Chapter 1

On the day of our engagement party, my fiancée dropped a bomb on me. She told me she was pregnant with her male best friend's baby.

"You know Chase has always had health issues," Rowena said softly. "I couldn't just stand by and watch his family line end."

Under the stunned stares of all our friends and family, Rowena fell straight into Chase's arms.

"Thank you so much, baby. You went through so much for me," Chase whispered, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

He then looked right at me with a smirk.

"Sean, man, I'll have to trouble you to raise our child from now on."

......

1

"Rowena, you're pregnant right now. Don't run around, you need to take care of yourself," Chase said gently.

Chase was Rowena's childhood best friend, the guy she had grown up with.

Hearing his voice, Rowena leaned softly against his chest.

A sweet, delicate smile spread across her face.

"Didn't we agree I'd come find you later? Why did you come out here?"

"Because I missed you too much, obviously," Chase replied.

After saying that, he threw a provocative glance right at me.

"Congrats, Sean. Big day for you, man."

The moment Chase brought me up, the tenderness on Rowena's face vanished.

She turned to glare at me, her expression freezing cold.

"Sean, I'm warning you. Don't you dare give Chase a hard time."

With that, Rowena linked arms with Chase and walked out of the banquet hall in front of everyone.

"Rowena, is this really okay? Today is your engagement party with Sean, after all," Chase murmured as they walked.

"What if he gets upset? It's all my fault for showing up and getting between you two."

"Don't worry about him. You know how he is. He's just my loyal lapdog..."

I stood frozen in place, listening to their blatant conversation. My heart turned entirely to ash.

I used to believe that if I treated Rowena well enough, I would eventually earn her genuine love.

Now, looking back, I had been nothing more than a pathetic clown.

I reached into my pocket and touched the custom engagement ring.

It felt like burning coals against my skin.

Maybe our seven-year relationship had been a complete mistake from day one.

Without another second of hesitation, I pulled the velvet box from my pocket and tossed it straight into the trash can.

Along with that ring, I threw away every shred of feeling I had for Rowena over the past seven years.

I honestly didn't know how I walked out of that venue or how I drove back to my gated community.

The moment I stepped past the security gate, the property manager stopped me.

"Mr. Walker, we've received multiple noise complaints about your house."

"It's seriously disturbing the entire neighborhood."

"Could you please ask your elders inside to keep it down?"

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Severe noise coming from my house?

Ask the elders inside?

I had purchased this luxury detached villa six months ago specifically for our upcoming marriage.

I hadn't even officially moved in yet.

Besides, my parents were running their business out of state, so what elders could possibly be living there?

Just as I wondered if the manager had made a mistake, a blast of deafening bass rattled through the air.

"See, Mr. Walker? It's starting again," the manager said, clapping his hands in sheer frustration.

"Is that really coming from my place?"

Even though the noise was clearly blasting from the direction of my property, I still couldn't believe it.

I walked up to my villa accompanied by the property manager.

The second I unlocked the front door, a monstrous wall of sound nearly blew my eardrums out.

The once spacious, elegant living room had been turned into complete chaos.

The room was packed with dozens of strangers.

Two giant disco balls hung from the high ceiling, flashing wild neon lights across the dancing crowd.

It looked like an absolute madhouse.

I have always hated chaotic noise.

I bought this villa specifically because it was a quiet, private, standalone estate.

Now it looked like a trashy underground nightclub.

Furious, I flipped all the main light switches on and yanked the power cords out of the two massive speakers near the door.

"Who the hell are all of you, and what are you doing in my house?" I demanded, suppressing the rage boiling inside my chest.

The music cut off, and everyone stared at me in confusion.

"Oh, isn't this little Sean? Home early today, aren't you?" a middle-aged woman in the crowd spoke up.

"We're your mother's friends. We're just having a little dance party here today."

My mother's friends?

I paused for a second.

My mother was a respected university professor who spent most of her time out of state.

Even if she had local friends, I knew all of them.

They were all quiet, polite academics, not this unruly mob of party crashers.

"Loretta, what's going on here?"

"Yeah, Loretta, didn't you say this mansion belonged to you?"

"Why is this young punk shutting off our music?"

Complaints broke out from the crowd before I could even ask who they were.

A second later, Rowena's mother, Loretta, marched toward me with her hands firmly on her hips.

"Sean, you're getting bolder by the day, aren't you? How dare you turn off the music on my friends!"

"Do you believe me when I say one word from me and my daughter dumps your ass?"

She turned around and waved her arms.

"Ignore him, everyone! Let's keep dancing!"

Loretta shoved me aside and reached to plug the speakers back in.

The screeching music blasted through the living room once again.

Bang!

I raised my foot and kicked the giant speaker straight to the floor, smashing it instantly.

The room fell dead silent.

Every single pair of eyes locked onto me.

"You useless piece of trash! You dare smash my speaker?"

Loretta puffed up like an enraged cat and charged straight at my face.

"Pick that speaker up right now, then get your ass outside and kneel on the driveway!"

"Otherwise, just wait until Rowena gets back. I'll make sure she breaks up with you for good!"

Seeing that I stayed silent, Loretta poked her manicured finger hard against my forehead.

"Young people nowadays have zero respect for their elders."

"Look at him, what a spineless, worthless loser..."

Whispers and mockery broke out among the elderly crowd around us.

If this had happened in the past, I would have swallowed my pride and apologized to Loretta immediately.

I might have even knelt outside just to beg for their forgiveness.

But remembering what happened at the engagement banquet today, pure disgust washed over me.

Like mother, like daughter. Both completely shameless.

"All of you, get the fuck out of my house right now," I said, pointing directly at the front door.