That year, at eighteen, I fell ill saving Jasper. Everyone in our circle said I was his lifeline. Until, Jasper’s mistress confronted me. The young, beautiful girl looked at me with pity, then showed me a video. In the video, Jasper’s friend asked, “Are you really going to marry that sickly girl? What about the canary you keep outside?” Jasper didn’t even lift an eyelid. His voice was flat. “She’s like a porcelain doll; you can’t even touch her. What normal man can put up with that?” “I’m only marrying her to repay an old kindness.” So it was just to repay a debt. I didn’t cry or make a scene. Before the wedding, I boarded a flight to America. Later, I heard that on the wedding day, the Thorne family heir, unable to find his bride, went completely mad. 1 The day Jasper’s mistress confronted me, was our six-year anniversary. The young, beautiful girl wore a vibrant red dress, high heels, radiant like a crimson rose, even carrying the heady scent of roses on her. She was the polar opposite of me. Her eyes, as she looked at me, were filled with pity. “Jasper doesn’t love you at all.” “Since you can’t even satisfy his needs, are you going to shamelessly cling to him?” I didn’t speak, but my hands, hanging at my sides, trembled uncontrollably. This girl, Clementine, had just shown me a video. In the video, Jasper’s childhood friend asked, “Are you really going to marry that sickly girl? Didn’t you say it was just for fun? Did you actually fall for her?” “And what about the canary you keep outside?” Jasper was sprawled on an expensive leather sofa, not even lifting an eyelid at the question. His expression was languid. “She’s like a porcelain doll; you can’t even touch her. What normal man can put up with that?” “Besides, even if she were an angel, after all these years, I’d be tired of playing with her, wouldn’t I?” My heart felt clutched in someone’s hand, throbbing painfully, as if it would burst with just a slight squeeze. I didn’t believe the man in the video was Jasper. He always cherished my delicate health, treating me with the utmost tenderness. Even in moments of passion, he was restrained and controlled. Even when Jasper rarely lost control, he would only gently clasp my waist and tell me, “My dear Summer, you are mine for life.” Jasper wouldn’t treat me this way. But the video continued to play. That face, the one I knew so well, moved its lips, slowly uttering the cruelest words. “I’m only marrying her to repay an old kindness.” The words “repay an old kindness” drifted lightly, yet they crashed heavily into my heart. With my tear-prone constitution, my eyes were already brimming. I bit down hard on my lip, determined not to show my discomfiture in front of Clementine. “It’s just a video. I don’t believe it.” The Jasper in this video was a completely different person from the Jasper this morning. This morning, before he left for work, he had gently kissed my forehead. “Summer, wait for me to get off work.” Videos can be faked. I’ve known Jasper for ten years; no one understands him better than I do. Jasper isn’t this kind of man. 2 Clementine seemed to have anticipated my reaction. She chuckled softly. “You really are as stubborn as I imagined.” She pulled down the collar of her dress, revealing a smattering of ambiguous kiss marks on her slender neck. When my gaze fell on those marks, I felt as though I’d been burned. Jasper loved leaving these bruised marks on my neck, and these were almost identical to Clementine’s. Clementine’s eyes held a challenging glint. “Jasper left all these on me, little by little. Hasn’t he been telling you lately that he has to work overtime because of company matters? But do you know? Jasper didn’t go to work overtime at all. He came to see me. Jasper is a man with normal needs. It’s no wonder he finds you so uninteresting in bed.” After those words, all the arguments I’d mentally constructed in Jasper’s defense suddenly vanished. Clementine was right. Jasper had strong physical needs, but my delicate health prevented me from satisfying him. Afterwards, he would always relieve himself. I once leaned on his knee, asking softly, “Doesn’t it bother you, holding back?” Jasper’s fingers traced my cheek, a light laugh escaping him. “As long as you’re here, Summer, what’s a little discomfort?” I foolishly believed him. I thought Jasper’s love for me transcended mere physical intimacy. I never imagined he was keeping a pampered mistress outside, to fulfill the needs I couldn’t meet. Clementine flaunted the ring on her finger, flashing a taunting smile. “Does this ring look familiar to you, Miss Peterson?” My gaze suddenly froze when it met the diamond ring. This was Jasper and my engagement ring. Jasper had recently told me he was taking it for cleaning and maintenance, preparing for the wedding, which was why I had taken it off. Clementine seemed quite pleased with the change in my expression. Her voice was sweet, unable to hide the boastful tone. “You don’t know? I just mentioned to Jasper that I wanted to try on this ring, and he took it from you.” My heart suddenly ached with a dull pain. So Jasper cared so much about Clementine’s casual words. He even gave her our engagement ring. Clementine noticed my mortified expression, and her smile became even brighter. “You’re truly pathetic.” She slipped off the ring and tossed it to the ground like trash, her eyes clearly malicious. “I’m tired of wearing it anyway. Here, you can have it back.” I didn’t pick it up. I just watched her calmly. “You’re much younger than me, but you might not understand one thing. A cheating cat never just steals one fish.” Clementine was too young. She didn’t understand that once a man cheats, he’ll always do it again. Just like me, I would never be Jasper’s exception. 3 I chased after Jasper for four years, but he only saw me as the girl next door. Jasper was never short of women; he always preferred the seductive type, naturally not noticing a young girl like me. That year, when I was eighteen, Jasper and I were both kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded fifty million in ransom from the Thorne family. The family reported it to the police, but the kidnappers found out. The ruthless desperadoes threw Jasper and me into a water dungeon. The dungeon was damp and dark, and the murky water even harbored venomous insects. Jasper was extremely weak, barely breathing. It was I who cut my wrist, feeding him my blood drop by drop, until rescuers finally arrived. After we got out, Jasper completely shed his former playboy image. He found out it was all the doing of his paternal half-brother. Those kidnappers ended up in his hands, their fates utterly miserable. His half-brother was confined to a villa in the suburbs and died of despair. Everyone said the Thorne family heir was ruthless and vengeful. All the women Jasper had kept around him were gone. I became the only woman by his side. The blood loss in the dungeon had damaged my constitution. I developed a chronic illness; two steps would leave me breathless, and intimacy had to be gentle. Jasper cherished me, and even in passion, he was tender and restrained. In moments of intimacy, I once asked Jasper, “Didn’t you used to prefer the sexy type?” “Don’t you feel a disconnect now, being with me?” Jasper buried his face in my chest, laughing softly. “My dear Summer, with you by my side, what need would I have for other women?” He would often say this, his hand moving to cup my breast. My face would instantly flush, and I would softly scold him, “Stop being a hooligan!” 4 Jasper returned exceptionally late today. I sat on the sofa all night, an open photo album beside me. It contained all our photos since we first met. I flipped from the first page to the last. In these ten years, Jasper truly hadn’t changed at all. I thought I would be the exception that would make him change his ways. But I wasn’t. No one could be Jasper’s exception. The current Clementine was just like I was back then—briefly, Jasper’s exception. Jasper leaned down and embraced me. “It’s so late. Why aren’t you asleep yet?” I said nothing. He lowered his head to kiss me, but I turned my head away, dodging him. Jasper chuckled softly, not annoyed. “What’s wrong? Who upset you? Or are you mad I came home late, Summer?” I looked at him calmly, saying nothing. “Don’t look at me like that, I won’t be able to resist.” Jasper’s eyes darkened. He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into his embrace. “The company has been busy lately. Next time, I’ll come home earlier to be with you, okay?” It was the same excuse again. We were close, and I smelled the scent of roses on him, the same rose perfume Clementine wore. My heart inexplicably ached. Jasper was lying again. He seemed to notice my distractedness. Jasper reached under my clothes, his hand caressing my bare skin. In the past, I would have immediately gone weak-kneed and begged for mercy, but this time, I was unusually calm. “Jasper, I don’t want to marry you anymore.” His movements stiffened, and his hand moved away from my waist, clearly losing interest. “The wedding is in a few days. Don’t make a fuss, okay?” He added, “Summer, the company has a lot going on lately. I don’t have the energy to coax you.” A dense pain bloomed in my chest. Was Jasper busy with company matters, or was he busy coaxing Clementine? My heart ached so much. Even cutting my wrist and bleeding out in the dungeon hadn’t hurt this much. Tears welled in my eyes. I suppressed a sob, asking, “Jasper, do you still love me?” “Do you really want to marry me?” The string of questions seemed to irritate Jasper. He rubbed his brow impatiently. “Summer Peterson, when did you become so dramatic?” He continued, “What more do I need to do to prove my love? Should I rip out my heart and show it to you? Just settle down and stop annoying me, okay?” Suddenly, Jasper’s phone rang. He answered irritably. “What is it?” I couldn’t see the caller ID, but I heard a girl’s tearful voice on the other end. It was Clementine. Jasper frowned, his brow furrowed with impatience. But he suppressed his volatile temper, patiently coaxing, “Stay where you are. I’ll be right there.” Jasper stood up and left in a hurry. “Something came up at the company. I’ll be back later to be with you.” The moment the door closed, my heart went completely cold. 5 Jasper never returned that night after he left. I waited alone until dawn. My fingers unconsciously slid across the screen, and I scrolled through Clementine’s social media post. The man in the photo had a peaceful, utterly exhausted sleeping face. Clementine’s face was half-visible, her smile bright, and there were intimate hickey marks on her neck. Her caption read: “Met a hooligan at the bar last night. Luckily, big brother saved me, so I rewarded him with a little sweet treat.” I rubbed my reddened eyes, suddenly feeling utterly pointless. Jasper and my wedding date was set for the fifth of next month. He had once said he would give me the grandest wedding in the world. But with only a week until the wedding, Jasper still hadn’t taken me to choose a wedding dress. He was too busy with Clementine, so busy he’d even forgotten about it. I numbly realized that promises truly only held meaning when love was present. When he returned the next day, he only told me, “I’m going abroad for business negotiations. It’ll probably take four days. When I get back, I’ll take you to pick out your wedding dress.” Jasper was lying to me again. Clementine’s latest social media post showed her wearing a pink ski suit, helmet, and mask, revealing only a pair of round, almond-shaped eyes. The caption read: “Big brother took me skiing in Iceland to see the Northern Lights! One last hurrah before the wedding.” The location was Iceland. I clutched my chest, the pain so sharp I almost cried. During those agonizing days in the dungeon, Jasper, his breath weak, had coaxed me, “Once we get out of here alive, I’ll take you to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, okay?” But he ultimately broke his promise. 6 My best friend, Hannah, video-called me then. “Summer, have you decided? Are you staying to get married here or coming to San Francisco for treatment?” Hannah had never been keen on my relationship with Jasper. She didn’t believe a playboy like Jasper would truly settle down and marry me. She now lived in San Francisco and had found a medical facility there that would be perfect for my treatment. I hadn’t made up my mind before, but now I smiled and agreed, “Okay, I’ll go to San Francisco.” Hannah on the other end of the video looked delighted. “That’s great, Summer! You’ve finally come to your senses!” After calming down, her voice became serious. “Summer, are you really giving up on Jasper?” I nodded, my voice remarkably calm. “Yes.” “I’ve given up.” Hannah sensed the heaviness of my mood and didn’t ask further, simply saying we’d talk more when we met. I went home and burned all our photos. I got rid of all the gifts he’d given me. The ring Clementine didn’t want, I tossed it in the trash. I didn’t want a ring someone else had worn. And along with it, I didn’t want Jasper either. The house was empty, leaving only some insignificant items. After doing all this, I booked a flight for the day of the wedding. I never expected that the wedding I was discarding like trash, someone else would snatch up like a treasure.
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