---- Chapter 8 A few days later, a news alert popped up on my phone. It was from a popular gossip site: "Blackwood Corporation Heir, Liam Blackwood, to Announce Engagement to Childhood Sweetheart, Tiffany Hayes." There was a picture of them from a charity gala, smiling for the cameras, looking like the perfect power couple. | stared at the screen for a long moment. My breath hitched, just for a second, and then | let it out ina long, slow sigh. It wasn't a shock. It was an inevitability. The final act of their play. | got up and pulled my half-packed suitcase from the closet. Then, | went through the apartment and began to gather every single thing that connected me to him. The cheap, silver-plated bracelet. The matching mugs that said "His" and "Hers." ---- The worn-out teddy bear he'd won for me at a carnival. | placed them all, one by one, into a cardboard box. Liam came home while | was taping the box shut. He saw the box and the pile of items and looked confused. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice a little shaky. "Why are you packing those things?" "They're old," | said simply, not meeting his eyes. "Time to get rid of them." "But... | gave those to you," he said, sounding hurt. "We can buy new ones. Better ones. I'll buy you anything you want, Sarah, once things are settled | just shook my head. "It's fine. We'll get them later." He went to take a shower, and his phone, left on the coffee table, buzzed. ---- | didn' t need to look. | already knew. But later, as | walked past the bathroom, | heard him talking, his voice low and hushed. "Yeah, Tiff, I'll tell her... No, she won't be suspicious... We'll just say it's my family's annual party... It'll be perfect. We'll announce it right in front of her. | can't wait to see the look on her face. She'll be completely humiliated." My hands clenched at my sides. So that was the plan. One final, public humiliation. | closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and walked away. My plan, | thought, would not be ruined by theirs. When he came out of the bathroom, he was holding a lavish, gold-embossed invitation. He handed it to me with a hesitant smile. "My family is having a big party this weekend," he said. "It's... kind of my graduation party, a bit late. ---- | really want you to be there. It's important to me." | took the invitation. "Okay," | said. "I'll be there." He looked surprised, then relieved. "Great! It's going to be a night to remember." Oh, it will be, | thought. | have a graduation gift to deliver, after all. The night of the party was also the university's official graduation ceremony, the one | was supposed to be attending. Instead, | was at a lavish hotel, surrounded by the city's elite. The whole thing was a blur of champagne, expensive dresses, and fake smiles. | saw Tiffany across the room. She was wearing a stunning red gown, clinging to Liam's arm. She saw me, and a cruel, triumphant smile lit up her face. ---- She whispered something to Liam, and then they started walking towards me. But before they could reach me, Tiffany suddenly stumbled, as if she'd tripped. She let out a little shriek and lunged forward, not away from me, but directly at me. It all happened so fast. My instincts screamed at me to get out of the way. | took a sharp step back, trying to avoid her. In doing so, | bumped into the person behind me, who was carrying a tray of drinks. But my evasive action led to a bigger disaster. Tiffany, having missed her target, crashed right into the enormous, glittering champagne tower next to us. There was a horrifying crash as hundreds of glasses shattered, sending a tidal wave of champagne and sharp, glittering shards everywhere. Liam didn't even glance at me. His only focus was Tiffany. "Tiff! ---- Are you okay?" he yelled, pulling her away from the wreckage and into his arms, shielding her protectively. He didn't see that in my haste to dodge her, | had lost my balance. My arm shot out to break my fall, and my hand landed directly on the broken base of the tower. A searing pain shot up my arm. | looked down. My hand was covered in blood, a deep gash slicing across my palm. Glass shards were embedded in my skin. Through a haze of pain, | watched Liam fussing over Tiffany, checking her for any tiny scratch, his voice full of panic and concern. He didn't even know | was hurt. He didn't care. In that moment, watching him protect the woman who had orchestrated my ruin, while | bled on the floor, something inside me finally broke for good. The last, stubborn ember of warmth | might have held for the man | thought he was, was extinguished forever. ---- My hand was trembling. My arm hung limply at my side. The world started to go dark at the edges, and | collapsed, the sight of his frantic care for her being the last thing | saw.