Chapter 1

After marrying Jack Thompson, I gave up my career as a florist for him. He was so considerate that he didn't want me to have children, so we adopted a baby instead.

Until one evening when I came home.

I saw his first love in my greenhouse, carelessly trampling the flowers I had carefully nurtured.

Jack stood silently beside her.

Lily, our daughter, helped her smash the flowers, laughing, "Aunt Emma, if you don't like them, let's break them all. I've always hated how dirty these things are."

I stared in disbelief at the scene before me.

Rows of flower racks had toppled over. The succulent Jack had given me was now completely shattered.

The culprit looked up at me, feigning innocence.

"I was just making a phone call here and had an allergic reaction to the pollen. Jack and Lily were worried about me, that's why the flowers ended up like this," Emma said.

"Rose, you won't be mad at me, will you?"

I looked at her neck, which showed no signs of redness. She smirked, her foot still grinding the flower petals beneath her.

Jack stood beside her, looking at me coldly, without saying a word.

Lily met my gaze and shouted, "Are you really going to make a fuss over these flowers? They're already broken! Aunt Emma rarely visits, and if she leaves because you're angry, I won't let you take me to school tomorrow!"

Just half an hour ago, I had gone to pick up Lily from school as usual.

The teacher told me she had already been picked up by Jack and a woman.

On my way home, I kept wondering who this woman could be.

I never imagined it would be Emma Wilson - Jack's childhood friend and his first love.

Years ago, after breaking up with Jack, she had gone abroad.

Jack had been depressed for a long time because of her, and then married me - the girl who had loved him for years.

My six-year-long unrequited love finally came to an end.

Now Emma was back, and Jack was on her side. Even our daughter, whom I had raised, was angry at me because of her.

The intimate way she behaved with Jack hurt me deeply.

Lily proudly showed off the dress she was wearing.

"Aunt Emma, the dress you designed is so pretty! Not like the ugly ones she buys me!"

Only then did I notice she had changed out of the dress I had carefully chosen for her.

In the past, whenever I picked out clothes for her and Jack, he would coldly refuse them time and time again.

And Lily, upon seeing them, would throw them on the ground in disgust, saying they were too old-fashioned.

In my ears, Emma was telling Lily about the styles of clothes kids abroad liked.

The three of them looked like a perfect family, warm and beautiful.

My heart grew colder by the second.

I walked past them and crouched down to carefully wrap up the broken succulent Jack had given me.

The year Jack and I got together, he learned that I loved plants.

He spent time carefully packaging it as a gift for me - it was the first present he ever gave me.

I was overjoyed that night and tenderly cared for it ever since.

It had witnessed all the years Jack and I had been together.

But now it was broken, shattered by Jack's own hands.

My eyes stung with tears. Jack bent down and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me up.

"Come on, let's go eat. What's broken is broken. I'll buy you another one later. Emma rarely comes back, don't make a fuss over this. Be more understanding."

Seeing that I wouldn't get up, his tone grew harsher:

"Rose, why do you have to be so stubborn?"

Because of his pulling, my hand was cut by a shard from the flower pot, leaving a bloody mark.

After a moment of silence, he stopped trying to help me.