Chapter 1

The night before our wedding, at our joint pre-wedding party, my fiancé brought out a toy lie detector.

"The most important thing between a married couple is absolute honesty," Julian said, his eyes glittering with a playful yet challenging light. "Chloe, do you dare to put this on with me? If either of us has ever lied to the other, we call off the wedding right here, right now."

His groomsmen burst into loud laughter.

"Come on, man! She loves you to death. She literally broke ties with her own family just to be with you. How could she ever lie to you?"

I smiled, letting them strap the cold metal plates onto my wrist.

Julian looked at me, brimming with confidence. "You knew Hailey and I slept in the same bed, but you still chose to marry me."

Hailey, standing right behind him, blushed and hid her face behind his shoulder.

"We’re just bros, okay? What’s wrong with best friends sharing a bed? Chloe is too cool to care about that."

My smile faded. I gave a quiet, "Yeah."

The green lights on both sides of the lie detector lit up. It was the truth.

Julian’s bros started cheering and whistling.

"Julian, man, teach us your secrets! How did you get Chloe so whipped?"

"Seriously, Chloe is the ultimate chill girl. In this day and age, who else would calmly accept her man having a female bestie like that? If my boyfriend did that, I’d kick his ass to the curb on day one!"

Julian smiled triumphantly. "Even knowing that after we get married, I will always treat Hailey better, you still won’t care."

I closed my eyes and whispered, "Yeah."

*Beep—!*

The red light flashed violently.

I let out a long sigh, slowly slid the diamond engagement ring off my finger, and placed it on the table.

This game of love... I couldn't play pretend anymore.

The heavy thud of the diamond ring hitting the wooden table echoed through the room.

Seeing my movement, Julian’s brow furrowed deep, his expression instantly turning ugly. "Chloe, what the hell is this supposed to mean?"

I didn't offer an explanation. Instead, I stared blankly at Julian’s left hand.

There was no ring on his finger. In fact, there was no trace of a tan line or any mark that a ring had ever been there. It was as if it never existed.

I was the only one who had been holding onto this delusion.

Julian demanded an answer, his eyes locking onto mine.

I forced a small smile.

"We played a game, and I lost. Isn't that how it works?"

Though I looked calm on the outside, my heart was throbbing with a dull, stabbing pain.

This man’s face—no matter how hard I tried—still had the power to mess with my head.

The room, which had been noisy just seconds ago, fell dead silent. Everyone’s eyes drifted toward me.

Hailey’s smile vanished for a split second, her face darkening before she quickly masked it with a bright, bubbly grin.

She playfully patted Julian’s tense arm and looked at me, her eyes dripping with fake sweetness.

"Aw, Chloe, don't be like that! We all know you're just joking. Everyone knows you love Julian more than life itself. You literally signed over fifty percent of your family company's shares to him!"

"If you say you don't love him, who would believe you?"

"Besides, these toy lie detectors aren't a hundred percent accurate. Chloe, are you just mad because Julian and I shared a bed? Did you mess with the wires on purpose?"

She acted like she was the bigger person, then playfully shoved another guy next to her.

"Chloe is just a sensitive little girl. You guys shouldn't tease her. Julian and the boys don't even see me as a girl! We literally just wrapped ourselves in separate blankets and talked all night!"

"If you don't believe me, ask the guys!"

Julian’s friends roared with laughter again, nodding in agreement.

But Julian didn't join in. He completely ignored the awkward position I was in. He just wanted an answer from me.

I didn't say a word.

Seeing the tension ease slightly, the others started chanting again.

"Come on, Chloe, don't be a party pooper! Don't embarrass our boy Julian!"

"We’ve only played two rounds! You can't quit now!"

"This is a pre-wedding party! We need to go wild!"

I raised my eyes, looked at Julian, and tapped my fingers on the table. "Are you sure you want to keep playing?"

Julian hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded.

His posture was rigid, but when he saw me obediently putting the lie detector strap back on, a flash of smugness crossed his eyes.

"Chloe, it’s just a game. If you take it too seriously, you lose."

A sharp pang hit my chest.

Julian didn't believe me.

In his eyes, I was just a stupid, lovesick fool who would never leave him, let alone lie to him.

I wiggled my fingers and smiled faintly at him.

"You’ve been asking all the questions so far. It’s my turn to ask one, right?"

Hailey let out a mocking chuckle. She knew exactly how to push my buttons.

She casually walked over, sat right on Julian’s lap, and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"Go ahead, Chloe! Ask away. Don't worry about me. I'm just here to put some pressure on Julian so he doesn't dare lie to his future wife."

For whatever reason, Julian allowed her to sit on him. But his eyes remained glued to me.

I knew what Julian was waiting for.

In the past, whenever Hailey did something like this, I would throw a fit. I would scream, cry, and demand answers. And all I would get in return was Julian’s cold, dismissive response:

"We’re just best friends."

"Your mind is so dirty."

This time, I didn't give him the satisfaction. I averted my gaze, smiled, and said, "Really? Then I guess I should thank you."

Hailey’s fake smile froze on her face.

Julian, looking annoyed, shifted his legs and pushed Hailey off him.

His eyes darkened. "What do you want to ask?"

I picked up my glass of wine, took a slow sip, and under Julian’s intense gaze, asked in a calm, clear voice:

"On the day of my dad’s funeral... were you in bed with Hailey?"

The room went dead silent.

According to the rules of the game, Julian could only answer "Yes" or "No."

The lie detector would show the truth.

The tapping of my fingers on the table grew faster. Julian, looking extremely irritated, finally spat out, "Yes."

The green light lit up.

"But that was just an accident," he added quickly.

The last string of sanity in my mind snapped.