Chapter 1

My ex-fiancé, Brandon Shaw, deliberately scheduled his wedding to his first love on the exact day I was flying across the world for my postgraduate studies.

With his arm wrapped snugly around her waist, he spoke with dripping condescension.

"She’s had an uncontrollable temper ever since she was a kid, always stirring up trouble. Leaving her overseas permanently is for the best. That way, she won't bother us anymore."

When our mutual friends found out, every single one of them worried for me.

They all assumed I would catch the next red-eye back, kicking and screaming, turning his life into an absolute living hell.

None of them expected me to stay completely silent—much less offer them my sincere congratulations.

Because in one month, I was walking down the aisle to marry the man chosen for our family alliance.

Before the wedding, I wired back every single cent Brandon had ever transferred into my accounts over the years, down to the last penny.

I also packaged up that custom, one-of-a-kind diamond necklace he had gifted me and mailed it back to his front door.

A vast ocean now lies between us. From this day forward, our paths will never cross again.

I am finally walking toward my own happiness.

The day Brandon announced his engagement, I was the most humiliated person in the ballroom.

The venue was packed with relatives and high-society friends.

Among them were Brandon’s inner circle—the very guys who had always looked down their noses at me.

They smirked, their banter dripping with mockery.

"Come on, Brandon, isn't this a little harsh?"

"Look at how pale little Chloe is. You didn't even give her a heads-up before dropping the engagement bomb."

"If you'd warned her, maybe she’d still have a fighting chance."

They sounded like they were defending me, but their words were calculated daggers meant to rub salt directly into my open wounds.

Hearing that, Brandon swirled the bourbon in his tumbler, looking thoroughly bored.

"Who does she think she is? Why would I need to give her a heads-up?"

"If she ever had a chance, would we have spent fourteen years living under the same roof without a thing happening between us?"

At that, Tiffany Evans leaned against his chest with a soft laugh, pretending to pout.

"Brandon! How could you say that about Chloe?"

"You're going to hurt her feelings."

Brandon caught her drift effortlessly and shrugged.

"What does her being upset have to do with me?"

The room erupted into snickers. Cold, disdainful gazes locked onto me from every direction.

My nails bit into my palms as a stubborn, desperate ache tore through my chest.

"Brandon," I asked, my voice trembling. "Fourteen years. Did you truly never feel a single spark for me?"

The answer left his mouth without a beat of hesitation.

"Never."

Refusing to let it go, I pushed further.

"Then why did you jump in to save me when those bullies jumped me years ago?"

"Because if you died under my watch, I wouldn't have been able to face my parents."

"Then why did you kiss me on the night of my eighteenth birthday?"

The second those words dropped, Tiffany’s face visibly soured.

Brandon pinched the bridge of his nose, his expression twisting into sheer impatience.

"I had too much to drink that night. I mistook you for someone else."

A hollow, self-deprecating laugh scraped past my lips.

"Don't tell me you're going to say you thought I was Tiffany?"

Brandon nodded, entirely aloof.

"Good. At least you're smart enough to figure it out."

A sudden burning heat flooded my eyes, and tears began to fall uncontrollably down my cheeks.

Brandon paused, his gaze hardening into something firm and clinical.

"Chloe, I've only ever seen you as a little sister."

"I am marrying Tiffany very soon. I need you to wake up and get a grip on reality."

"Between you and me, there never was a chance in the past, there isn't one now, and there never will be in the future."

With that, he pulled Tiffany into his arms and planted a deliberate, possessive kiss on her lips.

When he finally pulled away, he shot me a pointed, triumphant look.

"See it clearly now? Tiffany is the woman I love. Not you."

"Soon, you'll have to respect her as your sister-in-law. I expect you to treat her with decency and stop trying to drive wedges between us."

A quiet gasp of laughter tore from my throat as my heart felt shredded into a million ragged pieces.

I turned around, desperate to leave, but Tiffany called out from behind me.

"Chloe, wait. There's something I need to return to you."

She stepped forward, holding out a simple silver band.

It was the ring I had saved up for months to buy him from my part-time job when I turned eighteen.

If that birthday kiss had been an impulsive mistake, that ring was supposed to be our unspoken promise.

The night he slid it onto his finger, I had foolishly believed he was finally mine.

I never imagined it would circle right back to my hands like this.

My voice went ice-cold.

"Throw it in the trash."

It was high time this pathetic, one-sided obsession came to a permanent end.