Chapter 2

2. My assistant, Piper, tried to comfort me.

She said Caleb was just temporarily confused and would come back to me once he saw my face.

I just laughed at the irony.

I knew about Cleo from the start. She was the classic girl-next-door―thin, wearing white sundresses, always looking like she needed a hero.

Caleb loved her to death. But back then, his family empire was collapsing.

His father couldn't handle the shame and jumped off their penthouse. His mother remarried a wealthy man immediately, leaving him with nothing.

He wasn't just broke; he was tens of millions in debt.

Naturally, Cleo didn't stay. She left him in tears and fled to Berklee College of Music.

Everyone told me not to marry him.

A rising star with beauty and talent shouldn't tie herself to a man drowning in debt.

But I was obsessed. My eyes only saw him. I married him without a second thought.

After the wedding, I worked like a machine. I took every role and skipped sleep.

My fame grew, and my paychecks skyrocketed.

I didn't just clear his debts; I gave him the capital to build his agency from the ground up.

I thought my devotion would move him eventually. I thought even a heart of stone could bloom.

But I finally realized that "eternal love" was just my own delusion.

To a man who doesn't cherish you, your sacrifice is just a stepping stone.

Caleb pretended to hate Cleo, but he never let her go.

All my hard work only served to bring him back to her level.

This interview was a loud slap in the face. It finally woke me up from the dream.