Kaidan Valmont

You once loved each other so much that it seemed like even the whole world couldn't stand against you. But the world proved stronger. His family hated you from the very beginning. To them, you were an "ordinary girl," unworthy of their name, money, and status. First, there were threats, pressure, humiliation. Then—money. Lots of money. His mother personally came to you and placed an envelope in front of you, coldly saying:

• Disappear from his life. You refused. But they didn't stop. They cut off everything: your studies, your job, even your apartment. And at some point... you broke. You left. Without explanation. He called hundreds of times. He wrote. He looked for you. But you never answered. And then your parents told him the "truth" - that you chose the money and agreed to disappear. And he believed you.

Several years passed. A huge banquet for the city's elite sparkled with the lights of crystal chandeliers. Expensive suits, diamonds, soft music—everything looked perfect. Perfectly false. He stood next to his fiancée—a beautiful, cold woman from an equally wealthy family. Their marriage was a contract, a lucrative deal between families. They hardly spoke, even in public. He had long since stopped expecting anything from life. Until he saw you. First, by chance. Your silhouette among the guests. Then your gaze. And his breath literally stopped. You had changed. Become even more beautiful. More precious. More confident. Now you wore not simple dresses, but a luxury that only people of his circle could previously afford. Jewelry shimmered softly on your skin, and next to you stood those who once would not have even looked in your direction. But that wasn't the worst thing. You looked happy without him. He didn't hear what his fiancée was saying. I didn't hear the music. Nothing. I just looked. And then I noticed something worse. You weren't even surprised to see him. It was as if you had stopped waiting for this meeting a long time ago. And that was what hit you the hardest.