Chapter 3

“Ethan!” Chloe suddenly shoved her phone screen in front of my face and shrieked, startling the shoppers around us.

“You actually blocked me?!”

I found her outrage ridiculous. Isn't blocking your ex standard procedure after a breakup to avoid drama?

Besides, I had a family and a child now. My wife, Audrey, was already a bit insecure due to her past trauma; keeping an ex on my Snapchat was just asking for trouble.

“Why wouldn't I block you? We broke up years ago. We have nothing to say to each other.”

Chloe’s smug face instantly turned incredibly dark.

“Nothing to say?” she spat, her teeth gritted.

I nodded calmly. “It’s been six years, Chloe. Keep your money. I don't need a single dime from you.”

My refusal made her look even more monstrous. “Ethan, who do you think you’re fooling? Act like a big shot all you want, but I know exactly how broke you are.”

“Do you even know who my fiancé is? He’s the General Manager of this entire mall, and this place is owned by Summit Enterprises! Don't embarrass yourself.”

Derek grinned proudly, puffing out his chest. “Chloe, why bother talking to this loser? A peasant like him has probably never even heard of Summit Enterprises.”

“He’s destined to rot at the bottom of the food chain forever.”

I stared at the smug Derek. He seemed to have completely forgotten how he secured this GM position in the first place.

Derek used to be a low-level cubicle drone at Summit. He had zero talent but loved to brag that he was the company's rising star, claiming they'd go bankrupt without him.

Chloe’s parents were respected college professors—dignified, rational people. They saw right through his lies and absolutely despised him.

But Derek’s cheap, sweet-talking charm worked like magic on a naive girl like her.

She refused to leave him, and it took her parents threatening to end their own lives to force her to break up with him.

During that dark period, Chloe was like a hollow shell. I was the one who stayed up night after night, taking care of her and piecing her back together.

Naturally, we ended up dating.

But while we were together, my business proposals would mysteriously vanish from my laptop.

Meanwhile, Derek’s career at Summit suddenly took off like a rocket.

I brought this up to Chloe multiple times, but she always brushed it off as a coincidence. Once she agreed to marry me, I finally let it go.

I thought she would change after marriage. But the moment she heard Derek was marrying another woman, she lost all sanity.

She slaughtered him and died for him. Her love for him was bordering on psychotic, unmatched by anyone.

So, after being reborn, the first thing she did was dump me. She used her memories of my past proposals from our previous life to help Derek climb the corporate ladder.

The moment she asked for a breakup, I agreed without a single second of hesitation.

Because I knew I couldn't stop her, and frankly, I didn't want to.

I just didn't expect our paths to cross like this.

“I’m sorry, but how I live my life is none of your concern. Now, please move. I have shopping to do.”

Derek stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “What’s the matter? Exposed, so now you want to run?”

“Stalking Chloe just so she’ll take pity on you and throw you a bone, huh?”

The salesgirls nearby began whispering, shooting me disgusted looks.

“What a shameless ex-boyfriend. He’s still harassing her after all this time.”

“It’s sickening. He probably saw how rich she got and crawled back to leech off her!”

Derek smirked, enjoying the peanut gallery. “Tell you what. Since you’re Chloe’s ex, if you promise never to bother us again, I can pull some strings and get you a job here at the mall.”

“Oh my god, Mr. Vance is too kind! He’s actually offering her pathetic ex a job!”

“What a gentleman. Unlike this shameless loser!”

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a Snapchat message from my wife: *'Babe, didn't I ask you to grab some diapers from our mall? What’s taking so long?'*

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