Chapter 1

My fiancé, Manuel, was driving me up the mountain on his motorcycle when we ran into his first love, Hathaway.

The former heiress of the bankrupt Miller family was at her absolute lowest, abandoned at the summit.

Manuel’s eyes went red. A mocking smirk played on his lips as he taunted her for finally getting what she deserved.

But in the middle of the night, I woke up freezing in the tent, only to find both Manuel and Hathaway gone.

The biting night wind completely snapped me out of my illusions. I didn’t sleep a wink.

It wasn't until the following evening that I managed to hitch a ride home with a kind stranger.

That was when I realized Manuel had never actually hated Hathaway.

Confronted by my questions, he didn't show a single shred of remorse: "Hathaway is different from you, Chloe. She’s never had to struggle."

I let out a soft laugh and slapped him right across the face. "And what about you? Have you ever felt real pain?"

The freezing night wind whipped through the gaps of the tent.

I gasped, waking up in pitch darkness. An inexplicable wave of panic washed over me, and I instinctively reached out for Manuel, who was supposed to be sleeping right beside me.

But my hand met only the hard, cold ground.

Another gust of wind blew in. I looked up and saw the tent flap fluttering loosely in the breeze.

Outside, the stars were breathtakingly bright, but they only served to illuminate the empty space beside me.

My heart instantly squeezed. Where was Manuel?

I sat in the tent, completely lost. The entire world was dead silent, save for the howling wind that sent shivers down my spine.

Steeling my nerves, I crawled out of the tent, trying to convince myself that maybe he had just gone to find a spot to pee.

But the moment I stepped outside and saw the empty clearing under the faint starlight, reality hit me like a physical blow.

Manuel’s motorcycle was gone.

The man I had been dating for two years, the man I was about to marry, had abandoned me all alone on a deserted mountain.