In the middle of the dance floor, Nathan and Victoria were dancing an intimate waltz.

"He locked onto a target in five minutes. Elena is in danger this year," someone snickered.

"Wait, wasn't she the girl from last year?"

Yes, it was Victoria again last year.

Victoria Black. A Manhattan socialite with chestnut hair and an air of nobility. She was my complete opposite—I was rational and calm; she was passionate and wild.

During last year's "breakup," she and Nathan traveled the world—Paris Fashion Week, the Venice Biennale, Sotheby's auctions.

The final stop was an expedition to Antarctica.

I was so worried I couldn't sleep. The weather forecast warned of blizzards, and that sea area was a no-sail zone.

I called him a dozen times. He didn't answer a single one.

I booked the fastest flight and rushed to the port in Ushuaia.

In the blizzard, I blocked their path. "It's too dangerous. You can't go."

Nathan didn't even look at me, continuing to check his gear. "Victoria wants to see the Emperor Penguins. I promised her."

Victoria held his arm, smiling smugly. "Elena, aren't you overstepping for an ex-girlfriend?"

The wind and snow were so heavy my words froze in my throat.

I stepped aside, watching them disappear into the white expanse of ice and snow.

Ten minutes later, Nathan ran back. "Elena, I'm not going."

We supported each other as we walked back.

When we returned to the pier, we saw the Coast Guard initiating a rescue. "A lady fell into the icy sea. Her name is Victoria Black."

Nathan's face went pale instantly. He glared at me with pure hatred, turned around, and charged back into the blizzard.

Nathan carried Victoria's stretcher down himself.

She had severe hypothermia, and her injuries were shocking.

Seeing me, she cried and grabbed my hand. "Elena, I don't blame you, but please, stop pestering him."

Everyone around looked at me with those eyes—disdain, disgust.

As if I were the third party destroying someone else's relationship.

After dating for seven years, I had become "the crazy ex-girlfriend."

Nathan inhaled too much cold water in the icy sea and got a lung infection. Back in New York, he spent every day at the hospital taking care of Victoria—feeding her, cleaning her, changing her dressings.

When I was hospitalized with a high fever, his assistant Madison told me, "Nathan says he can't leave. Victoria has no one else. He asked us to take care of you."

Over the phone, I heard Victoria's sickly sweet voice. "Nathan, give me a massage, please..."

Three months.

Everyone thought they were the real deal.

Then suddenly, Nathan broke up with Victoria and came back to me.

Victoria blocked the door to his apartment, her face pale. "Nathan, I'll die without you."

Nathan let me into the house first. Half an hour later he came in and hugged me. "The doctor said her recovery would take three months. I just didn't want to owe her anything. That didn't count as breaking the rules."

"You are the one I want to marry."

I looked at the rain outside the window. "Then let's get married. Let's have a wedding."

He fell silent.

Then he turned over and went to sleep.