Chapter 3

3 For a second, Damian looked at a loss for words, as if my logic made sense yet completely defied his control.

His lack of sleep from the past few nights left him too drained to untangle his thoughts.

Annoyed, he barked:

"Sasha! If you keep acting like an aggressive bitch, I will seriously reconsider whether I even want to marry you!"

Here we go again.

Whenever an argument exposed his guilt, he used our engagement as leverage to force me onto my knees.

Cecelia chimed in from the side, playing the saint:

"Damian, please don't be rash! Calling off an engagement is a massive scandal! How will Sasha ever show her face in public if word gets out?"

Damian looked at her with pure tenderness:

"You're too kind for your own good. That's why people take advantage of you. What would you do without me?"

The words were sickeningly familiar. He had once made the exact same promise to me.

Now, everything was ruined.

I let out a long sigh and looked him straight in the eyes:

"Damian, didn't your little sister tell you? I already dumped you."

The smugness on Damian's face instantly froze:

"What nonsense are you spewing?"

My cheek was swollen and throbbing so badly that speaking brought tears to my eyes.

Even so, I enunciated every single syllable clearly:

"Damian, we are over. I'm breaking up with you."

Damian paused for two seconds, then burst into arrogant laughter:

"Break up with me? What are you without my money and status? Do you honestly think any other man would want you?"

I slowly lifted my chin to meet his gaze:

"So in your eyes, I'm just a worthless parasite, right?"

He didn't answer, but the cruel smirk on his lips said everything.

Before storming out, Damian tossed one final warning over his shoulder, telling me to behave myself if I didn't want him to replace the bride.

Watching his retreating back, I gave a quiet, hollow laugh.

After loading my luggage into the back of the rideshare I ordered, I leaned against the seat and closed my eyes.

Suddenly, the driver slammed on the brakes, sending my purse flying forward.

Just as I was about to apologize, I caught sight of the emblem on the steering wheel.

I froze in disbelief:

"Sir... you're driving a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar Maybach for an Uber ride?"

The man behind the wheel turned around, offering a dazzling smile:

"How else do you think I can afford the gas for a Maybach?"

A chuckle slipped past my lips.

Not only was this driver filthy rich, but he was surprisingly witty.

The tension melted away as he glanced at me through the rearview mirror:

"How about I take you to the emergency room first? Your cheek is swollen like a softball."

I pulled out my compact mirror with hesitation. The moment I saw my purple, bruised face, a scream tore from my throat:

"Oh my god!"

At the clinic, I sat on the examination bed holding the ice pack the driver had bought for me:

"Thank you so much. Did I mess up your work schedule?"

The man shook his head with an amused expression:

"My name is Pierce, by the way."

Realizing I had been calling him "driver" the whole time, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Just as I was about to speak, an infuriatingly familiar voice barked from the hallway:

"Sasha! No wonder you weren't picking up my calls! You're busy on a hospital date with your side piece!"

I whipped my head around to see Damian's smug face, flanked by a triumphant Cecelia:

"Sasha, how could you do this to Damian? He gave you his whole heart. Do you have no shame?"

A classic case of the guilty crying victim.

Naturally, Damian bought every bit of it:

"Cecelia, if she had even half of your loyalty, our lives wouldn't be this messy."

I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt:

"Stop projecting your own filth onto others. Just because you love cheating doesn't mean the rest of the world is as trashy as you. This gentleman was just kind enough to drive me here for my injury!"

Damian's eyes finally landed on my swollen, bruised face, and he choked on his words.

He uncomfortably looked away, his tone defensive:

"Still, that's no excuse to run around with a strange man."