Chapter 2

"Ashley, please, just let me borrow Logan for a bit! We’ll just get a marriage certificate. As soon as I get the buyout money from the developer, I’ll divorce him immediately!"

"The government is paying out bonuses based on headcount. Everyone around me is rushing to get married, but I don't want to waste this opportunity on some random stranger."

"You're my best friend. You're the only one I trust!"

"And don't worry, I won't let you do this for nothing. If you agree, I’ll transfer five hundred thousand dollars to you the second the papers are signed!"

Chloe pleaded, holding up five fingers in a solemn promise.

Looking at her fake, eager face, a cold chill ran down my spine.

In my past life, Chloe had used the exact same soft-soaping tactics, dangling that five hundred thousand dollars in front of me like a carrot.

Logan and I both came from average families. I had been grinding in the corporate world for ten years, making only about ten thousand a month.

Five hundred thousand was equivalent to five years of my hard work!

On top of that, Chloe had sworn on her life and even wrote me a signed contract.

She promised that as soon as the marriage certificate was registered and the payout cleared, she would transfer the cash.

I had refused at first. But a week later, my mother suddenly collapsed at home.

My dad rushed her to the ER, where she was diagnosed with advanced heart failure.

The doctor said she needed an urgent valve replacement surgery. The cost? Two hundred thousand dollars.

In the end, cornered by the medical bills, I compromised and agreed to Chloe’s proposal.

But once they got married and pocketed the millions, she didn't give me a single dime.

Instead, they fooled around behind my back, and she got pregnant.

The memory of being left penniless, of my mother dying because we couldn't afford her surgery, made my blood boil.

I wanted nothing more than to take a knife and drive it through her heart right now.

Seeing me stare at her in silence, Chloe waved her hand in front of my face. "Ashley? Are you okay? Why are you looking at me like that?"