Chapter 1

Ten days before the wedding, I heard Julian Foster say with my own ears that marrying me was nothing more than an act of revenge for his golden girl.

The three years of devotion had been a lie. The deep affection had been a lie.

Even this wedding was nothing but a grand feast of humiliation he had prepared for me.

I wasn't going to sacrifice myself any longer.

I turned around and applied to join an overseas peacekeeping medical unit, signing an agreement not to return for three years, and arranged to take my comatose father with me.

Julian thought that as long as he held my father's medical bills over my head, I would have no choice but to obediently marry him.

What he didn't know was that at the wedding nine days from now, he would be standing at the altar alone!

Natalie Evans POV

When I pushed open the private room's door, I happened to overhear them discussing the wedding scheduled for ten days later.

"Julian, your wedding with Natalie Evans is in ten days. Are you really going to marry the daughter of your enemy?"

Hearing my name, my hand froze on the door.

After a few seconds of silence, Julian took a sip of his drink.

The voice that was usually so gentle and tender with me was now laced with casual indifference.

"Marry her? It's just a performance."

Hearing that, I felt like I had plunged into an icy abyss.

The private room went quiet for a beat before erupting into chuckles.

One of Julian's close friends chimed in:

"Serena was raised by the Foster family, and she’s been following you around since you two were kids. If Natalie Evans's father hadn't caused that car accident while drunk driving three years ago, leaving Serena with severe heart damage that required overseas treatment, why would you, the heir of the Foster family, ever humble yourself to coddle the Evans family's daughter?"

"Julian really put on a hell of an act these past three years, pampering Natalie Evans like a little princess. Even we almost thought you’d actually fallen for her."

"The higher you climb, the harder you fall." Julian toyed with the lighter in his hand, his tone calm. "At the wedding in ten days, right in front of the entire city's media, I'll broadcast the evidence of her father's hit-and-run back then. Along with videos of her begging me like a dog over the past three years just to please me."

"I want her to be completely ruined, just like her father. I want her to taste the same humiliation Serena suffered for three years."

Another friend voiced some concern: "But her dad’s been in a persistent vegetative state since the accident, surviving entirely on your hospital’s life support. And she’s completely devoted to you. If you cause such a scene at the wedding, what if she can’t take it and tries to end her life? Besides, once Serena recovers and comes back, the title of Mrs. Foster..."

"She deserves it," Julian cut in ruthlessly. "The position of Mrs. Foster has always belonged to Serena Vance alone. Natalie Evans is just a tool for my revenge, something to pass the time. In ten days, this game is over."

Outside the door, my face was deathly pale. I covered my mouth tightly so I wouldn't make a sound.

The blood in my veins ran cold.

These past three years.

He would rush out in the dead of night to buy medicine whenever I felt unwell.

He bought an entire island and put it in my name just because I offhandedly mentioned I liked the sea.

He had even thrown himself in front of a blade to protect me without a second thought when danger struck.

I thought I had met the man who loved me more than anyone ever could.

It turned out that every time he stared at me in a daze, it wasn't love. He was calculating how to grind my dignity into the dirt.

It turned out all his devotion was just to avenge the Foster family's adoptive daughter, a girl who didn't even share his blood.

Seeing that someone inside was about to step out, I snapped back to reality and stumbled out of the club.

It was pouring rain outside, but I walked straight into it as if I had lost all sensation.

Cold raindrops lashed against my face.

Julian's words echoed relentlessly in my head.

I had no idea how long I walked, but I finally made it back to the villa we shared.

In the center of the living room, the wedding dress meant for ten days from now still hung on display.

On the coffee table, the honey water I had personally brewed for Julian had long grown cold.

I didn't cry or throw a tantrum. I simply walked over to the dining table and dumped the glass into the sink.

Then, I pulled out my phone and dialed my uncle.

"You mentioned before... is that spot for a team physician in the overseas peacekeeping medical unit still available?"

My uncle sounded surprised on the other end: "It is, but once you join that program, you're cutting off all contact with the outside world. You can't come back for at least three years. Aren't you about to have your wedding with Julian Foster? You chased him for three years and endured so much grief, and now you’ve finally made it. Can you really let it go?"

Looking at that pure white wedding dress, the last flicker of light in my eyes died completely.

"There's nothing to hold onto. I was blind for three years." I gripped the phone, my knuckles turning white.

"He never loved me. That wedding is just a trap he set to avenge Serena Vance."

The line fell silent for a long time before he sighed. "Alright. I'll arrange for a military hospital to take over your father's care. Your application takes ten days to process. Use these ten days to settle your personal affairs. In ten days, the military will send a car to pick you up."

"Thank you."

Hanging up, I grabbed a red pen and drew a bold circle on the desk calendar.

Ten days until I disappeared completely from Julian Foster's world.

And that day happened to be the very wedding day Julian was so gleefully preparing to humiliate me.