Chapter 1

1

On the day my boyfriend held his grand wedding with his childhood sweetheart, I boarded a first-class flight to Manhattan.

He didn't care in the slightest.

"Janine has a soft spine," he had scoffed. "Give her a couple of days, and she'll come crawling back on her own."

Everyone in our circle worried I would show up and cause a scene.

Little did they know, I was heading to New York to inherit a multi-billion-dollar empire. I simply had no time for their petty circus.

On the day I officially took over the Mercer family estate, I shipped every single gift he had ever given me right back to his doorstep. Then, I blocked every last one of them.

From that moment on, we lived in two different worlds, never to cross paths again.

1.

It was the ultimate humiliation.

Everyone had assumed Landon Crawford was going to propose to me on my twenty-fourth birthday. I had even ordered a custom designer gown just for the occasion.

Instead, in front of the entire crowded ballroom, he dropped to one knee before Savannah York.

The room went dead silent. You could literally hear a pin drop.

Savannah covered her mouth, her eyes welling with theatrical tears as she looked around in fake distress.

"Landon, doing this at Janine's birthday party... isn't it a little inappropriate?"

My face remained frozen as I stared straight at him.

Part of me still desperately hoped this was nothing more than a sick joke.

Yet, with a tender smile, he carefully slid a sparkling diamond ring onto Savannah's finger.

"I know exactly what I'm doing," he declared smoothly. "Right here, right now is perfect."

"It's the best place to make certain people finally give up."

Certain people.

Those two casual words struck me like a physical blow, making me stumble back half a step.

I looked at him, feeling raw and betrayed.

"Landon... what was I to you all these years?"

Someone in the crowd chimed in, unable to stomach his cruelty.

"Today is Janine's birthday! This is completely out of line, man!"

Landon slowly rose to his feet, wrapping a protective arm around Savannah's waist.

"I've told you before, I only ever saw you as a little sister," he sneered coldly. "You're the one who shamelessly pushed rumors, trying to force me to claim you. If you hadn't been so pushy, I wouldn't have had to propose to Savannah in a tacky venue like this just to clear the air."

I let out a bitter, disbelieving laugh.

"If that's true, why didn't you ever deny we were dating when people asked?"

"I was protecting your fragile pride," he scoffed. "Everyone in town knows how desperately you chased after me."

"And what about high school? You brought me breakfast every single morning for three straight years!"

Landon laughed dismissively.

"I just felt sorry for you."

Snickers rippled through his group of wealthy friends.

"So basically, like feeding a stray puppy on the street?" someone jeered.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms, fighting to suppress my trembling.

"And when you promised you'd take care of me for the rest of your life... was that a lie too?"

Landon sighed with exaggerated exasperation.

"Even if you feed a stray dog for three years, you develop some affection. You grew up poor with nothing to your name. What's wrong with me offering you a safety net?"

"The woman I truly love has always been Savannah. So please, stop embarrassing yourself and leave me alone."

Savannah pretended to panic, reaching out to cover his mouth.

"Landon, stop, please! Janine is sensitive, she can't take this..."

"Am I supposed to walk on eggshells around her forever?" Landon cut her off sharply.

"I've already made you suffer in silence for years. Now that you've finally agreed to be mine, I won't let anyone cast doubt on us ever again."

With that, he took Savannah by the hand and led her away, right past my shattered face.

I rubbed my eyes roughly, refusing to shed a single tear in front of them.

He used to tell me he valued his freedom and hated the labels of a public relationship, which was why all our dates were kept behind closed doors.

Whenever rumors spread, he let them fester, and I foolishly thought it was his quiet way of acknowledging us.

It turns out it was all my own pathetic delusion.

Since he claimed everything was fake, then fine.

I would gladly step aside and let them have each other.