Chapter 2

Claire was my proxy at the company and the one person in the business world I trusted completely.

Scarlett had no idea that even though I cooked at home, I never stopped working.

My degree was in elite finance. In my spare time, I leveraged my capital to trade stocks.

Knowing how much Scarlett cared about prestige and career success, when my early investments yielded massive returns, I wanted to build an empire to give her the ultimate surprise.

I used those funds to venture into startup investments.

One of the entertainment and media companies I backed—Vanguard Group—was now a publicly traded behemoth valued at tens of billions. Scarlett happened to work there.

Her current director-track position was something I had personally authorized Claire to grant her.

Scarlett was completely clueless. She genuinely believed Kyle had pulled strings for her.

Tomorrow was supposed to be our seven-year anniversary.

I had planned to propose to her on this milestone and reveal everything: my identity, my wealth, and my love.

I had Claire spend weeks preparing a grand celebration at the corporate headquarters, lining up luxury gifts, prime real estate deeds, and company equity.

I had wanted to give her the most romantic, jaw-dropping proposal in the city.

I wanted every single one of her friends to look at her with envy.

Now? It was all a tragic joke.

Since she thought so highly of Kyle, I couldn't wait to see the look on her face tomorrow when she discovered who actually signed her paychecks.

Claire rushed into the room within twenty minutes, her face flushed from running, eyes wide with concern.

"Boss! What happened between you and... Mrs. Vance?"

I threw back the blanket and moved toward the wheelchair. Claire immediately stepped in to support me.

"She’s not your future boss anymore," I said flatly. "Discharge me right now. We aren't waiting until tomorrow."

To Claire, my word was law. She nodded firmly.

"Understood, Mr. Vance."

She took my paperwork and headed to the billing desk.

While she was gone, I turned on my primary phone for the first time in days.

A flood of missed calls and notifications lit up the screen.

Unsurprisingly, every single one was from Scarlett's friends, demanding to know where I was.

I ignored them and scrolled through my feeds. When I opened Ins, the algorithm immediately pushed a post from Kyle.

In the photo, Scarlett was wearing a tiny bikini, pressed tightly against Kyle's bare chest, beaming at the camera. Behind them, the golden sun was rising over the ocean waves.

The caption read: "With my favorite person, watching the most beautiful sunrise."

My expression hardened. With a steady hand, I saved the photo as evidence.

Just then, Claire walked back into the room.

"Cancel every corporate perk and exemption Scarlett has in the company," I instructed quietly. "Also, pull every single compliance violation and performance issue linked to her record. I want it on my desk tomorrow morning."

"And Kyle. Look into him, too."

Claire nodded. She caught a glimpse of the photo on my screen, her brow furrowing in disgust.

"Boss... how could she? You were fighting for your life in intensive care, and she was on a beach with another man?!"

I smiled faintly, though my eyes were frozen. "Some people just love having their cake and eating it too. Tomorrow, I'm taking away her plate and smashing the whole bakery."

Claire held her tongue regarding my personal life and wheeled me out to the waiting car.

Back at my penthouse, I collapsed onto the bed, completely drained.

Just as I closed my eyes, my phone buzzed with an incoming call from Scarlett’s best friend.

"Ethan! What the hell is wrong with you? Did you pick a fight with Scarlett again? She’s completely wasted at the club right now. Get your ass over here and pick her up!"

In the background, Scarlett's drunken, mocking voice carried over the speaker.

"He's paralyzed in a hospital bed with zero dollars to pay his bill! How could he possibly come get me?"

"Listen to me, Ethan! If you get on your knees and apologize to me in front of everyone right now, maybe I’ll pay your hospital fees! Otherwise, have fun getting arrested by security when you can't pay!"

Her best friend chimed in, "Ethan, just say you're sorry. You two have been together for seven years. Is your stupid male ego really worth throwing that away?"

Laughter erupted from the rest of her clique in the background.

"Honestly, don't apologize! I've seen people dine-and-dash, but I've never seen someone bed-and-dash at a hospital! Let's see him get thrown in jail!"

I replied with complete indifference. "I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize?"

In the past, whenever Scarlett was upset, her toxic circle of friends would swarm me, forcing me to apologize or even demand that I bow my head to amuse them.

That was the past. It would never happen again.

Scarlett shrieked into the phone, "Fine! You said it, Ethan! Don't you dare beg me for a single cent!"

I hung up without a second thought. As if I ever needed her pocket change.

About thirty minutes later, Kyle sent me a direct SnapChat video.

In the clip, Scarlett was blushing, half-asleep, resting her head comfortably against Kyle's chest on a lounge sofa.

A FaceTime request popped up right after. I accepted it.

"Ethan," Kyle chuckled, his tone full of smug condescension. "You should really just apologize to Scarlett. I’ve been comforting her for the last half hour, and I finally got her to calm down."

"You don't actually want to get kicked out of the hospital tomorrow morning and humiliated by the police, do you?"

I narrowed my eyes and gave a dry chuckle. "So, should I be thanking you for taking such intimate care of my girlfriend?"