Part 1The Price of a Dying Wish

On the eve of our wedding, my fiancé received a "dying wish" letter from his late mentor, asking to postpone our wedding.

He pulled his mentor's daughter along and explained to me.

"Audrey, the Professor was my most important mentor. He passed away from illness, and his family is left all alone. I can't just ignore them. Let's put our wedding on hold for now."

"I must repay his kindness."

I was silent for three seconds, pulled out a calculator, and started crunching numbers.

"Fine. You're a sentimental guy who knows how to repay a debt. Let's part ways amicably."

"Settle the bill, and the wedding is canceled."

* * *

On the eve of my wedding, I got dumped.

It all started early in the morning when I received an unfamiliar letter mailed from the dorms at MIT.

The recipient was my boyfriend of four years, Nolan Hayes.

...

My fiancé, Nolan Hayes, was a legend at our university.

From his very first day on campus, his outstanding grades and striking looks earned him the title of the elusive "Ice Prince" of the engineering department—a rare find in a decade.

I chased him for two solid years. It was sheer, relentless persistence that finally allowed me to catch the cold, distant moon all the underclassmen idolized.

Nolan was naturally brilliant. Plus, he majored in a highly sought-after STEM field. Right after graduation, he joined the R&D team of a major tech firm in Boston.

Two years later, he struck out on his own, founded a startup, and became the "tech genius" everyone praised.

I was a year behind Nolan. By the time I graduated, Nolan was already a well-known name in his industry circle.

Everyone said I was average-looking but incredibly lucky—that I knew how to seize an opportunity and effortlessly bagged the "Ice Prince."

They didn't know how much I sacrificed for him.

When he was depressed, I kept him company. When he started his company, I funded it.

I never imagined that all the time and energy I invested in Nolan Hayes would vanish into thin air because of an unsigned "dying wish" letter.

Nolan's single sentence about "repaying a debt of gratitude" ended the beautiful wedding I had envisioned.