New Life After Heartbreak

At a class reunion, I accidentally spilled red wine on my fiancé's beloved admirer, Taytum Elliott, soaking her high heels. Emilio, my fiancé, caused a commotion in front of everyone, insisting I clean her shoes. I refused, and he had me stripped down to my underwear and thrown out of the hotel.

A concerned classmate glanced back at me. "Isn't she your fiancée? You're overstepping the line."

Emilio shrugged it off. "Don’t worry. She’s obsessed with me. She’ll never leave me."

In that moment, I felt my heart break. I ended the engagement then and there and signed up to become a doctor in a conflict zone.

When I announced my decision to Princeton Mason, the hospital director, he was both pleased and confused. "It’s commendable that you want to go, but weren’t you planning to get married?"

I pressed my lips together, speaking resolutely. "There will be no wedding. I’m dedicating myself to being a doctor, saving lives."

Princeton paused for a moment but said no more. After completing all the necessary paperwork, I left the office, only to run into Taytum and Emilio in the corridor. Emilio walked into the lab with some test results, unaware of my presence. I wanted to avoid them, but Taytum blocked my path.

Her lips curled into a smug grin. "How does it feel to be publicly humiliated like that?"

"So, you’re about to marry Emilio? He’ll still stand up for me."

I wasn’t interested in arguing. "In that case, I’m giving him to you."

"Giving him to me? You don’t have a say in it. I always come out on top against you!"

Taytum's face twisted into a private smirk she saved for me. Then, suddenly, she looked down, her voice feigning sadness.

"I know you’re angry, sis, and I’m sorry, but don’t blame Emilio."

Just then, Emilio's voice cut through. "Adele! What’s going on?"

"Brother, please don’t be upset. After yesterday, it’s understandable she’d try to hit me."

Taytum bit her lip, tears in her eyes as she glanced at Emilio, looking pitiful. He comforted her, wrapping her in his arms, and glared at me.

"Adele! If you hadn’t been so spiteful, knowing those shoes couldn’t get wet—if you hadn’t ruined them on purpose—I wouldn’t have had to punish you!"

"Not only did you refuse to apologize to Taytum, but you actually tried to hit her. How could you be so heartless?"

"I'm telling you now, apologize to Taytum, or I'll postpone our wedding again!"

My heart, already cracked, shattered into pieces, leaving me speechless with pain. Emilio had postponed our wedding multiple times for Taytum. Out of love for him, I compromised time and again. I never imagined I’d become his bargaining chip.

Before Taytum, he promised that I was his priority. But since her arrival, everything changed. For her, he even humiliated me publicly, as he did the previous night.

Bitterness washed over me, overwhelming like a rising tide.

"Brother, don't blame her. It's Taytum who upset her..."

Taytum muttered apologies, but her eyes showed no remorse. Her mouth curled into a smile full of defiance.

I was burning with fever after last night's ordeal and had no desire to get entangled further with them. I turned to leave, finding myself too weak to stand steady.

Emilio noticed my frailty and reached out, saying, "Adele, you..."

But before he could finish, Taytum clutched her chest and began to cough violently.

"Brother... it hurts."

With that, Emilio rushed past me to her side. My vision blurred with tears, and my eyes burned as I steadied myself against the wall.

In the past, I would have been consumed by jealousy and started an argument with him. But now, my heart was like a withered leaf in the autumn wind—void of joy or sorrow.

I took a deep breath, forcing down the turmoil inside me. I said nothing. In three days, I would leave this place for good. Their world would have nothing to do with me anymore.