Chapter 2

2

The birthday party ended in the most humiliating way possible.

Maya cleared out her room and took down every photo of us.

She even gathered all the gifts I had ever given her and had them burned in the backyard.

"Leo, I'll have the butler send you a monthly allowance. Don't contact me unless it's an emergency."

"I'm busy. I don't have time to play house with you anymore."

This time, I didn't say a word.

I knew that no matter how much I fought, Maya wouldn't change her mind.

A few days later, I was back at my dorm, packing my things in silence.

Suddenly, a plastic bin hit me in the back of the head.

I looked up to see a group of guys from the neighboring dorm standing in the doorway.

"Look at the little prince packing. Going home to get married, are we?"

I tried to ignore them, but the taunts didn't stop.

"I saw Maya's post on Instagram. She's marrying the heir to the Vance empire. What does that have to do with Leo?"

"Man, imagine being an adopted stray and dreaming of marrying your sister just to steal the family company. Talk about a gold-digger."

I grabbed my phone, my hands shaking.

There it was. Maya had pinned her engagement announcement at the top of her profile.

To ensure the wedding went smoothly, she had moved the date back a week.

It was the exact same day I was scheduled to fly out of the country.

"Everyone knows the Sterlings only kept him around to be Maya's errand boy. He actually thought he'd inherit half the company."

"It's pathetic. A total bottom-feeder trying to win the lottery."

The words stung, mostly because they were true.

I had been delusional. I thought I mattered to her.

I didn't realize that her "favoritism" was just pity.

My parents had been close friends with the Sterlings before they died in a car accident.

That crash left me an orphan, and the Sterlings took me in.

Maya was three years older and far more sophisticated.

It was her constant care that made me fall for her in the first place.

When I was ten, I told her parents I was going to marry her one day.

They laughed, and Maya's face turned bright red.

But she took me seriously back then.

"Leo, if you want to marry me, you have to study hard and become a man of character. If you do, I'll say yes."

I had held onto that childhood promise for ten long years.

Suddenly, I heard one of the guys whisper something else.

"But honestly, Maya is such a tease. I heard she's been through a dozen guys in the last few years. Now she's knocked up."

"She's basically for the streets. If she's that easy, maybe I should have had a turn..."

I didn't let him finish. Rage exploded in my chest.

I lunged at him, my fist connecting hard with his jaw.

I felt his nose snap. Blood sprayed across the floor as he screamed in pain.

"You piece of trash!"

I grabbed a wooden stool, ready to smash it over his head.

But then, something heavy hit the back of my skull. Everything went black.