I Fell Hard on a Poor Man

I was Callie Bowen, the cherished daughter of the Bowen family. I always had everything at my fingertips since I was a little girl.

But I took a hard fall over a poor young man named Kimberly Baldwin.

It started when I slapped his deceitful childhood sweetheart, Lorelei Medina.

In retaliation, he dumped me in the remote mountains while on a business trip.

Later, I fell off a cliff and finally decided to leave him.

But he tearfully begged me for another chance.

1

The moment I fell from the cliff to the ground was both fleeting and eternal.

It was enough time for me to reflect on my painful relationship with Kimberly.

I lay on the ground, and my body felt like it was being torn apart by excruciating pain.

My phone lay shattered nearby, and its battery was nearly dead.

With great effort, I managed to dial Kimberly's number.

He should have been driving not far away. If he was willing to drive back, he could still get me to the hospital in time.

I was in unbearable pain and unable to move my legs. The phone rang for several seconds, but he didn't answer it. Then the screen went black as the battery died.

I was lying on the ground like a shattered porcelain doll.

The pain was overwhelming. Was I going to die?

My vision blurred, and I regretted ever falling for Kimberly.

Every time Lorelei and I clashed, Kimberly always chose to side with her and hurt me repeatedly for her sake.

Yesterday, Lorelei came to me and showed off arrogantly. "Callie, so what if you're the Bowen family's daughter? You still have to beg Kimberly to love you. But Kimberly only loves me. I'm pregnant with his baby. When we get married, we'll invite you to be the bridesmaid."

Her words hit me like a bolt from the blue. I couldn't believe Kimberly would do something so disgusting as to cheat on me.

Lorelei looked at my pale face with satisfaction and insulted me again. "Kimberly and I were meant to be together. If it weren't for your father, that old bastard, we would never have broken up."

It was one thing for Lorelei to bully me, but she shouldn't have insulted my father. So I slapped her hard.

Kimberly returned just in time to see me slap Lorelei.

He pushed me aside and carefully helped her up. He immediately blamed me without asking for an explanation. "Callie, what were you doing? Why do you always target Lorelei? Don't you know she's not well?"

Watching my husband scold me for another woman, I felt bitterness.

Kimberly knew Lorelei wasn't well, but did he not realize I was unwell too?

The doctor had warned me that my excessive worry and poor eating habits could lead to anorexia.

I had seen myself in the mirror-pale and thin, unattractive. No wonder Kimberly didn't like looking at me.

That evening, Kimberly left with Lorelei. Before leaving, she turned to give me a smug smile.

Watching their backs, I felt my heart was broken.

I didn't sleep all night.

By evening, Kimberly came home, and I still prepared his favorite meal.

Kimberly's expression seemed calm, and I thought the matter was over.

I couldn't eat anything, but it was rare to have a meal with Kimberly, so I forced it down despite feeling nauseous.

After dinner, Kimberly told me that he was going on a business trip and asked if I wanted to join him. I eagerly nodded.

It was the first time he had offered to take me along, and I was thrilled. I was dressed in the style Kimberly liked.

To give my pale face some color, I applied makeup.

But I didn't know it was Kimberly's revenge for Lorelei.

That night, he ignored my pleas and left me in the mountains.

In the darkness, I accidentally fell off a cliff...

When I woke up again, I was in the hospital.

The air was thick with the smell of disinfectant.

My father sat in a chair and looked haggard. When he saw me awake, he rushed to my bedside with joy. "Callie, you're... finally awake."

His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were dark and swollen. Clearly, he had cried for a long time.

I felt sad while looking at my father, who seemed to have aged significantly.

If I hadn't insisted on a love that wasn't mine, my father wouldn't have suffered like this.

Perhaps it was time to let go of Kimberly.

2

I tried to move but could not feel my legs. I looked down only to discover they were encased in thick casts.

Later, my father told me that he had a bad feeling that day and couldn't reach me by phone. He found me through the locator he had installed on my phone.

He said it was fortunate that a tree had broken my fall. Otherwise, I might not have woken up.

As he spoke, a lingering fear gripped his heart, and he held my hand tightly. He seemed to be afraid of losing me.

We tacitly avoided mentioning Kimberly.

I had given up on him when I fell off the cliff.

My father had learned about Kimberly and Lorelei's affair through his investigation.

Previously, I had always reassured my father that Kimberly and I were happy together because I didn't want him to worry about me.

My father stayed with me in the hospital room all night and waited for me to wake up, but Kimberly never showed up.

My father hugged me and apologized.

He thought my current predicament was his fault because I met Kimberly due to my father.

My father repeatedly said sorry, and his tears fell into my hair. They were cold.

That night, my father and I cried together for a long time.

Finally, I told him that once I recovered, I would divorce Kimberly.

My father simply said, "Good."

During my stay in the hospital, I cooperated with the doctors' treatment, and Kimberly never called once.

The next news I heard about Kimberly was his scandal with Lorelei. The news was titled, "The CEO of the Baldwin Group Kimberly and Popular Actress Lorelei Spotted on a Late-night Hotel Date."

The accompanying photo showed Kimberly with his arm around Lorelei's shoulders when they entered a hotel room.

Even though I had decided to let go of Kimberly, my heart still ached when I saw the photo.

While I struggled through rehabilitation, he stayed with Lorelei.

I suffered such injuries even due to his warning to me for the sake of that woman.

I saw the comments on social media.

Lorelei's fans praised the touching love story between Kimberly and Lorelei.

In their eyes, I was the villainous wife and used my family background to break up childhood sweethearts.

Kimberly had now become a hotshot in the business world and finally possessed the means and status to rekindle her romance with Lorelei.

Lorelei's fans were relentlessly smearing my reputation.

I knew they were acting under Lorelei's direction. Otherwise, how could they know so much?

I understood that the reason this news remained a hot topic without being taken down was due to Kimberly's consent. Otherwise, who could openly spread gossip about Kimberly?

I smiled bitterly and thought that it was something I should have realized long ago.

I swiped past the news and stared blankly at the pitch-black night outside the window.

The sky was graced by a lone, cold moon, echoing my solitude, much like myself, with no one to accompany me.

At the beginning of the marriage of Kimberly and me, we were a loving couple.

I knew he still had feelings for Lorelei, so I kept my distance.

But he gradually approached me, so I developed hopes that I shouldn't have had.

Back then, Kimberly remembered my birthday, carefully prepared gifts and dinners, and even took me to the noisy cinemas he disliked.

He woke up early to make breakfast for me.

He knew that I didn't have the habit of having breakfast, so he got up early to make breakfast for me, although his schedule was packed.

He remembered the days of my menstrual cycle, comforted me during my cramps, massaged my abdomen, and made me a soothing drink.

Late at night, he kissed me tenderly and expressed his desire for a baby. We even picked out a name.

During that time, he was genuinely good to me, so I believed he truly loved me, and my hidden affection for him grew wildly.

I wasn't fond of business, but he was a genius. After we got married, I gradually took over my family's company with his help.

He started his own business and quickly became a prominent figure in the business world.

We were genuinely happy then.

I stood among the crowd and watched him brimming with confidence and joy. I was happy for him.

It felt so good that the shining figure was my husband.

But everything changed when Lorelei returned.

3

I still remembered that evening when Lorelei came back. He was talking to her on the phone on the balcony.

After a few minutes, he hung up. He then smoked a cigarette on the balcony and picked up his coat. He told me he had something urgent to attend to and needed to go out.

He thought I was unaware, but a woman's intuition defies logic.

From the conflicted expression on his face when he received the call in bed, I sensed that the one on the other end was significant to him.

I was anxious and secretly followed him, so I overheard his conversation on the balcony.

So I realized that Lorelei had returned.

Lorelei was Kimberly's ex-girlfriend and first love.

The smell of smoke lingered on the balcony. Kimberly hadn't smoked in a long time. He only did that when he was extremely agitated.

I watched from the balcony as Kimberly hurriedly left with his coat over his shoulders.

Was he so eager to meet his first love?

He even kept me in the dark.

I couldn't help but mock myself. I heard others often talk about the irresistible pull of a first love, and perhaps now I was witnessing it firsthand.

Yet, I still wanted to trust Kimberly. After all, he had done everything for me and my family over the years. I believed he wouldn't betray our marriage.

Maybe Lorelei needed his help with something.

I tried to comfort myself, but I grew more anxious, feeling like my heart was in a vice.

I lay back in bed sleeplessly until 5 a.m. when I finally heard sounds outside.

Kimberly seemed to return. I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Kimberly quietly entered the bedroom, hung his coat on a chair, and went into the bathroom to shower.

For reasons I couldn't explain, I got up, picked up his clothes, and sniffed them.

There was a faint scent of women's perfume, not one of the few I used.

My heart trembled, and I couldn't hold his coat. It slipped to the floor. My gaze was empty, and I was lost in thought.

The sound of water stopped, and I hurriedly put the coat back, lay back in bed, and closed my eyes, feigning sleep.

Kimberly soon finished and climbed into bed. He gently held me in his arms.

It wasn't long before I heard his steady breathing. He was asleep. Only then did I open my eyes slightly and turn to look at him.

My emotions were a tangled mess. I knew he had gone to pick up Lorelei.

But what had happened between them as he came home so late?

And for the scent to linger on his clothes, they must have been in close contact.

I knew I shouldn't doubt him, but I couldn't stop my mind from wandering.

In the following days, Kimberly acted normally and didn't go out late at night again. I thought perhaps I had overthought things.

But one evening, Kimberly didn't come home late at night. I sat on the sofa and waited for him. I couldn't reach him by phone and was anxious that something might have happened to him.

Just as I was feeling restless, the doorbell rang.

I rushed to open the door, and there was Lorelei, supporting Kimberly, who was drunk. I must have looked utterly foolish and ridiculous.

"You're Callie, right? I'm sorry, but Kimberly got drunk while helping me deal with a director. When he wakes up, don't blame him. Kimberly often complains that you're too harsh to him."

I said nothing. I seemed to feel guilty in front of Lorelei.

After all, if it weren't for my father's intervention five years ago, Kimberly and I wouldn't have married.

And I had once witnessed with my own eyes how deeply Kimberly loved Lorelei.

I silently helped Lorelei bring Kimberly back to the room.

As I saw Lorelei out, she said to me, "When Kimberly and I broke up, he kept calling me and begging me not to leave. He was down for a long time. Seeing him doing well with you now, I'm relieved."

Although Lorelei was seemingly generous and considerate, I could see her smugness and provocation in her eyes.

After closing the door, I trudged back to the room. I sat by the bed and looked at Kimberly.

I touched his face, wondering if he had ever truly loved me all these years.