Chapter 1

To cover the cost of Clarence Lovell's surgery, Laura Sullivan worked ten jobs a day. In the end, she collapsed from heatstroke on the street and was rushed to the hospital by a kind stranger.

When she woke up, it was nearly 8:00 pm.

She panicked when she realized she hadn't made dinner for Clarence. Pulling the IV drip out of her hand, she jumped out of bed.

Just then, a nurse came in to change her dressing, but before she could advise Laura against it, the latter had already bolted from the ward.

Her steps quickened as she ran down the stairs, thinking of how Clarence had broken his hand because of her and how he must have been sitting alone in their cold, shabby rental apartment.

But just as she passed the obstetrics and gynecology department, a familiar figure caught her attention, and she froze in place.

It was Clarence. She wondered if he was there to pick her up after finding out that she'd fainted.

In that moment, her heart swelled with relief and joy. She was about to approach him when she heard his conversation with his friends.

"Clarence, you really are something. You're Jencoria's golden heir and loved by everyone, yet you hid your identity to live in a run-down rental apartment with an orphan girl over a stupid bet. Then you even faked a car accident to trick her into breaking up with you. If she finds out that you're getting married next month, she might not survive it."

Another friend chimed in teasingly, "Don't tell me you still haven't dumped her because you've actually fallen for her?"

"Don't worry, I've got it all planned out. I'll give her a parting gift that'll make her give up on me completely. Besides, Laura's sexy, does what I want in bed, and never complains. It's fun how easily she's fooled."

Clarence smirked slightly as he remembered the image of Laura sobbing uncontrollably while clutching his injured arm.

In an instant, Laura's mind went blank. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

Clarence's words were like a blade slashing into her heart, leaving it bleeding.

Half a year ago, the two of them had been in a taxi when a runaway car had sped at them. Clarence had pushed her away and taken the hit himself.

His head had been injured, and his right hand had been permanently damaged. When he'd woken up in the hospital, the first thing he'd told her was, "Laura, let's break up. I'm a cripple now, and I don't want to drag you down."

Laura had been moved to tears and had refused to leave him no matter what. To pay for his rehabilitation and help him recover, she'd taken on every job she could find, barely sleeping four hours a day. In the end, she'd become malnourished.

In fact, she'd still been making food deliveries when she'd collapsed.

But now she realized that the car accident was just a cruel trick Clarence had used to end things with her.

Just then, someone bumped into her, nearly knocking her over. She didn't respond to their apology as she merely stumbled forward like a lifeless shell.

When they'd first met, Clarence had told her that he came from a poor family. He'd said that his parents had abandoned him and that his grandmother had raised him. He'd claimed he'd worked his way up and earned a scholarship to Sunnyside University.

He was the center of attention on campus, and countless women admired him, but he'd never spared anyone a second glance.

Yet somehow she was the only exception to his aloofness.

From the first time he'd seen her, Clarence had pursued her relentlessly, showing up wherever she went as if by fate.

Compared to a guy as excellent as him, Laura had felt inferior, so she'd turned him down three times.

Then one day, he'd joined an illegal street race just to win her a diamond necklace and nearly died in the process.

When he'd pulled his bloodied body across the finish line and held out that necklace to her, telling her he'd won, she'd finally broken down and agreed to be his girlfriend.

That very night, he'd taken her to a tattoo studio and tattooed her name on his collarbone.

Faced with Clarence's intense love, her frozen heart had slowly thawed. And so, she'd made up her mind that she wouldn't let him go easily.

But she would have never imagined that his pursuit of her had started as nothing more than a bet.

Despair washed over Laura as she pulled out her phone and called Wilbur Dachs, her senior from university.

"Wilbur, I don't need that surgeon anymore. I've decided to go abroad with you next month," she said quietly.

There was a pause on the other end before Wilbur spoke up, clearly shocked. "Didn't you want to stay for Clarence? Besides, you went through so much trouble to get that surgeon. Why are you canceling it all of a sudden?"

Laura tilted her head toward the sky, blinking hard to force her tears back before saying, "I've decided to let him go."

Chapter 2

Wilbur tried to comfort Laura. "If Ms. Campbell finds out you broke up, she'll probably fly back from abroad this afternoon to check on you. After all, you were her most prized student."

Laura lowered her eyes and listened quietly as he went on about what had happened in the lab after she'd left.

For a moment, she was taken back to that sweltering summer years ago, with the endless drone of cicadas and the long days she and Victoria had spent buried in the lab, researching intracranial diseases.

"Laura, are you still there?" Wilbur asked, noticing her silence.

"I am."

He sighed as his voice turned low. "Ms. Campbell and I didn't reach out to you during the past few years because we wanted you to overcome your inner struggles.

"When Clarence showed up unexpectedly and began pursuing you so openly, we thought he could help you break free from your past trauma. But who would've thought—"

"Wilbur, let's talk later," she said gently, cutting him off and ending the call.

Laura didn't rush home. When she was feeling down, she liked to visit the stray cats near her apartment, feeding them food and whispering her troubles to them.

However, she couldn't find any today despite searching for a long time.

Rain began to pour, and she had no choice but to head home.

The moment she opened the door to their rental house, the aroma of food hit her nose.

Clarence emerged from the kitchen carrying a dish, his injured right arm visibly straining.

A bright smile hung on his face the moment he saw her. "Tough day, huh? Come here, honey. Try these barbecue ribs. I just learned to make them."

If Laura hadn't overheard his conversation at the hospital, she would have approached him with eyes full of affection and pretended to scold him for cooking before his hand had healed.

He asked about her day like usual, but she merely nodded in response to his questions.

Thinking that she was upset over something from work, he gently comforted her. "Honey, don't push yourself so hard because of me. If I'm crippled, then so be it. I don't want you to wear yourself out."

The sincerity in his voice almost sounded genuine, and she nearly laughed.

Before she could respond, he frowned and grabbed her wrist. "What happened to your arm?"

Laura looked down and saw the scab below her elbow. She must have gotten it when she'd collapsed earlier.

"It'll heal in a few days," she responded flatly and pulled her hand back.

Clarence's expression darkened, and he scolded, "What do you mean it'll heal in a few days? Do you not care about yourself at all?"

He rummaged through the cabinet for the first-aid kit and grabbed her wrist again. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and the cold light cast a sharp shadow of his nose bridge across his cheek.

Once upon a time, that look would have made Laura's heart flutter, and she would have thought his actions were sweet.

But now she was numb to it all.

As her gaze swept across the table full of perfectly cooked dishes, she couldn't help but feel bitterness wash over her.

It turned out that the pampered heir was truly dedicated to winning the bet.

After forcing down a few bites, she excused herself by saying that she wasn't feeling well. After taking a bath, she lay in bed, tossing and turning.

It was 9:00 pm, and Clarence should have been painting in his studio, but instead he was still at home. Perhaps he'd been bothered by Laura's coldness earlier. So, instead of going to the studio, he lay in bed with her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

His voice was low and husky. "Honey, it's been so long since we had sex."

In the darkness, she heard the rip of plastic, followed by the metallic clink of a belt buckle.

Laura felt disgusted and shoved him away forcefully before sitting up. "I'm too tired tonight."

But Clarence was already aroused and refused to stop.

"It's fine. I'll do everything. You just lie back and enjoy." With that, he grabbed her ankle roughly.

Every cell in Laura's body recoiled, resisting his touch. Just as she raised her hand to slap him, his phone suddenly rang.

The screen lit up with the caller ID "My Princess".

The desire in Clarence's eyes vanished instantly. He let go of Laura, pulled on his pants, and stepped out onto the balcony to take the call.

He returned to the bedroom less than a minute later, looking anxious. "A friend from Jencoria wants to meet up. I won't be coming home tonight."

Laura was stunned by his words. This was the first time he'd ever dropped everything and left in the middle of a moment like this because of a phone call.

She wondered who could be that important.

Chapter 3

Clarence didn't return home that night, and Laura stayed awake until morning.

The next day, she went to her part-time job at Orvenia's most posh shopping mall with heavy bags under her eyes.

She'd never expected to run into Clarence there.

Inside a luxury jewelry boutique, he stood tall in a tailored suit, looking every bit refined and charming. His gaze was gentle and affectionate as he stared at the woman beside him in white.

The woman, Michelle Gibson, looked elegant and poised as she studied the display of necklaces with practiced grace.

"I'll take this one," she said.

The sales associate beamed. "Excellent choice, ma'am. This ruby necklace is called 'Eternity', and it's the centerpiece of our collection, worth 50 million dollars."

The woman smiled sweetly as she tugged at Clarence's sleeve. "Clay."

Clarence pulled out his card and said nonchalantly, "Wrap it up for me."

The sight stung Laura's eyes.

She couldn't help but find herself extremely foolish as she thought of how she'd been breaking her back every day, working 10 jobs just to scrape 200 thousand dollars for his surgery.

Just as she was about to confront him, he spotted her. For a split second, a mix of guilt and panic flashed across his eyes.

Clarence walked toward her. When he noticed her gaze on his expensive clothes, he rushed to explain, "Laura, this is my part-time job. I have to accompany big shots to large functions, so I dressed up a little."

A deep sense of despair welled up within Laura when she saw how he was desperately trying to cover up his lies at a moment like this.

Just then, Michelle walked over, folding her arms and looking down at Laura with cool disdain. "Clay, is she your girlfriend?"

Without thinking, Clarence blurted out, "She's just a friend. We're not close at all."

Upon hearing this, Michelle arched a brow, a smirk tugging at her lips as she met Laura's gaze, clearly taunting her.

"The banquet's about to start. Let's go, Clay."

Tears pooled in Laura's eyes as she watched them leave together. So it seemed that their four-year relationship meant nothing to Clarence, and she was just a friend.

She had to admit that Clarence and Michelle were a perfect match.

After pulling herself together, Laura went to her workplace. She threw herself into work and, within two hours, sold enough gold to finish her shift early.

Just as she was about to head to her next job, Michelle appeared again, striding in with a sense of entitlement.

She extended a hand with a sweet smile. "Hello, I'm Clarence's first love. Clay and I are getting married next month, and I'd love for you to attend our wedding."

Laura pressed her lips into a thin line and didn't respond. As she turned to leave, Michelle grabbed her wrist.

"What's with the attitude?" she snapped. "A girl from the slums like you isn't even fit to carry my shoes. You were nothing more than a tool Clay used to lure me back to Ufrea."

Laura yanked her hand free. "So what? What are you trying to say?"

Michelle chuckled coldly and warned, "I'm saying you'd better walk away from Clay on your own. Otherwise, I'll make sure you regret it."

Her face twisted with hatred. The thought of Laura being with Clarence for four whole years made her want to tear the woman apart.

Before Laura could respond, Michelle abruptly shouted, "Someone, stop her! This thief stole a gold necklace! Where's the manager? Come out here!"

Her shrill cry drew all the customers' attention. The store manager hurried over, pushing through the crowd and anxiously lowering his head as he greeted Michelle. "What's the problem, Ms. Gibson?"

"This woman stole from your store, and I want you to search her now."

The manager hesitated, glanced at Laura apologetically, and then reached straight for her coat pocket.

A second later, a shiny gold necklace appeared in his grasp. Whispers rippled through the crowd.

A few jealous saleswomen, who'd always resented Laura, jumped in eagerly. "I heard she's keeping some boy toy and working ten jobs a day for him. Guess she's really desperate and decided to steal!"

Laura stared at Michelle's smug face and calmly pulled out her phone.

"You searched me without proof, and that's an invasion of privacy. I've already called the police. Whether I stole it or not, they'll find out soon enough."

Michelle's expression wavered. She pushed her way past the bystanders, pulled out her phone, and made a quick call.

As she hung up, her lips curved up into a grin.

Even as evening came, the police didn't show up. The whole thing was swept under the rug, and Laura ended up losing her job.

Chapter 4

That evening, when Laura returned home completely drained, Clarence greeted her with a bright smile and slipped a bracelet onto her wrist.

A dazzling ruby glimmered in its center. Laura recalled it was the same bracelet she'd seen on the jewelry counter earlier. It was a gift that had come with Michelle's necklace.

A hollow chuckle escaped her lips.

She and Clarence had never belonged in the same world. He was the golden boy of high society, whereas she was a plain little nobody from the slums. Even the free gift was something she could never afford in her lifetime.

Seeing that she hadn't reacted to his gift, a strange sense of unease crept into Clarence's chest.

"Do you like it? I've been saving up my pay for half a year to buy this for you," he asked.

"It's pretty," she replied flatly before heading to the bathroom.

Clarence's gaze darkened as he watched her casually slip the bracelet off and leave it on the entryway table. She used to treasure the cheap, handmade trinkets he'd given her, but now she didn't seem to even care about the bracelet worth tens of thousands.

Irritation clawed at him, and he went into the studio to light a cigarette.

As Laura finished taking a shower, she received a new follow request on Instagram. After hesitating for a moment, she accepted it.

In an instant, dozens of screenshots of chat logs flooded her phone.

The chats dated back to the first day Clarence had begun pursuing her until three days ago when Michelle had returned to Ufrea.

He'd messaged Michelle every day and begged her to come back. Even when she'd told him she was pregnant, he'd said that as long as she returned and came back to him, he would recognize the child as his own.

"Clay really loves me. During the four years I was gone, he traveled abroad to see me countless times."

Laura's body trembled with rage as she read the message.

When a person was furious, their thoughts turned numb.

"You probably don't know that every single painting he's made in his studio is of me."

At that moment, Laura's mind drifted back to the time she'd spent three months begging him to draw her portrait. In the end, he'd given in and sketched her feeding a group of stray cats.

"Oh, and I saw the tattoo of your initials on his collarbone. How disgusting! I'll have him remove it tomorrow. You'd better get ready for the gift Clay is about to give you!"

Each breath Laura took felt like a thousand needles piercing her chest, leaving her overwhelmed by the ache.

She closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath. But when she opened them again, Clarence was half-kneeling before her, cradling the back of her head and tilting her face up to kiss her.

Her breath hitched as the faint scent of tobacco filled her nose.

Something inside her snapped, and she shoved him away with all her might before wiping her mouth repeatedly, as though she were trying to scrub something filthy off. She didn't stop until her lips were bleeding.

Clarence was taken aback by her reaction before realizing that she hated the smell of smoke. At that thought, he relaxed slightly.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

That night was the first time they hadn't been on speaking terms in the four years they'd been together.

The next morning, Laura woke up on the couch. After a simple breakfast, she turned to look at the door of Clarence's art studio.

She would know whether Michelle had been telling the truth if she just went and took a look for herself.

With that in mind, she pushed the door open. Even though she'd braced herself for it, the sight that greeted her still left her stunned.

On the easel was a half-finished portrait of a beautiful woman, while many more canvases were stacked around the room. Some showed Michelle's face, while the others were faceless, but the canvases were stained with suspicious marks.

Laura walked inside, feeling numb, and reached for the paintbrush in the corner, its bristles coated with a layer of dust.

It was the limited-edition brush she'd spent months saving for. After countless late nights hunting down a seller, she'd gotten it as a gift for him two years ago.

Her four years of devotion had been nothing but a joke.

When Clarence came home and saw her staring at Michelle's portrait, anxiety struck him, and he rushed forward to cover the painting before pulling Laura into his arms.

"Honey, I was just practicing drawing human anatomy. Don't overthink it," he explained and quickly changed the subject. "I bought you a new dress. Do you want to try it on?

"Oh, and I found a high-paying job today, so you don't have to work so hard anymore. What do you want to eat for lunch? I'll take you out, and we can celebrate."

Chapter 5

Clarence, true to his wealthy upbringing, was a master at changing the subject.

Laura felt as though she'd plunged into an icy abyss, her mind in complete disarray. It wasn't until he ushered her into the car that she snapped out of her dazed state.

"Michelle is my boss, and she specifically invited both of us to her birthday party. Honey, make sure you behave and don't upset her," he said, his voice full of excitement.

He was so caught up in his eagerness to see Michelle that he didn't even notice Laura's ashen expression.

Her stomach clenched in pain sharply, making it impossible for her to voice the words of refusal.

When they arrived, Clarence parked the car, and only then did he notice how pale Laura looked.

"I'm not going in," she muttered.

Realizing her stomach was acting up again, he paused for a moment before grabbing her arm. "We're already here. Just play it smart and avoid the drinks," he insisted.

He pulled her out of the car. But he was too impatient to head in and hurried ahead without waiting for her.

By the time she reached the private room, Clarence had already gone inside.

The door was cracked open, and raucous laughter spilled out.

"Clarence, you finally showed up! Wait, that clingy Laura didn't come with you this time?" someone jeered.

"Seriously, Clarence, why haven't you dumped her yet? Don't wait until your wedding with Michelle to give her a gift. Do it tomorrow! Have someone kidnap her and dump her in some abandoned warehouse. Wasn't she a hotshot surgeon before? If her hands got ruined, she'd be forced to leave you alone."

Laura's heart pounded. Five years ago, her father had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Her mentor, Victoria Campbell, had been the lead surgeon, and she herself had assisted in the surgery.

She'd watched helplessly as it had failed. Her father hadn't survived.

The trauma had been crippling. She could no longer hold a scalpel steadily, and her medical career had crumbled overnight.

For years, she'd been fighting to overcome that fear. This year, she'd finally started to believe she could return to the operating room.

But now she realized Clarence was willing to crush that hope completely, all just to push her out of his life.

Laura couldn't bring herself to step inside. Instead, she turned away, heading for the restroom with every intention of leaving afterward.

But as she did, she caught sight of Michelle and her friends chatting there.

"Mimi, you're incredible! You haven't even been back for ten days, and you've already got Clarence doing whatever you want. He's even lowered himself to act as your bodyguard! If you start a class on training men like dogs, I'd be on my knees taking notes!" someone remarked.

Michelle touched up her lipstick and let out a sly laugh. "He's just the fall guy for my baby daddy. If I knew who the real dad was, I wouldn't have come back looking for him."

Through the mirror, she spotted Laura. She raised a brow, her eyes flashing with malice. "Didn't I warn you to stay away from Clay? And yet you dared to tag along with him to my birthday party?"

Laura suddenly laughed. People who'd betrayed true love never found it themselves.

"Once you two get married, I'll be gone for good. So stop coming after me," she said. "And as for Clarence? He's all yours."

Michelle scoffed. "I was prepared to let it go, but you made me change my mind."

With that, she strode out of the restroom with her friends.

Laura sensed that something was wrong and hurried to the door. It slammed shut with a sharp click, locking from the outside. She froze, her eyes widening, then slowly turned around.

Six filthy, stinking men leered at her, their grins widening as they closed in. "Ms. Gibson wasn't lying—you're a real looker! Tonight's gonna be fun for us!"

Laura's heart pounded so hard that it felt like it would burst from her chest. The men lunged at her like predators, grabbing and tearing at her clothes. She screamed and thrashed wildly, but her struggles were useless.

"Get off me! You'll go to jail for this! Don't touch me!"

Her screams grew more desperate as her skin was exposed and their filthy hands groped her. Waves of nausea hit her, and a burning pain flared in her stomach.

"Someone! Help me!"

Her vision blurred as one of the men straddled her, ready to have his way with her. At the last moment, the door slammed open with a deafening crash.

Clarence's chest heaved as he threw a punch, sending the man on top of Laura sprawling to the ground. His eyes flashed with fury as he struck again and again, raining blows as if he wanted to finish the man for good.