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Chapter 1 I was the girl the Harding family raised to become Dale Harding's future wife—and nobody in that house ever wanted me. But when the Hardings lost everything, they placed their only hope in my hands. To repay that debt, I took Dale with me and fought our way from city to city, years of hardship, until I'd raised him into the man he became. The day Harding Group clawed its way back to the top, Dale pinned me against the wall and took me, rough and relentless. He said：“Without you, I don't even know what Harding Group would mean to me.” But later, at the Harding Group victory banquet, he brought another woman to stand in front of me. “Maisie and I are getting married. We want you to handle the wedding for us—you, of all people.” I smiled and said yes, then turned around and booked an ending to pregnancy. It was time to leave. —— Dale came home just as I finished digging up the jasmine on the balcony. He'd given me that plant before he went abroad. He said I was like jasmine: soft on the outside, unyielding underneath. Only because he'd never once seen me break. Like now. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, close enough to feel my heartbeat, and still didn't notice the tear tracks on my face. Liquor and expensive cologne filled the air between us. He nuzzled against my ear. “Why'd you leave early? Are you mad at me?” I didn't answer. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, everything I refused to feel would show. He laughed softly and tightened his arms around me. “Come on, don't be mad at me, okay?” “You know I'm doing this for Harding Group. We've barely found our footing again. Marrying into the Joyce family is the only way I can keep what we built.” “You understand that, right?” My eyes burned. I tipped my head back toward the stars and asked, very quietly: “Dale. All this time—what have I ever been to you?” I don't know if he heard me. A moment later, his full weight dropped onto my shoulder. His head lolled sideways against it. He was asleep. I stood there on the balcony with him draped over me for a long time. Only when the night wind picked up did I turn, hoist him onto my shoulder the way I'd done a hundred times before, and half-carry him back to bed. I tucked the blanket around him and was about to leave when his hand shot out and pulled me into his arms. Still asleep, still dreaming, he murmured: “You won't leave me, will you?” For the first time, I had no answer. I was an orphan. From the day I was brought into the Harding household, I knew what I was for: to become Dale Harding's wife. Eight years by his side inside that family. Then the Hardings fell, and we spent five more years clinging to each other through the wreckage. Minus the five years he was overseas, that was seventeen years of my life. Before today, I believed I would never leave him. But Dale, you're getting married, and the bride isn't me. What am I supposed to be to you after this? If we had never crossed that line, I could still look you in the eye and answer to the role I was given—the girl who'd always been by your side, nothing more. But there is no "if." I slipped out of his arms, wide awake. In the study, photographs of the two of us covered every wall. I took them down one by one, and I didn't spare the ones tucked inside his desk drawers, either. I'd spent the better part of a decade raising him. Now he had someone better. How could I bring myself to stand in the way? My fingers brushed the mouse and the monitor lit up. A polished design for a pair of matching rings filled the screen. Rings he'd designed to propose to me. Every time I'd secretly glimpsed that file, my heart had raced like a girl in love for the very first time. Now the initials engraved on the woman's band read: Maisie Joyce. Chapter 2 Outside the window, the night was black as ink, rain lashing against the glass. I tossed the last photo of us into the cardboard box and sat on the bay window ledge, knees drawn to my chest. Out of habit, I opened my tablet. An unfinished wedding dress design filled the screen. One I'd made for our wedding. I'd been revising it for nearly two years and had never quite been satisfied. Now that I'd never wear it, the imperfection felt strangely fitting. I didn't hesitate. I dragged the file into the trash. Deleting a love that was never equal to begin with. I had moved out of the villa. At the old Harding family estate, it was just Kevin and me. When Dale came looking for me, I was lying in the rocking chair, enjoying the breeze. He crouched beside me, his voice full of strained patience. “It's been two days. Your anger's had time to cool. Come back with me?” I opened my eyes and looked at him, almost laughing. “Dale, I raised you for ten years. When have I ever picked a fight with you?” His expression stiffened. He opened his mouth, then closed it. I thought it over and decided I should just say it plainly. “Dale, I didn't move out because I'm angry with you. I moved out because we shouldn't be living together anymore.” “In a few days, I'll go to the office and hand in my resignation. Once your wedding is over……” “Enough!” He cut me off before I could finish. He stood, face dark, fury barely contained between his brows. “Still telling me you're not making trouble?” “It's a wedding. You really have to nickel-and-dime me over this?” “I can't marry you anyway—so what does it matter who I marry? The Joyce family can help us hold our ground. Why can't you just see that?” He said his piece, turned on his heel like he couldn't stand to be there another second, and left. And I sat there, unable to come back from that last sentence. He said he can't marry me…… But two years ago, on a rainy night, when he'd pinned me against the wall, drunk, the words out of his mouth had been clear enough. “Marry me. Won't you marry me?” I'd frozen. Before I could answer, his warm lips trailed down from my forehead and caught my mouth, hard enough to bruise. “You don't want to?” I was gasping, and it took everything I had to push him back. “Dale, you're drunk……” He looked at me, eyes brimming, hurt spilling across his face like a child denied the only thing he'd ever wanted. “I'm not drunk.” “Don't you like me?” My throat tightened. I didn't know what to say. And he cried, tears spilling down like a boy who'd been refused the only thing he'd ever asked for. “Just say yes. Please, just say yes.” “You know I couldn't have made it this far alone. Not a single step, not without you.” “If it's not you beside me for the rest of my life, what's the point of any of it? What's the point of Harding Group?” His scalding tears slid from my neck into my collar, and whatever was left of my reason burned away. I pressed my hands against his chest, a last feeble resistance. “Dale, think about this. You're not who you used to be. You could do so much better.” “I don't want better. You're the best choice I could ever have.” Every defense I had gave way under those words—vow after vow after vow, until there was nothing left standing. And now he was telling me he can't marry me…… I started laughing and couldn't stop, until the laughter choked into tears streaming down my face. His text came through. Even through the screen, the hostility was palpable. 【You want to resign? Fine. Maisie wants a position at the company anyway. Don't bother waiting a few days. Come in tomorrow and get it done. Free up the spot.】 I couldn't go. What he didn't know was that I'd been on the operating table that morning. The ending to pregnancy was done. The doctor said five days in bed, minimum. Chapter 3 As if deliberately trying to provoke me, Dale added Maisie to the company group chat the very next day. 【Our new design director. Everyone, say hello.】 Maisie introduced herself with easy confidence. After a long pause, the HR manager ventured a careful question：【What about Director Pruitt?】 Dale said nothing. The chat went dead silent. It was Maisie who stepped in to smooth things over. 【Director Pruitt is heading to Jeju Island to set up our wedding venue, so I'll be covering her duties for now. Looking forward to working with all of you!】 Her bright, bubbly tone got the chat buzzing again. But I stared at that line of text and could only let out a tired breath. Maisie had boxed me in. If I resigned now, it would look like I was slapping her in the face. And it would make it obvious that Dale and I had fallen out. I stared at the screen for a long time, then muted the chat. Fine. I'd do what Maisie said. I'd finish putting together their wedding, and then I'd leave. Five days later, after letting Kevin know, I flew to Jeju Island. The island was beautiful. It did lift my mood, at least a little. I put together a team on the ground. Every detail of the venue layout and staging went through Maisie for confirmation. She was easy to work with, responsive, quick to communicate. Everything went so smoothly it didn't feel real. Until one night, Maisie sent me a bridal gown sketch, brimming with excitement. 【Edith, Dale designed this wedding dress for me himself — isn't it beautiful?】 I tapped the image open. Staring back at me was the latest version of my own bridal gown design. But I had deleted that file……Then it hit me. I had once sent Dale the version I was most proud of, the one I thought I'd finally gotten right. I had never been this angry. The rage sat in my chest like something physical, pressing outward. I grabbed my phone and dialed Dale's number. The line rang and rang, and finally