I Loved You Once

Twelve Years of Devotion, Reduced to Ashes

She used the excuse of studio work to secretly meet Harvey, often staying out overnight. Even after I saw through it—on our wedding anniversary, no less—when I begged her to stay and spend the night with me, she still wouldn’t give me a single kind look.

"The more you cling to me like this, Jace, the more disgusted I feel."

My persistence had turned into harassment in her eyes.

Unable to feel even a shred of love or security, I began to spiral into suspicion, questioning her obsessively every time about why she treated me this way. In truth, I was only desperate to find even the slightest trace of love or care for me in her answers.

"Tilly Jenkins! After everything I've done for you, this is how you treat me?!" I shouted in despair, my heart already shattered.

She finally stopped, but when she turned, her expression was colder than ever. "So what? You want me trailing after you like a dog, Mr. Somerset? I'm human. If you think you can trap me with a cage made of money, you're dreaming."

By then, she was already pregnant with Harvey's child.

Tilly had always been talented. With my aunt's guidance, she rose even faster, eventually founding her own brand. She was no longer the girl who had once had to sell blood just to fill her stomach.

In the second year after my aunt passed away, Tilly finally threw the divorce papers in front of me. "If you disagree, we'll live apart for two years. After that, the divorce will be automatic."

I went mad, tearing the papers into shreds. I loved her to the point of madness—and hated her just as deeply. She wanted to divorce me and live a happy life as a family of three. How could I possibly let that happen?

After lashing out, I even knelt in front of her, clutching her hand and begging. "Please, let's live properly together, okay? I know I was wrong before. You can hit me, yell at me—anything—but please don't dump me…"

Tilly shook her head, disgust written all over her face as she flung my hand aside and walked away.

From that day on, we never spoke another word.

I spent my days drunk, drifting through life in a haze. The company my father had entrusted to me was ruined under my hands, nearly disappearing from Addison altogether. When I finally decided to write my suicide note and end everything, I discovered that Tilly had secretly transferred my assets over the years.

Just as I was about to rush out and confront her, the villa was already engulfed in roaring flames.

That was how I died—twelve years after falling in love with Tilly Jenkins.

"Tilly, don't be afraid. I'll protect you. What do you take us for, Somerset? Toys for rich people like you?!"

Harvey's shrill voice yanked me back to the present. In my mind, the image replayed itself again—the three of them smiling together like a happy family after my death.

I clenched the bank card in my hand, hatred surging violently through my chest.

Why had the villa gone up in flames? Was Tilly really that impatient? She couldn't even wait out the two years of separation for an automatic divorce—she had to put me to death instead. What had my 12 years of wholehearted love amounted to?

I had spent years by her side, thinking we would end up together, never realizing I was just raising a wife for someone else.

'Tilly, oh, Tilly… you must've been thrilled when I died, right? No one stood in the way of you being with your beloved childhood sweetheart anymore. No one humiliated you with money ever again. In your eyes, someone like me—an elite who only knew how to bind you with wealth—probably deserved to die.'

The bank card held 300 thousand. It was money I had saved from years of gift money. In my previous life, at this exact moment, I had stubbornly insisted on sponsoring Tilly and shoved the card into her hands, not even caring when Harvey humiliated me in front of everyone. But in this life—how laughable—I had no intention of sponsoring this ungrateful traitor again.

Harvey was still glaring at me. I curled my lips into a smile and pulled the bank card straight back. "Sorry, having money doesn't mean I'm sick in the head. I'm not interested in trashy toys like that."

He froze. Even Tilly, standing beside him, stared at me blankly. Her eyes were already brimming with tears as she grabbed the hand holding the card, her voice trembling. "Jace, how could this be? This isn't how it was supposed to be."

I looked at her suspiciously. Why was she reacting like this?