My Two Sweethearts Loved Wrong—Once I Left, They Begged Me Back

I was the ornamental daughter of the Shaw family.

My father drove my mother to her death, and he had never once looked at me with anything but contempt.

Thankfully, I had two childhood sweethearts—two knights who always stood by me.

They pulled me back from the rooftop and stopped me from numbly destroying myself.

I treated them like a cure.

But after I finished studying abroad and came back home, everything changed.

They found a new princess, and suddenly I was the vicious witch who bullied her.

I watched them shield my father’s stepdaughter behind them, watched the wariness in their eyes when they looked at me.

What had once been my cure became a deadly poison.

My condition worsened, and in the end, I decided to give them what they wanted and leave.

…

Today was my birthday.

It was also exactly one year since I had returned to Norchester City.

I scrolled numbly through my social feed, watching those two flood Mira Walsh’s page with birthday wishes.

They were the friends I had grown up with.

And now, they had completely forgotten I even existed.

A bitter smile tugged at my lips. I could not tell whether my medication was kicking in or whether my physical symptoms were flaring up again, but deep down, I felt exhausted to the bone.

It was supposed to be a day of celebration.

Instead, all I could think about was dying.

I knew I could not keep putting off treatment for my illness. After hesitating for a moment, I finally called my grandfather, who was still overseas.

“Grandpa, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll come back and get treatment.”

He let out a sigh, his voice full of heartache. “Liana, why would you bring this up on your birthday of all days… Did they make you feel wronged again?”

That single sentence made my eyes sting with tears.

But I did not want him to worry, so I forced my emotions down and told him no.

“It’s alright, my good girl,” he said gently. “I’m old now, and there’s nothing I can do to Damon Shaw, that bastard. But I can still make sure you recover properly. I’ll arrange everything. In two weeks, I’ll come get you.”

“As for those two men… sigh, people change. Don’t grieve over them too much.”

I nodded, said goodbye, and hung up.

Staring out at the night beyond the window, I sank into silence.

People change.

I knew that.

But when I came back home and saw my two closest childhood friends ignore me for the sake of my father’s stepdaughter—the girl he had outside the family—and even believe her accusations so easily, looking at me with disgust, the pain still nearly suffocated me.

The more I had treasured what we had, the deeper the wound it left behind.

When I was little, I developed depression because my father, Damon Shaw, hated my mother and punished me with years of cold neglect.

At my worst, I had almost jumped from the top floor.

It was Nolan Gray and Owen Gray who pulled me back again and again, who took me out with them and slowly brought me out of that darkness.

Back then, they were my cure.

But now the medicine had turned to poison, and because of their distance, my condition had only grown worse.

I lay rigid in bed, nerves pulled tight, and swallowed two extra sleeping pills.

Just as I was finally about to drift off, the phone beside me rang.

Frowning, I picked it up. But when I saw Nolan’s name on the screen, my expression softened a little.

A part of me was still hoping.

I thought maybe it was a birthday wish from them.

Then I heard Nolan’s first words.

“We’re celebrating Mira’s birthday. She said it’s your birthday too and was worried you might be lonely, so she told us to call and check on you.”

The lively noise on his end stood in sharp contrast to the silence in my room.

The little hope I had left shattered instantly.

I opened my mouth, only to realize I did not even have the strength to speak.

After waiting a moment without a response, Nolan’s voice turned impatient.

“Say something, will you? What kind of attitude is that? Mira was being nice—she was worried you’d feel uncomfortable being alone. Can you stop targeting her all the time?”

A reproachful voice drifted over from beside him, as if Mira was telling him not to be so harsh.