Chapter 4

It was that ringtone. Within a second, Chloe muted it and hurried out to the balcony.

A few minutes later, she came back inside, pouting and using her baby voice.

"Ethan, Mia needs me to go over. She's having an emergency."

She lied so easily, always using her best friend as a shield.

I had to visit my mom today and didn't have the energy to argue. I stayed silent, and she took my silence as permission.

She didn't even bother to change out of her silk slip. She just threw on a trench coat and rushed out the door, promising she’d be back tonight.

As expected, she didn't come home. The next day, I went to City Hall alone.

I stood by the entrance for three hours. The staff were about to pack up and go home, but Chloe never showed up. She didn't even send a text.

I knew she wouldn't come, but I had wanted to give her one last chance.

*Ding—*

My phone buzzed. A notification popped up: *The account you follow, 'Chloe & Julian Forever,' has posted a new video.*

The video showed Julian’s back as he stood at the stove making breakfast.

Chloe’s caption: *The man who loves me makes me breakfast first thing in the morning.*

For the past three years, I had made Chloe breakfast every single day, changing the menu constantly so she wouldn't get bored.

But she had never praised me once. She took it as my duty.

In the comments, Julian replied: *Anything for my baby.*

I clicked on Julian’s profile. His latest video showed a pair of silver cufflinks—the exact same design Chloe had "gifted" me.

His caption: *A gift from my baby. Too bad I already have the exact same pair. Guess I’ll let someone else have this cheap knockoff.*

So even those cufflinks were just Julian’s leftovers.

I dialed Chloe’s number. She only picked up on the second call, her voice sounding raspy.

"Ethan."

"We were supposed to get our marriage license today."

I got straight to the point, waiting for her answer.

Chloe sighed.

"Ethan, we pushed the wedding ceremony back anyway. Why are you rushing to get the license?"

My voice was firm.

"The wedding ceremony has to happen by the end of this month."

"Ethan~"

She dragged out my name, trying to act cute.

"Ethan, you know Julian needs me right now. Once he’s stable, we can talk about the wedding, okay?"

I let out a cold laugh. "If you can’t marry me, I’ll find someone else who will."

Chloe panicked.

"Ethan, what are you talking about?"

"I’m saying we’re done. It's over."

I hung up immediately.

Everyone said I was incredibly good to Chloe.

But my goodness was based on the premise that she loved me back.

She had lied to me over and over again to be with Julian. She picked fights, called me possessive, and treated my efforts like trash. She had slowly eroded my love and pushed my boundaries until there was nothing left.

We were officially over.

Just as I was about to put my phone away, an unknown number sent me a text.

It was a five-second video. In it, Chloe’s face was flushed, her eyes wild with pleasure.

"More, Julian, please..."

Julian’s bare chest was covered in dark hickeys.

It wasn't hard to guess how wild their night had been.

Following the video was a text: *I broke her in for you. Chloe was incredible last night.*

I didn't need to guess who sent it.

I calmly saved the video, took a screenshot of the text, and blocked the number.

Since Chloe cheated, it shouldn't be a crime for me to find someone else, right?

I called my buddy who ran a high-end matchmaking agency to set me up on some blind dates.

Just then, a soft, sweet voice rang out right beside me.

"What about me? Am I option?"

A girl stood there, nervously fidgeting. Her bright eyes blinked at me, her cheeks flushed with a soft pink.

Her voice trembled, but she gathered her courage and said:

"I’m a million times better than my sister, Chloe."

###