Chapter 1

Three years ago, I used every trick in the book to get Sebastian Sterling to marry me.

Three years later, his first love returned to the country, and I calmly demanded a divorce at his family’s annual gala.

Looking at the guests around the table—some pitying me, others gloating—I elegantly wiped away a tear that didn’t even exist.

Nobody knew that this entire marriage had been a chess game I carefully designed from the very beginning.

When the lawyer handed over the divorce papers, I looked at the final signature on the stock transfer agreement. I gently slipped off the wedding ring that had never quite fit my finger.

Sebastian, you played the part of the devoted billionaire husband beautifully. But my paycheck has cleared, and I’m officially checking out of this show.

My laptop chimed. It was an anonymous email with a grainy picture attached, taken at the airport's private VIP terminal.

The stunning, elegant woman in the photo was Vivian Sinclair.

Three years. She was finally back.

My fingertips trembled slightly. My mind drifted back to three years ago, the night Sebastian’s grandfather was on his deathbed.

That was also the night Vivian left the country to pursue her career, leaving Sebastian to drown his sorrows at a shady downtown club.

He went missing, and the entire Sterling Enterprises fell into complete chaos.

But I knew this was my golden ticket.

Sebastian was too bright, a star shining in the sky. A girl like me, living in the dirt, never felt worthy of him.

Only when he fell from his pedestal could I finally steal my way into his life.

I used every connection I had to find him.

That night was the first time I dialed the number I had memorized by heart.

It was the private number printed on a business card he’d slipped into my hand at a charity gala months ago, after he had a few drinks.

He had said, "Call me if you ever need help."

A casual remark to him, but a sacred promise to me.

The phone rang and rang, but nobody picked up. Anxiety clawed at my chest.

I called everyone I knew, pulled every favor, and finally tracked him to a VIP lounge in a secluded club.

The heavy scent of whiskey hit me the moment I pushed the door open. The lounge was dimly lit, glasses shattered all over the floor.

Sebastian was slumped on the leather sofa, his tie loosened, his face pale. He was still clutching a half-empty bottle.

At that moment, my heart squeezed. I couldn't tell if it was pity, or a dark, secret sense of triumph.

I rushed over and gently tapped his cheek. His skin was burning hot.

He opened his eyes groggily, his gaze unfocused.

Suddenly, I wrapped my arms around him. Tears poured out of my eyes, soaking his expensive bespoke suit.

Two percent of those tears were for him. The other ninety-eight percent were for myself.

After that night, I became his savior.

I made him shave, accompanied him to the office to handle crises, and cooked him homemade soup to soothe his alcohol-wrecked stomach.

I forced myself into his life, almost aggressively.

I had just graduated back then, working a miserable internship that barely paid three thousand dollars a month.

To save money, I walked to work every single day. Every penny I saved went into buying him high-end organic groceries and supplements.

The free snacks and water in our office pantry became my main meals. When I was starving, I chewed on stale bread.

Whenever my blood sugar crashed, a single piece of chocolate from a coworker felt like a gift from heaven.

But I did it all with a smile.

The darkness in Sebastian's eyes seemed to slowly melt away under my stubborn, clumsy care.

He recovered. He got back to the gym, back to running his empire, and back to being the untouchable heir to the Sterling fortune.

Everyone around us assumed we were going to get married.

I was naive enough to believe it, too.

But in reality, we were just "best friends."

What a joke of a title.

He never once said he loved me. And I spent almost everything I had just to keep this fragile bond alive.

But he was Sebastian Sterling.

He was the guy who had given me the only warmth in my life when I was sixteen and living through my absolute worst nightmare.

The year my mother got critically ill, I worked three jobs at once, constantly running between the hospital and my shifts.

My relatives only sneered at me with cold, harsh words: "What’s the point of a girl getting a college degree anyway? You should just find a man to marry and get it over with."

The world’s judgment is always the sharpest blade.

I almost believed them, but I refused to give up.

So I worked myself to the bone, cared for my mother, and secretly studied for my exams late at night.

The taste of eating stale bread while crying was as bitter as life itself.

Coming back to the hospital after a late shift, I would quietly wipe the sweat from my mother's forehead.

I knew my father had already started a new family with his new wife.

My stepmother openly called me a "freeloader" behind my back, telling everyone I would never amount to anything.

That was when I realized you can only rely on yourself.

I even had a dark, twisted thought that if my mother passed away, it might actually be a release for both of us.

Forgive my selfishness. I was just so desperate to claw my way out of that muddy swamp.

So when Sebastian fell, I didn't hesitate to grab him like a lifeline.

When he was at his lowest, I spent all my savings to help him pull through.

I watched that man—the one I used to look up to like a god—let down his guard in front of me, his eyes filled with raw vulnerability.

Why did I do it?

Because if he stayed ruined, my only chance of changing my destiny would be completely destroyed.

Only Sebastian was different.

Back in high school, he was the student council president. He was the one who stopped the kids from bullying me, and he was the one who secretly paid off my mother's medical bills when she was dying.

So, before he belonged to someone else, I was willing to pay any price to keep him.

I worked myself to death just to stand by his side.

Until one day, at a major business forum, he was the keynote speaker. The spotlight hit him, and he smiled at me from the stage. "Ms. Vance, we meet again."

He remembered me.

It was perfect.

I reached out and shook his hand, feeling like I had just grabbed the key to a whole new world.

"Mr. Sterling, long time no see."