Chapter 1 One

On their third wedding anniversary, Rosabella Brown suddenly came home early without calling Darryl because she wanted to surprise him. She planned to have dinner together at a high-class restaurant after meeting and discuss having children in the future. Every time this topic was brought up before, Darryl avoided it. She thought he was not ready to be a father because his work was busy. She happily walked up the stairs. The door was only slightly ajar.

A gasp came from the gap, making everyone blush like sharp needles piercing her heart.

Through the wooden door, the man's familiar back rubbed fiercely against the hot body of the woman below.

The smile on her lips disappeared.

Suddenly dizzy, Rosabella trembled as she reached out to grab the doorknob.

The two people who were entangled in the room stopped when they heard the noise. The woman looked out the door in a daze, shyly pulling the blanket to cover herself, a smile forming at the corner of her eyes.

The man frowned and turned back, looked at the girl standing at the door for a while, slowly stood up, and put on his clothes.

Isabella sat up in bed, her white hands still clutching the thick blanket, looking at Rosabella in surprise.

Rosabella turned and walked towards Darryl, wanting to ask a question, but couldn't. Her breath caught in her throat.

She gently closed her thin eyelashes. Clear drops of water flowed through the slits of her eyes and fell onto her cheeks.

She trembled and clenched her hands into fists, her voice weak as she asked a silly question.

"Why?"

The man was silent, lazily leaning back in his chair, exhaling a cloud of white smoke. After a long while, he opened his eyes, his voice filled with disgust as he answered her question.

"You see. She's Isabella, my ex-girlfriend. She's back, so let's get a divorce. You're a dull woman. I'm bored with you. But Isabella is different; she's hot and sexy, and she loves me very much. I love her too. Another important thing is that her family is rich and can give me what I want."

A slap landed on Darryl's face, causing his face to tilt to the side. He turned around, smiled weakly, and continued.

"Because you're too naive."

Rosabella stepped back, staggering a few steps. Yes, she was too naive, too naive to believe him, to believe his words, to believe that he had broken up with his ex, to stubbornly let the two of them hurt her in secret.

On their wedding day, Darryl confessed to her. "Isabella, you are the most beautiful flower in my heart. I will be with you for the rest of my life."

At that crucial moment, he had called her name by mistake. At that time, Rosabella didn't think much of it. She thought she had misheard. Now, when she heard Darryl introduce his first love, she realized that her name sounded very similar to that girl's name.

It turned out that in the past three years, she had just been a substitute. Three years... three years... the first love of her life had just disappeared. Her feelings were like a ball, like a toy in their hands.

Her emotions instantly shattered like a glass cup, thousands of sharp pieces of porcelain piercing her heart that contained countless memories of them.

Broken in a flash.

Rosabella laughed bitterly. She turned around, took a deep breath, clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh, tried to hold back her tears, and walked calmly.

She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't let herself cry in front of them.

Her small legs kept running, running as fast as they could, running and running... She couldn't feel anything anymore, her paralyzed legs collapsed on the side of the road in a deserted place.

Rosabella raised her face to the dark sky and screamed, crying as if only that could soothe her wounds.

Since she was little, she had always carried the label of being strong and resilient. She didn't dare to show weakness because she knew that even if she was weak, no one would care, only contempt and ridicule.

Just this once, just this once, to satisfy her weakness for the past twenty-three years...

The shadow stretched across the road. She cried and was weak. She could only continue to hide in her shell. She walked soullessly on the deserted road.

During the three years of their love, Rosabella had always been by Darryl's side, helping him from when he had nothing until he became successful, although her family was not rich, she still wholeheartedly supported her boyfriend.

In the end, what did Rosabella get in return? Betrayal.

With an empty heart, she left the place that had brought her so many memories.

---

That evening, Rosabella returned home just as her whole family was sitting in the living room.

Her grandfather, Mr. Zohar, called his granddaughter: "Rosabella, come here for a moment."

"Yes, Grandpa."

Mr. Zohar's face was a little gloomy, and he slowly announced: "Today our family is here, I want to discuss with you about the marriage between our family and Dominic Romano - the eldest son of the Romano family."

Everyone was stunned, their mouths wide open in surprise. Everything happened so suddenly.

Mr. Zohar looked at all his children and grandchildren, sighed in relief, and continued: "This is a childhood engagement, the Romano family came in person, we cannot refuse. Cynthia should prepare."

Cynthia cried loudly. Rosabella and Lawrence were also quite surprised, speechless. The atmosphere became heavy and stifling.

Lawrence felt sorry for her daughter, so he hurriedly said:

"Cynthia has never met that guy. How can she get married, Dad? Husband, say something, are we just sitting here watching our daughter suffer?"

Cynthia cried miserably and choked up,

"Even if I die, I don't want to marry that guy Dominic. He is famous as an 'ice tiger'; everyone knows him. Grandpa, do you and Mom want to see me die alone there?"

Mr. Zohar also sighed, he couldn't bear to see his granddaughter suffer but also didn't know how to refuse the Romano family. The space was quiet, everyone was silent, the scenery also became dull, and the atmosphere was much more gloomy.