Chapter 2

I never thought that the marriage I had looked forward to would be so heavy, so heavy that I could barely breathe.

Back then, Dominic was nothing like the cold and cruel person he is now.

He had loving parents and close friends.

When he was with me, he showed me healthy affection.

When I sprained my ankle during a competition and felt embarrassed, he massaged my injury every day, telling me:

"It's no big deal to lose one competition. You'll win the next one."

When I won a scholarship but was rumored to have received sympathy points from the teacher, I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror.

It was Dominic who rushed in and punched that person, scolding them:

"You're stupid and brainless. What can you do besides being jealous of girls who are better than you?"

I wanted to build a career and carefully craft my personal brand.

But I was afraid that I didn't have the ability, that it would all be for nothing.

Dominic interrupted all my hesitant and weak thoughts, so I gathered the courage to invest all the money I had saved over the years.

Perhaps when you meet the right person, your luck changes for the better. My life took a turn for the better.

But everything came to a halt on our wedding day.

The girl who was like a sister to him left a suicide note and jumped into the sea.

She hated me for stealing the man she loved, mercilessly crushing her girlhood dreams.

Dominic changed so quickly, so fast that before I could react, I became the culprit in Rosalie's death.

As long as her body wasn't found, I would have to suffer one more day.

Three years have passed, and I still can't understand.

If there was a possibility between them, how could I have appeared?

Dominic's pursuit of me was so grand and open, and she never appeared once.

Even on the day we met the parents, she smiled happily.

So when she jumped into the sea, I was confused and bewildered.

When Dominic looked at me with hatred, my first thought was, why does he hate me?

Perhaps humans are such strange creatures that to make themselves feel better, they have to find excuses to blame others.

The love Dominic gave me was like a painkiller, soothing all my wounds.

I could overlook his cold indifference.

I could overlook the child I lost in the cold water.

I thought, life is so long, there would always be another chance.

Even when he burned all the baby clothes I had knitted, I could find an excuse.

He was just too grief-stricken, suddenly losing a loved one, and needed time to recover.

The only thing I couldn't tolerate was him being intimate with another woman.

Even if it was to force me to bow my head and admit my mistakes.

After all, once tainted, it's tainted forever.

I withdrew from my thoughts, staring at the well-bandaged wound on my palm, admiring Dominic's ruthlessness.

A dull knife cuts the deepest.

Fortunately, I've finally given up hope.