Chapter 2

Jane Winters POV

I chased Adrian Cole for seven years.

One stunning glimpse of him on the high school basketball court, and I was done for.

After that, I waited by the court with water at every basketball game.

Every morning, I brought him breakfast.

Adrian Cole never accepted it once. The breakfasts were thrown into the trash untouched.

When I greeted him, he never even lifted his eyelids.

I followed him to the same university, asked around for his schedule, and signed up for every public lecture he took.

After graduation, I went to the Cole family company to apply for a job.

Adrian Cole called security and had me escorted out in front of my coworkers.

His friends treated me like a joke, and when he heard them, he pretended not to.

Until that stormy night, when Adrian Cole's buddy pretended to be him and tricked me into going to a bar.

When I got there, I realized Adrian Cole was sitting in a booth, surrounded by a group of people.

He glanced at me, got up, and left without saying a word.

I walked out of the bar in the rain and ran into those thugs at the mouth of the alley.

Sebastian Grant just happened to appear.

My seven years of obsession ended that night.

Sebastian Grant spoiled me in a showy, extravagant way.

People in their circle said he had picked up the trash Adrian Cole didn't want.

He didn't care. In front of everyone, he held my hand, his eyes only on me.

I believed him. I completely let go of Adrian Cole and loved Sebastian Grant with all my heart.

But then Adrian Cole regretted it.

He came to confess to me, and I rejected him.

The tone in their circle changed overnight, and they began mocking Adrian Cole as a clown.

The two archrivals fought over me for five years.

But I never imagined that the real clown, from beginning to end, was me.

At eleven that night, the door lock clicked.

Sebastian Grant pushed the door open and came in, reeking of alcohol.

When he saw me curled up on the sofa, he crossed the room in a few quick strides and pulled me into his arms.

"Where do you feel unwell? Is it serious?"

His hand pressed against my forehead, his tone urgent.

If I hadn't heard those words in the private room, at this moment, I definitely would have thought I was the happiest person in the world.

I turned my head and avoided his hand.

"I'm just tired from preparing for the wedding. It's nothing."

Sebastian Grant didn't get suspicious. He took my hand and led me toward the bedroom.

"Then let me reward you properly."

Those words made my stomach churn.

I pulled my hand back.

"You reek of smoke and alcohol. It's suffocating."

Sebastian Grant paused, then laughed. "All right, all right. I'll go wash up."

The sound of water came from the bathroom.

I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor lamp in the corner of the bedroom.

A photo Sebastian Grant had taken of me in Bali last year was still stuck to the lampshade.

In the photo, I was smiling brightly.

Sebastian Grant was holding me from behind, his chin resting on my shoulder.

The water stopped.

Sebastian Grant came out while drying his hair, got into bed, and hugged me from behind.

"In one more week, I'll finally marry you, darling."

I clenched the bedsheet beneath me.

"Do you really not mind that I pursued Adrian Cole before?"

Sebastian Grant's arms tightened.

"Why bring him up? I told you, everything in the past is over."

He buried his face in the hollow of my neck and took a deep breath.

"I only love you."

If I hadn't heard him say with my own ears that he had never liked me, I would have believed him again.

"Mm. It's over."

Sebastian Grant's hand slid up from my waist, restlessly exploring higher.

The image of him holding up his phone flashed through my mind, and my whole body went cold.

"I'm tired today. Next time."

Sebastian Grant's hand stopped.

After a pause, he pulled me a little closer into his arms.

"Okay. We'll do what you want. I'm finally going to marry you."

Sebastian Grant's breathing gradually deepened, and the strength in his arms loosened too.

I lay with my eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

Until Sebastian Grant was completely asleep.

I gently pried Sebastian Grant's arm away and got out of bed.

Sebastian Grant's phone was on the nightstand.

The password was my birthday.

I unlocked it and found the encrypted folder buried deep in his album.

I tried the password three times. On the third try, I entered Melissa Stone's birthday.

It unlocked.

Inside were dozens of videos. All of them were of me.

My stomach cramped again.

Select all. Delete. Empty the trash. Exit the album.

Then I opened Instagram.

In the past, I trusted Sebastian Grant and had never gone through his phone.

Now that the trust was shattered, I had to see everything for myself.

First, I found the group chat between Sebastian Grant and his buddies.

The chat history stretched from several years ago all the way to today.

Joe Harris had once sent a photo of me from behind while I was cooking in the kitchen:

[Jane Winters's body is a five from the front and an eight from the back. Sebastian, how do you even put up with it?]

Sebastian Grant replied with a disgusted reaction image:

[With the lights off in bed, all women are the same.]

Daniel Carter followed up with a string of reaction images:

[Sebastian's sacrifice is way too big. Should we give you an award?]

I kept scrolling.

On my birthday, Sebastian Grant had sent a message:

[Have to act all lovey-dovey for half the day again today. Exhausting.]

Joe Harris replied:

[Thanks for your hard work, Sebastian. The buddies will take you out to relax later.]

My hands were shaking.

I kept scrolling and found a contact hidden in Sebastian Grant's contacts, saved under the note Little Moon.

I tapped on the profile photo. It was a side profile of Melissa Stone.

This Instagram account was different from the one I had added.

It was Melissa Stone's alternate account.

I used my own phone to register a new Instagram account and added Melissa Stone's alternate account.

Melissa Stone's posts had no privacy settings.

The latest one was from three days ago.

A photo: Sebastian Grant's hand rested on her waist, the two of them pressed together, cheek to cheek.

The caption:

[He said he'll come to me as soon as the wedding is over. He can't wait.]

Further back was a ten-second video.

Sebastian Grant was kissing Melissa Stone's forehead, and Melissa Stone was tilting her face up with a smile.

The caption was: [Only I am his darling.]

Further back, Melissa Stone had posted a paragraph:

[He said Jane Winters is like a dead fish in bed. Hahahahaha I'm dying.]

Melissa Stone commented on her own post:

[Poor tool. She still thinks she's Mrs. Grant.]

I put down the phone.

Tears fell onto the screen, splashing like a flower of water and blurring that line of text.

As I cried, I laughed.

I got up and went to the bathroom.

I turned on the faucet, and cold water splashed over my face.

I looked at the shattered, devastated face in the mirror.

My eyes were swollen like peaches, and the tip of my nose was bright red.

"Jane Winters, don't be afraid," I whispered.

My heart hardened inch by inch.

Sebastian Grant, I hope you don't regret this later.

I returned to the bedroom and put Sebastian Grant's phone back where it had been.

Then I opened my own phone and started searching for an immigration agency.

After finishing everything, I lay back down in bed.

Beside me, Sebastian Grant turned over, and his arm reached for me again.

I shifted toward the edge of the bed, moving farther away from him.