Chapter 1

Four hours I’ve been waiting for John at the romantic restaurant for New Year's Eve.

I saw a photo on my Instagram of my adopted sister smiling sweetly under the fireworks. The caption read: [Our fifth annual fireworks extravaganza. The one who loves you will never care if you're real or fake.]

The comments section was filled with unanimous blessings. And the hand in the photo, misaligned, touching her head belonged to John, who had told me three hours earlier he'd be there soon.

I calmly liked the post. Under the dazzling fireworks, I finished the couple's set meal alone. Until the last bite of the stale, the steak was tasteless. I was so full I was about to cry.

So, in the seven years he'd lost me, he'd already fallen in love with my substitute.

——

After finishing the last bite of steak, my mother called, “Olivia, don’t misunderstand. Maria’s used to it. We all thought you weren’t coming back, so we arranged their engagement. Now that John wants to marry you, don’t hold this little thing against Maria. After all, it’s our family that owes her.”

A wave of bitterness washed over me. The year I went missing, John and I were a well-known academic couple on campus, inseparable. Our parents had also arranged our engagement, to be finalized after graduation.

The change happened a month after the college entrance exam. John took me to an abandoned factory to watch fireworks.

Halfway through the fireworks, he received a call from Maria, saying it was a very private and urgent matter and it wasn’t convenient for anyone else to be present. So, he left me alone in the middle of nowhere. While I was waiting for the driver to pick me up, I was drugged and sold into the mountains.

For a year after I was abducted, they went to great lengths, weeping constantly. But John never dared to tell the truth about that day. Maria said she wanted to atone for her sins, so John acted as a go-between, arranging my parents to adopt her.

My parents missed me terribly, often looking at me through her eyes. So they gave her all the maternal and paternal love they hadn't been able to give. They even changed her surname.

In their daily companionship, they eventually forgot about me. They forgot that I was the one engaged to John. They forgot the seven years we had been separated. Then who would repay everything I've lost?

A sense of powerlessness washed over me as I said, "I understand."

They breathed a sigh of relief, wanting to say something more, but I hung up the phone.

Shortly after, John arrived, travel-worn. Behind him followed Maria, her eyes red-rimmed.

"I'm sorry, sister, I shouldn't have been so selfish, leaving you sitting here alone for four hours."

John looked at her with the same heartache he had shown me. But now, he frowned at me.

"Alright, Olivia, I'm here. Don't scare her with that stern face. Have you finished eating? I'll take you home." He pushed my wheelchair forward.

At the car, he naturally opened the passenger door for Maria and fastened her seatbelt. After he settled her in, he turned around and saw I had already climbed into my seat.

"Could you help me put the wheelchair down?"

A hint of guilt flashed in his eyes, "Sorry, it's just a habit."

I shook my head. "Let's go."

On the way, Maria activated the car's smart system.

"Here we are! Where are you taking me today, John?" A dense, itchy sensation gnawed at my heart.

During my senior year of high school, because of the pressure of studies, he fell in love with riding motorcycles. The first thing he did after passing his exams was take me for a ride.

When I did poorly on an exam, we went for a ride; when I did well, we went for a ride again. We've practically explored every street and alley in the city.