My Fiance Kissed His First Love After She Pushed Me Down the Stairs Chapter 02

My Fiance Kissed His First Love After She Pushed Me Down the Stairs Chapter 02

I already had my answer.

There was nothing left to ask.

Quietly wiping away my tears, I turned to leave.

Before I could take more than a step, my shoulder accidentally knocked into a porcelain vase beside the door.

It crashed to the floor with a sharp crack.

The sound startled Gautier. He spun around so abruptly that the ring slipped from his fingers and rolled across the hardwood floor, stopping at my feet.

Instinctively, I bent down to pick it up.

The moment my fingers touched it, Gautier rushed toward me.

“What are you doing?”

His voice was cold.

He snatched the ring out of my hand so roughly that the sharp edge sliced across my palm.

A thin line of crimson instantly appeared.

The cut was deep.

But strangely…

I didn’t feel a thing.

Maybe I’d simply grown used to pain.

Back when Gautier and I had first started dating, we’d fought over this very ring.

I’d laughed at how cheap it looked.

The design was simple and almost childish, completely out of place for a man who would one day become one of the country’s most powerful CEOs.

He had protected it like a treasure.

“It’s my lucky charm,” he’d said.

“No one touches it.”

A lucky charm?

No.

It had never been a lucky charm.

It was a keepsake from the woman he’d never stopped loving.

My gaze drifted to his bare left hand.

The corner of my lips lifted into a bitter smile.

“Gautier…”

“Where’s our engagement ring?”

His expression froze for a split second.

Then the anger faded from his face.

His voice softened.

“I forgot it.”

“It’s probably still at the venue.”

Forgot?

No.

Vivian had thrown it away.

I’d watched everything with my own eyes that night.

For ten years, he’d treasured the ring Vivian had given him.

Yet the ring that symbolized our future together…

He’d casually tossed it onto the roadside without a second thought.

I looked at him calmly.

“Then forget it.”

“It wasn’t that important anyway.”

Gautier let out a quiet sigh.

Just as I walked past him, he suddenly grabbed my wrist.

For one foolish second, I thought he’d finally noticed the blood dripping from my hand.

Instead, he said casually,

“Chloe…”

“I think we should cancel the wedding.”

“We’ll just go to City Hall and sign the marriage license instead.”

“You’ve seen Vivian’s condition.”

“She’s mentally unstable. Any extra stimulation could push her over the edge.”

Again.

The exact same excuse.

The first time Gautier and I went on a date, Vivian followed us into the restaurant and secretly slipped laxatives into my food.

I’d spent days violently sick, vomiting until I was nearly hospitalized from dehydration.

Gautier only sighed.

“She’s still immature.”

“Don’t hold it against her.”

The second time…

It was our anniversary.

Vivian threatened to throw herself off the roof unless Gautier came to see her.

He left me behind.

When he came back, he told me,

“She just can’t accept that we’re together.”

Then came the third time.

The fourth.

The fifth.

She beat my kitten to death.

She threw away the design portfolio I’d spent months preparing for an international competition.

Every single time, Gautier had the same answer.

“She’s crazy.”

“Why argue with someone who’s mentally ill?”

“We’ll just be more careful from now on.”

“Let’s not do anything that might trigger her.”

Back then…

I’d mistaken those words for kindness.

Now I finally understood what had really been hidden beneath them.

Indulgence.

He enjoyed it.

Because he loved her, he excused everything she did.

Because he couldn’t let her go, he willingly tolerated every outrageous act.

As for me…

The years I’d spent standing beside him…

The sacrifices I’d made…

I had merely become another supporting character in their toxic love story.

The ache inside my chest became almost unbearable.

I gently pulled my hand free from his grip.

Fresh blood dripped from my palm onto the polished floor.

Only then did Gautier finally notice the wound.

His face immediately filled with concern.

“How did this happen?”

He reached for my hand.

“You really are unbelievable. Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”

I had told him.

Many times.

He simply had never listened.

Once, one of Gautier’s business rivals came after me for revenge.

I’d been in serious danger.

I called him dozens of times.

He never answered.

By the time I was rushed into emergency surgery, I finally learned the truth.

Vivian had deliberately lured those men to me.

Then she’d pretended to fall ill, taken Gautier’s phone, and blocked every one of my calls and messages before he ever saw them.

Because of that…

I lost our first baby.

When Gautier eventually discovered what had happened, he’d been consumed with guilt.

For a while.

But the moment I asked him to hold Vivian accountable…

That guilt had quickly turned into irritation.

Looking back…

I should have understood everything then.

The woman who truly owned his heart had never been me.

And the one who wasn’t loved…

Never had the luxury of asking for more.

Fortunately…

I understood now.

And it wasn’t too late.