“Haah, Eric. What if someone sees us?”

“I have dismissed all the servants. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Through the narrow crack in the door, Olivia saw the face of her fiancé, Eric.

And below him was her closest friend, Scarlett.

As Eric pressed his lips to Scarlett’s pale neck, Olivia put both hands over her mouth to stifle the scream that threatened to escape.

But she couldn’t hold back the tears.

She collapsed where she stood, silent sobs shaking her as the tears flowed freely.

Perhaps too caught up in their excitement to notice her presence, the two continued their affair without pause.

Scarlett quickly ripped the buttons off Eric’s shirt while Eric continued to plant kisses along her neck.

The air was getting hotter and hotter.

Olivia desperately wanted to cover her ears to the sound of Scarlett’s voice, but she didn’t dare take her hands away from her mouth for fear that even the slightest sound would escape.

Her fiancé, Eric, had told her he was on his way to the mansion for work.

Olivia had secretly come to surprise him, timing her visit for when she thought he would be finished.

She had imagined Eric looking startled, then smiling with delight.

This-this was something she had never dreamed of.

“The wedding is not far away… Hah, is that really okay?”

“Why are you bringing up the wedding all of a sudden?”

“I just… feel bad for Liv. She’s my friend.”

“Now you feel bad?”

“Well, still…”

Olivia couldn’t bear to stay there a moment longer.

She tried to run, but her legs gave out and she collapsed in place.

The basket she had brought with her fell with a sharp clatter, the wine bottle rolling out.

“Kyah!”

Scarlett screamed, quickly pulling the blanket over her n*ked body – and at the same time Eric’s angry voice rang out.

“Who could it be? I told everyone not to come in here… Liv?”

The moment Eric saw Olivia, his expression faltered.

She looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks as he approached, his shirt still undone.

Eric knelt on one knee and extended his right hand to her.

“What are you doing here? Are you hurt?”

His voice was as soft as ever – so soft that if it weren’t for Scarlett’s horrified face behind him, Olivia might have believed that everything she had just seen was just a bad dream.

But this was reality.

Ignoring his outstretched hand, Olivia stood up on her own.

She roughly wiped her tear-stained face with her sleeve, then explained:

“We’re breaking off the engagement.”

Olivia loved Eric, but not enough to go through with the wedding after witnessing his affair.

Society often saw her as weak, but their judgment was wrong.

Though she had a gentle face that looked like she couldn’t hurt a fly, Olivia knew how to assess a situation with calm clarity and choose the most rational course of action.

Breaking off the engagement just five months before the wedding would certainly tarnish her reputation – but once the truth came out, people would pity her just as much.

“And I’m going to tell my father everything that happened today.”

Olivia met Scarlett’s gaze over Eric’s shoulder.

“Scarlett, I thought you were my friend – but obviously not. I hope our paths never cross again.”

Olivia said the words and turned away.

She had sent the coachman back, thinking she would stay here for a while, but if she walked through the forest for about thirty minutes, she would reach the lodging where the coachman was staying.

‘These shoes aren’t the most comfortable, but I can manage a thirty minute walk.’

But just as she was about to leave, Eric grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop and turn around.

And then—

The twisted expression on his face was one Olivia had never seen before.

“Who said anything about calling off the engagement?”

His voice was cold, each word spat out as if he were chewing on it.

Olivia instinctively tried to break his grip, but she couldn’t overcome Eric’s strength.

The man standing before her was no longer the gentle fiancé who would let go whenever she said no.

“Did you really think I’d go through with the wedding after I found out you were cheating on me? How could I – especially with Scarlett, my own friend!”

“Well, do you really think Scarlett ever saw you as a friend?”

The polite tone Eric had always used had disappeared without a trace.

Only now did Olivia finally realize – she had been thoroughly deceived by Eric for the past year.

But by the time she realized it, it was already too late.

Or maybe… it was a blessing that she found out at all.

“Whether Scarlett considered me a friend or not no longer matters.”

A friend who betrays you is no friend at all.

“So let me go!”

“And if I do? Will you run straight to your precious Marquess Grosvenor and tell him what happened today?”

“Don’t you dare insult my father!”

“Insult? I’m just stating the obvious. What’s wrong with calling a great man exactly what he is?”

“Let me go!”

As Olivia pulled her arm violently away, she lost her balance and fell hard to the ground.

Eric stood over her, watching coldly as she struggled to get up.

Then, without a word, he moved and sat on top of her.

“I’m going to ask you one last time. Do you really intend to break off the engagement? Expose what happened today to the world?”

“Of course I-ugh!”

But Olivia didn’t get to finish her sentence.

Eric had suddenly wrapped his hands tightly around her neck, choking her with brutal force.

His grip was so tight that she thought her neck would snap.

His bloodshot eyes burned with rage as he used all his strength to strangle her.

“I can’t let that happen. Do you know how much I’ve put up with you? You were dull and boring, but I put up with everything, even setting a wedding date – so don’t pull this now.”

Only then did Olivia really understand.

Eric Anderson, who had nothing left but the name of his once noble house, had used her – had approached the Grosvenors just to climb the social ladder.

Ah… she should have seen his true nature before.

Regret washed over her, but it was already too late.

“Good heavens, Eric! No, stop it!”

Unable to watch any longer, Scarlett rushed over, still wrapped in the blanket, and tried to pull Eric away. But she was no match for him. When Eric shoved her with his shoulder, she fell to the ground.

Olivia desperately reached for Scarlett.

Even though she was the friend who had betrayed her, Scarlett was the only one who could save her now.

But Scarlett, overwhelmed by Eric’s madness, could only cry out in fear, tears streaming down her face.

‘Ah… so this is how I die. Killed by the man I thought loved me… it’s so pointless, so heartbreaking.’

In a last act of resistance, Olivia clawed at his arm with her nails.

Eric flinched, but he didn’t release his grip.

Her vision began to blur.

She couldn’t breathe.

It felt like every limb was going numb, and it was impossible to think clearly.

She wanted to live – she didn’t want to die such a meaningless, empty death.

Her family would grieve if she died…

But maybe, just maybe, once she was gone, they’d finally see Eric Anderson’s true nature.

At least they wouldn’t have to worry about being used by him anymore.

Eric gave a cold smile.

“I used to hate to see you smile.”

Why is it that all truths are revealed only in the last moments of life?

The eyes that once murmured sweet promises now burned with nothing but cold, seething contempt, no love left, only hate.

‘Have you really never loved me? Not even for a moment?’

She wanted to ask – but the words never left her lips.

Olivia closed her eyes and winced in pain.

And just like that, her life came to a meaningless, hollow end.