Chapter 4

When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. My throat was burning as if I had swallowed shards of glass.

The room was empty except for a nurse. The moment she saw me awake, she hurried off to find the doctor for an examination.

For the next week, I didn't see Zeke at all. However, my plans to leave had to be put on hold because of my condition.

The day I felt slightly better, Zeke finally called. "Still alive? Told you a little rain wouldn't kill you. Tomorrow's my birthday. Make sure you show up. It's not me who wants you there—it's Brooke."

The moment he mentioned Brooke, his voice lifted with unrestrained fondness.

"See? That's what makes Brooke so kind. After everything you did to her, she's still willing to forgive you."

Hearing Zeke praise her like that, I almost laughed.

I stared at my phone in a daze after he hung up. I knew I had to go. After all, some of my stuff was still at Zeke's place.

…

On the night of Zeke's birthday party, Zeke and Brooke stood at the entrance, greeting guests together.

It looked like a birthday party to those who knew. To those who didn't, it could have easily been mistaken for a wedding.

I glanced at them before walking straight over. Just as I was about to speak to Zeke, my eyes landed on Brooke's wrist. She was wearing a rosary bracelet.

My eyes widened, and an uncontrollable tremor ran through me.

Why?

Zeke wasn't short on money. He could have given Brooke any bracelet. Why did it have to be that one?

Noticing my gaze, Brooke touched the beads lightly and smiled. "Beautiful, isn't it?

"Zeke's grandmother got this for him as a blessing of protection. After what happened last time, he was so worried that he gave it to me instead."

His grandmother's blessing? Was that what he told her?

I turned to Zeke, and my eyes were burning red. Even so, he looked completely indifferent.

"It's just a bracelet. You can find them everywhere."

Just a bracelet?

I was weak and sickly when I was a child. My grandmother, despite being 70 years old, climbed the chapel on a mountain herself to get that bracelet for my protection. After she passed away, it was the only thing I had left of her.

When I got together with Zeke, he promised to protect me for life, so I gave him the bracelet. He had sworn to wear it forever, never taking it off.

Yet now, he had given it away so easily—brushing it off as just a bracelet!

Rage clouded my mind. I had no interest in arguing with them, so I lunged at Brooke and snatched it from her wrist.

My nails scraped her skin, leaving faint red scratches. In return, she shoved me to the ground. The bracelet my grandmother had given me immediately snapped apart.

The beads scattered across the floor, making crisp sounds as they rolled away.

My mind went blank. I sat there, unmoving, staring at them for what felt like an eternity.

I only snapped back to reality when a heavy blow landed on my shoulder. I looked up to see Zeke's twisted, furious face.

"How dare you hurt Brooke? Do you want me to kill you?" He then raised his foot to kick me again, but Brooke stopped him.

"That's enough, Zeke. I'm fine—it's just a scratch. Heidi probably got emotional seeing the bracelet. It must have reminded her of her grandmother. Let's not fight anymore. Your birthday party is about to start."

Like an agitated lion being soothed, Zeke forced himself to calm down.

He shot me a cold glare before saying, "I'm only letting you off because of Brooke."

I held back my tears as I walked inside and found a seat in the corner. On the stage, Brooke spoke warm words of blessing while Zeke gazed at her with overwhelming affection.

The guests, however, kept shifting their eyes—first at Brooke, then at me. All of their expressions were unreadable. Soon, the event reached its most important moment.

Zeke's deep voice echoed through the microphone, reverberating across the hall as he said, "Brooke Fuller, you said my first proposal was too rushed. So today, I'll ask you again in front of everyone."

No matter how many times Zeke had hurt me, my heart still ached. I had begged him for marriage so many times. He still never proposed—not even once.

Yet, because Brooke wasn't satisfied, he was doing it for her twice. The difference between love and indifference was painfully clear.

Just as Zeke was about to kneel, Brooke tugged him back.

She said to him in a playful yet firm tone, "Zeke, everyone here knows you had a girlfriend for five years. It must be hard to forget her after so long.

"If you want me to marry you, you have to prove that she no longer has a place in your heart."

Zeke had told me a thousand times that he didn't love me. He had hurt me in a thousand different ways. Brooke knew better than anyone that his heart no longer held space for me.

This wasn't about proof. This was about humiliation.

Like Zeke, the crowd didn't know what kind of proof she expected.

Was he supposed to carve out his heart? Or kill me?

But it was clear—Brooke had already planned exactly what she wanted him to do.

She made Zeke hand over his phone and read aloud the love letter I had written to him when we were deeply in love. That was the final, ruthless strike straight to the heart.

Brooke had chosen the one I wrote when I left everything behind to follow Zeke to Hampsville. The words even appeared on the big screen for everyone to read.

Zeke merely glanced at them, then let out a mocking laugh before he started, "Zeke, I've never loved anyone like this. Your presence broke down the walls around my heart.

"I used to feel lost, but now, wherever you are, that's where I belong.

"Deciding to follow you to Hampsville felt like madness. But so what? If I end up wandering without a home, if I have to make a life wherever the wind takes me, it won't matter—as long as I have you, I have a home."

He stopped reading and looked at me with ridicule in his eyes. "Heidi, you're so pathetic. Just because someone let you follow them, you called them home?

"Now that I don't want you anymore, does that mean you have no home?"

I met his gaze, but there was nothing left in his eyes except amusement. The Zeke who once loved me had drowned in the storm a week ago.

Brooke laughed as well while the people around us watched with a mix of pity and mockery.

"Look at you, Heidi Yates. You charged headfirst into love, thinking your devotion would be enough. And now, your reward is public humiliation." I laughed at myself.

How ridiculous! I abandoned everything for him. And yet, not only had he moved on, but he was now standing in front of everyone, mocking my sincerity, too.

I nodded at this. Zeke was right. I had no home anymore.

First, my grandmother had given me a home. Then, it was Zeke. But now, both of them were gone.

As despair settled over me, Zeke pressed a few buttons on his phone, deleting my contact information along with every trace of our past.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I could only watch as it all disappeared.

And then, as if erasing me wasn't enough, he discarded his phone, got down on one knee before Brooke, and pulled out a ring.

"Brooke Fuller, the past is nothing but dust in the wind. Right now, I only want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?"

Dust in the wind? I let out a bitter smile. I could tell it didn't hurt anymore.

With my suffering as the backdrop, Brooke covered her mouth in feigned shock, then shot me a triumphant glance before extending her hand to Zeke.

"I do."

Just as Zeke was about to slip the ring onto her finger, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the hall. I was still staring blankly at the stage, momentarily frozen, forgetting to turn my head.

Then, a pair of large hands gently covered my eyes, and a voice filled with warmth and pain spoke, "Heidi, don't look anymore. I'm taking you home."

Spencer had arrived. He pulled me to my feet and led me toward the exit.

The commotion caught Zeke's attention. Forgetting that the proposal was still unfinished, he abandoned Brooke and rushed over, blocking our way.

When he saw my hand in Spencer's grasp, a flicker of something unreadable crossed his eyes. "I didn't say you could leave."

Before I could respond, Spencer stepped in front of me and scolded in a sharp voice, "Heidi is not your possession. You just proposed to another woman—what right do you have to give her orders?"

Zeke's arrogance only grew upon hearing that. "Because she's my loyal little lapdog. She's the one who said she could never live without me."

Then, he turned to me with a smirk. "How about this? I'll let her decide. She can choose—stay here or leave with you."

Spencer snapped back furiously, "No! She's already in enough pain—stop tormenting her!

"You told me to respect her choice, and now you won't let her choose? Do you think you get to dictate everything?"

Zeke ignored him and stepped closer, his gaze locked onto mine as he issued his final ultimatum. "Heidi, I'm giving you one last chance. Stay or leave with him."

His voice dripped with disdain as he dragged out the last few words, as if he were certain I wouldn't make that choice.

I lifted my gaze to meet his, took a deep breath, and then tightened my grip on Spencer's arm. "Spencer, let's go."