Back then, in that narrow rental apartment, they had once fantasized about their future wedding.

She said she wanted to hold the wedding on a yacht on a sunny day.

Now, he wanted her to watch with her own eyes as he and another woman stepped hand-in-hand into the wedding hall of her dreams.

The yacht was filled with socialites.

Under the witness of everyone, Selene walked toward Julian step by step, wearing her wedding dress.

In her ears, the guests’ discussions were endless, with everyone full of praise for the wedding:

"This is what a proper wedding should be like—setting up a banquet, welcoming guests, and inviting people widely. It’s certainly different from the last time."

"I heard that the wedding dress on the bride alone was specially flown in from France, and the diamonds inlaid on the skirt are all real."

"Thinking back now, Mr. Sterling’s previous marriage couldn't have counted for anything at all."

Listening to the words of envy or sarcasm from the crowd, Clara recalled her own marriage to Julian.

That could hardly be called a wedding; from beginning to end, it was just the two of them, simply obtaining a marriage certificate.

That night, he forced her to put on a wedding dress, only to tear it to shreds and leave her covered in bruises.

The next morning, a check filled with a long string of numbers was placed on her bedside table, weighed down by a condom.

He said: Isn't money what you want? This is the service fee for last night.

He used such methods to humiliate her.

She could neither resist nor defend herself.

She accepted it all, having to feign an appearance of being obsessed with money.

After the wedding ceremony, Selene and Julian went around to toast the guests.

Clara was catching the breeze at the bow of the ship when she felt someone approaching from behind.

Selene was wearing a thin toasting gown, her fluttering skirt swaying in the sea breeze.

Clara turned around and looked at her quietly.

"Last night, he gave me a parrot."

Selene smiled at her and gestured: "It’s very big, the kind that can talk. It kept saying to me, 'Baby, I love you.'"

"I thought it was something he specifically trained to give me to play with."

"But do you know what? After he fell asleep, that parrot spoke again."

Selene stepped closer, the expression on her face appearing both smiling and angry:

"Do you know what that parrot said next?"

"It said: 'Clara, I love you.'"

In an instant, Clara’s heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife.

In the past, she and Julian had also raised a parrot together.

It had cost fifty yuan, bought from a flower market.

Every morning, he would diligently teach the parrot to speak, saying over and over: "Baby, I love you."

The parrot was quite slow and took a long time to learn, but she had cherished it like a treasure.

Later, the parrot flew away through a window that hadn't been closed properly.

She had cried in sorrow for the entire night.

Those distant memories and the ferocious face of the woman in front of her gradually overlapped.

"Why? Why can't he just forget you!" Selene’s eyes were red.

"You are already divorced; why is it that he still cannot fall completely in love with me!"

She grabbed Clara’s wrist, her nails nearly piercing her skin, a hysterical madness showing in her eyes:

"Between you and me, he can only choose one."

"Let him make that choice today."

After speaking, Selene pulled her and fell into the sea.

Chapter 9

The icy seawater made one’s whole body ache with pain.

As Clara fell into the sea, she immediately felt an overwhelming sensation of suffocation.

Her brain replayed the memories of her previous time falling into the water like a flickering lantern.

That was when she was still in high school.

She and Julian had been on a date by the river after school.

That day, the riverbank was a bit slippery; she lost her footing and fell into the water.

On that cold winter day, he jumped into the water without regard for anything and hauled her up.

After confirming she was safe and sound, he held her, shaking and crying with nerves.

That was the first time she had seen him shed tears; he had held her tightly, saying he almost thought he was about to lose her.

In this life, the thing he feared most was losing her.

That was why, on the day she proposed the breakup, he had cried so sorrowfully.

His red-rimmed eyes and tears like broken strings of pearls felt like a slow torture to her heart.

Just like this wedding was now.

Clara sank into the sea, thinking: This time, will he come to save her again?

The seawater slowly engulfed her nose and mouth, passing over the top of her head; the thick sensation of suffocation made her unable to help but struggle in the water.

Just then, she suddenly felt an immense force lift her up, hoisting her out of the sea.

She took a sharp breath, wanting to turn her head to look at the person...

But she only saw broad shoulders, with a white shirt clinging tightly to his arms.

Before she could even see the person’s face, she had already lost consciousness.

When she woke up again, Clara was lying on the deck, beside a lifeguard who was equally drenched.

Not far away, Julian was holding Selene, anxiously checking to see if she was injured.

Selene leaned in his arms, telling on her with a breathy voice:

"She pushed me... she blamed me for stealing you away and asked why such a rich fool should be given to me..."

She pulled at Julian’s lapel: "Julian, I almost never got to see you again."

Julian clenched his fists and kissed her forehead with pity and affection.

Looking back at Clara, his gaze was as sharp as a knife.

"Clara Vance, you are so vicious now that you make me feel disgusted."

"I really wish I had never met you."

After he finished speaking, he wrapped Selene’s body in a thick bath towel and carried her into the cabin.

Clara watched his back.

A gust of sea breeze blew, appearing to freeze her limbs and bones.

She slowly chewed over the words he had just said.

Yes... if he had never met her, he would surely have a happy marriage and a wonderful family now.

Instead of wasting so many years in the mutual torment of their relationship.

The ship docked; Clara borrowed a set of clothes from a server on the boat and returned to the villa.

According to the arrangement made by the police chief, a fire would break out in the villa tonight, and a corpse would be left at the scene.

As for her, she would change her appearance, adopt a new identity, and inherit her mother’s unfinished mission, continuing to investigate the truth behind the criminal activities of the multinational organ trafficking organization.

The villa was empty, with all the servants having followed Julian to the new wedding home he had bought.

The sprawling villa was vacant, leaving behind only countless shared memories that belonged to them.

Clara went to the master bedroom.

The engagement ring had already been taken away by him. Her heart felt hollow, as if a huge chunk had been gouged out of it.

She entered the walk-in closet, where quite a few of his clothes that he hadn't taken away remained.

Her fingertips traced over those clothes, wanting to take one of his garments just to keep a small memento.

Her fingers suddenly stopped.

It was the black trench coat he wore when they took their wedding photos on the day they got married.

She took the coat out and draped it over her shoulders.

In a trance, she recalled the moment many years ago when she was enveloped by his scent and held deeply in his embrace.

At this moment, was he already holding another woman in his arms?

Chapter 10

On their wedding night, Julian Sterling received a phone call.

"Mr. Sterling, you previously requested that we find a suitable eye for transplant; we have found one."

Julian nodded in silence.

Until now, he still didn't know why Clara Vance had lost her left eye.

He had asked many times, but she always brushed the reason aside.

By now, he no longer wanted to know that so-called reason.

Finding a suitable match for her was the last thing he was prepared to do for her.

"Then arrange the surgery as soon as possible," he said, preparing to hang up the phone.

The person on the other end, however, stopped him:

"Mr. Sterling, we also discovered some other information."

He barely maintained his patience: "What?"

"We found that Ms. Vance’s left eye was not removed due to an accidental injury, but because she underwent a donation surgery."