I found out about his affair when I saw flirty messages between my firefighter boyfriend and a girl I didn't know.

I walked straight up to Daniel Harlan, handed him the phone, and demanded an explanation.

After a long silence, he confessed, "She's someone I rescued during a mission—she has depression. I won't lie, I did feel something for her.

"But Amilia, it hasn't been easy for us to get where we are, from our school days until now. I promise you, I'll keep my distance from her in the future."

I stared into his pleading eyes. My heart ached, but I chose to forgive him.

But on our wedding day, his teammate suddenly rushed into the venue.

"Mr. Harlan, Kellie knows you're getting married and is going to jump off a building to commit suicide!"

The ring that was about to be put on my finger dropped to the ground. Without a word, Daniel rushed toward the door.

My voice trembled as I shouted at him. "Daniel, if you leave today, we're done."

He paused for a moment, but still left without looking back.

***

The wedding venue descended into chaos. The whispered murmurs of the guests were like tiny needles, piercing my eardrums with a sharp pain.

The parents of both sides hurried over, all unaware of what was happening.

Adam, one of Daniel's teammates, stood frozen. His cheeks were flushed.

"Amilia, Kellie's got depression. Last week, she tried to jump off a roof, and Mr. Harlan is the one who talked her down. She only listens to him. So when she freaked again, they called him. A life's on the line—he had to go. Don't be too hard on him, okay?"

Adam had worked with Daniel for three years. Usually, he was always respectful to me, calling me "Amilia" with a warm smile.

Now, he just stared at the floor, too ashamed to meet my eyes.

I had zero clue how much crap he'd covered for Daniel or what the deal was with Kellie Begrie.

Still, the knife-in-the-chest feeling screamed one thing—Daniel had totally stabbed me in the back.

I just stood there while mom and dad hugged me anxiously.

"Wait, what? He's literally on vacation to get married. Who's dying that he has to bail right now?"

Feeling guilty, Daniel's parents dialed him up and said, "Ami, we got this. We're calling the idiot back. If he ghosts you, we'll snap his legs ourselves."

The diamond ring sat on the rug, getting kicked around by every shoe—just like my heart.

I didn't move. My dress hem dragged on the ground like a storm-soaked cloud.

All those perfect wedding scenes I'd daydreamed? Yeah, they crashed and burned into this hot mess.

The groom ditched me in front of the whole cheering crowd, running off for another woman.

Five straight hours. 108 calls. Daniel never picked up.

I watched the screen flicker on, then off, until it died completely.

Sun beamed through the church windows, splashing colored shapes on the floor. One patch landed on my bare ring finger. It stung.

People slipped out, leaving a floor full of confetti and half-eaten wedding banquet.

My head spun hard, and the room twisted. The last thing I heard was my mom yelling my name.

I woke up smelling bleach.

A nurse swapped my IV bag and muttered, "You're six weeks along. You need to calm down and take good care of yourself."

I stared at the ceiling, tears sneaking back into my hair.

From the moment I was 17 and accepted the love letter Daniel gave me on the high school field, to the astonishment I felt when he rode twenty-hour train just to visit me during our college years apart, and finally to the day he became a firefighter, promising with teary eyes, "I'll protect people from now on, and I'll make sure you're safe too"—those seven years raced through my mind like a film on fast-forward.

I looked at the undisguised excitement on the faces of our parents with a bitter smile, tears swirling in my eyes.

How was I supposed to tell them that this seven-year-long love story was about to reach its end?

At seven in the evening, Daniel, who had been gone for six whole hours, finally showed up.

His voice carried guilt, and when his eyes met mine, I saw a flicker of regret.

"Ami, I'm sorry. Kellie... I couldn't just stand by while she was in danger. It's my responsibility to save lives."

I held back my frustration and couldn't resist asking, "There are plenty of firefighters. Would your absence really have changed anything?

"She climbed onto a rooftop ledge today and told everyone she'd only come down if you showed up. What's really going on in her head?

"Daniel, I'm not blind to see what's happening here."

After a long silence, he reached for my hand. It felt like ice between his warm palms. When he finally spoke, his voice cracked.

"Amilia, I've never asked for much in all our time together. Please, just this once. Don't tell anyone about what happened with Kellie. She's... fragile right now. The gossip would destroy her."

I gazed into his pleading eyes, my heart tightening so much it was hard to breathe.

A person's first reaction was the most genuine.

When he arrived to see me, he didn't ask about the humiliation I'd suffered, being left at the altar. He didn't ask why I was in the hospital.

All his words were in defense of Kellie.

My tears splashed onto the hospital sheets, each droplet blooming into a dark stain against the sterile white.

"Okay," I managed to say. The word scraped out of my throat like glass.

Daniel's shoulders sagged in relief. "Kellie took the news of our engagement harder than anyone expected," he said. "We should hold off on the wedding for now.

"I need to be there for her treatment. Just for a little while—three months, tops. Then we can reschedule everything. That works, right?"

His voice was careful. Hesitant.

I'd waited for seven years. Another three months really wouldn't seem like much.

But as I looked into his eyes—filled with concern for someone else—I suddenly felt that I couldn't afford to wait those three months.

The little one in my belly seemed to sense my mood, stirring gently.

I placed a hand on my lower abdomen, where a six-week-old life was growing—a life that was both his and mine, yet somehow felt distant from him.

I slowly pulled my hand back, my voice as calm as stagnant water. "Daniel.

"I don't have a good memory, but I remember that when I was 17, you handed me a love letter on the playground, so nervous that you walked with your hands and feet out of sync.

"I remember the first time you held my hand, your palm was sweating so much, and you didn't dare let go, even after walking three blocks.

"I remember the day we graduated from college, you held me and said you'd take care of me for life. That you'd make me the happiest bride.

"All these years, you remembered all my little habits. I don't eat celery and beets. I need to drink honey lemon tea when I'm on my period... I always thought you cherished me more than anything."

I looked up at him, and suddenly tears gushed out like a broken dam. "But today, I can't feel your love for me anymore."

The bits and pieces of these seven years surged in my mind. Daniel's eyes also turned red. He gulped, and a tear fell.

"But Ami, Kellie can't live without me right now."

That single sentence—"can't live without me"—completely shattered the last bit of hope I had.

I looked at him, and suddenly smiled through my tears. "Then go."

He froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting me to say that.

But in the end, he said nothing and turned around to leave the ward.

The next day, I packed my things and was about to check out of the hospital. As I walked to the corner of the corridor, I ran into Daniel.

There was no sign of me in his eyes. All his attention was on the woman beside him.

The woman was wearing a hospital gown, with a pale face. He half-supported and half-held, like a frail little white rabbit.

So this was the woman who made him abandon me on our wedding day.

Probably because my gaze was too heavy, Kellie Begrie noticed me first. She subconsciously shrank behind Daniel, her fingers tightly clutching the corner of his clothes.

Only then did Daniel turn to look at me. His brows instantly furrowed, and his tone was laced with impatience.

"Amilia, Kellie is emotionally unstable. If you have anything to say, we'll talk about it at home. Don't make a scene in the hospital and scare her."

Kellie poked her head out timidly, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"Amilia, Daniel, and I really have nothing going on... Please don't misunderstand."

I squeezed the prenatal check-up form in my hand, my fingertips turning white, yet I managed a faint smile.

"You're overthinking it. I'm here to go through the discharge procedures."

With that, I turned away from them and headed to pay the fees.

Daniel's eyes flickered with a strange look for a moment, seemingly not expecting me to be so calm. A sense of emptiness welled up in his heart.

He reached out to grab me. I subconsciously turned my head, and in an instant, noticed the stain that had somehow smudged on my windbreaker.

His gaze followed mine. When he saw me take off the windbreaker, he also took off his coat, intending to drape it over me, but I dodged it.

He froze for a second, then stepped forward to follow, reaching for my coat.

"Let me take it. You like this coat so much. I'll take it back and have someone clean it."

I shook my head and tossed the windbreaker into the nearby trash can.

My tone was flat as I said, "Just throw it away. I don't like things that are stained. You know I'm a clean freak."

Looking at my cold expression, the smile on Daniel's face froze.

He knew that what I was talking about wasn't just the coat, but also our relationship.

Before he could say anything else, I had already paid the fees and turned to leave.

Not long after walking out of the hospital, my phone vibrated—it was a text message from Daniel.

"Don't be mad at me. I bought you that Napoleon cake from the shop you mentioned wanting to try last time. Remember to accept it."

When the delivery arrived at home, I looked at that familiar pink box and suddenly laughed.

In the past, whenever he made me angry, he always loved to buy this shop's Napoleon cake to coax me.

Absentmindedly, I took a bite.

It used to taste so sweet, but now it only felt bitter and hard to swallow.

That night, Daniel didn't come home.

Letting go of a seven-year relationship hurt more than I'd imagined.

I lay awake until the early hours of the morning, then simply got up to pack my luggage.

A couple of hoodies hanging in the wardrobe. The photo frames are lined up on the bookshelf. The sticky notes stuck to the refrigerator.

Every single thing was like a thorn wrapped in memories.

I remember the year we graduated. Daniel had just become a firefighter and was so busy he could barely catch his breath.

Yet he would still come to see me on his days off, his eyes shining like stars.

"Amilia, once I've saved enough for the down payment, I'll marry you."

Three years later, he stood in front of me holding a property deed and a diamond ring, his voice trembling.

"I did it. I'm giving you a home. I keep my promises."

The sun was especially bright that day. I held him and cried for a long time, feeling like the happiest person in the world.

We painted the walls together, assembled furniture together, and filled the balcony with sunflowers—my favorite.

He said he wanted sunshine to flood our home forever.

But now, this home can no longer hold me.

I taped the last box shut, and the sky had that early-morning gray look.

I booked a moving van, and both sets of parents rolled up at the same time.

I hadn't spilled the Daniel drama, so they were clueless about why the almost-bride was suddenly bailing.

Mom and Dad just sighed and said, "The door's always open whenever you wanna come back."

Daniel's mother, Maria Harlan, grabbed my hand like a clamp.

"Ami, can you give Daniel one more chance? The wedding mess—he just spaced out for a sec..."

I stayed quiet and waved the mover to keep hauling boxes.

Right as she ran out of breath, the front door creaked open.

Daniel came back, and he brought Kellie with him.

She was wearing his coat, clinging timidly to his arm like a kitten who had just found its owner.

The room fell eerily silent in an instant, and everyone's gaze fixed on the two of them.

Maria's face turned livid. "Daniel, you... What do you mean by this? Are you... committing a sin!"

Daniel's father, Henry Harlan, trembled with anger. "Who is she?"

Daniel didn't answer. His eyes swept over the packed suitcases in the living room and finally landed on me. "You're moving out?"

"Yes," I replied calmly. "I'm moving back to my parents' house."

He seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. I'll come pick you up before the wedding."

He said it casually, then stepped aside and pulled Kellie in front of him.

"This is Kellie, a person with depression I rescued during a mission. To stabilize her mood, the team asked me to take care of her for a while." His straightforward manner made our earlier suspicions seem like nothing but unnecessary worries.

Kellie broke into a sweet smile and reached out to take Maria's arm.

"Hello, Maria. Daniel has been taking care of me, and he even brought me home for dinner tonight.

"But we're really just friends. If you don't believe me, why don't you ask Amilia?"

She looked at me, her gaze full of pride.

I didn't want to pay her any attention and was just about to leave with my parents.

In the next second, a slap happened.

A crisp sound of a slap echoed through the room.

I was shocked, my eyes wide open, watching my mom slap Kellie across the face.

"Mom!"

My mother stared at me with red eyes, her voice trembling violently.

"You're my daughter. How could I not know you?

"You've been with him since you were 17, and now you're 24. That's seven years! For him, you quit your job at the design institute to be a housekeeper at home, learned to cook his favorite butter fish, and even remember where he puts his socks... If your heart hadn't been thoroughly broken, would you leave?

"I don't ask for you to marry into great wealth, but today he brought this woman home to humiliate you—I, as your mother, can't stand it!

"If you won't vent your anger, I'll vent it for you!"

My mom's words were like a thunderclap, making my eyes sting with tears.

Kellie covered her face, tears swirling in her eyes. But she didn't dare to cry out loud.

Daniel immediately shielded her behind him, his face dark and terrifying.

"Amilia Darracott! What did you promise me? Why did you tell Mom and Dad?"

Before he could finish, I rushed forward and slapped him.

"Daniel, you're the one who deserves this slap the most!"

Then, I pulled a piece of paper out of my bag and slammed it hard on him. It was a prenatal check-up form.

"Do you know what I regret the most?"

Daniel picked up the paper. When he read the words on it, his eyes widened.

"Ami... You're pregnant?"

I looked at the joy that instantly lit up in Daniel's eyes, watched him rush toward me, shouting, "I'm going to be a dad." Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming sense of irony.

He forgot that Kellie was still standing beside him, forgot his resoluteness at the wedding, forgot his coldness toward me these past few days. As if with a child, everything could be wiped clean.

But how could those moments of being abandoned, those sleepless nights, those shattered pieces of sincerity be treated as if they never happened?

I pushed him away fiercely, my eyes red with anger, and shouted, "Who said you're going to be a dad?

"This baby... I scheduled an abortion the same day you begged me not to talk about Kellie yesterday, the same day you asked me to protect her."