One month before the wedding, my mom was hospitalized after being bitten by a dog. To my disbelief, the dog’s owner turned out to be Dyrroth Pittman’s junior schoolmate.
It was Dyrroth who brought her to the hospital. When I arrived, my eyes burned with fury, but he met my gaze with indifference and said coldly, “Enough already. It’s just a dog bite, no need to make a fuss.”
“And honestly, it’s her fault too. At her age, she shouldn’t be teasing dogs.”
I froze. My mother, lying injured on a hospital bed, had somehow become the one to blame in his eyes.
His schoolmate threw me a smug glance, as if my anger was laughable.
“Is everything settled now? I’m flying abroad to handle a project negotiation. Please keep an eye on your mom. Once she’s discharged, don’t let her provoke dogs again.”
I turned to Dyrroth, my voice calm but cold.
“When will you be back?”
“Don’t worry. It won’t delay our wedding. Any other questions?”
“No more.”
There were no more problems, just a cancelled wedding.
——
An hour after Dyrroth left with his friend, my mom's condition worsened suddenly. Just like that, she was gone.
I messaged Dyrroth right away, but got no reply. It was like throwing a stone into the sea, no response, no sign.
After that, I moved through the funeral like a puppet, numb, empty, and disconnected.
Just days ago, she was so happy, helping plan my wedding. Now, she’d never see it.
At the funeral, I forced myself not to cry while relatives and friends spoke badly of Dyrroth.
I was his fiancée. She was his future mother-in-law. He should’ve been there.
I sent him messages and called.
He didn’t reply. My calls wouldn’t go through.
I kept telling myself he was busy, caught up with his project, maybe he hadn’t seen them. Once, twice, but by the third time, even my lies didn’t help.
As night came and the guests left, I stayed kneeling by her grave, unmoving.
In that moment, I didn’t want anything, only to stay a little longer with her.
Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I looked down and saw a post from Dyrroth’s schoolmate.
In the video, Dyrroth was in swim trunks, smiling and playing with her on the beach.
In that moment, I felt like all the air was gone from my lungs; I couldn’t breathe.
So this was the “project abroad” he had talked about.
What a fool I had been.
I even made excuses for him.
I braced myself on the ground and pushed up. My legs trembled, weak and stiff from kneeling too long.
“Mom... It’s over with Dyrroth. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise to you.”
Before she passed, Mom had asked me to treat Dyrroth well.
But Dyrroth didn’t deserve it.
I met him on campus, heir to a billion-dollar empire, while I was just a village girl with nothing.
I always felt small next to him. Unworthy.
But he said he loved me anyway, promising he’d give up everything, his wealth, his future, to be with me.
So, we started dating secretly.
To avoid adding pressure between him and his parents, I chose to join his family’s company after graduation. I started from the bottom, working tirelessly without complaint.
Late nights became a routine. I even drank until I vomited blood, just to secure a project.
But I believed it was all worth it.
Because I wanted to prove that I had the strength to stand beside him with dignity, so no one would ever dare look down on him because of me.
And I did it.
In just three years, I climbed from a junior employee to vice president of the company.
Dyrroth had been genuinely proud of me.
At the company’s succession banquet, he held my hand on stage and announced our relationship to the world.
In that moment, there was light in his eyes.
But that light began to dim the moment Cleo Atkins joined the company after graduation.
Cleo had been the youngest of his college juniors, and the youngest was always the most indulged.
