Chapter 1

I was the long-lost daughter of a billionaire family, working three jobs to support my unemployed childhood sweetheart.

He always said he would marry me as soon as he found a job.

I suffered for three grueling years until he finally told me to put on a wedding dress and meet him at a luxury hotel.

But when I rushed to the hotel entrance, he was holding the fake heiress who had stolen my life, laughing hysterically.

"What did I tell you? I knew she was still delusional enough to think I'd marry her!"

He threw two thousand dollars in my face.

"I was just messing with you today. I've joined the Sterling Group now. We belong to different social classes."

"It's actually quite fitting for you to come here and be a maid for Scarlett."

Everyone around us laughed at my supposed delusions, calling me a dog licking his boots.

But when the Prince of the Sterling Group walked out with my marriage certificate, their laughter died instantly.

01

When I saw Lucas cover his nose with a tissue as he approached me, I knew this was another one of his so-called jokes.

His best friend, Joey, looked at me with pure mockery.

"A greasy girl selling breakfast actually dared to squeeze herself into a wedding dress. Aren't you afraid of bursting the seams and going home naked?"

"She has no idea what she's worth, yet she still dreams that Lucas would marry her."

"She probably fried her own brain along with those dough sticks."

I held the bouquet, my fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

Lucas pushed Joey aside and walked over to tuck a stray hair behind my ear.

"Don't listen to him. This dress looks good on you."

This was his first compliment in three years, and his gaze was unusually gentle.

However, in the next second, his expression shifted. He made an exaggerated gagging face and laughed loudly.

"Too bad even eight bottles of perfume can't hide the smell of trash on you. Putting a beautiful dress on you is such a waste!"

The others burst into a fit of laughter. Joey pulled a bottle of scented insecticide from his bag and started spraying it on me.

"Lucas is too kind. She doesn't deserve perfume. She deserves this!"

If this had happened before, I probably would have stood there crying alone, praying Lucas wouldn't be angry about the smell.

But this time, I took a step back to avoid the mist and looked Joey straight in the eye.

"Don't spray that. If it gets on the bouquet, whoever catches it might get poisoned…"

Before I could finish, Lucas interrupted me with a deep frown.

"Catching the bouquet? Aria, did you really leave your brain in the deep fryer? You actually thought I'd marry you?"

"Can't you see I only called you here today to prank you?"

He was already several feet away, yet he still turned his head and held his breath as he spoke, as if I were a cockroach that just crawled out of a sewer.

Joey scanned me up and down, letting out a disdainful snort.

"I think she's just desperate. She sees a man and wants to throw herself at him!"

Even though I had prepared myself, the disgust in Lucas's eyes still felt like a knife to my heart, causing a suffocating pain.

Actually, I already knew he only wanted me here to humiliate me.

Lucas had a secret burner account on X.

Two weeks ago, he posted a status: 【How can I completely get rid of an ex-girlfriend who is beneath me?】

In that post, he glossed over the three years I spent working multiple jobs to support him while he was unemployed.

He wrote: 【The gifts my ex gives are incredibly cheap. The most expensive thing was just a gaming console.】

He didn't mention that my hands, which bought him that console, were covered in chilblains from washing dishes in ice-cold water during the winter.

The post detailed how the smell of my body made him sick.

【The smell of oil and smoke on her hair and clothes won't go away no matter how much she washes. I feel nauseous every time I smell it. I have to change my clothes immediately after hugging her.】

But before I had to support him, I didn't know that selling breakfast meant waking up at 3 AM. I didn't know the labor would make my back too sore to even bend.

He once swore to me:

"A virtuous wife supports my dreams, and I will repay her with a fortune!"

But in his post, he claimed he had been working at a major corporation for a long time. To prevent me from forcing him into marriage, he faked being sick and pretended to be at the hospital during work hours.

I had foolishly thought he refused to be hospitalized because he was worried about the cost, so I took on an extra job as a designated driver.

Many people criticized him in the comments, but he only liked the replies that insulted me.

【This kind of woman is only fit to be a stepping stone. Use her and throw her away.】

【Living with a woman like that for three years is already a blessing for her. Otherwise, she'd never know what a real man is like.】

He ignored countless messages telling him to say a proper goodbye. Instead, he pinned the most malicious comment to the top.

【Bro, you should trick her into coming over and humiliate her. The bigger the scene, the better. That way, she won't have the face to keep pestering you.】

Every word felt like a slow execution, yet I read them over and over.

It wasn't until my tears blurred the screen that I finally believed this was the man I had loved with all my heart for three years.

He forgot the countless times we fantasized about how happy we would be when our lives improved.

"Aria, when we have money, I'll marry you right away."

"We'll have a bright house for our new home, and we'll put up beautiful wedding photos."

I didn't tell Lucas that I currently own a bright villa with a garden, and I am wearing a beautiful wedding dress.

But the man I am marrying is no longer him.