Chapter 3

Sitting in the taxi, I played the recorded video over and over again.

"Look at her, does she deserve it?"

"Who else would want her besides me?"

"You don't know how disgusted I am every time I see her face."

"After slowly distancing myself from her for a few years, she'll get tired and beg me for a divorce."

"In this love story, she can only be the one at fault."

In the hotel, Lucas was carrying Emma to the top floor.

Fighting back tears, I called Lucas.

"Hello? Sophia? What's wrong?" he answered.

Tears streamed down my face as I could hear Lucas's suppressed breathing.

"Sophia, go to sleep first. I had a few drinks today and I'm afraid I'll smell of alcohol if I come back. Be good, okay?"

He hurriedly hung up the phone, cutting off Emma's coquettish voice.

I cried uncontrollably. All these years, he had seen me as a burden, a flaw in his perfect reputation.

The amusement park he built didn't belong to me, the fireworks he set off didn't belong to me.

Even he had never belonged to me.

I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the full-length mirror.

The long scar extended from my chin to my chest.

Right to my heart.

Every time my heart beat, the tail of the scar moved with it.

Every time in bed, Lucas would passionately kiss this scar.

From top to bottom.

"Is it ugly?" I had asked Lucas more than once.

His response was always more intense movements.

"Sophia isn't ugly. This scar is the red thread of fate tying us together."

I thought we were in love.

After that incident, Lucas followed me around for many years.

Even my mom said, "Lucas is a kind-hearted, loyal boy."

In high school, many people mocked my scar as ugly.

Some even gave me nasty nicknames.

But Lucas never did.

He would hold me in his arms when others bullied me.

He would repeatedly emphasize that I was the most beautiful girl in his eyes.

After getting into college, Lucas confessed to me with our acceptance letters in hand.

"Lucas, my face is fine now. You don't need to be with me out of guilt."

Actually, I felt insecure, but he pulled me into a small alley.

He gently kissed the scar.

"Sophia, do you really think I've been close to you all these years just because of guilt?"

My heart sank, and I took the initiative to kiss his lips.