Prologue

Evangeline Grace Meadow. Everything about her life was going so perfectly—almost exactly as she had planned in her notebook—and she was proud of all the achievements she had gained in her 27 years of life.

Landing a permanent position as a doctor at Seattle's largest hospital, residing in a luxurious apartment coveted by every person in Seattle, having a handsome fiancé who loved her—at least that's what she believed—and parents who supported every decision she made, including her decision to move to Seattle from New York and all the hype that follows her last name.

No, she didn't. It was not that she disliked her last name. Whether she realized it or not, she had to accept that everything she had accomplished up to this point still had a connection to her family's last name—the Meadow family and all the power and connections she could tap into for free. Eve loved it all, but sometimes she wondered what it would be like to stand on her own feet. And she began to understand what it was like when she moved to Seattle and got away from the power of her father's famous last name all over New York.

Well, not that it didn't matter here, but at least only a few people knew her family name, unlike New York, which never fails to shine a crazy spotlight on her personal life. New York paparazzi like to follow in her footsteps, but Seattle is much quieter, as she is free to go wherever she likes without worrying about what the city thinks of her.

Her life is perfect here—filled with work during the week and spending weekends at her fiancé's apartment watching movies with popcorn whenever she comes over.

Yes, that perfection is what Eve looks forward to every weekend.

However, this morning, waking up too late and finding that her scrub was doused in coffee on her way to her office was the first misfortune that had never been in her notebook.

A patient breaks down her door and snaps her because she refuses to give a fake health certificate to a politician who is trying to gain the sympathy of the townspeople. She gets a reprimand from the hospital director, which makes her day worse because what she did to the patient was not a mistake worthy of punishment. Who would help a lying politician who uses fake medical papers to win an election? Hell, Eve would never do such a dirty thing, and she felt that spending her lunch hour hearing a reprimand from the hospital director was not much worse than allowing herself to cheat.

She was a doctor. The vow she took on her graduation day was not a long string of meaningless sentences—it was a promise she had to keep for the rest of her life. Cheating was one of the vows she had to avoid as long as she wanted to be a doctor with trustworthy integrity.

However, she did not think that her misfortune this morning would continue into an endless circle of misfortune. And it culminated in this moment—as she stood with a birthday cake in her left hand while her right hand held a paper bag filled with gifts she had prepared a week ago. Even though her right hand was carrying a large paper bag, her fingers could still press every button on the door of her fiance's luxury apartment in downtown Seattle. It was said that a woman's hands could do everything—including carrying things in both hands and still be able to open the door, press the elevator button, operate the cell phone and... drop everything in her hands when she found that something was not as she expected.

"Eve, I'll explain everything to you, so don't move and stay there."

That was the first sentence uttered by her asshole fiancé just after Eve dropped every single thing in her hand after seeing him making out on the couch of his apartment on his birthday.

Stupid. Did he expect Eve just to stay there like he told her to?

Today, her fiancé's affair closes the list of bad luck she's had all day. And this last bit of bad luck—she really hoped it would be the last one of the day—was instead the worst bad luck that led to a hell of destruction.

After everything they've been through together—happiness, every word of love, kiss, and sadness, how could he be such a jerk as to cheat on her on his birthday?

Damn it.

"Let go of my hand!" Eve knew that her footsteps couldn't win against his long legs—Andres Diego, her fiancé, who had just seconds ago broken her heart with his disgusting affair.

"Can you calm down and let me explain?"

Just as Eve turned around, she found a pair of hazel eyes staring at her with panic and regret.

Wow, regret?

Would all men show regret right after they had an affair?

"Let go of my hand," she muttered under her breath.

The elevator doors chimed and then opened to reveal an empty space with no one in sight.

It was Tuesday at 2 am. A sane person would choose to curl up under the covers because tomorrow, they would be back to their busy routines at their offices. However, on this cold night, Eve chooses to put aside her tiredness after her long shift at the hospital because she wants to surprise Andres on his birthday—and unfortunately, she is the one who gets a surprise from him.

"Listen to me," Andres is breathing hard, and Eve can see the panic in his eyes, "what you saw is not what you think. This is a mistake, Eve. You want to wait until the wedding, and I respect your decision. However, you can't make me live a life like you, can you? I have needs to fulfill, and this is how I fulfill my needs without having to force you. Please understand."

Damn it. His reason made Eve feel even more pathetic.

So, was this her fault because her fiancé cheated on her? Is she the one who should be responsible for their agreement not to have sex before marriage?

"Let go of my hand." The sentence remained the same. Eve repeated three times.

"Eve..." Andres let go of her wrist while bowing his head. "You know that I love you very much. It was a mistake... I made a mistake, and I regret it."

Her hand slipped away from Andres, and Eve could see a diamond ring beautifully encircled on her ring finger—their engagement ring that she had worn right after Andres proposed to her three months ago on their vacation at a beautiful beach.

What a beautiful ring...

And Eve is sure that it will look even more beautiful if she uses it properly.

So, she swung her hand hard to slap Andres—making the large diamond he had chosen to adorn her hand now become an object that hurt his temple.

The sound of the slap wasn't that loud, but Eve was sure she had hurt Andres' temple enough because the tip of her diamond had a slight stain of his blood.

"Yes, you should regret it, Andres," Eve muttered calmly. Just before the elevator doors closed, she stepped inside and left him, who was still standing frozen in place after getting one hard slap from Eve's tiny hand, who had been tired of working all day.

This was a stupid day. Eve felt stupid about what had happened to her.

And she felt even more stupid for letting her tears flow right after the elevator doors closed—right after she managed to hold back her emotions with all the strength she had when dealing with Andres.

Oh God. This is so painful.