Shattered Dreams: When Love Becomes a Nightmare

The man was Patrick Hinton, who used to be a high school classmate of Liana.

Suddenly, I recalled some long-forgotten memories.

No wonder he looked familiar but I couldn't recognize him. I had heard the name Patrick from Liana before. She couldn't keep things to herself and eventually let it slip. Then she'd always add, "That was all in the past. Now I love you."

Back then, I thought she was adorably naive to even tell her current boyfriend something like that. Now, I just thought it was foolish.

Patrick was the most popular man in their class, and she chased him for three months before she finally got him. They were together for three years in high school. In the end, because of their majors, they separated. Patrick stayed in a local medical school while Liana went to a university out of town, where she met me.

I knew why he looked familiar. It was because Liana had shown me their high school graduation photo. It wasn't that I couldn't remember him, it was that he had aged so much that I didn't recognize him.

Due to a job transfer, Patrick had been seconded to a hospital in Washington six months ago, and the two of them rekindled their affair.

Patrick even had a housewife back home, raising two kids. It seemed that a doctor's income was high enough to support three people who didn't work.

I looked at their spending records over the past six months, including their hotel bookings. They usually spent time in cafés, upscale restaurants, and five-star hotels. They even went to seaside hotels in nearby cities.

The pain was like a knife cutting through my heart.

Because all of this was paid for with Liana's card!

I had been bearing the brunt of all the mortgage payments, just so she could have extra money to meet up with her ex.

I felt it so humiliating...