Chapter 2

A waiter led me to Room 666. The moment I pushed the door open, the room erupted in laughter.

"Sienna, I can't believe he's still going after ninety-nine proposals."

"It's one thing to be persistent, but this is just sad. He's a total simp."

Sienna lounged on the sofa, basking in her friends' praise.

And I just stood there at the door, clutching a huge bouquet of champagne roses, feeling like a fool.

After a long moment, Sienna finally spoke, her tone playful.

"Nathan, you're so predictable. Do be a dear and make it red roses for the 100th time, okay?"

"I told you girls he wouldn't give up. A loyal dog like Nathan never quits."

Her friends praised her for her beauty, for the endless line of men who worshipped her.

Then, one of them shot me a look of pure contempt.

"Nathan, for God's sake, have some self-respect. Let us win the bet for once."

"Do you honestly think a woman like Sienna would ever be with a loser like you?"

My fists clenched, my nails digging into my palms.

My humiliation was her party trick.

She got a thrill from rejecting me, again and again, the power it gave her over me.

But Sienna, even a dog learns its lesson eventually.

I clutched the flowers and turned to leave, but she blocked my path.

"Nathan, what's your problem? I say a few words and you throw a tantrum? Are you that sensitive?"

She frowned, clearly annoyed.

"You've got it all wrong, Sienna. Today is the day I propose to my girlfriend."

Yes, in the room right next door, Chloe Lancaster was waiting for me.

"Hahahaha."

The laughter in the room was deafening. They looked at me like I was the biggest joke in the world.

"Nathan, is this some kind of reverse psychology? Trying to make me jealous so I'll say yes?"

"What woman would even look at you? You're so pathetic and weak."

Sienna rolled her eyes, then turned back to her friends.

One of them chimed in. "Sienna, I bet he's just acting out because he saw you with Jax."

Jax. The handsome, popular athlete. Ever since the university sports festival, Sienna had been chasing him relentlessly.

She said only a man like that deserved to be with her.

And me? I was just a nerd who buried his head in books.

"Sienna, let's make another bet," another friend said. "If Nathan really does propose a 100th time, you have to let me have Jax."

Sienna's expression instantly soured.

"No way. Jax is mine. I'm not giving him up for anyone."

"They say you should watch out for your best friends. I guess it's true."

"Jax is the man I want. No one is touching him."

Jax was her obsession, the one thing she wouldn't share. But me? I was a toy she could play with and break, over and over again.

In her eyes, I was just a tool for her to show off, a simp she could humiliate at will.

But she was the one who had set the terms.

We had been childhood sweethearts. She was the one who told me: "Nathan, show me you're sincere, and then I'll say yes."

Her hints were the only reason I had proposed ninety-eight times before this.

But she had played with my heart, only to tell me: "Nathan, this is starting to feel like emotional blackmail. I have the right to find my own happiness."

The moment I realized my love meant nothing to her, I gave up.

Today, I came with flowers in my hand, but they were for Chloe.