Chapter 1
After three years abroad, I finally came home.
Every time we were intimate, my boyfriend would insist on stuffing a thick pillow under my lower back.
I asked him why.
He grinned and said, “Proven firsthand-this position gives the highest chance of getting pregnant.”
“With my baby in you, Maren, you’ll never leave me again.”
I figured it was just lingering fear from our three years apart.
Until one night while he was in the shower, I suddenly received a video from his assistant.
In the video, another woman lay beneath him, her belly just beginning to swell. They were in the exact same position he
always used with me.
Nolan Everett was on top of her, taking what he wanted-greedy and unrestrained.
“66 times in the office, 88 in the Maybach, 99 at the Hilton.”
“You were gone for three years, and he had me for all three. I’m carrying his child-tell me, Maren, who do you think he really wants to marry? You, or me?”
I trembled all over, like I’d just fallen into a frozen lake.
Fingers shaking, I called the one man Nolan hated most.
“I’m getting married on the 10th of this month. Come crash the wedding.”
“Crash it? Everyone knows Nolan’s obsessed with you-he worships the ground you walk on. If you run away with me, are you trying to kill him at the altar?”
At that, I only let out a bitter, mocking smile.
Obsessed? Worship? He still managed to sneak around and knock up someone else behind my back.
“Just tell me-are you in, or not?”
Beckett Rhodes sounded casual as ever. “What’s in it for me?”
I paused for a few seconds. “I heard your grandmother’s health is declining. She’s been pressuring you to settle down. If you crash the wedding, you get to humiliate the Everetts and walk away with a wife. Two birds, one stone.”
A low laugh came through the phone.
A moment later, he gave me just two words: “I’m in.”
That night, Nolan came home early.
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Maybe he was spooked by the joke I’d made recently about calling off the wedding. He showed up with a necklace, a bouquet of fresh flowers, and clung to me all evening like I’d disappear any second.
When I asked him what was going on, he pulled me tighter into his arms. “Maren, don’t joke like that ever again. I’d die.”
I closed my eyes. My face remained expressionless.
Back then, when I found out the truth, it nearly killed me too.
Maybe it’s only fair we both die once.
When I walked out of the bedroom, I was surprised to see Nolan still sitting in the living room.
Hearing me, he looked up. “There’s a charity gala tonight. Mrs. Livingston’s finally agreed to auction off that ‘Sapphire
Heart’ necklace. I want to take you there to buy it.”
My chest tightened as I looked at him. He remembered a throwaway comment I’d made. Remembered all my little
preferences. Yet none of that had stopped him from cheating.
Half an hour later, his sleek Maybach pulled up outside the auction venue.
As I stepped out, a woman’s voice called out.
“Mr. Everett, I’ve prepared invitations for you and Ms. Whitfield.”
I turned to see Sienna Collins standing there, dressed far too lightly for the chilly night. Her face was pale from the cold.
The next second, I heard Nolan’s annoyed voice. “It’s freezing. Why didn’t you wait inside?”
Sienna bit her lip timidly. “I… I didn’t want to miss you.”
In that moment, I could feel Nolan’s breath hitch slightly.
He was worried about her.
I lowered my gaze, swallowing the bitterness rising in my chest.
“Maren, Sienna’s always getting called unsophisticated by clients at the company. I thought bringing her here would help
her gain some polish-so she doesn’t embarrass our company. Don’t overthink it.”
“Mm,” I replied half-heartedly, then walked into the hall ahead of him.
For this charity auction, I’d donated three pairs of pearl earrings, worth three million in total.
Nolan ended up bidding them back for a total of ten million.
As the bidding buzzed around the room, Sienna spoke up timidly. “Mr. Everett, are all the donations here this expensive? I
didn’t know…”
Right as she said that, the auctioneer introduced the next item.
“Lot No. 32, a handmade ‘Wishing Star’ charm donated by Miss Sienna Collins. Starting bid-one dollar.”
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The room erupted in laughter.
“A dollar? Is this a joke? She really donated this piece of junk?”
“Everyone here is somebody. How did a nobody like her even get in? Can’t they kick her out?”
Sienna turned red and purple from the embarrassment and bowed her head in shame.
Nolan’s face darkened instantly. He immediately signaled his assistant to raise a bid.
“Number 17, Mr. Nolan Everett bids three hundred million!”
Gasps echoed through the crowd.
“He only spent ten million on his fiancée’s stuff. But three hundred million on another woman? What’s their deal?”
“I heard he took some girl to a prenatal appointment not long ago…”
“A mistress, huh? That makes sense.”
Hearing the whispers behind her, Sienna fled the hall, eyes red.
Nolan chased after her without hesitation.
The crowd’s curiosity flared hotter. I got up and followed.
The hallway was quiet, Sienna’s choked sobs echoing clearly.
“Mr. Everett, let’s just end this here… please…”
Before she could finish, Nolan crushed his mouth against hers. “Sienna, unless I say it’s over, you are not leaving me.”
A cold shiver crept from my heels to my heart.
I reached up and touched my face. My fingertips came away wet and cold.
I had told myself I was ready to let go.
But seeing that scene… still hurt.
I wiped my tears away slowly-every last one-then turned and walked off.
Nolan Everett, this is the last time I’ll cry for you.
