Chapter 2

The next day, Mark Thompson did exactly what I knew he would. He marched into his father' s office at Thompson Tower, with Sarah trailing behind him like a victorious puppy. I wasn' t there, but I had heard every detail from my father' s contacts, who were already buzzing about the sheer audacity of it.

Mark stood before his father, Chairman Thompson, a man whose respect for my family' s legacy and my strategic mind was immense.

"Father," Mark announced, his voice filled with a self-important boom. "I want to call off my engagement to Chloe Sterling."

Chairman Thompson, a formidable man with a will of iron, didn' t even look up from his papers. "Don' t be ridiculous."

"I' m not being ridiculous," Mark pressed, his arrogance growing. "Sarah is the one who saved the company. She saved me. She' s the one I should be with. I want to marry her."

He gestured to Sarah, who tried to look humble but was practically vibrating with triumph. She was a nobody, an analyst from a middle-class family with no connections. The idea of her marrying into the Thompson dynasty was laughable.

Finally, the Chairman lifted his gaze. His eyes were cold with disappointment. "You would throw away an alliance with the Sterlings for an analyst? Chloe Sterling has more strategic value in her little finger than that girl has in her entire life. She saved you once, a favor we are still repaying with this engagement. You would be a fool to discard her."

"Chloe didn't do anything this time!" Mark' s voice rose, petulant and defensive. "She ignored my calls! She left me to fail! Sarah was there. Sarah is loyal. She has proven her worth. Merit should matter more than a family name!"

The Chairman slammed his fist on the desk, the sound echoing through the vast office. The man' s temper was legendary.

"Merit? You speak to me of merit? You, who would have been ruined yesterday if not for a stroke of luck? You are an impulsive, arrogant boy, and you are blinded by a pretty face. You will honor your commitment to Chloe. This discussion is over."

But Mark was just as stubborn as his father, and twice as conceited. "No. I will not marry a woman who abandoned me in my time of need. I will marry the woman who stood by me. I will marry Sarah. Or I will walk away from this company altogether."

The threat hung in the air, thick and heavy. For a long moment, there was only the sound of the Chairman' s ragged breathing. I could picture the scene perfectly: the old man' s face purple with rage, Mark' s defiant chin jutted out, and Sarah' s feigned look of concern.

In the end, a formal decree was sent out. The engagement between Mark Thompson and Chloe Sterling was officially terminated. A new engagement was announced: Mark Thompson and Sarah Jenkins. The news sent shockwaves through the city' s elite.

That evening, Mark and Sarah threw a lavish party at one of the most exclusive clubs in the city to celebrate their "victory." They were the center of attention, holding hands, laughing, accepting congratulations from sycophants and fair-weather friends. Mark looked smug, like he had won a great battle against an old, outdated system.

I was there, too. I sat in a quiet booth in the corner, nursing a glass of champagne, watching them. I felt nothing. No jealousy, no pain. Just a cold, detached amusement. They were celebrating their own doom, and they didn't even know it.

As if sensing my gaze, Mark looked over and saw me. He disentangled himself from Sarah and walked toward my table, his expression a mixture of pity and triumph.

"Chloe," he said, his voice smooth and condescending. "I' m glad you came. No hard feelings, I hope."

I just looked at him, my expression unreadable.

He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper that made my skin crawl.

"I have to admit, I was surprised. I really thought you' d put up more of a fight." He smirked. "But I guess it doesn' t matter. The outcome is always the same, isn' t it?"

My blood ran cold. The way he said it… always the same.

He knew. He knew this had happened before. He was reborn, too.

He saw the flicker of understanding in my eyes and his smirk widened. He thought he had me. He thought he had outmaneuvered me again, in a second life.

"I won, Chloe. Again," he whispered, his arrogance absolute. "But I' m a generous winner. There' s still a place for you. Not as my wife, of course. Sarah has earned that. But you could be useful. I could always use your mind. Be my… special consultant."

He was offering to make me his mistress. The same woman he was supposed to marry, the woman whose family' s power rivaled his own. The level of insult was breathtaking. He didn' t just want to defeat me. He wanted to humiliate me, to own me, to keep his brilliant "tool" in a box for when he needed it.

I looked at him, this man who had destroyed my life once and was already gloating about doing it again. I let a small, sad smile touch my lips.

"I think I' ll pass, Mark."

He just chuckled, convinced my refusal was nothing more than petty pride. He turned and walked back to Sarah, back to his celebration, leaving me alone in the shadows. He had no idea what was coming. He thought this was the end of the story.

Poor, foolish man. This was just the end of the prologue.