On a night of torrential rain, my fiancé abandoned me on the side of the road to go comfort his childhood sweetheart. As I stood there, completely drenched and shivering, a Range Rover pulled over in front of me. A tall, incredibly muscular man stepped out of the car and held an umbrella over my head. "With rain this heavy, what on earth are you doing out here, miss?" My eyes drifted first to his prominent, muscular chest pressing against his shirt, and then slowly up to his face. And then, I burst into loud, ugly tears. He panicked instantly, waving his hands frantically. "Holy shit! Please don't cry! If you're in trouble, just tell me! I'll help you!" 1 "Son of a bitch! Is he even human?!" Sitting in the passenger seat of his car, I finished telling my story. The kind stranger was furious, cursing loudly and slamming his fist against the steering wheel. "What an absolute bastard!" "Don't cry, miss. Here, dry your hair first." He handed me a clean towel. His movements were incredibly gentle and careful, a complete contrast to the aggressive way he was cursing just seconds ago. He looked at me with deep sympathy, righteous anger burning in his eyes. "Good lord, look at how he treated a sweet girl like you. He's a disgrace to men everywhere." The more he talked, the more wronged I felt, and my tears just wouldn't stop. Even total strangers thought he was completely out of line, yet Nate Sterling genuinely believed he hadn't done anything wrong. It was an autumn night. I was soaked to the bone, and the freezing wind made me shiver uncontrollably. The man quickly took off his heavy jacket, draped it over my shoulders, and blasted the car's heater. "Thank you so much." "Don't be sad, miss. I'm not a bad guy, I swear. Where do you live? I'll drive you home. You'll catch pneumonia if you stay out here." I gave him my address, and he drove me straight home. That night, Nate Sterling abandoned me to comfort Chloe, his childhood friend who claimed to have severe depression. Instead, it was a random stranger passing by who saved me. Even though I got into the car quickly, I still woke up the next morning with a high fever. While drifting in and out of consciousness in bed, I heard my mom and Nate talking outside my bedroom door. "I was wrong about last night. I came to apologize to Hazel," Nate said. My mom sighed. "Couples fight all the time. It's normal. Just go in and talk to her softly. She'll forgive you." My mom didn't know the full story of what happened last night. She assumed it was just a minor, petty argument. After all, I loved him so deeply and desperately. How could I ever stay mad at him? In the past, a few soft words were all it took for me to forgive him. The bedroom door opened. A warm palm rested gently against my forehead. I opened my eyes and looked at him coldly, turning my head to dodge his touch. Nate froze for a second, but his expression quickly returned to normal. His eyes held a trace of apology. "Last night was an emergency. You know Chloe has severe clinical depression. I couldn't just leave her alone when she was having an episode." You couldn't bear to leave Chloe alone, but you could bear to leave me. A bitter taste flooded my throat, and my heart turned completely cold. Chloe constantly weaponized her "depression," using it to snatch Nate away from me countless times. During our dates. While we were eating dinner. Even when we were lying in bed at night. All it took was a single phone call. No matter how busy or preoccupied he was, he would drop everything and rush to her side immediately. He constantly told me I needed to be "understanding" of Chloe. He swore he only saw her as a little sister. But what kind of "brother and sister" are so intimately close that they fall asleep hugging in the same bed? He claimed it was because Chloe lacked a sense of security and needed to be comforted. Last night, Chloe called him again, crying hysterically and saying she couldn't breathe. Nate immediately turned the car around. I snapped and we got into a massive fight. His face was full of annoyance. He frantically checked his watch over and over, terrified that if he delayed even one more second, Chloe might do something drastic. "Can you stop causing drama for once?! Chloe is sick! She is a patient! You have absolutely zero empathy!" In that moment, I desperately wanted to know who mattered more to him. I arrogantly, foolishly issued an ultimatum: "You have to choose right now. It's either me or Chloe." And then... I was humiliatingly, brutally abandoned on the side of the road. I still remember the freezing, indifferent tone of his voice right before he left: "You are being incredibly cold-blooded right now. Stand here and reflect on your behavior." The car tires screeched as he sped away, splashing freezing, muddy rainwater all over my dress. It felt like fireworks going off to celebrate Chloe's ultimate victory. It was late at night. The road was completely deserted. He wasn't worried that I might run into danger; he was only worried that Chloe might hurt herself. If that kind stranger hadn't stopped to help me last night, I have no idea what could have happened to me. If he actually felt guilty, why didn't he call me once during that entire, endless night? Why didn't he come looking for me? Why did he only show up now? Because he spent the entire night keeping Chloe company, obviously. The agonizing pain of a heart covered in scars had finally gone completely numb. I was just sinking into an endless abyss. From seventeen to twenty-five. I had to face the brutal reality: the man I had loved for my entire youth was rotten to his very core. I would never be his first choice. As long as Chloe existed, the scales in his heart would always, permanently tip toward her. I stared at him, my gaze terrifyingly calm and detached, and spoke slowly: "Nate, I don't want to marry you anymore." "Let's break up." "I'll explain everything clearly to both of our families." My tone was so incredibly calm that Nate's expression cracked for a split second. He furrowed his brow, familiarly reaching out to tuck the blankets around me. "You're just speaking out of anger right now. Don't say stupid things you're going to regret later." He leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to my forehead. It was incredibly tender. So tender that it made my nose sting with unshed tears. That's the cruelest part. I desperately wanted to stop loving this despicable man, but I could still see the ghost of the boy I fell so deeply in love with. It made cutting him out of my life feel like pure psychological torture. "Rest up and get better. I'll be right here with you." 2 For the next few days while I recovered at home, Nate visited me every single day. He brought me pastries from my favorite bakery, meticulously fed me my meals, and made sure I took my medicine on time. My parents had originally been against our relationship. They thought Nate was emotionally unstable and unreliable. But I loved him so desperately, and after throwing enough tantrums, they finally gave in and gave us their blessing. Now, seeing Nate acting so attentive and caring, their opinion of him completely flipped. They started treating him incredibly warmly. Nate sat by my bed and said softly, "I already hired the wedding planner. If everything goes smoothly, we can have the wedding by the end of the year." He held my hand, looking deeply into my eyes: "The venue design is exactly the style you wanted. Your custom wedding dress should arrive soon. Once you recover, we'll go in for your final fitting." Maybe God was giving me one final chance to reconsider. Because my fever refused to break, lingering for days. I silently pulled my hand out of his grip. Meeting his shocked gaze, I asked him: "If we get married... what happens to Chloe?" Chloe was Nate's childhood friend. They grew up on the same street. They had been practically glued together since they were kids. Nate spoiled her like she was his own flesh and blood. He gave her whatever she wanted, and he always, instinctively, prioritized her needs over everything else. It was basically a hardwired reflex. Of course, the "she's just my little sister" excuse was entirely Nate's own delusion. In the eyes of their entire friend group, the two of them were soulmates who were destined to end up together. So when Nate finally introduced me to his elite social circle and announced I was his girlfriend... Everyone's reactions were incredibly complex. But absolutely no one looked happy for us. Especially Chloe. Her face went ghostly pale. She forced a tragic, fragile smile, raised her wine glass, and with tears shimmering in her eyes, said: "Congratulations. I hope Nate and his new girlfriend are very happy together." That night, Chloe drank heavily. No one could stop her. Nate's brow remained furrowed in a tight, anxious knot the entire evening. His entire focus was completely monopolized by Chloe. Aside from Nate, I didn't know a single person in that room. I felt entirely ostracized by their tight-knit group, so incredibly awkward I could only stare down at my phone. When Chloe got blackout drunk, she started crying hysterically and throwing a fit. She refused to let anyone touch her except Nate. In the end, Nate abandoned me. He told me to call an Uber and go home by myself, while he carried Chloe out and drove her home. 3 Before Nate left, he looked furious. Whenever an issue involved Chloe, he seemed to completely lose control of his temper. He looked at me with frustration and annoyance, defending himself: "I told you a million times, she's just a little sister to me. We are completely platonic! Why do you always have to project such disgusting, toxic assumptions onto everyone?!" Am I the one making toxic assumptions, or are they the ones with something to hide? Honestly, everyone in that room knew the truth. But I wasn't allowed to say it out loud. The second I said it, I became the villain. After Nate left that night, he didn't come to see me for several days. My fever eventually broke. A close friend of mine, Leah, was officially launching her new non-profit organization, and the opening ceremony was perfectly timed. Standing near the entrance of the community center, Leah grabbed my hand, pointing excitedly at a man in the center of the room being praised by local politicians. "Look, that's our primary donor! He's incredibly generous. When he heard about our youth outreach program, he just signed a check for $500,000 without even blinking." The man was extremely tall and powerfully built. He stood out massively in the crowd. The second I looked at him, I recognized him. It was the good Samaritan who drove me home that night in the rain. A second later, he turned his head and locked eyes with me. A look of genuine surprise crossed his face, and he walked briskly toward me. "Hey! Aren't you the girl who was crying her eyes out on the side of the road in the middle of the night?" Leah froze, her expression instantly darkening. "What do you mean, crying on the side of the road in the middle of the night?" The man immediately slapped his own mouth lightly. "Ah, my bad! I shouldn't have brought that up. Don't be mad, miss, I didn't mean to reopen an old wound." I couldn't help but laugh. "It's fine. Honestly, I really need to thank you again. I wouldn't have made it home safe without you." He waved his hand dismissively, a booming, hearty laugh escaping him. "Don't mention it! That's what neighbors are for." He was clearly an incredibly kind, straightforward guy. He drove a stranded girl home in the freezing rain, and he was dropping half a million dollars on a local charity. Plus, he just radiated a rugged, protective aura. "By the way, miss, what's your name?" "Hazel." "Beautiful name. I'm Carter Vance." He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper: "So... did you finally dump that piece of garbage boyfriend yet?" At the mention of Nate, my smile turned slightly bitter. "I'm planning to call off the engagement soon." "Good for you! Let me tell you, where I'm from, a man who doesn't treat his woman like a queen deserves to be struck by lightning." Leah, who had been completely out of the loop, stared at me with wide eyes. "Wait... what?! You're breaking off the engagement with Nate?!" Instead of trying to convince me to reconsider, she slapped her thigh, her eyes lighting up with absolute joy. "HELL YES! You should have dumped that loser years ago!" "He and Chloe are a toxic, narcissistic match made in hell. If I didn't know how deeply in love you were, I would have told you to run a long time ago!" Sometimes, people refuse to listen to advice. But when life finally slaps them in the face, they learn the lesson immediately. 4 When Nate heard that Leah was launching a non-profit, he also donated $15,000. He was wealthy; to him, it was just pocket change. Even Chloe donated $3,000. Nate used this exact point to lecture me: "I told you Chloe has a good heart. The misunderstandings between you two are just too deep. You need to find a time to sit down and clear the air with her." In his mind, even after we were married, he had absolutely no intention of cutting contact with Chloe. In fact, he demanded that I learn to get along with her. What was his ultimate goal here? A modern-day harem where everyone lived in harmony under his roof? When Leah found out about the night Nate abandoned me on the road, she was so furious she actually cried. She wanted to refund Nate and Chloe's donations immediately, but I stopped her. "Don't let pride get in the way of funding. There are so many kids who need food and supplies. Our current budget is nowhere near enough." "So when are you going to tell your parents about calling off the engagement? Is Nate actually going to agree to it?" Nate felt completely secure. He wasn't worried that I would break off the engagement unilaterally. Because technically, he and Chloe hadn't engaged in any explicitly sexual or romantic physical contact. If I used Chloe as the reason for the breakup, his entire social circle would just brand me as a paranoid, hysterical, jealous woman making a huge scene over nothing. The end of this relationship couldn't be framed as my fault. While I was trying to figure out a clean exit strategy, Nate invited his friend group out for dinner. Chloe was there, too. His goal was obvious: he wanted to force me and Chloe to "resolve our misunderstandings" and force me to finally accept her presence in our lives. Nate's world simply could not function without Chloe in it. He would rather force me to swallow my humiliation and pain than ever abandon her. Using group pressure and social dynamics to "mediate" our relationship was nothing but emotional blackmail. When I arrived at the restaurant, Chloe was sitting in the dead center of the private dining room, surrounded by their friends. Her eyes were red, she looked incredibly fragile and tragic, and everyone was fawning over her, comforting her. She was the beloved, protected princess of their elite little clique. She was the only girl in the group, and she grew up alongside Nate. I was just the awkward outsider who suddenly intruded on their perfect dynamic during high school. Back then, I genuinely believed Nate and Chloe were just platonic friends. He rarely even mentioned her name around me. But one afternoon, I went to drop off an umbrella for Nate because it was raining. From a distance, I saw Chloe arguing with him. I didn't hear what she said, but she ended up crying and sprinting away into the rain. The very next day, Nate officially asked me to be his girlfriend. After that, I didn't see Chloe around him for a very long time. Until the news of Chloe's "clinical depression" suddenly broke. Even though Nate's friends were superficially polite to me, behind my back, they blamed me for Chloe's mental breakdown. In their eyes, I was the malicious homewrecker who had stolen Nate and destroyed Chloe's life. "Don't worry, Chloe. With us here, she wouldn't dare try to bully you." "Seriously, Nate, why do you put up with Hazel? She's the one who needs to apologize, and she has the nerve to show up late?" "Can't you see how devastated Chloe is? Why do you insist on staying with Hazel? What does she even have to offer?" Right as their toxic gossip reached its peak, I pushed the heavy oak doors open and walked in. The room instantly fell dead silent. The expressions on everyone's faces were incredibly entertaining, quickly smoothing over into masks of thinly veiled disgust. They reflexively ignored my existence, performatively pouring tea and handing tissues to Chloe, deliberately trying to signal that Chloe was fundamentally different from me, and that I would never, ever be accepted as one of them. I smiled. "What's with the setup? Are you guys planning to put me on trial?" Nate pulled me down into the chair next to him, frowning. "Hazel, could you please not speak with such a hostile tone? You never used to be like this." As he said that, his eyes instinctively darted toward Chloe. Seeing her looking like she was about to cry, a flash of deep pain crossed his face, and he looked back at me with sharp reprimand. It was as if I was just being an irrational, dramatic child. He had completely forgotten his promise to love and accept every part of me. Now, just because I made one slightly sarcastic comment, he was already blaming me to protect his precious childhood friend. Honestly, he wasn't any different from the rest of the people in this room. Deep down, he had never truly viewed me as a real part of his life. The good news was: I didn't care anymore. Chloe forced a tragic, brave smile, sniffled quietly, and raised her glass of juice toward me. "Hazel... in the past, I was immature and didn't understand boundaries. I caused too much trouble for you and Nate. It was my fault. I'm apologizing to you now, and I really hope you can forgive me." The young woman looked at me with an expression of profound sorrow, mixed with a defiant, stubborn glint in her eye. It was obvious she wasn't actually sorry at all. I didn't even bother standing up. I just stared dead into her eyes. "Chloe, are you actually diagnosed with clinical depression? Or are you just faking it?" The second the words left my mouth, Nate violently grabbed my wrist. His face contorted with rage, looking like he genuinely wanted to murder me. "HAZEL!" Chloe's expression completely shattered. Her face went stark white, she covered her face with her hands, and burst into hysterical, gut-wrenching sobs. "Hazel... how could you possibly say something so cruel?" The entire room erupted in fury, pointing fingers at me. "Hazel, are you even human?! Who the hell jokes about something like that?!" Coincidentally, one of my close friends worked in the exact psychiatric hospital where Chloe claimed to receive treatment. I had asked her to check the system. Chloe's name was completely absent from all patient records. I had actually told Nate about this before. But he refused to believe me. After all, Chloe had genuinely been admitted to the ICU for a "suicide attempt" in the past. I watched the chaotic, screaming room with absolute, deadpan calm. Nate was deeply offended by my cold, emotionless reaction. His eyes were full of profound disappointment. "You never used to be like this." "You never used to be like this either." I laughed. "Did you forget the promises you made to my parents?" "We haven't even been engaged for that long, and you're already teaming up with outsiders to bully me." "Nate, you are truly an incredible fiancé." His face cycled through several shades of red and white. His friends were yelling loudly, aggressively demanding that Nate "be a man" and put me in my place. Nate gritted his teeth, and ultimately, chose to stand firmly by Chloe's side. "Hazel, you need to apologize to Chloe." His voice was soft, almost like he was coaxing me. He was coaxing me to lower my head and submit to the woman he shared an ambiguous, emotionally entangled history with. My nose stung with a sharp, burning sensation. I suddenly realized that I had never, truly seen the real him. Or maybe, I had just projected my own idealized fantasy onto him. And now that I had finally accumulated enough disappointment, I could see his true face with absolute clarity. Everyone loves a man with a strong sense of responsibility, empathy, and devotion. But when a man distributes that responsibility, empathy, and devotion generously to every woman around him... he's not a good man. He's just a communal space heater. My eyes burned hot. Without saying a single word, I picked up the glass of iced water on the table and threw it directly into Nate's face. The entire room gasped in shock. Nate's face went completely, terrifyingly dark. Whatever final shred of patience he had for me instantly vanished. "Hazel, have you lost your fucking mind?!" The man sitting next to Chloe lunged forward, his face twisted in fury, raising his hand to hit me. With tears still blurring my vision. I grabbed a heavy glass tumbler and smashed it directly into his face. SMASH. It hit him square in the nose. Blood instantly gushed everywhere, and the sheer pain made him howl in agony, tears streaming down his face. "You're all a bunch of brain-dead dogs. I'm done playing your pathetic little games!" I grabbed my designer purse and turned to leave. Nate chased after me, grabbing my wrist tightly, refusing to let go. "Hazel, you are going to apologize to them right now! If you don't, how are you ever going to interact with my friends after we get married?!" I wouldn't interact with your fucking friends even if you paid me! I swung my free hand around and slapped Nate hard across the face. "If you care about them so much, why don't you just marry them instead?!" Even if I hadn't already decided to cancel the wedding, why the hell would I ever care what these irrelevant losers thought? "You are being completely irrational!" "You are coming back inside with me right now!" Chloe, who had followed him out, tried to intervene, pulling at our arms. "Nate, please! This is all my fault. Please don't fight with Hazel over me!" In the chaotic scuffle, someone shoved her hard. Chloe fell to the floor, scraping the palms of her hands on the pavement. She winced, her face going pale from the pain. Seeing her injured, Nate completely abandoned our argument, immediately dropping to his knees to frantically check on Chloe. "I'm fine. I just really don't want you two to ruin your relationship because of me." Chloe had an incredibly innocent, pure aesthetic. When she cried, she looked heartbreakingly fragile. Nate could never bear to see his precious "little sister" shed a single tear. And now, he truly, deeply hated me. "Hazel. If you refuse to apologize to Chloe right now..." "Then I think we need to cancel the wedding." Using the wedding to threaten me? That was exactly what I had been praying for. Since I managed to secretly record the entire conversation on my phone, everyone would clearly hear Nate prioritizing an outsider and trying to force his fiancée to submit. When I leaked the audio, the blame would fall entirely on him. I didn't have the energy to waste another breath on these two. I turned around to walk away. But Nate blocked my path again. As we struggled, a massive hand suddenly grabbed Nate by the shoulder and shoved him violently backward. Nate stumbled, nearly losing his balance, his brow furrowing in anger. "Who the hell are you?!" I stared blankly at the man who had just appeared. Carter Vance glared at Nate with a terrifying, aggressive scowl, pointing a thick finger directly at his face. "Who am I? I'm your worst fucking nightmare!" "Are you incapable of using your words like a man?! Why the fuck are you grabbing her?! You dress like a Wall Street executive, but you act like a complete degenerate! If there weren't security cameras here, I'd rip that arm off and use it to scratch my dog's back!" This guy could curse like a sailor without even pausing for breath. I didn't know Carter was not only kind-hearted, but also an elite-tier trash talker. Nate's face flushed a violent shade of red. He wasn't the type to get into screaming matches; he literally didn't know how to respond to street-level aggression. "What I do with my fiancée is none of your business!" Carter's eyes went wide. He looked at Nate, then looked down at Chloe sitting on the floor. He nodded slowly, a disgusted smirk on his face. "Ah. So you're the absolute scumbag who abandoned this sweet girl on the side of the road in the freezing rain to go hook up with your side-piece." "I have a great eye for reading people. One look at you, and I knew exactly what you were. You and this little green-tea manipulator are clearly screwing around behind her back, and you have the audacity to come out here and torture a good woman." "What century do you think this is? Are you trying to build a harem?!" Chloe had never been spoken to with such vulgar, brutal disrespect in her entire life. Her face turned just as pale as Nate's. "What kind of garbage are you spewing?!" Carter shot her a freezing, contemptuous glare. "A girl like you is so toxic I could use you as rat poison, and you'd still smell like cheap perfume. Don't sit there trying to play the innocent victim when you know exactly what you're doing." He wrapped his massive, muscular arm around my shoulders, pulling me protectively behind his back. Seeing this, Nate suppressed his fury and reached his hand out toward me. "Hazel. Come here." Carter immediately launched another devastating verbal combo. "Come where?! Who the hell do you think you are, ordering her around like a dictator?!" "If I hadn't happened to drive by and pick her up that night, she could be the victim on tonight's True Crime broadcast! You abandoned your own fiancée shivering in the freezing rain, just so you could go snuggle up in a warm bed with your side-chick!" Nate was 6'1", which wasn't short. But standing next to Carter, he was still half a head shorter. Combined with Carter's massive, heavily muscled frame, the physical intimidation factor was completely unmatched. He looked incredibly aggressive and scary, but standing behind him, I felt an overwhelming, profound sense of safety. When Nate's friends had ganged up to bully me, I didn't cry. When he stood by Chloe's side and demanded I apologize, I didn't cry. But suddenly, hearing a total stranger forcefully validate all the trauma and injustice I had suffered... Having someone finally stand up for me... I couldn't hold it back anymore. The tears just started falling. Carter was a pro at talking trash, but he clearly had no idea how to handle a crying woman. Seeing my tears, he panicked, stammering awkwardly for a few seconds. Finally, he leaned down and whispered softly in my ear: "Don't cry, Hazel. Give me a minute, I'll find some guys to beat the shit out of him later." My tears stopped instantly. I was supposed to be deeply upset, but his comment caught me so off guard I actually laughed. "Assault is a felony." He winked at me conspiratorially. "Don't worry. I'll do it quietly. No one will ever know."
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