He Kept Her Sheets

The night before our engagement party, I discovered my boyfriend Adrian kept recordings from his first night with his childhood sweetheart, even the bloodstained sheets.

When I confronted him through tears, his response was ice-cold:

I just had too much to drink that night. Vanessa gave me her first timeI need to take responsibility for her.

At the engagement party, when I tried to call off the wedding, Vanessa deliberately spiked my drink with formaldehyde.

I vomited all over the floor in front of everyone, but Adrian only had eyes for Vanessa's bleeding hand.

"She's the one who got hurt, and you're still putting on this act!"

He rushed his childhood friend to the hospital, leaving me alone on the floor in that mess.

Fine then. I'll let you two have each other.

Later, as I walked toward another man in a pure white wedding dress, Adrian knelt at my feet with a diamond ring:

"Ella, please give me one more chance."

Watching Adrian's determined figure walk away, I picked up my phone and called my mom:

"Mom, I'm willing to marry Theo."

"Oh sweetheart, I know you've been wronged. I'll arrange the wedding right away."

Before the engagement party even ended, an ambulance took me to the hospital for a stomach pump.

The burning sensation in my mouth and throat kept assaulting my nerves.

After giving my mom instructions through the pain, she immediately had someone notify the Richardson family to set a date for our wedding.

Theo had been pursuing me for five years, proposing to me every birthday.

But back then, my heart only had room for Adrian. I never accepted his affection.

Even though I'd decided to leave, my heart still ached unbearably.

I smiled bitterly and shook my head. Better a short pain than a long one. I'd get used to it.

After the stomach pump, I was lying weakly in the hospital bed when the door suddenly burst open. Adrian rushed in with red-eyed Vanessa.

"Ella Hayes, how long are you going to keep pretending to be sick?"

"Vanessa just grabbed the wrong glasswhat gives you the right to make her kneel and apologize to you!"

His whole body radiated hostility, veins bulging on his face like a lion pushed to the edge of fury.

"When did I ever tell her to kneel?"

"Still making excuses." He shoved Vanessa's phone in my face.

After seeing the message on the screen, my eyes went wide.

"I never sent this."

I pulled out my phone to show him the chat history, but he slapped it out of my hand.

"Who else could it be!"

He wouldn't listen to my explanation at all, throwing my phone violently to the side.

In that moment, I suddenly didn't want to explain anymore. He always took Vanessa's side anyway, using the sharpest words to wound me.

Whether I did it or not didn't matter anymore.

"Adrian, it's all my fault. I'll kneel and apologize to Ella."

Vanessa, her hand wrapped in bandages, held back the furious Adrian and bent down as if to kneel.

"Ella, are you done with this tantrum!"

Adrian pulled her up immediately, and Vanessa nestled in his arms, tears falling like broken pearls.

"Adrian, it's okay. Every time Ella gets angry, I'm the one who apologizes first anyway. As long as Ella feels better, that's all that matters."

Adrian tenderly wiped the moisture from the corner of her eyes, then turned to me with uncontrollable rage.

"Ella, I already told you that night was just an accident. Why do you keep making things difficult for Vanessa!"

"If you're angry, take it out on me, but if you bully Vanessa again, I won't let you get away with it!"

Watching him desperately protect Vanessa, the pain in my heart spread to every organ.

Five years together, and he made a vow in front of my father's memorial photo, saying he would take care of me for life.

After that, Adrian really did treat me with meticulous care. Even my mom praised him constantly, saying he was a man worth entrusting my life to.

We had agreed that once I finished mourning my father, we would get married.

But then I found the recording and bloodstained sheets from his first night with Vanessa hidden in the closet.

In that moment, my world collapsed.

Adrian, you never touched alcoholhow could you lose control while drunk?

So our thousand-plus days and nights together couldn't compare to one night of pleasure with her?

My throat burned with pain. Overwhelmed by grief, I couldn't help vomiting all over the bed.

Adrian's furious expression changed, and he frowned with some concern.

"Ella, are you really not feeling well?"

I didn't want to answer him. Everything spun around me.

In the last second before losing consciousness, I saw him rush over to catch me.

Suddenly, I felt a sense of relief. This kind of life would finally be over soon.

"Ella, you're finally awake. It's all my fault for not being by your side when you had this accident."

When I woke up, my mom sat by the hospital bed, haggard, worriedly holding my hand.

I smiled at her and told her to go home and rest properly. The nurse was here watching menothing serious.

As soon as my mom left, Adrian rushed in accusing me: "The doctor said your condition isn't serious. Why did you pretend to faint?"

"Do you know Vanessa's wound reopened because she was so worried about you? Ella, I never thought you'd become so manipulative!"

I looked silently at Adrian, suddenly losing the strength to defend myself.

Whenever Vanessa got hurt, it was always somehow my fault.

What was the point of explaining?

Disheartened, I thought of all our memories together.

He once said I was the most innocent and kind girl in the world, that he would cherish and protect me forever.

But after Vanessa appeared, he started taking her side without limits, stabbing my heart again and again with the cruelest words.

Three people in love was too crowded. I was truly exhausted.

If that's how it is, then I'll let you two have each other.

After Adrian left, I lay exhausted in the hospital bed and made a call.

"Mom, have you picked a wedding date?"

"Ella, Theo's coming back from abroad at the end of this month. Let's set the wedding for early next month."

"Okay."

I put down my phone and fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up, my phone was flooded with messages.

"Ella, Adrian is so romantic. After all these years, he's still devoted to you."

"I'm so jealous, Ella. You must be the happiest woman in Northbridge today."

Confused, I opened my social media. Adrian had set off a huge display of pink fireworks by the river.

But the woman he was holding in the video wasn't meit looked exactly like Vanessa.

Under the blooming sky, they kissed intimately.

I smiled bitterly and closed the video. This firework display called "Ella's Crossing" was named after me by Adrian.

He said he would only make it bloom for me in this lifetime.

The fireworks bloomed in the night sky over the river, and my friends all thought he was trying to please me.

But I knew that neither the fireworks nor Adrian belonged to me alone anymore.

"Ella, Adrian put so much effort into this for you. You absolutely can't let him down."

I laughed coldly. Who was letting whom down?

In front of others, he always played the model boyfriend. Even when we fought, people would only think I was throwing a tantrum.

Suppressing the bitterness in my heart, I replied in the comments: "The fireworks are beautiful. Hope you guys have fun."

In the blink of an eye, that comment disappeared.

Adrian, so you do have some shame after all.

The nurse came in to tell me it was time for nebulizer treatment. Before she could set up the equipment, my phone rang urgently.

"Ella, Vanessa was just starting to feel better. Why did you comment that? Are you deliberately trying to upset her?"

I coughed heavily a few times, my voice bleak: "I was wishing you both well. What more do you want?"

He paused for a few seconds before his voice came through again, "Fine, I can let this slide."

"But you have to apologize to her. Vanessa didn't do anything wrong."

I let out a muffled laugh, closed my eyes, and my voice returned to calm.

"Apologize? I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I apologize? Why should I take the blame for something I didn't do?"

I had already compromised to the extreme, but in Adrian's eyes, I was still the one at fault.

Choked by my words, Adrian was momentarily speechless. After hesitating for a few seconds, he still put down harsh words with a firm attitude.

"Ella, I used to tolerate your tantrums, but Vanessa is different. She gave me her first timeI have a responsibility to protect her."

"If I catch you deliberately bullying Vanessa again, I won't be nice about it!"

He hung up. I lowered my eyes mockingly, my heart desolate.

She gave you her first timebut didn't I spend my best five years with you?

My phone vibrated. Vanessa had posted something new: "Thank you for protecting me. Giving you my first night made me so happy."

In the photo, the two of them were lying in a trailer. Vanessa's bare shoulders showed little red marks, her face flushed as she nestled in Adrian's arms.

What had happened was obvious.

I fought down my nausea and blocked both Adrian and Vanessa's feeds.

I thought I'd feel terrible like before, but now I actually felt somewhat relieved.

After leaving the hospital, I went home and packed my things, planning to move back to the Hayes house.

Adrian walked in holding Vanessa's hand. The jade necklace my father left me was hanging around Vanessa's neck.

"Vanessa, who gave you permission to touch my things!"

Blood rushed to my head instantly. I tried to grab back the necklace, but Adrian blocked me with his hand.

"Ella, what are you yelling about? Vanessa just borrowed it temporarily. Is this reaction really necessary?"

He frowned impatiently, shielding Vanessa behind him.

"Adrian, you know how important this necklace is to me. Why did you take it without asking me?"

My voice trembled uncontrollably. This was my father's last keepsake, my final spiritual anchor.

Adrian froze for a moment, his eyes evasive.

"Ella, it's all my fault. I'll return it to you right now."

Vanessa carefully removed the necklace. As she handed it to me, she whispered in my ear: "Ella, guess who Adrian will side with?"

Her hand shook, and the necklace fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Vanessa's eyes glistened with tears as she frantically tried to pick up the necklace.

"Don't touch it!"

My sanity finally snapped. In rage, I raised my hand and slapped Vanessa across the face.

"Ella, you've gone too far! It's just a necklacewhat are you so crazy about!"

Adrian tenderly cupped Vanessa's swollen face and pushed me away.

I stumbled back a few steps, holding back the heartache, and looked up with tears in my eyes.

"Adrian, have you forgotten the oath you made in front of my father's memorial photo?"

Back then, he knelt before my father's memorial tablet and swore he would never let me suffer any grievances.

Now, for Vanessa's sake, he let her destroy my most precious possession.

In just three years, this relationship had changed beyond recognition.

Adrian's eyes flashed with reluctance, but looking at Vanessa crying her heart out in his arms, he still scolded me coldly.

"Ella, I know you're upset, but can't you be more mature? I have a responsibility to Vanessa. I can't just ignore her."

"Let's postpone the wedding. We'll talk about it after Vanessa recovers."

He left those harsh words and took Vanessa to the hospital.

I picked up the shattered necklace from the floor and left the Shaw house without looking back.

Adrian, why bother postponing? I'm not going to marry you anyway.

With only two weeks until the wedding, the Hayes household was checking off wedding preparations, sending invitations, and hosting dinners. Everyone was too busy to catch their breath.

After helping my mom finish organizing, I was about to rest when Adrian called.

"Ella, why aren't you home? Where did you go so late?"

"I'm at the Hayes house."

"Over such a small disagreement, you run back to the Hayes house to complain?"

"Stop this nonsense and come back. Vanessa already knows she was wrong."

Adrian's tone carried some dissatisfaction, still thinking I was sulking over the necklace incident.

"I'm not making a fuss. Weren't you worried I'd bully Vanessa? Now I'm goneno one will bully her."

Adrian fell silent for a few seconds, his tone slightly angry.

"Ella, why have you become so unreasonable? Vanessa's hand hasn't healed yet. Are you deliberately trying to make her feel guilty?"

I laughed mockingly.

"What does her injured hand have to do with me? Didn't you say you had a responsibility to take care of her? Then take good care of her."

Adrian, why have I become like this? Don't you know?

Every time we had a conflict, you never considered my feelings, taking Vanessa's side without limits.

Our five years together never mattered as much to you as making Vanessa happy. Well then, I don't want you anymore either.

I hung up, took a comfortable bath, and finally could let down all my defenses and sleep peacefully.

The next day at my follow-up appointment, the doctor said my liver, kidneys, and digestive system had recovered wellnothing serious.

Walking out of the consultation room, I ran into Vincent accompanying Vanessa for her checkup.

"Ella, last time was my fault. Don't be angry anymoreAdrian was so worried about you he couldn't sleep last night."

"You two spent last night together?"

Realizing her slip, Vanessa tried to explain in a panic.

"I had Vanessa stay at our place. Her hand is injuredit's not convenient for a girl to live alone."

"Ella, you should stop being angry. We're getting married soon. Suddenly living apartwhat will people think?"

Even now, he was worried about people misunderstanding Vanessa as the other woman.

I didn't even have the energy to argue anymore. I said coldly:

"No need. I have things to do. I'm leaving."

"Ella, how long are you going to keep this up!"

I had just turned around when Adrian grabbed my neck from behind...