Chapter 1

Five years of dating, and he chooses to propose to his childhood sweetheart.

He even had the nerve to suggest we keep our little arrangement going on the side.

A cold laugh escaped my lips.

If you're so eager to crawl back into the dumpster, I'll be happy to escort you there myself.

I cut off every cent of funding I'd been funneling into his life, and he was on his knees begging for my forgiveness within hours.

Too bad for him.

There's plenty more fish in the sea, and most of them don't have his stench.

...

"Babe, you're free all day today, right?"

This was the second time Elias Vance had checked in with me today.

I gave him a sweet smile and nodded. "All clear."

Today was the day his company was going public. I knew he was planning to propose.

A few days ago, I'd accidentally discovered he'd ordered 9,999 red roses and booked the revolving restaurant atop the Zenith Tower for this evening.

I'd cleared my entire schedule, patiently waiting for his "surprise."

But instead of an invitation, I received a video from my assistant.

In the clip, Elias was down on one knee in the center of a flower-filled plaza, popping the question to his childhood friend, Chloe Hayes.

I watched the video over and over, until the ache in my chest finally went numb.

I called my assistant back. No big talk, just a simple order: terminate all of the Zhou Group's covert financial support for Elias.

I loved him, yes.

But I loved myself more.

I wasn't about to let some mediocre man who couldn't keep his pants on make me cry in the middle of the night.

So he wanted to show the world that Elias Vance, the self-made CEO, hadn't forgotten his humble roots or his sweetheart?

Fine. I'd make sure they both crawled back into the garbage bin together to rot.

Less than an hour later, Elias must have realized his company was crumbling. He stormed into my mansion.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

It wasn't a question. His hand clamped around my throat, shoving me hard against the wall. He didn't care that my head slammed into the drywall.

This was the man I'd loved for five years.

I sneered at him.

"Elias, time is money, especially for a newly engaged man. Why are you rushing back here so soon?"

Elias frowned, his face twisted in annoyance and rage.

"Sienna Zhou! You've been tracking me again!"

"Can you dial back the obsession? If you keep this up, we're finished."

I had no idea what he meant by "again."

If I'd actually been tracking him, I would've known about his little side-piece years ago.

I lifted my right heel and drove it straight into his groin.

He let go of my throat, gasping as he crumpled to the floor, clutching himself in agony.

"We've been finished for a long time."

I glanced at my designer dress and limited-edition heels―the outfit I'd picked out especially for his proposal.

I kicked the shoes off and headed for my closet to change into something comfortable.

"Sienna, have you forgotten what you said?"

Elias followed me, still clinging to his delusion.

"Didn't you say you loved me enough to give up everything?"

"Why can't you just give up the title? Were you lying to me all this time?"

When we first started dating, he was just a corporate drone drowning in debt while I was the heiress to the Zhou empire.

For the sake of his fragile ego, I agreed to keep our relationship under wraps.

Five years I spent in the shadows for him.

I let out a soft, mocking laugh.

"So I can keep letting you and Chloe play me for a fool?"

Before I could finish, his phone buzzed.

"Babe, I'm just handling some business with Sienna. I'll be back soon."

He actually had the audacity to comfort Chloe right in front of me.

I snatched the phone from his hand and hurled it across the room.

"Elias, if you have no shame, at least have the decency not to make me vomit in my own house."