Replaced by the Man She Always Loved

On Valentine's Day, my fiancee, Camilla Stenson, is admitted to the ER in the middle of the night for food poisoning. In her dazed state, she blurts out, "Nathan, I'm sorry I let you down. If it weren't for me being broke back then, I wouldn't have gotten together with Hendrick." My name is Hendrick Toff, while Nathan Langdon is her first love. It seems that she's forgotten that after the Stenson family went bankrupt, Nathan abandoned her and headed overseas. For the past eight years, I was the one who paid off her debts and remained by her side. Yet, in the end, the person she's always held close to her heart is none other than Nathan. I calmly tell her I want to break up with her, then toss my engagement ring into the trash. However, she says, "Can't you be more magnanimous? Nathan definitely wouldn't be as unreasonable as you." I laugh. "In that case, I'll be giving a piece of trash like you over to him as well." Chapter 1 When my fiancee, Camilla Stenson, shared her food poisoning incident and joked about what she had said then with her friends, they all laughed. However, I couldn't do the same. I sat off to one corner with my head bowed, silently eating my food while trying hard to digest my negative emotions. "Hendrick, why aren't you saying anything?" Caleb Zolt asked me with a smile, the malicious intent obvious in his eyes. He was one of Camilla and Nathan Langdon's best friends, as well as Tiffany Sommer's boyfriend. "What, did that get under your skin?" The private exploded with raucous laughter at his words. With him and Tiffany leading the charge, the rest were quick to join in as well. "If you ask me, you're actually quite lucky." "Yeah. Even though Camilla isn't over him, she's still going to marry you, isn't she?" They spoke up, one after another. Even though I had never said a word, it seemed like they had already made up their minds that they were right. I turned to look at Camilla, who remained silent as she took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes were glazed over while she stared off into the distance, as though all this commotion happening right now had nothing to do with her. Seeing that, I realized that she wouldn't be standing up for me this time either. "Caleb, as far as I know, you're not Tiffany's first boyfriend either. If Nathan really was that great of a person, why did he run off immediately after knowing that Camilla was in a tough spot?" My words had clearly struck a nerve, for Caleb jabbed a furious finger at me, snapping, "Don't think that you're better than Nathan just because you're about to marry Camilla! You're not worthy! If it weren't for him leaving the country, would a defect like you have been able to get the chance to be with Camilla?" The sound of a glass shattering against the ground cracked through the air. Camilla, who had been calm and indifferent just moments ago, was now exuding a murderous air. When everyone saw that she was genuinely pissed, they swiftly shut their mouths, not daring to even breathe too loudly. Camilla's hand snapped out to wrap around my throat. "Apologize, Hendrick. You're not worthy of mentioning Nathan's name." I retorted, "No! I wasn't wrong." "Fine! It seems I was too indulgent with you." Camilla's grip around my throat tightened, slowly cutting off my air. Even so, everyone else merely watched on in amusement, like they were watching some sort of show. At last, just as I was about to suffocate to death, someone spoke up. "Camilla, let go. Someone like him isn't worth you going to prison for." Nonetheless, Camilla refused to listen. Nathan was a touchy subject for her, and she absolutely refused to allow anyone to so much as mention him. Hence, she didn't ease up on her hold. When the others realized that she wouldn't listen to reason, they got ready to pry her fingers loose. "Your darling is here! Cami, quickly answer your phone!" Nathan's voice abruptly cut through the silence. It was a special ringtone just for his number. Even though it had been eight years since they broke up, she still couldn't bring herself to change it. Camilla released me, causing me to collapse to the floor without her to hold me up. Her movements were practically a blur as she answered the phone. When it came to Nathan, she wouldn't allow him to wait for even a second longer than necessary. From the other end of the line came Nathan's voice, sounding as bright and warm as a summer sun. "Cami, I've returned to the country. Come pick me up." Immediately, a wave of excitement cut through the tense atmosphere. In the next second, everyone swarmed out of the private room, leaving only Caleb, who stared down at me arrogantly. I was still suffering from my earlier asphyxiation and could only greedily gulp in deep breaths. "Weren't you acting all high-and-mighty just now? Now that Nathan's back, you can do nothing but watch as the bliss you stole from him is slowly taken away from you." With that, he threw his head back and laughed wildly, absolutely relishing the thought of watching me crumble. Chapter 2 I rarely joined Camilla in her gatherings, as her friends all hated me and never bothered to hide it. The sorry state I was in right now wasn't the first time I had been like this, and Caleb was always the one who started it every time. The reason they didn't like me was simple—they thought I didn't deserve Camilla. Camilla, Nathan, and the rest had known each other since they were young. Nathan was like a shining star, being the heir to a wealthy family and always being number one in everything. Meanwhile, I was a hearing-impaired commoner who only got to study in university due to a scholarship. Without my hearing aid, I couldn't even have a normal conversation with people. Much like Nathan, Camilla had also been born into a prestigious family and was extraordinarily beautiful. People like them were often thought of as being favored by the deities, so with them practically being a match made in heaven, they should've had a happy ending together. However, fate decided that it wanted to play a cruel joke on them. The Stenson family got in trouble, resulting in Camilla shouldering a heavy debt that had more zeroes than I could count. Because of that, Nathan also fled overseas. From then on, the debt collectors weren't just Camilla's nightmare, but they became mine too. Once, the debt collectors had beaten Camilla up till she was battered and bloody all over. Dragging her broken legs behind her, she had somehow crawled her way over to the convenience store I had worked at to beg me to save her. Originally, I wasn't supposed to be on the night shift that day. Countless times after that day, I had felt thankful that my colleague had decided to switch shifts with me. I couldn't even begin to imagine what fate would've befallen Camilla if that hadn't happened. I had hidden Camilla in the storeroom, then returned to my post. As the debt collectors followed the blood trail and entered the store, I saw that they were towering over me. When I insisted that I had no idea where Camilla had gone, they threatened to beat me up too. Ripping off my hearing aid, I gathered my courage to confront them even as I called the police. Worried about the trouble that I would bring them, they had instantly turned and fled the scene. Only once I had confirmed that they were truly gone did I drag my trembling body over to check on Camilla, who had gone into shock from too much blood loss. After passing over the shift to my colleague, I had sent her to the hospital and used all of the money I had on me to pay for her medical bills. Upon waking up, she asked me who I was, and I learned that she had lost her memories. Regardless, there was no way I would forget that it was she who had defended me when a group of people had once called me deaf and began throwing my hearing aid around. She had berated them fiercely before snatching my hearing aid back from them. For the next three months, I had stayed by her side and carefully nursed her back to health. The look in her eyes had slowly changed, from the cold indifference of staring at a stranger to that of dependence on someone familiar. I helped her pay off her debts, bit by bit, and in a show of emotion, she had pulled me into a tight hug. "Hendrick, once I finish paying off my debts, I'll throw you a grand and unforgettable wedding." Subsequently, a cold sensation had brushed my skin as she had slipped a silver band around my ring finger. Pressing a kiss to my lips, she had promised that she would definitely replace the ring with an even bigger one in the future. Eight years later, she had finally finished paying her debts, and we were finally about to get married, only for Nathan to return. Chapter 3 I sent Camilla a message saying that I wanted to break up with her. Despite it being two in the morning, I was still packing my belongings. Throughout these years, I had been slowly turning this place into a home. With it came more and more ties to bind me here. Just as I was debating whether to take away a decor item, I received a belated message from Camilla. She had completely ignored my break-up message. "Hendrick, have you come back home yet? I won't be going back tonight, so don't wait up for me. Head to bed earlier. Remember to lock the door properly." I didn't reply to her message. If she had genuinely been worried about me, then would she have only contacted me now, when we had separated over seven hours ago? And what had she been doing all those hours? There wasn't even a need for me to think of the answers, as Nathan had posted something on his social media two hours ago. "My queen promised to protect me forever." Attached was a photo of two hands placed over each other, while in the background was a hotel bed with mussed sheets. It clearly implied that an intense "battle" had taken place earlier. A suffocating sensation pressed down on me, even worse than when Camilla had tried to choke me. I had always thought that posting such things on social media was a rather embarrassing and shameful thing to do. However, Nathan was obviously showing off to me that Camilla had abandoned me and chosen him instead. To be honest, I had doubted whether Camilla actually loved me countless times over the years. She had never once said that she loved me, and her understanding of me was half-hearted at best. Then, on one Christmas Eve, I had a severe case of gastritis. Due to the festive occasion, most people were spending it with family, and there was hardly anyone on the streets. Unable to hail a taxi, Camilla had carried me for over ten miles to the nearest hospital. When I regained consciousness, I saw that Camilla was sitting by my bed, her eyes completely bloodshot. Upon seeing my eyes open, Camilla tightened her grip on my hand, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Hendrick, don't leave me." A nurse standing nearby teased, "Do you have any idea how worried your girlfriend was about you? She's been crying the whole night." It was at that moment that I had confirmed she did love me. However, when she said those words during the food poisoning incident, I had started doubting her again. Now, however, I no longer had any doubts, as my suspicions had been confirmed. Nathan had achieved his goal. Below in the comments section, his and Camilla's friends were fervently congratulating the duo, with Caleb's comment in particular catching my eye. "Now that the rightful partner is back, Hendrick Toff, that piece of trash, should know to back off." He was right. I should leave, and that was why I liked the post and left my own comment, wishing them a happy and blissful life together, as well as a fruitful marriage with plenty of kids. The moment I finished posting my comment, Camilla began bombarding me with a slew of messages, none of which I bothered to read. Following that, she began calling me, over and over again. Annoyed at the disturbance, I switched my phone to silent mode before tossing it aside, completely unaware that Camilla would end up spam-calling my phone so much that it automatically turned off. Half an hour later, I finally finished packing my luggage and headed for the front door. At that moment, Camilla returned. When she noticed my luggage, her brow furrowed into a frown. "Hendrick, just how long do you plan on throwing a tantrum?" What a textbook line a toxic woman would say. "It's only right that trash be with trash. You two are perfect for each other!" With that, I yanked the engagement ring off my finger, tossed it into the trash, and walked toward the door with my luggage. Behind me, Camilla snarled through gritted teeth, "Hendrick, you'll definitely regret leaving me!" Chapter 4 I rented a small apartment on the outskirts of the city with only one bedroom. Though it couldn't compare to Camilla's massive luxury apartment, it made me feel a lot more at ease. At first, everything went smoothly, but I kept running into a wall when it came to finding a job. Since I still needed to transfer money over to the orphanage regularly, I decided that I would get a part-time job at a restaurant for now. The restaurant was running an event, so I stood outside the door, handing out flyers. "Well, well, if it isn't the little deaf boy!" I turned in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Caleb. Next to him were Nathan and Camilla, who were arm in arm in an intimate manner. Upon spotting me, Nathan acted as if he had suddenly realized the awkwardness of the situation and moved to extricate his arm, only for Camilla to tighten her hold on him. With a condescending sneer, Camilla said, "You were kicking up such a fuss, insistent on leaving me, yet look at where that's gotten you? You're just a lowly waiter at a restaurant!" Nathan and Caleb burst into laughter at her words. "Camilla, how about we eat here? Although it's kind of cheap…" Caleb suggested. After giving it a few seconds of consideration, Camilla agreed. At first, their decision had nothing to do with me, but then the manager told me that they had specifically requested that I serve them. When I refused, the manager snatched the flyers from me. "You don't get to refuse." Technically, she was right in that I couldn't say no. Camilla and the others were clearly out to get me, either complaining that this dish was too salty or that one was too bland. My flustered demeanor only caused them to smile in satisfaction. At last, I lost my temper and snapped back at them, but just as I turned to leave, Nathan called out and stopped me. Pointing at the arrabbiata pasta on the table, he said gently, "Finish that plate, and we can forget about this matter." I was allergic to chilli, and I knew that they had specifically chosen to get the extra hot option when placing their orders. Hence, I was about to refuse, but then Camilla ordered Caleb to grab my hands. She clearly knew that I was allergic, yet she still allowed Nathan to stuff a forkful of pasta into my mouth. Mustering all my strength, I pulled free of Caleb's grip and shoved Nathan hard, causing the entire plate of pasta to splatter against his suit. Immediately, the pristine white suit was stained with red. Nathan turned to Camilla with reddened eyes and an utterly pitiful expression on his face, as though he were the victim here. Camilla called for the manager, demanding that I apologize even though the one who had been forced was me. When I stubbornly refused to apologize, the manager ended up firing me. After ending my shift, I walked out of the restaurant, only to see Camilla's Rolls-Royce parked by the roadside. She was alone inside, with no sign of Nathan beside her. Upon spotting me, she got out of her car and approached me. "Get in the car." Ignoring her, I turned to make my way to the subway station. She frowned at my action. In the past, I had never once lost my temper at her, so after snubbing her multiple times over the past two days, she was more than a little displeased. Taking hold of my hand, she forcefully dragged me into the car. I struggled desperately to open the car door and escape, but she was quick to lock the door. Only then did she speak up. "If you want to drag Mr. Manon and the orphanage into trouble alongside you, then continue with your tantrum." My hand froze over the car door handle. Mr. Manon was the director of the orphanage I had come from and the most important person to me, a fact that she was well aware of, yet here she was, threatening me with him and the orphanage. Abandoning any attempts to escape, I sat back quietly in my seat, the tense atmosphere in the vehicle almost suffocating me. Satisfied with my compliance, she reached out to pat my head. "Good boy. Move back in and don't piss me off again, okay? We'll get married next month as planned. You won't be able to survive if you leave me."