Chapter 1

When Cain Thorne showed up at my door soaking wet with one eye blind, I suddenly understood why Dorian had brought Serena into our home to take care of her. The pull of an old flame is no joke. I immediately felt sorry for Cain and let him move into the manor. It had been years since I'd seen him. He was sickly and withdrawn now, and the slightest touch made him shake uncontrollably. I had no choice but to coax him along, take care of him, pour all my attention into him — I even forgot to compete with Serena, forgot to fight with Dorian. But Dorian fell apart. Eyes red, he demanded: "Ivy, I'm your mate. Why do you always take his side?" The last time I saw Cain Thorne, it was raining hard outside. I was leaning against the porch of the manor, staring up at the dark sky, my heart full of despair. Serena had said she'd never seen the ocean, so Dorian forgot our Bond anniversary, dropped everything, and took her to the Maldives. It wasn't the first time. Ever since Serena came back from abroad, everything in his life came after her. Meals had to be her favorite dishes. Outings had to be places she wanted to go. I kept telling myself Serena had a heart condition. She was fragile. I needed to be patient with her. Then came Dorian's birthday. I put on the red dress he loved most and climbed into his lap. Dorian's breathing went ragged, and he pressed me down hard. Just then, a specific ringtone went off. I knew it. That was the ringtone Dorian had set just for Serena. I wanted so badly for him to ignore it, to stay lost in me. But it didn't happen. The ringtone rang three seconds. The heat in his eyes went cold and clean. He answered after two words, grabbed his jacket, and rushed out the door. He left me there, sprawled on the couch with nowhere to go. Even then I was making excuses for him. What if something really happened to Serena? Her health really was bad. It took a long time to talk myself into feeling okay. But the second I picked up my phone, I saw Serena's latest Instagram post. The photo showed a badly made cake, with lopsided lettering and a clumsy drawing. My eyes went straight to the corner of the photo, to a hand that had slipped into frame. That hand wore the same ring as mine. Dorian's ring. It was Dorian. I tried to come up with an explanation, but Serena's caption wiped my mind blank. She wrote: 【The knight never broke his oath. He will always protect his princess. But this time the princess didn't get hurt — she prepared a little surprise for her knight. A cake she made herself. Happy birthday, my most loyal knight~】 So she hadn't been in danger at all. My heart cracked open. My eyes burned. I curled up and couldn't stop shaking. The next day at noon, I had it out with Dorian the moment he got back from Serena's. It didn't go well. Dorian moved Serena directly into the manor. Of course I refused. I screamed at him to get her out of our home. Serena had a cardiac episode on the spot and was rushed to the Pack Infirmary. After that, my life fell into a loop. It started with a fight with Dorian and ended with Serena in the infirmary. Over and over again. By now, all I had left was exhaustion. Even with every light on in the manor, I felt no warmth. Only loneliness. Then, as if something told me to look up, I raised my head and met a pair of eyes I both knew and didn't know. It was Cain Thorne. He stood under a streetlight not far away, looking very different from before. He was thinner. The careless confidence was gone. His slightly overgrown hair fell across one eye. He hadn't brought an umbrella. The rain had soaked through his white shirt, and he looked wretched and pathetic. Suddenly he flinched, as if he noticed me watching, and turned to leave. But something was wrong with his body — he took two steps and collapsed to the ground. I forgot everything else. I ran through the rain and helped him up. "Cain, are you okay?" In the faint light of the streetlamp, I finally saw his face clearly and asked in shock, "What happened to your eye?" Cain's eye had turned completely gray — clouded over, with no light in it at all. He turned his face away, tucking it into the shadows like a scared puppy, and said in a shaking voice, "This eye can't see." I was heartbroken. He was someone I'd chased in my youth, and I never expected to see him like this. I helped him inside, grabbed a clean towel, and handed it to him. "Go take a hot shower. Don't catch a cold." Cain nodded silently, looking down as he started on the buttons of his shirt.