Chapter 1

After years of loving Niall Pritchard, I never believed it would end this way. That day, both Freya Wilde—his childhood sweetheart—and I were kidnapped. "Mr. Pritchard, you have a choice today—your new love or the one from your past. You can only keep one." Niall clenched his fists tightly, anger and uncertainty flickering in his eyes. "What if I want to take them both?" "You're welcome to try." The armed kidnappers' cold laughter echoed through their voice modulators. "I don't have much patience. Three… two…" "I choose Freya!" I looked at Niall in shock. When our eyes met, I saw only guilt and panic staring back at me. "I'm sorry, Janice. I owe Freya my life. But from now on, I promise to spend every breath making it up to you." I smiled through the veil of tears blurring my vision. "But I don't owe her a damn thing. The moment you chose her, everything between us was over." His eyes reddened, too. Silence hung between us, but in the end, he still picked Freya. Watching their figures grow smaller in the distance, bitterness welled up inside me, and tears slipped down my cheeks. How utterly ridiculous. The man who once promised me his whole heart had just given me up for another woman. But why? Only three months ago, we were still hopelessly in love. Then Freya returned. Trouble trailed her like a storm cloud, but Niall turned a blind eye. The love that once belonged to me quietly slipped away, settling in Freya's arms instead. I still couldn't believe how easily I had been discarded. "Mrs. Pritchard, looks like you're not all that important to your husband, huh?" I lowered my eyes, fighting back the pain and fear tightening my chest. "Murder is a crime. No matter what your employer's paying, I can double it. Don't let a reckless moment cost you your life." "We may be kidnappers, but we've got our own principles. A promise is a promise. I'm sorry to disappoint." Principles. These days, even criminals kept their promises. Meanwhile, the man who once pledged eternal love to me had already let his promise slip away. I shut my eyes in despair, whispering a silent prayer, "Niall… may we never meet again, not in this life, nor the next." But the pain I was expecting never came. Suddenly, Niall showed up with the police, and the kidnappers were swiftly taken down. He wrapped me in his arms. "Janice, it's over. You're safe now. Everything's alright." I let him hold me, every bit of strength leaving my body. Safe? How could I ever feel safe? The moment he chose Freya, it was as if a thousand blades pierced me, each one tearing a fresh, bleeding wound. The pain was unbearable. The memory of Niall turning to her haunted my thoughts without mercy. A sharp, searing pain ripped through my head. Suddenly, darkness engulfed me, and I collapsed into unconsciousness.