Chapter 2

At the bustling airport, Ward squeezed Sarah into his arms like he'd finally gotten back something priceless. Even watching from a phone screen, it was obvious these two were totally stuck on each other.

Not long after, someone dropped photos of Ward bailing from the wedding venue right in the comments.

The comment section went wild in a flash.

A person wrote: [Thought this was gonna be a love story, but turns out it's just a cheater and his side piece.]

Another person wrote: [If anyone's the side piece, it's the one that the groom abandons.]

I put my phone away and walked off without looking back.

The next day, I headed over to our place to start packing. Before I could even finish punching in the code, someone yanked the door open from the inside.

Sarah stood there wearing my red pajamas and slippers, tilting her neck just to flaunt those hickeys all over her skin.

I shot her a look of pure disgust.

"Take them off!" I snapped.

Sarah shrank back, while Ward came charging over with his phone still in his hand.

"Kelsey, if you've got a bone to pick, come at me. Don't bully her," Ward snapped.

He wrapped Sarah protectively in his arms, his eyes full of fury as he stared me down.

"Whatever's between us, we can settle in private. Why'd you have your dad pull his money from my family's company?" Ward demanded.

I gave Ward a deadpan stare, not betraying a single emotion.

"Seriously, you don't know why my dad pulled the plug? All that cash was my wedding gift. I'm not marrying you, so why the heck should my family keep throwing money at yours?" I shot back.

Ward cut me off, raising his voice, "Kelsey, can you quit messing around?

"I'm into Sarah, and no matter what you do, that won't ever change. If you don't want me to hate you, call your dad right now and tell him to hold up his end of the contract."

The Baker family's restaurant business had been bleeding money for the past couple of years.

Meanwhile, my family's hotel chain catered to high-net-worth clients, and I spearheaded exclusive, custom-tailored business event services.

In my previous life, I was the one who saved their restaurant from going under and made it famous far and wide, even turning it into the face of our local food scene around the world.

Ward should know better than anyone how much his family's business depended on me.

But since he chose Sarah, he had to live with the consequences.

"Who you love or hate is not my problem." I shot back.

With that, I walked straight into the house.

"I'm just here to grab my stuff," I said.

"Stop right there." Ward blocked my path, glaring. "If you don't get your dad to wire the money in today, you're not leaving here with anything."

I met Ward's eyes with a frosty stare, didn't say a word, and pulled out my phone to call Leland.

"Leland, could you come over? Ward just brought Sarah into our place..." I said.

Before I could finish, Ward smacked the phone right out of my hand.

"You just love tattling, don't you?" Ward snapped.

I stared at my phone lying in ruins on the floor and quickly scooped it up. The screen was shattered.

"Ward, what's the point of all this drama? After all the years your parents have looked out for me, I'm not about to let your family crash and burn. But if you keep throwing these fits, don't expect me to bail you out next time." I shot back.

Ward froze, pressing his lips together. He was just about to move aside when Sarah stepped in closer.

"Kelsey, please don't be mad. I know you've liked Ward ever since you were little, but he and I just couldn't help ourselves. If Ward hadn't come to the airport for me, I never would've come between you two," Sarah said.

"Sarah, this isn't your fault," Ward said, reaching out, his face soft with concern as he tried to comfort her.

I couldn't even deal with their sickening routine, so I tried to skirt around them.

But Sarah kept getting in my way on purpose.

"This is Ward's place, isn't it? What are you even here to take? Don't you think you ought to be upfront about it?" Sarah said.

"My parents bought this house as my wedding gift. Move aside. Both of you need to get out now," I snapped.

Sarah plastered on an apologetic look, but still stood in my path, refusing to move.

"If you're going to split hairs over what's yours, coming here for your wedding gifts, then what about those engagement gifts Ward gave you?" Sarah shot back.

I reached up and grabbed the emerald pendant hanging from my neck. "This is his gift. Now, I'm taking back what's rightfully mine."

I shoved Sarah out of my way, strode into the study, and popped open the bottom safe.

But when I looked inside, it was completely empty.

I shot Ward a look of pure disbelief. "Where's my stuff?"

Before Ward could say a word, Sarah jumped in.