk away from your wedding night?!"

Victor stared at her blankly. His body had begun to react—no doubt the effect of the tea Signe had served him earlier. But what sickened him wasn't the growing arousal... it was the betrayal. His own body turning against his heart.

Because his heart had always belonged to someone else.

To her.

To Saga.

"Stop humiliating yourself," he whispered bitterly, then stood up.

Signe tried to stop him, but Victor shoved her hand away harshly. He staggered toward the bathroom, pushed the door open, and locked it behind him.

"Victor! Victor, open the door! Don't play games with me!" Signe screamed, pounding her fists against the wood.

No response.

"I'm your wife, Victor! I did everything for you! I even... I even drugged your tea so you would finally touch me! Why do you still choose that lowly woman over me?! Why not me?!"

She broke into sobs. Her body collapsed against the door, trembling. Her hairpin clattered to the floor. Her makeup had smeared. The expensive gown now clung to her like a rag soaked in desperation and hate.

"Please open the door, Victor..." she whimpered weakly. "I love you... I love you..."

Behind the locked door, Victor sat on the cold bathroom floor, trembling, as water from the faucet poured relentlessly over his face.

"I'm sorry, Saga..."

He hugged his knees, not knowing what to do—only certain of one thing:

He had ruined the life of the woman he loved...

To protect the life of a mother…

Who wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he refused.

Morning arrived.

Signe still lay curled up, half-naked and lifeless, by the door—her face pale like a ghost.

Victor finally stepped out of the bathroom.

No words. No glance. No touch.

He took his suit jacket...

and walked away.

***

"Victor?"

The name slipped from Saga's lips almost involuntarily as her eyes caught sight of him standing at the entrance of the auditorium. Her heartbeat instantly quickened, as if time had slowed just to let her feel everything all at once—hope, surprise, happiness… and, finally, devastation.

Behind him, a woman hurried to catch up, her blonde hair neatly styled in an elegant bun, her glittering designer dress catching the light from Oxford's grand chandelier.

Signe.

And she was holding Victor's hand.

The festive atmosphere that had filled the hall moments before seemed to dissolve into a hollow echo chamber. Saga was still standing at the podium, clad in her graduation robe, a microphone in her right hand, and the speech she had memorized for days completely vanished from her mind.

The world stopped spinning.

Saga's gaze locked on Victor, who now smiled gently at her.

Why… why did you come with her, Victor?

The question screamed inside her, but never made it past her lips.

With trembling breath, shaking hands, and eyes that threatened to spill, Saga forced herself to speak into the microphone. Her voice rang out clear—despite the wreckage inside her.

"Thank you, God… Thank you, Mother… I hope you're watching this from heaven…"

She closed her eyes for a moment, holding back the flood of tears. But when she opened them again, her vision was met with the sight that ripped her insides apart—Signe, clinging to Victor's arm, and he didn't pull away.

Look at that, Saga. He's no longer yours—if he ever was.

The words whispered cruelly in her mind, merciless and sharp.

Her speech crumbled into a ruin of emotions masked in carefully chosen words. Every smile she forced in front of the hundreds of eyes watching her… was a mask hiding the collapse within.

And Victor knew.

But he stood there anyway. Silent. Beside Signe.

When the ceremony ended and people began to move around, all Saga wanted was to leave. To escape. But fate wasn't done tormenting her.

"Saga!"

That voice—Victor.

She froze. Slowly, she turned around. And there he was, walking toward her, wearing the gentle smile she had missed for so long.

"Look at you… now you're officially a doctor," he said, pulling her into a hug.

That embrace was supposed to be a harbor. But today, it felt like being held by the ghost of what used to be.

Saga closed her eyes, her body remembering the warmth it had once known.

But as he let go, reality struck her once again.

Signe was standing right behind them. Her hand gripped Victor's arm like claws sinking into possession.

"Victor is so proud of you, Saga," she said with a smile as fake as porcelain. "He even told me you were one of the reasons he stayed strong all this time. But now… he's mine."

***