Chapter 1

When the Miller Group went bankrupt, I gave everything I had to help Ethan Miller make a comeback.

Everyone in Chicago knew that Ethan treated me like his lifeline, and every time he broke his own rules, it was because of me.

Until his little pet came back, and a single cry made him abandon me right at our engagement party.

That very night, trending feeds were flooded with videos of them making out in the middle of the street.

A month later, he finally remembered me, speaking as if he were handing down charity.

"As long as you are willing to accept Chloe, I will allow you to stay by my side."

The deep love I held for him vanished into ashes in that very instant.

1.

"Are you sure you want to cancel this? This wedding dress was personally designed by Mr. Miller."

The clerk's words twisted my already numb and aching heart into a painful knot.

How could I explain that the man I called my fiance had publicly branded me as a homewrecking mistress?

I gently touched the exquisite embroidery on the gown, completely lost in my thoughts.

Until a sweet, playful laugh snapped me back to reality.

"Uncle Ethan, do you think I look better in a mermaid cut or this off-the-shoulder style?"

Chloe looped her arm through Ethan's, pressing half her body against him.

Ethan affectionately pinched her nose. "Chloe looks stunning in everything."

I panicked and lowered my head, feeling like a pathetic peeping tom coveting someone else's happiness.

I turned around to leave, but Chloe caught me right in the act.

"Uncle Ethan, isn't this the woman who tried to buy her way into high society using favors? Why is she here?"

"Could she be stalking us?" She shrank into Ethan's arms, acting as if she were terrified.

Chloe's words instantly drew everyone's eyes straight to me.

I clenched my fists tightly, opening my mouth to deny it, but Ethan stepped right in front of me with a cold glare.

"Nora, apologize to Chloe."

His usually tender eyes were filled with ice.

He refused to listen to a single word of my explanation.

Just based on Chloe's baseless words, he had already decided I was guilty.

I used to be Ethan's only exception.

With him, I was always the right answer.

We first met at a high-end charity gala.

I was giving a speech as a top scholarship student.

Right after stepping off the stage, a sleazy executive cornered me, demanding I either sleep with him or pay back a fabricated debt.

Unable to break free, I smashed a wine bottle over his head right in front of everyone.

I was like a cornered stray cat, wildly swinging a broken glass bottle.

The jagged glass scratched Ethan's arm, and the crowd gasped.

He normally hated physical contact with strangers, but he just raised an eyebrow and pulled me into his arms.

"You really are just a clawless kitten pretending to be fierce."

It was Ethan who took care of that bastard for me.

I thought our paths would never cross again, until the Miller Group went bankrupt.

That was when I found Ethan standing on a bridge, ready to jump.

The moment he fell, I lunged forward and grabbed him, just like he had held me years ago.

"So you went bankrupt? I'll help you make a comeback!" My eyes were red, my voice breathless yet unyielding.

Later, when he climbed back to the top, I became the only woman by his side.

Though nothing was made official, everyone in our circle assumed I was his future wife.

He used to wash my blood-stained underwear and learned how to cook just for me.

Whenever I said I liked something, piles of luxury goods would flow endlessly to my doorstep.

Friends joked that if he kept spoiling me this way, I would practically turn the world upside down.

He would just laugh brazenly. "So what if she does?"

I genuinely believed we would be happy like this forever.

Yet reality always shatters our expectations.

Chloe suddenly appeared on the day of our engagement party.

She bit her lip with teary eyes and screamed, "Ethan Miller, you liar!"

Then she turned around and ran off without looking back.

I had never seen Ethan look so completely unhinged.

He tackled the out-of-control Chloe to the ground.

He kissed away the tears at the corners of her eyes.

I couldn't help stepping forward, trying to pull the two inseparable figures apart.

Ethan, who had never once lost his temper with me, slapped me across the face.

"Chloe cannot handle any stress!"

He shielded the crying girl in his arms, glaring at me with pure hatred.

I thought he believed I deliberately provoked his little niece out of jealousy.

Later, he unilaterally declared that there was only gratitude between us, no love, claiming I was a greedy opportunist who capitalized on past favors.

So all those doting moments had been entirely fake.

This seven-year-old illusion of love was finally time to wake up.