Chapter 1

On our fifth anniversary, Julian knelt in front of a crowd to propose, but I hesitated.

After a long pause, I decided to trust him one last time.

But as expected, right before the ring could slide onto my finger—

Chloe appeared.

Claiming to be Julian’s "rival," she snatched the ring and slid it onto her own finger.

It fit perfectly.

"Julian, you stole my project. Consider this ring compensation. Fair, right?"

Julian chuckled, his voice carrying the spoiled indulgence I was so used to:

"Chloe, don’t push it."

He turned to me, ready to brush it off like he always did:

"Sienna, she’s just making trouble again. Let's do the proposal next time..."

I looked at Julian, the last shred of my love for him evaporating. I cut him off:

"Julian, this is the only proposal you’ll ever get from me."

"Are you giving this ring to me, or to her?"

Julian’s smile froze. He opened his mouth but couldn't make a choice.

Instead, he tried to sweep it under the rug again.

"Sienna, why are you making such a big deal out of this? Chloe has hated me since we were kids. She always picks on me. You know that. Next time, I’ll buy you an even bigger, more luxurious ring, okay?"

"Next time?"

I sneered, five years of bottled-up frustration and anger finally boiling over.

"Since day one of our relationship, your 'next time' has always been pushed to the future!"

"In these five years, have you stopped Chloe even once? Every gift you got me—bags, dresses, jewelry—she always managed to steal them. And you let her."

"Today it's a proposal ring. Tomorrow, are you going to let her put her name on our marriage certificate too?"

I took a step forward, staring into his shifting eyes.

"Julian, stop flirting with her under the guise of being 'rivals.' I’m not waiting for your 'next time' anymore."

"I want an answer right now!"

Julian was speechless.

He bit his lip, his eyes darting uncontrollably between Chloe and me.

Our friends in the crowd also felt this went too far.

They started calling Chloe out:

"Chloe, there's a limit. Don't ruin a proposal."

"It's one thing to mess with Julian, but stealing a proposal ring? Give it back!"

"Chloe, have some decency. They're getting engaged. Why are you crashing this? It’s embarrassing."

...

Hearing this, the smug grin on Chloe's face faded. Her eyes welled with tears, and she looked at Julian with a victimized, stubborn gaze.

Julian couldn't bear to see her like this and was about to speak up for her.

I stepped forward and held out my hand to Chloe.

"The ring."

Chloe froze.

I snatched the ring back easily.

I tried to slide it onto my own finger—but it was incredibly loose, sliding past my knuckle with a massive gap.

Then, I pushed the ring back onto Chloe’s finger—it slid on perfectly, as if custom-made for her.

The crowd gasped quietly.

So, this proposal ring was never meant for me in the first place.

I let out a bitter laugh, completely done with Julian.

"No need to argue anymore, everyone. Since it was never mine, there’s no such thing as Chloe 'returning' it to me."

"Julian, we are completely over."

With that, I walked straight out of the banquet hall without looking back.

Seeing how things turned out, several friends desperately nudged Julian, who was frozen in place.

"What are you doing? Go after her!"

Julian didn't move.

Being dumped in front of everyone bruised his ego.

"Go after her? No way. I’ve spoiled her too much! Chloe and I have been bickering since we were kids, everyone knows that. Sienna is just overreacting. Besides, we’ve been together for five years. She can't let me go that easily."

"Give her a couple of days to cool off, and she’ll crawl right back to me!"