Fiancé Betrayed Me, I Chose My Own Path

Chapter 3

By the time I reached the hospital, Adam was lying in bed with one arm wrapped in bandages, his face drained of color.

Chloe was curled up in Yari's arms, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

The moment Sophie saw me, she stormed over as though she meant to slap me.

"How can anyone be so heartless? You couldn't stand seeing Chloe happy, so you wanted her to die up on that mountain, didn't you?"

Before I could respond, Ryan stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face.

My head snapped to the side, and a sharp, burning pain spread across my cheek.

"Well, congratulations. Your own brother got hurt protecting Chloe, and now she's scared out of her mind. You must be thrilled, aren't you?"

His voice grew harsher with every word.

"You've been like this since we were kids, Nancy. Always competing with Chloe, always trying to steal everything from her. Take a good look in the mirror. Do you honestly think you deserve to stand beside Yari?"

Yari gave me an indifferent glance.

His brows drew together slightly, as though he were seeing a child who had misbehaved.

"Nancy, you've gone too far this time. Chloe is terrified, and you don't feel even the slightest bit guilty?"

Guilty?

I was the one who had called the rescue team.

I was the one they had lied to, shut out, and treated like a fool for 16 years.

And now they expected me to feel guilty?

A doctor hurried over. "The patient needs a blood transfusion. Which one of you is family? We'll need 400 milliliters of blood."

I stepped forward and took the pen from him.

"I'm his sister."

Given our rare blood type—Adam's and mine—the doctor had no choice. There was no time. He would have to take my blood, irradiate it first, and then transfuse it into Adam.

The cold needle slid into my vein, but I barely felt it.

After years of enduring their contempt and ridicule, I had experienced worse. This pain was nothing.

When the donation was over, I stumbled out of the room.

My vision swam, and I had to brace myself against the wall until the dizziness passed.

Sophie stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, blocking my path.

"Nancy, let's stop pretending. Now that you know the truth, you should let my brother go."

Her lips curled into a mocking smile.

"You've been together for four years, but has Yari ever truly been happy with you? Does he ever smile around you the way he does around Chloe?"

Ryan came over as well, his tone gentler now, as though that somehow made his words less cruel.

"Nancy, you're not a bad person, but you and Yari were never right for each other. Chloe matched his stride through the mountains and spoke his language of distant futures. You? You can barely make it down a mountain trail without falling."

He paused before adding, "At the bachelor party last night, Yari admitted that he regretted ever agreeing to marry you. Let him go, Nancy. Let yourself go too."

Only then did I finally understand why Yari had put off our wedding for two whole years.

Whenever I suggested registering our marriage, he claimed he was too busy with work.

Whenever I brought up booking a venue, he told me to wait a little longer.

Whenever I mentioned taking wedding photos, he found another excuse to postpone them.

And whenever I pressed him for an answer, he would give me a helpless smile and say, "Nancy, I just want to give you the perfect wedding."

I had always thought he was nervous.

I had convinced myself he was a perfectionist who cared too much and was terrified of ruining our special day.

But the truth was painfully simple.

He had never wanted to marry me.

Adam was wheeled out of the operating room at this time.

He let out a quiet sigh, but his voice was firm.

"Nancy, let it go. You can't force someone to love you. Yari's heart has never belonged to you. Even if you drag him to the altar, that won't change."

He looked at me as though he were offering kind, brotherly advice.

"Listen to me. Stop putting yourself through this."

I slowly lifted my head and looked at each of them.

The room was still spinning, and the arm I'd donated blood from had gone numb.

"Fine," I said quietly. "I've already let him go."

Then I turned to leave, but the rescue captain stopped me.

"Wait. We received a report that someone damaged vegetation inside the protected area and disturbed the local wildlife. We need you to explain what happened and come with us to cooperate with the investigation."

Before he could finish, Ryan immediately stepped forward.

"It was her. Nancy trampled​ through the grass and threw​ rocks at squirrels."

Sophie rushed over and grabbed my wrist.

"That's right, Captain. Look at her hands. They're covered in a rash from touching protected plants."

Her fingers tightened around me.

"She's sick in the head. She can't bear for anyone else to have it better than her."

Chloe had been the one who wanted to go hiking.

She had planned the route.

She was the one who had led them into the restricted area.

So how had all of it suddenly become my fault?

I forced down my anger and explained as calmly as I could, "That isn't true. I only sat on a bench in the public tourist area for a while. I never entered the protected zone. Check their group photos if you don't believe me. I wasn't in any of those places with them."

"Nancy, stop making excuses."

At some point, Yari had arrived with Chloe.

A fresh hickey stood out clearly against the side of his neck.

He looked at the captain and said, "I'm her fiancé. I can testify."

His expression was calm and convincing.

"Nancy kept wandering through the grass, trying to find better angles to take pictures of us. Her eyesight is poor, so she probably didn't realize what she was stepping on."

Then he softened his voice, pretending to defend me.

"She didn't do it on purpose, Captain. Please don't be too hard on her."

The captain studied me for a long moment.

Then he said, "Miss Quinn, please come with us and cooperate with the investigation."