He’s My One True Love 3

That night, Sarah felt a burning heat radiating from her forehead. Even her breath felt hot.
She figured she was coming down with a fever. Pulling on a coat, she got out of bed to look for a thermometer.
The hallway was dark. It seemed Shane hadn’t returned yet.
As she passed the guest room, she caught the faint sound of voices.
“Shane, are you sure she won’t mind me being here?”
A familiar female voice.
Sarah stopped dead in her tracks.
She’d heard that voice countless times over the years through Shane’s phone.
It was Nora.
He had brought Nora here.
This place—this place that had held all her sweetest memories.
She still remembered that day in the snow, when Shane wrapped her in his arms and pointed out this villa to her. The snowflakes had swirled in the wind, but not a single one had touched her.
Because he had shielded her from them.
He’d said, “Sarah, this is my gift to you. A place that belongs to just us.”
Now, Nora was inside.
Sarah couldn’t make out Shane’s words from the other side of the door.
But she could hear sounds—intimate, unmistakable.
Bitterness filled her chest.
Three years, and she still lost to one month of Nora’s return.
She turned and fled to her room.
Her fever was raging, making her body burn, but inside she felt nothing but cold.
Late that night, half-conscious and delirious, she fell into someone’s arms—arms that smelled faintly of jasmine.
“Sarah, you didn’t even realize you had a fever?”
The man’s voice was gentle, as always—but this time, there was a chill beneath it.
Sarah opened her eyes at the sound and met Shane’s familiar fox-like gaze.
For a moment, she was dazed. The jasmine scent clinging to him—Nora’s signature perfume—drifted to her nose.
She rasped out, “Where were you?”
Shane tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, calm and practiced. “I was working late at the office. Gotta earn money to take care of you, right?”
Even now, he wouldn’t tell her the truth.
Sarah felt her heart grow colder. She turned away, exhausted. “I get it. I just want to sleep now.”
“Alright.”
Shane gave her a soft smile.
Maybe it was the fever, but he thought Sarah was being especially well-behaved tonight.
Her pale face had a flush to it, though her expression was distant and cool.
He smiled, his handsome features lit softly by the bedside lamp.
He leaned down to kiss her forehead, but she turned her head at the last second.
His lips brushed her cheek instead. Her voice was mild. “Careful. I might pass it on.”
Shane chuckled, tapping her forehead. “I wouldn’t mind being sick with you.”
She pulled her lips into a faint smile, lowered her gaze, hiding the chill in her eyes.
Once upon a time, hearing words like that from Shane would’ve made her heart swell with joy.
Now, all she felt was bitterness.
She kept seeing those moments—Shane and Nora, so close, so intimate.
Her stomach turned sour.
“I’m going to sleep.”
She sent Shane away.
When the door closed, she lay staring at the ceiling until she finally drifted off.
By the time she opened her eyes again, it was morning.
She went to her calendar and marked a big red X.
Twenty-eight days left until her wedding.
To a man who wasn’t Shane.
Her stomach was aching from hunger. She headed downstairs—only to freeze at the sight of two figures by the dining table.
Her hand clenched around the staircase rail. She didn’t know whether to go forward or turn back.
It was Nora and Shane.
The sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating them like a perfect pair.
Like the real couple.
They were eating breakfast. The atmosphere between them was unmistakably intimate.
Nora spotted her first and stood up with easy grace. “I made breakfast. Want some, Sarah?”
Like Sarah was the guest in her own home.
Sarah didn’t answer. She looked down, her lashes trembling faintly.
When she first moved in, she’d also made breakfast a few times, waiting excitedly for Shane to wake up.
But Shane had gently declined. “Sorry, Sarah. I don’t really eat breakfast.”
Her eyes dropped to the plate in front of him.
Most of the fried egg was already gone.
So it wasn’t that he didn’t like breakfast. He just didn’t like who made it.
That was when Shane finally noticed her on the stairs. His face flickered with discomfort.
“Sarah, don’t be mad,” he said, frowning as he stood up. “Nora had a fight with her family and had nowhere to go, so…”
He stood between them, shielding Nora from view, almost instinctively.
Like he thought Sarah might cause trouble.
That defensive posture made Sarah laugh bitterly.
Was that really how he saw her? Spoiled and unreasonable?
It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t argue anymore.
“When did she get here?” she asked.
She slowly walked over to the table.
“This morning,” Shane replied with a soft tone.
Sarah didn’t respond. She just sat down and brushed her fingers over the cool porcelain buttons on her shirt.
He was still lying.
“Sarah, if you don’t want me here, I can leave,” Nora said, wiping away a tear. “I really didn’t mean for your puppy to die. I didn’t know those girls at school were picking on you. I was young, I didn’t understand…”
She was talking about the years back in school—when she’d used the Saunders family’s guilt as leverage, ordering her little minions to bully Sarah again and again.
That puppy, the one that had been with Sarah for five or six years, had died because of Nora and her followers.
Now, watching the person who started it all put on an act, Sarah felt numb with boredom.
She looked to Shane.
His face was calm. His eyes guarded.
But not surprised.
That made the bitterness rise even stronger.
She remembered—he was the one who had given her that puppy.
He had said, “When I can’t be there with you, this little guy will keep you company.”
When the puppy died and she sobbed that it had been no accident, Shane had only patted her head.
He’d said nothing.
Because he had known all along who was behind it.
And he’d chosen not to do anything.
Sarah stared at them, wanting to argue—but she was just too tired.
Forget it.
She was leaving in twenty-eight days.
After that, none of this would matter.
Whatever bond they’d once shared, Shane had chipped away at it until nothing remained.
She gave a faint smile. “I understand. It’s in the past. You’re welcome to stay.”
Then she turned and walked away.
Nora’s teary expression froze in place.
Shane’s eyes darkened as he watched Sarah go.
Something about her calm, unbothered attitude felt… wrong.
He frowned and started to follow her—but Nora clutched his hand tightly.
“Shane, stay with me… please?”