Chapter 1

During an outdoor game, my fiancé's best friend deliberately tackled me to the ground.

Pretending she was searching me for game loot, she ripped my clothes off and sneered at me with disgust:

"What are you acting so innocent for? Everyone knows you're just a tease."

Furious, I grabbed a sharp rock, ready to bash her skull in.

But before I could, my fiancé shot a modded paintball gun directly at my wrist, fracturing it.

Shielding his precious best friend behind his back, he mocked me, "It's just a game. How can you be so vicious, trying to hurt her with a rock?"

Suppressed by the pain and humiliation, I pushed myself up. "Do you have any idea what she just said to me?"

"So what if she teased you a bit? It was just a joke."

A joke?

I didn't argue. I just nodded.

I guess I'd been too nice to him lately. So nice that he forgot I was the princess of the Vance Syndicate.

That very night, I had him kidnapped. I hired a dozen filthy street thugs to give him a taste of his own medicine, making sure they took turns with him all night long.

My fiancé, Julian Hale, brought his "best friend" along to our date again.

The girl, sporting a sharp pixie cut and an oversized men's leather jacket, bypassed me entirely and walked straight to Julian the second she entered.

She casually threw her arm around his neck and slid into the booth right next to him.

Reaching over, she grabbed Julian's coffee cup and took a huge, messy gulp.

"Ugh, so bitter. How do you drink this stuff? Come on, Julian, light a cigarette for me."

My brows furrowed at the sight. I spoke up, cold and direct. "I don't like the smell of smoke."

"Oh, look, Julian. Your little fiancée is acting jealous again," Chloe Sterling teased, nudging his chest with her elbow.

Julian only gave her a fond, indulgent look. When he turned to me, his eyes went cold.

"Can you stop overreacting? We're just friends."

I let out a cold laugh, watching Chloe practically melt into his chest.

Friends like this? Quite an eye-opener.

But I didn't make a scene.

As the sole heiress of the Vance Syndicate, our families were deeply tied in business. No matter how much I detested his little tag-along, I was willing to turn a blind eye as long as she didn't cross my red line.

That afternoon, Julian organized a group hangout.

The venue was the largest tactical paintball park on the outskirts of the city.

I had no interest in running around in the mud, but Julian's mother had begged me to go. She even gave my family a lucrative real estate project just to have me keep an eye on her reckless son.

For the sake of the contract, I showed up.

Still, I spent most of the time just walking through the woods in my tactical gear, waiting for the game timer to run out.

Suddenly, a wild shadow burst out from the waist-high bushes beside me.

Before I could react, the sheer force of the impact slammed me to the ground.

Someone sat heavily on my stomach, making me gag. My back dragged against the muddy earth, scraping painfully.

Bitter, dirty water splashed into my eyes and mouth.

A screechy female laugh exploded in my ear.

"Sera! Found you!"

Wiping the mud off my face, I glared up and recognized the intruder.

My voice dropped to sub-zero temperatures. "Chloe, what the hell do you think you're doing? Get off."

"Get off? We're in the middle of a war, sweetie! You're my prisoner now!"

"Let's see what kind of loot you're hiding under here."

Grinning like a lunatic, she reached out and aggressively grabbed the collar of my tactical jacket.

I wasn't in the mood for her games. "I don't have any loot. And even if I did, it wouldn't be hidden in my clothes."

Chloe ignored me completely and yanked hard.

The zipper of my jacket snapped open with a sharp pop.

I thought she was just being her usual reckless, boundary-crossing self. Annoyed, I tried to push her off. "It's just a game, Chloe. Don't cross the line!"

But a second later, I realized how wrong I was.

She wasn't playing a game.

Staring at the silk camisole exposed beneath my jacket, a flash of pure, ugly jealousy ran through her eyes.

"Yeah, it's just a game. That's why I have to check you thoroughly."

Then, she reached out with both hands and grabbed the fabric of my camisole.

The sound of tearing fabric cut through the quiet forest like a whip.