Discovering My Love Too Late

My boyfriend is trapped in the mountains, and I head there alone to search for him. However, I don't find him despite a night of searching. Instead, I end up falling off a cliff and passing out due to severe blood loss.

When I open my eyes again, I hear laughter coming from outside my hospital ward.

"Sonya's such a fool! She fell for it again!"

"This is our 99th time tricking her, right?"

"When you pretended to fall into the water, she jumped into an icy lake to save you in the middle of winter. When you pretended to be poisoned, she went to dig up the herbs that you'd need for the antidote…

"This time, you pretended to be trapped in the mountains, and she ran there without a care for her life! She's truly head over heels for you!"

I struggle to sit up. That's when I see my boyfriend, Austin Miller, standing at the ward's door. He stands out among the crowd and has a bright smile on his face. He doesn't look like he's lost his way at all.

His friends continue talking.

"It's her fault for abandoning Austin when he was down on his luck!"

"She deserves to get played like this! When this is all over, we can throw the invitation to Austin and Dion's engagement party in her face!"

It turns out Austin is already engaged. Yet, to this day, he has no idea why I broke up with him in the first place.

The conversation outside the hospital room hurt me deeply, reminding me over and over again of how foolish I had been.

To save Austin Miller, I had rolled down a hillside. I became drenched in blood and nearly lost my life in the process.

Yet in the end, it turned out it was just a cruel joke they had played on me.

I, Sonya Foley, was nothing more than someone who could be called upon at any time to amuse him.

Two years ago, Austin had risen from nothing to become the youngest tycoon in Kondale's tech circle, basking in the limelight.

After finishing a rescue mission that day, I walked out of the rubble covered in mud, only to see him leaning against the door of his Maserati. He was dressed in an expensive suit and was smiling faintly at me.

"Hey, Sonya, it's been a while. I'm finally worthy of you now," he said.

From then on, he appeared in my life every day. He would send flowers and gifts, pick me up and drop me off at work, and check in on me. It was all so loving that it felt unreal.

I thought he had truly come back for me. Only now did I realize it was all just a punishment game to get revenge.

After all, his love for me had vanished, and in its place was hate.

Assuming I was still unconscious, Austin walked in with his beloved fiancée, Dion Carpenter, in his arms.

"I don't think we should do it here," Dion said with feigned reluctance.

"What are you scared of? She's unconscious and won't wake up any time soon."

Austin's voice was low and seductive. Just like how he sounded when he whispered sweet nothings into my ear every day.

Five years ago, I was the one who turned away resolutely, ignoring him as he knelt on the ground begging me.

His heart-wrenching cries from back then had now turned into intimate whispers with Dion.

I kept my eyes shut tightly, but I couldn't block out the sound of them kissing. The wet, slobbery noise kept creeping into my ears.

Nor could I stop the cloying sweetness of Dion's perfume and the minty scent of Austin's aftershave infiltrating my nose. The two intertwining scents slowly filled the entire room.

My stomach churned, my throat burned with bitterness, and my heart felt like it was being squeezed. I wished I could just die then and there.

I didn't know how much time passed before the room returned to silence. Slowly, I pushed myself up in bed. Then, ignoring the nurses calling after me, I fled the hospital like a fugitive.

As I was covered in wounds, I kept stumbling and falling. A metallic sweetness lingered in my throat, as if I were about to cry out all the injustices I had endured.

I didn't know how far I had walked when the phone in my pocket rang.

Trembling, I pulled it out and saw my daughter's name, Callie, on the screen.

A soft, sweet voice came from the other end. "Mommy, when are you coming home? I miss you so much."

My chest tightened, my throat ached, and tears fell uncontrollably again.

"Be good, Callie. Mommy will be home soon."

I forced a smile, but my voice trembled despite my efforts.