The cold wind on the street rushed toward me, just like that winter when I first fell in love with Rachel at first sight.
Back then, my buddies warned me, "She's famous in our department—the poor campus beauty who does nothing but study."
"Plenty of rich kids have chased after her, and she doesn't even spare them a glance. Ask her why, and she'll say she doesn't have time for childish dating games."
"If you want to pursue her, that'll be harder than climbing to the heavens."
But I still liked her.
So I hid my identity, transferred into her major, and started shamelessly showing up everywhere just to make myself noticeable to her.
In private, I paid her tuition and living expenses through anonymous sponsorships, pulled every string I could to get her mentored by renowned doctors, and made sure she had opportunities to attend high-level academic conferences freely.
I turned down every wealthy socialite my father introduced to me and centered my entire world around Rachel.
In the end, as someone who was now her "equal in status," I naturally became her boyfriend.
After graduation, arrangements were made for both of us to enter my father's hospital.
I didn't move into the luxury apartment my father had bought long ago. Instead, I squeezed into a tiny studio near the hospital with her.
We once had a genuinely sweet period.
In the mornings, when I refused to get out of bed, Rachel would coax me, even helping me brush my teeth and wash my face.
In the evenings after work, we'd hold hands and go grocery shopping together.
Curled up on the couch watching TV, I'd hold her in my arms while she fed me fruit she had peeled herself.
But after Tyler returned to the country, everything changed.
He became Rachel's one and only priority.
The car she bought with her first paycheck—its passenger seat became Tyler's exclusive spot.
"Home is so close to the hospital anyway," she'd say casually. "Walking a bit counts as exercise for you."
One night after a late shift, I was followed by a deranged patient.
My hands were shaking, I called Rachel and begged her to come pick me up—but she was on her way to Tyler's place instead.
"Tyler caught a cold and has a terrible headache. He can only stomach the ginger tea I make," she said impatiently.
"Can you stop being jealous and unreasonable at a time like this?"
When the man lunged at me with a knife, I struggled in sheer desperation.