Chapter 4

The security guards dragged me by my arms toward the exit.

I was too dizzy and weak to fight back.

Everyone in the room stared at me with pure disgust.

"This loser clearly has nothing going for him. Just trying to cause drama."

"He's probably just jealous! Trying to be a homewrecker because he's broke. Trash like him deserves to get run over by a car."

The vicious insults rained down on me, but Vivian never looked back.

Behind me, I heard her clearly say, *"Yes, I’ll marry you,"* followed by a deafening cheer of celebration.

Outside, a cold drizzle was falling. The guards threw me onto the wet pavement and kicked me twice in the ribs for good measure.

A kind passerby tried to step in, but one of the guards glared at him.

"This creep tried to stalk Boss Vivian and ruin her engagement. You want to take his side?"

The passerby's expression instantly changed to disgust.

"Get a life, man. Stop trying to ruin other people's happiness."

"So pathetic. If he were my son, I'd die of embarrassment."

My entire body screamed in pain, and my vision began to fade to black.

"I'm... I'm not..."

But no one was listening. Everyone just walked past me coldly.

The rain soaked through my clothes. As I lay in a puddle, right before I lost consciousness, I heard that familiar female voice.

"Take him to my apartment near the office. And take his phone."

In my feverish, chaotic sleep, I dreamed of Vivian when she was twenty-two.

Back then, we were just two broke college graduates trying to survive in New York, renting the cheapest, moldiest studio apartment. We believed that if we just worked hard, everything would be okay.

But a year later, my dad got terribly sick, and we needed a massive amount of money.

I emptied my savings and borrowed from everyone I knew.

Without telling me, Vivian emptied her own bank account and took out personal loans to send the money to my family.

*"This is my family's mess! I didn't want you to go into debt! I didn't want to drag you down..."*

The winter nights in NYC were freezing back then.

We couldn't afford heating, so we huddled under a single thin blanket on our squeaking wooden bed to keep each other warm.

Hearing my sobbing complaints, Vivian held me tighter.

*"Your dad is my dad, Asher. I couldn't just stand by. I wanted to do this."*

*"It's going to get better. I promise."*

New York was where the money was, so Vivian had to stay to build her career, while I had to go back to Ohio to care for my parents.

The moment I finished my day job, I did food delivery until 3 AM, only to wake up at 7 AM.

I pushed myself to the absolute limit, eating free crackers from the office pantry for lunch to save every dollar.

We survived those brutal two years and paid off eighty thousand dollars in debt.

Just when life seemed to be getting easier, Vivian told me, *"Asher, I want to start my own company."*

I didn't hesitate for a second. *"Do it. I'll support you."*

I gave her every single penny I had left.

But the corporate world was brutal. Vivian drank herself to stomach bleeding trying to pitch to investors, but couldn't get a single dime.

I couldn't bear to see her destroy herself. Without telling her, I reached out to a wealthy senior from my college, Seraphina.

After making a deal with Seraphina, Vivian miraculously received her first major seed funding.

Vivian told me, *"Asher, just wait for me a little longer."*

We had survived the hardest times. I never believed that distance could ever destroy our love.

But I was dead wrong.

I snapped my eyes open. The sweet face of twenty-two-year-old Vivian vanished, replaced by the cold, unfamiliar twenty-nine-year-old woman standing over me.

She sighed. "Let me explain, Asher."