Chapter 2The Depths of Time

Five years ago, I had just started university. In Ethan’s words when he pursued me, I was “so pure it made his heart ache.” Back then, he truly loved me. And he doted on me fiercely. He treated me as if I would melt if he held me too tightly. I was also his longest relationship. I even got engaged to him before graduating from college.

Only, what a pity. The person I was now was unrecognizable, my reputation utterly ruined. Everyone in the Capital City knew. Knew how many shameless things I’d done just to cling to that prized catch.

Back then, he said he was tired of my innocence and purity. To please him, I forced myself to change, to immerse myself in his depraved circle. I indulged his perverse tastes. He wanted sophistication, a fiery sensuality, an open boldness. I endured the humiliation, satisfying him one by one. Yet my desperate attempts to please him ultimately earned me only his scornful words.

“Elara Sterling, you’re truly pathetic.”

“Even the cheapest hooker isn’t as uninhibited as you are in bed.”

“Look at you now, do you have even an ounce of a proper lady left?”

When he first proposed breaking up, Victor Sterling threatened me with my younger siblings. To keep him, I'd slashed my wrists, I'd taken pills. I had done it all.

Now, he stood before the unrecognizable me, saying he loved Seraphina. He loved that she reminded him of myself five years ago. I wanted to laugh, but the laughter wouldn’t come.

“I truly like her. I want to give her a proper name.”

“She’s not like you. She’s terribly timid, so pure. I have to take responsibility.”

I wanted to say something, but my lips felt glued together. Not a sound escaped. After a long moment, I managed to force out a smile. “Alright, I understand.”

“I can put in a good word for you with The Sterlings.”

“No need. I’ll figure it out myself.”

“As you wish.” He swayed as he stood up, pulled something from his pocket. It clattered onto the coffee table.

My eyelids twitched violently. It was the token we’d exchanged when we got engaged. My biological mother’s relic: a matching jade pendant. What Ethan had given me was his mother’s wedding dowry: a pair of jade bangles. The very pair I now wore on my wrist.

“Take off the bangles.”

“Our engagement is off.”

I looked up at him, his once languid eyes now cold, as if filled with frost. So when he said he wanted to get married, he hadn't meant with me. The five years of companionship couldn't compare to the fleeting thrill a new lover brought.

I thought I would collapse, that grief would overwhelm me. But I didn't shed a single tear. I calmly removed the jade bangles and returned them to him. Ethan’s brow subtly arched, a hint of surprise in his expression. But he took them, then turned and walked away without a backward glance.