Chapter 2

I spent the night in the guest room.

Morning sunlight slipped through the blinds, casting warm streaks across the bed, but it couldn't thaw the ice in my chest.

Chloe stood beside my bed, looking uneasy and anxious, as if searching for an excuse.

"About last night... you’ve got it all wrong."

"Dominic and I are just keeping up appearances for the press. The board was hyping it up, that's all."

"You and I aren't just partners in private; we're partners at the firm. If we went public and got married, people would gossip. Dominic is just a cover."

I listened quietly, staring fixedly at the ceiling.

"So, are you going to marry him?"

My heart was a frozen lake, without a single ripple.

I had overheard her on FaceTime just a few days ago. Her friends were teasing her that now the real prince charming had returned and proposed, how was she going to get rid of me?

Chloe’s answer had been effortless: "Julian is just a substitute. But he's useful, so I won't throw him out completely just yet."

Her voice had been so cold. Yet in the beginning, she wasn't like that.

My family had an empire waiting for me to inherit. I came to her company under a fake resume just to train in the field.

One evening after work, I ran into her on the street. Her heel had snapped, leaving her stranded in the rain, looking utterly helpless.

In that moment, my heart softened.

I bought her a pair of flats, knelt down, and gently massaged her sprained ankle to ease the pain.

After that, things moved fast. Her smile, her gentleness, everything drew me in.

Yet all those sweet memories shattered the moment I saw her in a bridal gown, running toward Dominic.

I had imagined walking down the aisle with her a thousand times. But reality was brutal: I was nothing more than an unacknowledged stand-in, kept in the dark shadows of her life.

Chloe grew impatient. "I’ve explained it clearly. Stop throwing a tantrum, okay?"

I finally turned my head to look at her. "Is that so? Just keeping up appearances? Then can I go check out the master study?"

Chloe’s face flushed red, then turned pale.

Right then, Dominic pushed the door open.

He was wearing one of my custom-tailored designer shirts, a mocking grin on his face.

His tone was sickeningly gentle:

"Chloe, you're up so early? I was wondering where you went... feeling any better?"

"Morning, Julian. Hope you don't mind me borrowing your shirt. Seems our style is identical, and our sizes match perfectly. What a coincidence."

Chloe didn't even notice the disrespect.

She let Dominic mock me, turning to him with a soft, doting smile to smooth things over:

"Did I wake you? Go back to sleep for a bit. Julian was just acting childish again. Don't let him ruin your mood."

Hearing those words, the last ember in my heart died.

To her, I was just the unreasonable, childish one.

This entire five-year relationship had been a running joke. And I was the punchline.

I took a deep breath. I wanted to say "we're over," but I realized I didn't even have the title to break up with her.

Ending a relationship that never officially existed? What a pointless farce.

I slammed the door and headed straight to the office.

Sitting alone at my desk, I began boxing up my belongings—the framed memories, the client files, the little tokens from five years of sweat and devotion.

I packed them methodically.

It felt like sealing a dead chapter in a vault, saying a final goodbye to the fool I used to be.