Chapter 1My Vampire Fiance Abandoned Me for a Human Girl，So I Married His Brother

On the night of my birthday, Adrian didn't come home until three in the morning.

That human girl had run away from the estate again and nearly died at the hands of lesser vampires.

When Adrian got the call, his voice was ice cold.

"If she wants to get herself killed, let her. No one is to stop her."

But after he hung up, he still went after her.

Ever since Vicky's parents took a vampire hunter's silver bullet for Adrian, he could never let her go.

By the time they returned, the guests had already gone home disappointed, and the frosting on my birthday cake had long since collapsed.

Vicky buried herself in Adrian's arms, trembling as she sobbed.

"I'm sorry, I just dreamed about my parents last night..."

I had heard this excuse countless times.

Every time something happened to her, Adrian would leave me behind.

From my coming-of-age ceremony to every single birthday.

I looked at Adrian.

He didn't push her away. Instead, he said quietly to me,

"Elena, she's not in a good state right now. Maybe... we should wait until next year to discuss the engagement."

This wasn't the first time he had postponed our engagement ceremony.

The entire vampire world had long since turned me into a laughingstock.

This time, I just smiled, nodded, and agreed.

After all, in one month, I would be marrying someone else.

* * *

Elena's POV

On the night of my birthday, Adrian didn't come home until three in the morning.

Only a handful of vampire nobles remained in the banquet hall.

They held their wine glasses, their gazes drifting toward me now and then.

The birthday cake on the table had been sitting out too long. The elegant fondant decorations had gradually softened, petals tipping over into the frosting, and even the letters spelling my name had half-collapsed.

Everyone was waiting to see how this spectacle would end.

Adrian had abandoned me time after time, and my reputation was already in ruins.

Those nobles said I couldn't even compare to a human woman.

That I couldn't even hold on to my own childhood sweetheart's heart.

It hadn't always been this way.

I was born into an ancient vampire clan and had grown up alongside Adrian, the heir to the vampire Prince. Our two families had arranged the engagement long ago.

Celebrating our birthdays together had been our tradition for years.

No matter what came up, he used to rush back early and hand me the gift he had prepared the moment the clock struck midnight.

But in recent years, Adrian had missed it repeatedly, and the reason was always the same.

Vicky was in trouble again.

She came from human nobility. Her parents had traveled between the human and vampire territories for years, running businesses that bridged the two worlds.

A few years ago, they were ambushed by vampire hunters in vampire territory. To protect Adrian, they had taken the hunters' silver bullets for him.

From that day on, Adrian treated looking after Vicky as a responsibility he could never shirk.

At first, I was willing to help him care for her too.

She had just lost her parents and found herself in a world of vampires she didn't understand. It was only natural that she'd cling to someone out of fear.

I even arranged a place for her to stay and shielded her from those vampire nobles who looked down on humans.

But gradually, Vicky's dependence on Adrian became obsessive.

When she had nightmares, she needed him. When she fell ill, she needed him. When she missed her parents, she absolutely had to see him.

If Adrian didn't appear quickly enough, she would starve herself, hurt herself, or run out of the estate alone with a death wish.

And every time she had one of these episodes, it just happened to fall on an important day of mine.

Tonight, my birthday, was no different.

Before the banquet started, Adrian had already arrived.

He stood outside the hall doors, wearing the suit I had personally chosen for him, holding the gift he had prepared for me.

Then an attendant called in a panic.

Vicky had run out of the estate again and been surrounded by a group of lesser vampires. She had nearly been killed.

Adrian's expression darkened the moment he heard.

"If she wants to get herself killed, let her. No one is to stop her."

His voice was cold, as if he was tired of Vicky's recklessness.

But after hanging up, he sighed, handed the gift to an attendant, and walked toward the estate gates.

I stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, only a few steps away from him.

If he had just turned around, he would have seen me standing there in my gown, waiting for him.

But he didn't.

And I didn't chase after him like I used to, grabbing his hand and asking when he would be back.

Because I didn't want to see that conflicted look on his face.

Because I knew that no matter what I said, he would still leave.

And because, before this birthday banquet even began, I had already told my father that I didn't want to marry Adrian anymore.

The Valerie clan and the Prince's family had been close for centuries. It was only because I happened to be born a daughter in my father's generation that the engagement was finalized, binding me to marry the Prince's heir after I came of age.

But Adrian wasn't the Prince's only heir.

He had an older brother, three years his senior. Cassian.

As long as I married him, the marriage pact between our two families would still be fulfilled.

And no one would have to stay trapped in this relationship, torn apart and suffering.

My father didn't agree right away, but he didn't try to convince me to keep enduring either.

He only told me to think about it one more night.

I didn't refuse.

For as long as I could remember, I had known Adrian would become my husband.

I had loved him for so many years, been through so much with him.

The truth was, the reason I had held on this long was because I couldn't bear to let go.

Part of me still wanted to give Adrian one last chance.

If only he would stay tonight. If only he could choose me over Vicky, just once, on my birthday.

Even just once, and I would take back everything I had said, swallow all the humiliation, and marry him.

Every time he had abandoned me before, leaving me a laughingstock, all the shame I had endured, I could forget it all.

I would understand him one more time. I would keep believing that he was only trapped by his sense of duty.

But when I watched him leave without a moment's hesitation, I suddenly realized I already knew exactly what would happen next.

I would stay here alone, enduring everyone's stares, making excuses for him, protecting his dignity.

And when he finally brought Vicky back, he would tell me she wasn't doing well and ask me to be understanding just one more time.

So I didn't blow out the candles, and I didn't have anyone fix the ruined cake.

I sat in the seat of honor, watching the guests leave one by one.

When some said goodbye, their eyes were full of pity.

Others couldn't wait to start whispering to one another the moment they stepped outside the hall.

I knew that by tomorrow, every vampire in society would know that Adrian had left my birthday banquet again for Vicky.

And I, his childhood sweetheart and fiancée, would once again become the butt of every aristocrat's jokes.

Because of this, my family's reputation would suffer, and no gallery would be willing to exhibit my paintings.

All because I was the woman who had been cast aside. My reputation was ruined, and I was no longer worthy of respect.

At three in the morning, there was finally movement at the estate gates.

Vicky clung to Adrian's collar, sheltered in his arms as he walked into the banquet hall.

Her gown was torn in several places, her face pale, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

The moment she saw me still sitting at the table, she immediately lowered her head and buried her face in Adrian's chest.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on your evening together. It's just, I dreamed about my parents last night...

"Once you two are engaged, there'll be no one left to take care of me anyway... I'm sorry, Elena. I was just so sad. I never expected Adrian to leave you to come find me..."

The fragile tone of her voice, with its faint undercurrent of smugness, no longer stung the way it used to.

Now, all I felt was exhaustion and annoyance.

She had given this speech far too many times.

Every time she mentioned her parents, Adrian would fall silent.

Because whenever he saw her cry, he would remember those two silver bullets her parents had taken for him.

Vicky's hand still clutched his shirt, and Adrian didn't push her away.

I watched the two of them leaning against each other and felt none of the old wrenching pain.

Perhaps I had simply waited too long, and even disappointment eventually runs dry.

Adrian finally noticed the cake on the table and the fact that I had never left.

His gaze lingered on the collapsed fondant decorations for a moment before he finally walked over to me.

"Elena, I'm sorry I came back so late."

I shook my head gently, without asking why it had taken him this long.

Vicky stood behind him, sniffling softly, as though she still hadn't recovered from the earlier scare.

Adrian glanced back at her, his expression visibly torn.

"Elena, she's not in a good state right now. Maybe... we should wait until next year to discuss the engagement."

This wasn't the first time he had postponed our engagement ceremony.

The first time, he said Vicky had just lost her parents and couldn't handle the shock.

The second time, he said Vicky hadn't adjusted to the vampire world and he was worried no one would look after her once he got engaged.

Eventually, I had grown too tired to even listen to his excuses anymore.

As long as something happened to Vicky that day, Adrian would ask me to wait a little longer.

He always thought that since we had grown up together and had centuries of life ahead of us, pushing things back a year didn't matter at all.

But he had forgotten that no matter how long a life may be, it cannot endure being wasted and taken for granted over and over again.

I looked at him and nodded gently.

"Fine. Then we won't get engaged."

Adrian didn't seem to catch my meaning. The tension in his expression actually eased.

"Once Vicky is in a better place, I'll make new arrangements."

I didn't correct him. I just looked at the birthday cake, now completely ruined.

"Go take her back. She's still shaking."

Adrian studied me for a moment, as if sensing something different about my response.

But Vicky quickly grabbed his sleeve again, calling his name softly.

In the end, he still took her and left the banquet hall.

I didn't call after him, and I didn't wait for him to look back.

Once the hall fell quiet again, the remaining guests, having seen enough of the spectacle, finally left as well.

Only my parents and I were left.

My father didn't blame me for embarrassing the Valerie family once more. He simply looked at me with aching tenderness and asked in a low voice, "Elena, have you truly made up your mind? Once the match is changed, there's no going back."

The truth was, my father had known my decision for some time and had already begun discussing the change of match with the Blackwood family.

He was leaving the final choice to me.

If I changed my mind tonight, everything could still be stopped.

I stood by the window and watched Adrian escort Vicky to the carriage, then personally instruct the attendants to prepare hot water and medicine for her.

Not once, until the carriage door closed, did he glance in my direction.

I answered quietly, "Dad, I've made up my mind."

My father was silent for a moment, then asked, "You won't change it again?"

"No. Tonight was the last chance I gave him."

My voice was so calm that even I was surprised.

Since he was this conflicted, and I was this miserable, there was no point in tormenting each other any longer.

I shook my head and said, "I'm really tired, Father. I don't want to wait for him anymore."

My father didn't try to comfort me. He only said, "As long as you've thought it through."

I took off the engagement ring and placed it in the jewelry box.

"Tell the Blackwoods that I won't be changing my mind."

My father acknowledged this, then brought up the name they had already discussed.

"Then I'll have the engagement between you and Cassian formally confirmed tomorrow."

I gazed out at the deep night sky and gently closed my eyes.

"All right."

This time, I finally didn't have to wait for Adrian anymore.