Chapter 1

After chasing Julian Sterling for ten long years, I finally grew tired of my one-woman show.

I gave up on him and turned to Carter Davis, who had been quietly pursuing me all along.

Carter once set off a whole night of fireworks for me by the Hudson River and even bought a Caribbean island to propose to me.

But just one month before our wedding at the Metropolitan Club, he disappeared.

When I found him in Miami, I stood outside the cabin door of a yacht and heard him, glass in hand, mocking me with his friends.

"I only went after Hannah to piss off Julian. That guy always has to one-up me in our circle."

"Now that I've got her, it's honestly fucking boring."

"But I can't just let it go. How thrilling would it be to dump her at the altar on our wedding day, to humiliate her in front of everyone?"

So, I decided to strike first.

I would be the one to run from this wedding, making him the laughingstock of New York's high society.

I heard later that the invincible Wall Street genius, Carter Davis, turned Manhattan upside down looking for his missing bride.

...

A month before the wedding, Carter disappeared.

I searched every private club and penthouse he frequented, but found nothing.

On the seventh day of his disappearance, I found a location tag on Instagram that placed him in Miami.

I booked a red-eye flight that very night.

I finally found him on a superyacht in South Beach.

Just as I was about to push open the mahogany door, I heard Carter's signature, careless laugh from inside. "I only chased Hannah Miller to get under Julian's skin. The guy is so damn arrogant, I just wanted to steal the woman by his side."

"Turns out, once I got her, she was nothing special. So damn boring."

My hand, holding the doorknob, froze mid-air.

He didn't sound drunk at all. He sounded perfectly sober.

Then, even more venomous words spilled from his mouth. "And after I got a taste, I realized she's actually pretty dull, like plain water."

A wave of suggestive laughter erupted around him, the kind of casual cruelty unique to the rich.

"That's our Carter, able to conquer even an 'ice queen' like her."

Carter seemed to bask in the compliment, continuing, "Don't be fooled by how she chased Julian like a psycho. She's ridiculously innocent. What a shame..."

"A shame about what?" someone asked.

Carter blew out a puff of cigar smoke, his voice lazy and cruel. "A shame that even though I was her first, I wasn't her first love."

"She loved Julian for ten years. Who knows if her heart is truly clean?"

"If Julian and I weren't mortal enemies, I wouldn't have bothered putting on that whole 'devoted guardian' act just to mess with him."

Someone joked, "You've had her for three years, why is our Wolf of Wall Street suddenly getting all sentimental?"

Carter's voice turned cold, laced with annoyance. "It's precisely because I've invested so much time and energy that I feel like I'm getting ripped off."

Someone in the crowd warned him, "I heard she's been looking for you all over New York like a madwoman. You've been gone this long, is that okay?"

Carter scoffed. "Running out on the wedding, leaving her humiliated in front of all of New York's elite―how fucking awesome would that be?"

I couldn't detect a trace of guilt, sympathy, or love in his tone.

Only the thrill of revenge.

My nails dug deep into my palms. It felt like an ice pick was being driven straight through my heart, the pain so sharp I couldn't breathe.

I had thought Carter was my lifeline in a sea of despair.

I only agreed to his proposal after I was sure that what I felt for him was no longer just gratitude, but real love.

That day, he got down on one knee at the top of the Empire State Building.

After three years together, he named a private island after me.

I thought this was my Hollywood ending.

I never imagined it was just an elaborate play he had staged to get back at his rival.

Was all that care and companionship just an act?