Chapter 1

My name is Logan. In our social circle, I’m known as the ultimate doormat.

For five years, I held the empty title of Chloe Montgomery’s fiancé. I never pushed for marriage, never demanded we sign papers, and never restricted her freedom.

All I asked was that Chloe donate her bone marrow to save my mother.

When she cheated on me with an Oscar-winning actor, I was the one who cleared her name to the press. When she was caught kissing a teenage pop idol, I bought the rights to the footage to keep it offline. When she drove a rising influencer’s pregnant fiancée to a miscarriage, I even stepped in to clean up the mess.

The wealthy socialites in Chloe's circle openly mocked me with pity and disgust.

"Logan, you’re literally living like her lapdog."

I ignored them all. But on the very night my mother passed away, the Montgomery Group faced a sudden, massive financial crisis.

I sold my dad’s only legacy—his vintage Rolex—to help Chloe's company survive.

In return, Chloe finally decided to grant me some official status. She casually tossed a velvet ring box at my feet.

"Find some time. Let's get married. Consider it my way of saying thank you."

I looked at the ring on the floor but didn’t pick it up.

"No need. It was just to pay off my debt to you. Chloe, let's break up."

Hearing my words, Chloe actually looked up from her paperwork. She looked at me directly, a rare occurrence.

"The doctor told me your mother’s condition has finally stabilized. She can get the bone marrow transplant soon. If you break up with me now, are you saying you don't want to save your mother's life?"

I didn't answer.

I only squeezed the paper in my hand a little tighter.

Under the bright red official seal was my mother’s death certificate.

"Did you tell Tristan which hospital room my mom was in?" I asked.

Chloe let out a soft, knowing laugh.

"And here I was wondering why you were throwing a tantrum about breaking up. So it's about that."

"Yes. Tristan heard your mom was sick and wanted to pay his respects."

"Looking at your reaction, he probably said something stupid. He’s young and spoiled. Tell you what—I’ll personally go apologize to your mother in a couple of days. You—"

Before she could finish, I threw a tabloid magazine onto her desk.

【Montgomery CEO’s New Toy Dumps Pregnant Fiancée; Cast-Off Lover Degrades Himself to Act as Nanny!】

The attached photo showed me helping Tristan’s ex-fiancée out of the hospital.

The tabloid gossip was brutal.

It claimed that Tristan’s ex had a miscarriage, and that I—Chloe’s official boyfriend—had degraded myself to serve Tristan’s ex like a dog just to keep the peace so Chloe and Tristan could openly enjoy their romance.

Tristan had taken that exact magazine straight to my mother’s hospital bed.

My mother had been a high school literature teacher her entire life. She lived and breathed on her dignity.

And I had completely crushed that dignity.

She refused to continue her treatments. She simply lost the will to live.

The red light of the emergency room flashed all night. When they finally rolled her out, a white sheet was pulled over her head.

I pushed the death certificate closer to Chloe.

"Chloe, I need an explanation."

Chloe lost her patience. She didn't even look at the paper.

She frowned, looking irritated by what she clearly saw as my ungratefulness.

"An explanation? Logan, have you forgotten your place?"

"We aren't even married yet. And even if we were, you don't get to control my life. But since you helped me out with the company, I'll be nice. Pick up the ring. Once things settle down at the office, I'll go with you to explain everything to your mother."

"As for Tristan, I'll handle him. I'm very busy right now, so please go home."

With that, Chloe lowered her head and went back to her files.

Her coldness was suffocating.

My hand, still holding the death certificate, trembled in mid-air.

I let out a bitter laugh, remembering my mother's final words.

She had been furious.

With the last of her strength, she had slapped me across the face.

Crying and raging, she had gasped, "Our family doesn't have a spineless son like you! I’d rather die!"

"I'd rather die than watch you act like a clown for people to laugh at!"

"Logan, do you have no shame?!"

Yeah.

Logan, do you have no shame?

I pulled the death certificate back, turned around, and walked toward the door.

"The ring," Chloe reminded me, not even looking up.

I turned back to look at her.

She was bent over her desk, looking incredibly focused.

I remembered when we first started dating. Chloe had looked at me with that same intense focus and said:

“Your mom is my mom. It’s just a million dollars a year in medical bills—I can easily afford it!”

“We’ll do the transplant! To save our mom, I'd give my own bone marrow. I'd give anything!”

“Logan, I'm going to marry you. We’re going to be together forever.”

...

Back then, her vows of eternal love were endless.

But in the end, love always turns out the same way.

I withdrew my gaze, looked down at my feet, and saw the velvet box lying open. The massive diamond caught the light, sparkling painfully bright.

Kick.

With a sharp flick of my shoe, I kicked the ring box aside and walked out without looking back.