Chapter 1Rotten maiden

Imogen got her first period, and I was the one who went out to buy her sanitary pads.

When she filled in her college choices for the SAT, I helped her research and select schools.

When she graduated and started job hunting, I helped her polish her resume and accompanied her to interviews.

Later, I confessed my feelings to her, but she showed up with a guy from the construction site and told me she had found true love.

I stepped back into the role of just a friend.

When that boyfriend of hers beat her up and she ended up in the hospital, I confronted him on her behalf.

Yet, she stood by him, blaming me instead.

"Jasper, who asked you to interfere? Stop trying to drive a wedge between me and Jude."

That's when I realized you should let go of a childhood sweetheart that has gone rotten.

While I was working late, Imogen sent me a picture.

She was lying in a hospital bed with her face bruised and swollen.

She asked if I could visit her at the hospital tonight.

Seeing her once beautiful face now covered in bruises made my heart ache.

I simply replied, "Wait for me," then grabbed my car keys and rushed to the hospital.

Up close, her injuries were worse than in the photo.

Not just her face; the doctor said her abdomen had been violently kicked, causing a rupture.

Rage quickly filled my chest.

"I'm going to deal with that jerk!"

I stormed out in fury.

"Don't go!" Imogen clutched my arm tightly, stopping me. "It's my fault. He came home late, and I nagged him a bit. I annoyed him, and that's why he hit me."

I looked at Imogen in disbelief. She was beaten so badly over something so minor, yet she didn't blame him but instead reflected on herself and defended him.

I was so angry that my chest hurt, and I sarcastically remarked, "Didn't you say he loves you? Loves you so much he'll beat you up, right?"

Imogen lowered her eyes, then looked at me with stubbornness. "He was just drunk today, lost control. He's usually good to me."

"He cooks for me, knits bags for me, and texts me countless times a day saying he's tired but doesn't mind because I'm worth it."

"I'm the light in his life. He needs me."

I really wanted to knock on Imogen's head to see if it was filled with water.

His so-called cooking was just heating pre-packaged food in boiling water, and the handmade knitted bag was a cheap online purchase.

I was genuinely puzzled. She wasn't lacking love, so how could such cheap affection deceive her so thoroughly?

Imogen's family and mine are neighbors. She's an only child, and her parents, both in government jobs, have doted on her like their treasure, never letting her lack anything materially.

And as her childhood sweetheart growing up together, I always fulfilled her every need, always listening to her.

Friends always said that Imogen had a loyal knight always following her.

I also thought I would naturally end up with Imogen.

But later, when I confessed to her, she was arm in arm with a man from the construction site and told me she had found true love.

That man's name was Jude. Just like his name, he always looked world-weary.

He seemed to lack the spine to stand straight, always with a cigarette in his mouth, puffing smoke.

When he looked at people, he tilted his head, chin up, his eyes half-lidded with arrogance.

A typical rascal.

But Imogen loved him obsessively.

I asked her, frustrated, "Have you ever thought about how much your parents would hurt if they knew? You've never been scolded, let alone hit. If your parents knew you were beaten into the hospital, it would be like stabbing their hearts. Even if you don't care about yourself, you should think about your family's feelings."

Imogen was silent for a moment and then replied, "Then don't tell them."

I took a deep breath and called the police.

Imogen could endure it, but I couldn't watch the woman I loved for so long be trampled by scum.