Chapter 3

Five years? That kid at the wedding was at least five years old!

Which meant while Julian was stringing her along back then, he had another woman on the side.

And that woman was pregnant with his baby.

Anyone with half a brain could connect the dots.

Clearly, Serena didn't have one.

Julian had completely fried her common sense.

Before I could lock my screen, my bank app sent a notification: a $25.80 charge at Joe’s BBQ Shack.

That was the funniest joke I had seen all day.

Julian wouldn't even spend twenty bucks on her; he made her cover the bill.

These two clowns couldn't even afford cheap barbecue without swiping my credit card.

They were literally starving, yet still pretending to play star-crossed lovers.

Laughing coldly, I froze every single card linked to Serena's name.

As for the properties in the middle of being transferred to her, I called my lawyer and canceled all the paperwork immediately.

Let them play happy family on their own dime.

It took me half an hour to scrub every trace of her from my phone.

The screen suddenly felt a lot cleaner.

Just as I took a deep breath, Serena’s call came through.

The moment I answered, she unloaded on me like I had committed a federal crime.

"Why won't the front desk at Crescent Bay let me in?! The security guard said your assistant called and deactivated all my keycards! What the hell is going on?!"

My assistant worked fast.

Making him work late on a weekend meant he definitely deserved a raise tomorrow.

"It's my condo," I said calmly.

Serena grew even more furious. "You promised to deed this place to me! You said you’d transfer several properties under my name!"

Crescent Bay was where I had proposed.

Back then, she had cried and told me she never had a place to call home.

She said moving around as a single woman made her feel terribly insecure.

To reassure her and win her hand, I promised to gift her the condo before the wedding.

I wanted her to feel safe, knowing that even if we ever argued, she had a home of her own.

If the wedding had gone through today, she would have signed the paperwork tonight.

The condo would have been hers.

Instead, I said, "You must be confused. You're not my fiancée anymore. Why would I give you my property?"

"I'm not a charity case. I don't give away real estate to people who stab me in the back."

Serena dropped her voice to a harsh hiss. "Why are you being so petty?! You're really revoking the condo just because the wedding didn't happen?”

“What's the big deal? I gave you three years of my youth! I deserve a breakup settlement!"

"What kind of relationship did we even have?" I shot back. "You wouldn't even let me hold your hand, and now you want a settlement fee?"

"How much of my money have you spent over the last three years? How much did you secretly wire to Julian?"

"Keep pushing me, Serena, and I'll have my accountants pull every statement and sue you for every penny back."