Chapter 1

At my college professor's wedding, my childhood buddies teased me.

"Your bond with Chloe is practically written in stone."

"You guys have been in love for seven years, and you're still wearing those matching couple outfits to make the rest of us jealous. Are we going to hear some wedding bells soon?"

Before I could even deny it, Chloe let out a scoff. "Who would want to marry a lapdog like him?"

The atmosphere instantly dropped to a freezing point. My friends awkwardly scratched their heads.

I just smiled carelessly. I pulled out the wedding invitations written by my fiancée herself and handed them out to the stunned crowd.

"My fiancée is on her way right now. She hand-wrote these herself, and you are all welcome to attend our wedding."

1.

"Holden, if you want to make me jealous, at least find a better excuse. You think you can fool me with some fake wedding invitations? And handing them out to everyone? I am so sick of your bullshit!"

Chloe snatched the remaining invitations from my hands. She tore them to pieces along with the one I gave her, throwing the scraps right in my face.

Then, she lifted her chin with utter arrogance. "Holden, let me make this perfectly clear. Playing hard to get won't work on me! I'd rather marry a stray dog than marry you!"

I frowned slightly and wiped my stinging cheek. The slight dampness on my fingertips instantly ignited a fire in my chest.

"Chloe, are you out of your damn mind?!"

In the seven years I was with Chloe, I had never once raised my voice at her.

I had always obeyed her every command and tried my hardest to satisfy all her preferences. I was constantly terrified of wronging her in any way.

I was so used to acting like a servant. That was exactly what fed into her arrogant, self-centered personality.

I didn't lower my voice, which drew the attention of a small group of guests at the wedding.

Chloe stiffened her neck and screamed back at me. "What did you just call me, Holden? Say it again if you have the guts!"

Seeing that I was losing my temper, a couple of our childhood friends quickly dragged us to a quiet corner.

"Holden, what is wrong with you? Today is Professor Miller's wedding. Aren't you afraid of embarrassing him by arguing with Chloe like this?" A friend who was close to Chloe immediately took her side.

Seeing my face darken even more, Brody stepped in to smooth things over. "Alright, let's all just take a breath."

"Chloe, when are you going to fix that fiery temper of yours? We all know what kind of guy Holden is. If you managed to piss him off, it means you really crossed the line."

Chloe blushed with anger and yelled, "Brody, did Holden pay you to be his hype man? If you dare take his side again, don't blame me for ruining our years of friendship!"

Chloe, myself, and this group of friends all grew up in the same neighborhood.

We knew each other inside and out, and we were well aware of each other's temperaments.

So, when Chloe said a few harsh words out of anger, no one really took it to heart.

But the atmosphere remained incredibly heavy.

"Enough already. Holden, you must have done something to upset Chloe. Just give her a sincere apology in front of everyone, and we can move past this."

Another buddy, Wyatt, chimed in to act as the peacemaker.

Seeing that people were taking her side, Chloe became even more pretentious.

She rolled her eyes at me, picking at the rhinestones on her manicure with sheer disdain.

"Oh, please. I wouldn't dare ask the great Mr. Vance to apologize."

"What if he gets upset again and hires an actress to force me into marriage? I don't have time to play his little childish games."

Her attitude made my blood boil. I shot back, "Chloe, that is enough! Don't you forget that we already broke up a year ago!"

"Broke up? Did you even bother to notify me?" Chloe lazily lifted her eyelids and sneered in my direction.

Our friends all went silent, looking at the two of us with helpless expressions.

I knew that everyone, including my closest buddies, didn't believe me when I said we had been broken up for a year.

I could only blame myself for being such a devoted simp in the past.

While I was secretly fuming, Chloe suddenly snatched my phone away.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I demanded, reaching out to grab it back.

She hid the phone behind her back and said mockingly, "Didn't you say you have a fiancée? You must have photos together, right? I'll find them and show everyone."

Then, she tried to unlock my phone right in front of the crowd.

But after three attempts, it still showed an error message.

Someone asked, "Chloe, did you forget his passcode?"

Chloe said with absolute certainty, "Impossible! Ever since he got his first phone, the passcode has always been my birthday!"

Everyone turned to look at me. I snatched the phone back from her and calmly explained, "I changed it a long time ago. Useless things shouldn't be kept around."

Chloe was about to throw a tantrum at those words.

But just then, a gentle female voice came from behind us. "Holden, what are you all talking about?"