Chapter 1

Ethan’s childhood dream was to be a hero.

When I was younger, I was a victim of severe domestic abuse by my father, Frank. I was molested by a relative, fell into a deep depression, and tried to end my life multiple times.

Ethan was the one who saved me. He found me a place to live.

He confiscated my box cutters, threw away my bottles of sleeping pills, and never left me alone for too long.

"I will always be with you, Iris," he had whispered. "From now on, your tears go down, but you only go up."

When we grew up, we got together.

But his savior complex never went away.

When his new secretary, Vivian, faced office bullying, he was the first to stand up for her.

When Vivian was harassed and became too terrified to walk home in the dark, he personally drove her to and from work every single day.

When Vivian’s apartment was broken into and she was too traumatized to sleep alone, he stayed at her place all night, sleeping on her couch to keep her company.

Gradually,

He stopped caring if there were sharp objects around me. He stopped caring if I cried myself to sleep.

He didn't even care anymore when my abusive father, Frank, showed up at my door with a knife, demanding money.

He only left me with one cold sentence.

"Can’t you just be grateful? Vivian has it way worse than you. I need to look after her first."

But pain is not a competition. It shouldn't be measured or compared.

I wasn’t ungrateful. I just wanted a heart that chose me over everyone else. That was all.

Since he couldn’t give me that, it was time for me to pack up and find my own way.