He Ditched Our Engagement for His Unforgettable Love

On the day we were supposed to register for our marriage license, Rufus abandoned me in the wilderness to care for his feverish sweetheart.

In the pouring rain, I nearly lost my life to a gang of thugs, while he was at home making chicken soup for his precious girl.

From outside the open kitchen, I could hear him patiently soothing her on the phone, "I didn’t register my marriage with Emilia and I won’t marry her. The one I love is you, only you."

He went on, "When you left, I didn’t have the ability to keep you. But now, I'm the CEO of one of the top 500 companies in the country. I can give you a life of luxury, so please don't let insignificant people stand in our way, okay?"

"Aileen, let me take care of you," he added at the end.

After hearing all this, I lost all hope and had my wealthy grandpa, Duke Sieghart, remove Rufus from his CEO position.

Alright, let’s see how long their happiness lasts.

Part 1

"Grandpa, I want Rufus removed from his position as CEO of Prospera Holdings."

Rufus had just reached the pinnacle of his career by becoming the CEO of Prospera Holdings. If my grandpa stripped him of that title, it would be a crushing blow.

"MillieBean, are you feeling unwell?" he asked, his calm tone laced with barely contained rage.

Then, in a voice that trembled with fury, he added, "That damn bastard Rufus had the nerve to secretly keep another woman! Watch me tear him apart!"

Though I’ve always kept my identity hidden and stayed on the periphery of Prospera Holdings, my grandpa knows exactly what I’m capable of.

Hearing the full extent of the situation, my grandpa’s anger flared immediately.

"Grandpa, I’m fine. I’ll handle this with him myself."

My voice was hoarse and trembling, thick with congestion.

Knowing how stubborn I could be, Grandpa Duke sighed deeply, gave a few instructions and then hung up.

There I stood, disheveled, outside the open kitchen, glaring at Rufus as he calmly cooked chicken soup. The saddest part? He didn’t even care about me.

Rufus was my junior back in school.

It was during our sophomore year, at the school’s radio station recruitment interviews, that I fell for him at first sight. His looks were striking and his low, soothing voice completely captivated me.

Unfortunately, he didn’t make the cut. When I found out that he needed to work parttime to support himself, I secretly used my influence to ensure he passed the selection process. In the end, he even became the head of the radio station.

At the club's social event that night, I confessed to him, only to be met with a cold, indifferent rejection.

But I didn’t back down. I stubbornly pursued him, despite his continued distance and indifference.

Then one day, he nearly drowned in a valley. Without hesitation, I jumped into the river to save him, pulling him out even as my feet were cut and bleeding. I carried him all the way back to the guesthouse.

It was after that that he began to soften. He started to show concern for me, taking care of me in his detached way—yet, somehow, it made me feel as though I was being protected.

I thought that this was the dynamic he liked, that in his eyes, I was the exception and that exception was the beginning of love. At that time, I truly believed it.

Just as I thought our relationship might be warming up, he suddenly announced he was dating the most attractive senior in school.

Looking back now, I realize I was nothing more than a lovestruck fool.

It was precisely because of his pushandpull, that fickle attitude of getting close only to pull away, that stirred my heart, making my feelings so intense and confused.

It wasn’t until the club's endofyear retreat before graduation that he suddenly sought me out, feeling down and asking me to talk with him.

He had drunk a lot. He told me his "campus beauty" girlfriend had betrayed him, complaining about his poverty and using underhanded tactics to steal the chance for a study abroad opportunity. He said he hated her!

Despite accusing her of all these hurtful things, there was only love in his eyes.

And from that day on, I silently vowed to show him, through my actions, that someone who truly loves you would never want to see you so heartbroken.

After graduation, he struggled to land a job, repeatedly failing interviews. The reasons varied—either he was too qualified for the position, or the salary wasn’t right, or the work itself wasn’t worthwhile.

After hitting rock bottom and ending up homeless, he watched with envy as others from his social circle thrived. Once again, he drank heavily at the bar, breaking down and confiding in me.

During his darkest times, with my companionship, he gradually pulled himself back up. Finally, he agreed to let me be his girlfriend.

I knew he dreamed of joining Prospera Holdings, one of the top 500 companies in the country and had even submitted his resume, only to be swiftly rejected. But that company was a part of my family’s conglomerate. So I secretly asked my influential grandfather, Grandpa Duke, to pull some strings and pave the way for him.

Three years passed and he rose from an entrylevel employee to general manager with rocketlike speed.

On the day he received the promotion notice, I proposed to him in the office.

He agreed. I knew he was in high spirits.

I thought that finally, we had reached our happy ending.

Who would have thought that all of this was nothing more than a fleeting illusion? I was merely his toy to pass the time in his lonely, empty hours—love had nothing to do with it.

Rufus was so focused on simmering chicken soup that he didn’t even notice when I turned and left.

Not long after, I saw a post from Aileen on her social media. [Someone was so busy making chicken soup for me that he missed our appointment to pick up the marriage license—so spoiled!]

Attached was a selfie of Rufus and Aileen on a giant swing ride.

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Who goes on intense amusement park rides when they’re supposedly bedridden with a fever?

That night, Rufus came home very late. He didn’t care about leaving me behind halfway through our day, nor did he show any concern for our plans to register our marriage.

After he fell asleep, I used his fingerprint to unlock his phone. I had never looked through his phone before, but I noticed he’d never posted a single picture of us together.

In that moment, I realized he did post frequently on social media and he did share photos—but he’d just hidden them from me.

Soon enough, I came across a photo he’d posted with Aileen. Around her neck was the “Starlight” necklace—a piercing sight.

Just a few days earlier, I had seen that necklace in his desk drawer.

I thought it was a surprise he’d meant for me, to gift me personally after we registered our marriage.

But he’d given it to someone else.

It turned out he wasn’t lacking in romantic gestures; it just depended on the person.

Exhausted and emotionally drained, my cold worsened.

Rufus hadn’t noticed, nor did he seem to care. I was about to head to the hospital when my phone suddenly rang.

“Emilia, get over here quickly—Rufus is in serious trouble; he’s at the police station.”

On the other end, I could faintly hear Rufus’s furious voice in the background.

“You old fools, you owe my girlfriend an apology!”

My heart jolted hard.

I wasn’t there, so the girlfriend he was defending so fiercely… definitely wasn’t me.

I skipped going to the hospital, driven by a need to understand what could make him lose his composure like this.

As I tossed the painkiller box aside, I noticed the brown prayer beads I had once begged for at the temple a year ago, praying for his safety. They lay broken and discarded under the edge of the coffee table.

I gave a bitter smile—those beads had taken nearly everything from me, a prayer I had nearly sacrificed myself for.

Yet he didn’t care for them in the slightest.

I stooped down, picked up the wornout prayer beads and without a word, threw them into the trash.

Then I stepped outside and hailed a cab to the police station.

The moment I stepped into the police station, I spotted a woman softly coaxing him, her eyes full of tenderness.

Around her neck was that extravagant "Starlight" necklace.

Part 2

“It started when someone from our company’s HR team, under the guise of a work discussion, started harassing Rufus’s friend—and even threw dishes at them. Furious, Rufus couldn’t hold back and got into a fight with them.”

“To make things worse, everyone had been drinking a bit and after Rufus ate that exotic wild mushroom, he started acting strange. No one could restrain him—I was afraid something serious might happen.”

A colleague of his, also a close friend, hurried over to me, offering a rushed explanation.

So this was why he’d lost control. I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

I remembered the times I had dined with other company leaders; once, when we disagreed, they deliberately dumped food on my head.

He hadn’t shown a shred of anger then. Instead, he’d turned the blame on me, accusing me of failing to read the room and saying I was ruining his chances of advancing in the company.

Maybe he really had eaten a bad mushroom, because now he was hallucinating, grabbing the nearest officer as if to start a fight. His colleague quickly held him back, saying, “Rufus! Enough already. Your career’s taking off, you’re about to get married—if you keep causing a scene, you’ll ruin everything!”

Rufus shook off his friend, gritting his teeth, "Who said I'm getting married?!"

"This bunch of old fools actually had the nerve to hit on my girlfriend in front of me, thinking they're so important! Next Monday, when I officially take over, I’ll fire every last one of you!"

"I don’t care how many of you there are—no one leaves here until you all kneel down and apologize!"

His righteous, yet completely outofplace words left my colleagues who knew me feeling uncomfortable.

Feeling the weight of everyone's gaze on me, I coldly curled my lips into a faint smirk.

"Long time no see, Emilia." Aileen’s voice was full of familiarity. She looked at me with an air of superiority, her eyes filled with disdain and provocation.

My expression turned cold and I pressed my lips together in silence.

"You two know each other?" a colleague asked, surprised, then added excitedly, "What a coincidence! Emilia Shen is Rufus’s fiancée, they..."

"We’re just colleagues! Fiancée?!" Rufus snapped, his voice rising in anger, cutting off my colleague’s words.

His sudden denial made my whole body freeze.

The situation felt strange and the atmosphere grew painfully awkward.

After a moment of silence, one of my colleagues noticed my change in expression and quickly poured me a glass of water.

"Here, sister. Drink this, you’ll feel better."

I reached out to take the cup, but Rufus forcefully knocked it out of my hand, splashing water everywhere.

He was seething, shaking his head in frustration as he snapped, “What’s the point of giving her a drink? Don’t you know your sisterinlaw took antibiotics with cephalosporins this morning? And now you’re trying to give her alcohol—what’s your game here?”

It seemed the mushrooms' effects weren’t too strong; Rufus’s rationality and memory hadn’t been clouded yet. A small part of me still felt a sense of relief.

But what happened next completely caught me off guard.

"Rufus, you misunderstood," Aileen said, trying to explain. "Luca was handing the water to Emilia, not me. And it’s just warm water, you fool. Why are you worrying about me when she’s the one poisoned?"

Once Rufus heard the first part, his expression softened.

"Alright, fine. If it’s water, then she can drink it. She could drink a thousand cups and still be fine!"

"At the company, no one can outdrink her—she’s the best at it!"

Without realizing it, I clenched my fists, the pain in my chest so intense that it left me struggling to breathe.

I remember two years ago, on the birthday of the company’s vice president. That day, I had accidentally injured my leg and went to the hospital for a bandage and some cephalosporin painkillers, planning to sleep it off. But he dragged me out to join the festivities.

It was a massive pool party and he knew the vice president was interested in me, so he used me to set up a connection.

Dizzy and out of it, he pushed me toward that old man, making me toast him, even forcefully pouring alcohol down my throat.

That day, I ended up in the emergency room. He blamed me for embarrassing him, saying the vice president would surely make things difficult for him and that his promotion was now out of reach.

He didn’t care that I’d nearly been through death’s door. He just left in a bad mood, slamming the door behind him.

It’s clear now—his heart was never with me.

And this time, I had come here still holding onto that last shred of hope.

But now, my heart was shattered and the dream was over.

Aileen handed the groggy Rufus over to me, still worried as she said, "Since you’re here, when the ambulance comes to pick him up, you should go with him to the hospital. He didn’t eat much of the mushrooms, so it’s only mild poisoning—he’ll be fine. I’ll stay here to handle things, so I might not be able to take care of him later."

"Also, make sure to prepare a bowl of celery and minced meat porridge for him tomorrow morning. It’ll warm his stomach and help with the hangover. He really likes it. If you don’t, his stomach pain will get worse."

"Keep a close eye on him tonight, too. He might catch a chill. Every time he drinks too much, his sleep is terrible."

Aileen’s words subtly told me that she understood Rufus better than I did.

I stared at her. This was all because of her and I desperately wanted to slap her.

But I held myself back.

I wanted to see just how far they were willing to go.

Part 3

On the way to the hospital with Rufus, I dragged my exhausted body, struggling to breathe, my throat feeling as though it were blocked.

I knew that crying was a sign of weakness in a relationship.

But I couldn’t stop myself.

This was the man I had chased for three years, the one I had loved for six.

And this was the outcome I got.

It also reminded me of the day we were supposed to register our marriage. He abandoned me in the middle of nowhere and a group of shady thugs chased me, nearly killing me.

I returned home, bruised and battered, only to find him making chicken soup for his white moonlight, saying cruel words to me.

I realized that if Aileen sneezed, Rufus would probably run to comfort her.

The woman he’s always loved is Aileen and no matter how much I gave, I would always be a woman he can’t even bring himself to settle for.

Looking at Rufus, who was dozing off after having his stomach pumped, my emotions were complicated.

At that moment, his phone, tucked in the pocket of his suit, vibrated. It was a message from Aileen.

But my eyes lingered on the nickname she had used for him.

No wonder his profile picture had changed today. A bitter smile curved on my lips. I hadn’t just looked at the nickname, I must have noticed the profile picture too.

I remembered that a year ago, I had asked my cousin, who owns an art gallery, to design two cute and romantic profile pictures for us. I spent a lot of time searching for the perfect matching nickname, even consulting a fortune teller before finally settling on a pair of couple names.

I had acted cute and asked him to change his profile picture and update his nickname.

He had scolded me for being childish and meddlesome, telling me not to waste time on stupid dramas and that I should focus more on household chores and work.

Because he didn’t like having servants, I took care of all the housework in the villa myself.

But now, he had changed his profile picture to something boring with his mistress.

I trembled as I used his fingerprint to unlock his phone. But when I saw the message from Aileen, my whole body shook, my breath caught for a moment and my eyes burned with tears.

[Darling, should we cancel the wedding dress fitting tomorrow? Remember to contact me once you wake up.]

Since Rufus agreed to marry me, I had been the one planning everything, with the wedding dress being the main priority.

I had brought it up to him multiple times, but each time, he made excuses about being too busy with work and told me to just make the decisions. He even said it was just a simple ceremony and there was no need to waste time on these meaningless details.

In reality, he never expected a future with me.

He never thought about me walking down the aisle in a beautiful wedding dress, heading toward him on our wedding day.

I pressed my hands to my head, which felt like it was about to crack open, my hand trembling uncontrollably as I held the phone.

As I put the phone back, my fingers brushed against a small box in his pocket.

I closed my eyes and the emotions I had just managed to calm down flared up again.

I took a deep breath, gathering what little courage I had left and shakily opened the box.

It wasn’t a wedding ring. Instead, it was a small tattoo machine, a familiar brand logo and two stencils with the initials of their names intertwined.

I remembered begging him countless times for an engagement ring. After he flatly refused, I bought this brand of tattoo machine myself.

I recalled how angry he had been when I bought it, accusing me of deliberately challenging him, knowing that the company had a notattoo policy.

Yet, here he was, buying one himself, intending to surprise Aileen with it. The company rules clearly meant nothing to him when it came to pleasing her.

A rush of emotion hit me, and in my pain, I buried my freshly done nails into Rufus' hand.

Once I had loved him so deeply and now, all that love had turned to hurt and hatred.

I tried to let go of this sixyearlong relationship that had gone nowhere.

The next morning, I followed Aileen's suggestion and went downstairs to buy him a bowl of minced pork congee with celery.

But he spat it in my face, his brows furrowed tightly.

"What is this? Are you trying to disgust me, to get back at me? Don't you know I hate celery?"

The congee was her suggestion, but soon I understood.

It wasn’t that his stomach hurt. He was rejecting the celery because of Aileen.

Even though this "white moonlight" of his had once abandoned and betrayed him to go abroad.

I spent the entire night awake, replaying everything in my mind. I had come to terms with and let go of much of this relationship.

I wiped away the stain on my face with a tissue. He humiliated me, but I wasn’t angry. Instead, I quietly drank the congee myself—after all, wasting food would be far more shameful.

Rufus removed the needle and changed his clothes, his voice cold as he said, "Now that I’m the CEO, there’s a lot to do. Don’t cause me any more trouble."

With that, he lowered his head to reply to a message and stormed out.

I knew, without a doubt, he couldn’t wait to go with Aileen to try on wedding dresses.

Part 4

At this point, the luxurious wedding dress I had my eye on, the most extravagant one in the country, would never see the light of day.

It had arrived yesterday, along with his customtailored suit, which I had planned to surprise him with. But between feeling unwell and the emotional breakdown that followed, everything was left unfinished.

Today, I decided to return the dress.

As I stood outside the bridal shop, I spotted Rufus’s Maybach parked nearby. It hit me just how small the world is and I couldn’t help but think—this was the most exclusive and luxurious bridal shop in the country.

The fitting room was dazzling, filled with gold and splendor. Aileen slipped into the wedding dress, happily snapping selfies with her phone. She then clung to Rufus’s arm, acting all sweet and coy.

"Rufus, this wedding dress is absolutely gorgeous! The lace trim and the ethereal feel make me love it even more. I really, really like it—this one, I want this one!"

Rufus didn’t seem bothered by her interruption. Instead, he chuckled, gently teasing her by flicking her nose, his tone soft and indulgent.

Somewhere deep inside me, something shattered. He had completely changed. Was this really Rufus?

Furrowing his brow as he conversed with the store manager, he said, "My fiancée really loves this dress. If the client is willing to give it up, I'll offer you an extra thirty thousand and compensate them seventyfive thousand."

Hearing this, I couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh.

She likes it, so you want it—does that mean I have to give it to you?

The store manager, clearly swayed by Rufus’s offer, immediately turned to make a call, asking him to wait for a moment.

I walked up to Aileen, my expression my expression cold and detached.

It was Rufus who noticed me first. His face instantly stiffened. Without a word, he shoved me, sending me crashing into a row of wedding dresses. Right in front of me, he pulled Aileen close, his arm tightly around her waist as if to protect her from any threat I posed.

Aileen’s face drained of color in fear. When she saw me, a mess tangled in the wedding dress, she frowned and obediently curled up in Rufus's arms.

"Today’s not a day off. You’re supposed to be at work, not here causing trouble!"

Rufus didn’t show the slightest hint of guilt or unease. Instead, he boldly confronted me, his tone laced with disdain.

The wedding dress had been knocked into disarray and the sales clerk, shocked, shot me a furious glance but dared not speak out.

I stood up from the floor without a word, not wanting to argue.

My feelings for him had long since faded—he no longer stirred any emotions in me.

Seeing that I remained silent, staring at Aileen, he grew serious and said,

“Emilia, you can’t force something that isn’t meant to be. The one I love is Aileen.”

"Since you're here, let me make things clear. I'll give you a generous breakup settlement: an Audi and of course, you can keep the villa, but I’ll pay half to help you buy a new apartment in a different neighborhood."

I kept my gaze fixed on Aileen’s wedding dress and asked, "Rufus, I just want to know—did you ever love me, even for a single moment?"

Aileen, hearing my words, smirked, her lips curling into a condescending, victorious smile.

"No, Emilia," Rufus replied coldly. "I can only say I tried, but I couldn’t settle. I agreed to be with you because you helped me."

"I only pitied you. Aileen wasn’t around and I needed someone to fill the space, so I agreed to be with you."

"My love for Aileen is engraved in my bones, woven into my soul."

So heartless.

Fine.

Since he was so ruthless, there was no reason for me to show him any mercy.

Just then, the store manager walked in, phone pressed to his ear, as he apologized, "Mr. Nox, I’m sorry..."

The store manager looked around at the mess, trying to maintain her composure. She asked if Rufus had been startled, then turned to scold me, the one responsible for the chaos. But when she saw me, her words caught in her throat and she paused in surprise.

"Ms. Sieghart, you're here... Did you hurt yourself?"

"I'm fine," I replied coldly.

"This gentleman wants to..."

Before the manager could finish, I cut her off.

"I refuse. Have her take it off."

The manager stiffened, unsure of how to proceed.

Aileen shook her head, clinging to Rufus like a petulant child, refusing to cooperate.

"Emilia, stop your ridiculous act at once! I paid for the wedding dress, so I’ll decide who wears it!"

"Bring me the scissors."

"I’ll say it one more time: take off the wedding dress."

I ignored him completely, my gaze icy as I locked eyes with Aileen.

I had paid in full for that wedding dress and although the store manager hesitated, she ultimately obeyed my command.

Aileen shot me a few furious glares before turning to Rufus with a look of shock and hurt.

Rufus, teeth clenched in rage, raised his hand as if to slap me, but I kicked him between the legs and shoved him into a rack of dresses.

I cornered Aileen, then took the scissors and began slicing her wedding dress to pieces.

I didn’t stop until she was left exposed, the fabric now in tatters.

Throwing the scissors aside, I turned and walked out of the bridal shop, dialing Grandpa's number.

"Grandpa Duke, let’s make the announcement about Rufus being removed as CEO on the day of his wedding."

Part 5

I immediately called Sebastian, the middleaged butler and told him to sell the villa I was living in at a low price.

It was time to leave my past behind and cut all ties with Rufus.

Despite the six years of emotions and memories that bound me to him, the sudden separation still left a lingering sense of regret.