Chapter 1

To cover the cost of Clarence Lovell's surgery, Laura Sullivan worked ten jobs a day. In the end, she collapsed from heatstroke on the street and was rushed to the hospital by a kind stranger. When she woke up, it was nearly 8:00 pm. She panicked when she realized she hadn't made dinner for Clarence. Pulling the IV drip out of her hand, she jumped out of bed. Just then, a nurse came in to change her dressing, but before she could advise Laura against it, the latter had already bolted from the ward. Her steps quickened as she ran down the stairs, thinking of how Clarence had broken his hand because of her and how he must have been sitting alone in their cold, shabby rental apartment. But just as she passed the obstetrics and gynecology department, a familiar figure caught her attention, and she froze in place. It was Clarence. She wondered if he was there to pick her up after finding out that she'd fainted. In that moment, her heart swelled with relief and joy. She was about to approach him when she heard his conversation with his friends. "Clarence, you really are something. You're Jencoria's golden heir and loved by everyone, yet you hid your identity to live in a run-down rental apartment with an orphan girl over a stupid bet. Then you even faked a car accident to trick her into breaking up with you. If she finds out that you're getting married next month, she might not survive it." Another friend chimed in teasingly, "Don't tell me you still haven't dumped her because you've actually fallen for her?" "Don't worry, I've got it all planned out. I'll give her a parting gift that'll make her give up on me completely. Besides, Laura's sexy, does what I want in bed, and never complains. It's fun how easily she's fooled." Clarence smirked slightly as he remembered the image of Laura sobbing uncontrollably while clutching his injured arm. In an instant, Laura's mind went blank. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Clarence's words were like a blade slashing into her heart, leaving it bleeding. Half a year ago, the two of them had been in a taxi when a runaway car had sped at them. Clarence had pushed her away and taken the hit himself. His head had been injured, and his right hand had been permanently damaged. When he'd woken up in the hospital, the first thing he'd told her was, "Laura, let's break up. I'm a cripple now, and I don't want to drag you down." Laura had been moved to tears and had refused to leave him no matter what. To pay for his rehabilitation and help him recover, she'd taken on every job she could find, barely sleeping four hours a day. In the end, she'd become malnourished. In fact, she'd still been making food deliveries when she'd collapsed. But now she realized that the car accident was just a cruel trick Clarence had used to end things with her. Just then, someone bumped into her, nearly knocking her over. She didn't respond to their apology as she merely stumbled forward like a lifeless shell. When they'd first met, Clarence had told her that he came from a poor family. He'd said that his parents had abandoned him and that his grandmother had raised him. He'd claimed he'd worked his way up and earned a scholarship to Sunnyside University. He was the center of attention on campus, and countless women admired him, but he'd never spared anyone a second glance. Yet somehow she was the only exception to his aloofness. From the first time he'd seen her, Clarence had pursued her relentlessly, showing up wherever she went as if by fate. Compared to a guy as excellent as him, Laura had felt inferior, so she'd turned him down thrice. Then one day, he'd joined an illegal street race just to win her a diamond necklace and nearly died in the process. When he'd pulled his bloodied body across the finish line and held out that necklace to her, telling her he'd won, she'd finally broken down and agreed to be his girlfriend. That very night, he'd taken her to a tattoo studio and tattooed her name on his collarbone. Faced with Clarence's intense love, her frozen heart had slowly thawed. And so, she'd made up her mind that she wouldn't let him go easily. But she would have never imagined that his pursuit of her had started as nothing more than a bet. Despair washed over Laura as she pulled out her phone and called Wilbur Dachs, her senior from university. "Wilbur, I don't need that surgeon anymore. I've decided to go abroad with you next month," she said quietly. There was a pause on the other end before Wilbur spoke up, clearly shocked. "Didn't you want to stay for Clarence? Besides, you went through so much trouble to get that surgeon. Why are you canceling it all of a sudden?" Laura tilted her head toward the sky, blinking hard to force her tears back before saying, "I've decided to let him go."