Chapter 1

On the eve of our wedding, I caught Qianqian He being intimate on the couch with my close friend. After that, I went completely mad and did everything I could to get close to her three best friends.

I deliberately left traces everywhere—on her desk, in the passenger seat of her sports car, in her private office.

Yet when Qianqian found out, she simply touched up her lipstick with total indifference and dialed a group call.

"So, how was he?"

Teasing voices echoed one after another from the speaker.

"Great abs, pretty solid waist. Not bad at all."

"He was okay, just a little too uptight. Nowhere near as fun as that young actor I keep on the side."

"Hey, Qianqian, did you ever teach him anything? He was way too raw."

The revenge I had meticulously plotted turned out to be nothing more than a joke to her. She didn't care in the slightest.

I suffered a complete nervous breakdown. Declared mentally unstable, Qianqian had me committed to a psychiatric facility.

After a year of treatment, I finally recovered.

Outside the window, a Bentley cut its engine and parked in the courtyard.

Qianqian had come to pick me up.

She remembered to come get me, but I had already forgotten how to love her.

The nurse pushed the door open. "Mr. Wei, Ms. He has finished all the discharge paperwork. You're free to go."

I gave a numb nod.

As I walked out of the hospital, I could still hear a few nurses whispering behind my back. "Poor guy, driven out of his mind by his fiancée."

"Poor guy? Please. His fiancée is gorgeous and filthy rich, and she spends a fortune on him. It wasn't like domestic abuse. If he just played dumb, he'd be living the high life. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you."

If this were a year ago, hearing those words would have made me hysterical. But now, it couldn't even make me pause.

Beside the Bentley, Qianqian leaned against the car door.

I walked up to her.

She hooked a finger, reaching out to touch my face. "You've gotten thin."

I tilted my head slightly, dodging her touch.

Her hand froze in midair for a second before she pulled it back.

She opened the passenger door. "Get in."

On the passenger seat lay a crumpled silk tie.

Qianqian snatched the tie before I could, rolled down the window, and casually tossed it out.

"My assistant leaves things everywhere. Don't mind it."

I gave a faint, silent smile. The brand of that tie was Guangqi Yu's absolute favorite.

Not that it mattered. I had stopped caring long ago.

Waiting at a red light, Qianqian tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel before finally speaking. "I've cut all ties with him. I threw that couch away too, replaced it with a brand new one in the exact style you like."

"Okay," I replied softly.

She continued, "I had the maids clean your room every single day. Not a speck of dust."

"Thank you." A gentle, empty smile formed on my lips.

Qianqian glanced at me, her eyes dark and unreadable.

She pulled a small red velvet box from her pocket. "I ordered a new ring. The diamond is bigger than the last one. Take a look and see if you like it."

I didn't take the box. Instead, I said, "Let's call off the wedding."

Qianqian didn't take my words seriously at all. She tossed the velvet box right into my lap.

"Alright, that's enough throwing tantrums. I slept with your buddy, and you slept with three of my best friends. Do the math—you slept with two more people than I did. We're even."

"The spot as my husband is still yours. I promised you that, so stop playing hard to get."

I stared down at the small box in my lap without arguing, merely offering a bitter smile.

I wasn't throwing a tantrum. I was just leaving for somewhere else—a place far from all this dazzling luxury, a tiny, quiet village where my parents were buried. There would be no Qianqian there. And without her, there would be no more pain.

The car rolled into the villa's driveway.

Everything here looked the exact same.

I didn't step into the master bedroom that once belonged to both of us. Instead, I dragged my suitcase toward the guest room.

Qianqian blocked my path. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"I got used to sleeping alone in the hospital." I turned my head, casting a glance toward the room we used to share. "Besides, I don't want to sleep in that bed anymore."

The day I caught her cheating with my friend, I checked the security footage. It wasn't just the couch; that custom-made designer bed, built uniquely just for me, had been soiled by them as well. Watching that clip felt like dying from a broken heart.

Qianqian stared at me for a few long seconds, then let out a cold smirk. "Suit yourself. Just know when to quit. You pull this act every single time. Don't end up having to go back to the hospital again."

I watched her walk away, yet the familiar ache in my chest never came.

It seemed the treatment at the psychiatric facility had actually worked. I had completely forgotten how it felt to have my heart race for her, or my emotions sway at her every whim.

Late at night, having grown accustomed to the hard hospital cot, I found it impossible to sleep on such a plush mattress.