Chapter 1

The day my family fell from grace, my father used me as the last bargaining chip and took me to the three men I'd grown up with.

He said, "I have nothing left to offer but my daughter."

However, those men, my so-called childhood friends, treated me like trash.

Axel Reed, always irritable and unreasonable, knocked the table with his knuckles, sneering with arrogance and contempt. "Marriage of convenience? You think Charlotte Whitney deserves me? She's a madwoman. I'll pass. If anyone else wants her, go ahead."

Blake Perry, who always pretended to be sweet, blinked those innocent eyes of his and sounded falsely regretful. "Charlotte is great, but I've always thought of her as a sister. I can't marry her."

And Julian Foster, the one I thought was a shining star, pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. His eyes behind the lenses were cold, his voice flat. "A woman who's all brawn and no brains will tarnish the Foster name."

With a few words, they shredded twenty years of our friendship and my dignity.

My parents' faces went from awkward to pale in that instant, but I smiled under everyone's cold gaze.

I met their judging, picky, disdainful stares and spoke softly, my voice low but enough to make the whole room go silent. "Gentlemen, especially my three childhood 'friends,' I think you're mistaken.

"I had no idea my parents would talk about marriage and cause a stir. Actually, I already have a boyfriend."

As soon as I finished speaking, the atmosphere became so tense that everyone in the room was feeling the pressure.

Axel, who'd been acting high and mighty and tapping his fingers on the table, suddenly froze. His eyes, sharp as a hawk's, fixed on me like he was about to burn a hole through my face.

Blake's usual, innocent smile stiffened. His mouth slightly open, and for the first time, his eyes were wide with undisguised disbelief.

Even Julian, who had always kept himself aloof and cold, finally looked up from his phone, snapping out of his own world. His deep gaze cut through the steam rising from his coffee, piercing my heart precisely like two beams of cold light.

But I acted like I couldn't feel their piercing stares all over me.

I turned to my parents, who had no idea what to do, and spoke calmly, as if stating something that had nothing to do with me. "Dad, Mom, you really should've told me that this is an 'auction' for saving the company.

"At least I could've prepared myself instead of ending up as a laughing stock for everyone here."

I paused, and my eyes slowly swept across the three equally shocked young faces. "They're right. We were never meant to be.

"Though we grew up together, I only see them as older brothers, nothing more. A marriage of convenience is pure fantasy."

My parents loved me, but they were backed into a corner.

They kept it from me, saying it was a dinner for the elders of the four families to catch up. The one they'd picked out for me was Blake.

He was a year younger than me, always seemed gentle and clingy, and has the least conflict with me.

Unexpectedly, Axel and Julian showed up uninvited, turning what was already an awkward request into a public humiliation.

I could understand my parents' helplessness, but what really broke my heart was seeing them so humble.

There was a time when my family was well-off, too. My mom once smiled mischievously and asked if I had a crush on any of my three childhood friends.

How did I react back then? My cheeks instantly turned bright red; I snapped at her to stop joking and ran to my room like a startled rabbit.

Mom smiled knowingly. Her guess had been right, but she never pointed it out.

She thought we had all the time in the world for me to be brave, to explore, and to make my own choices.

However, a big change came without warning. One wrong move by my dad in the business world, and everything crashed down. The stock market tanked, the capital chain broke, and our once-mighty business empire collapsed overnight.

The name, Whitney, once a hot topic among the upper class, suddenly became a plague everyone wanted to avoid.

The Reed, Perry, and Foster families distanced themselves from us with perfect coordination, like it was the most natural thing.

Mom figured that if she didn't try one last time to find me a match, I, being stubborn and prideful, might really miss out on whatever chance I had at love, and that was how this reckless, ill-fated dinner happened.

Mom and Dad swallowed their pride and laid bare the Whitney family's plight, humbling themselves.

They said if Blake and I liked each other, a marriage would be a lifesaver. But if it was friendship, then this dinner was considered a regular get-together. They'd never force anything.

They misjudged human nature and how heartless people could be.

They never imagined that the three boys they'd watched grow up would so easily and cruelly crush their cherished daughter's dignity.

Those words were like poisoned icicles, cutting through my parents' smiles and making them crumble.

In that instant, a sharp, long-forgotten pain seized my heart.

I'd had enough. I took a deep breath, stood up, and swept my icy gaze across the room.

"Looks like no one's enjoying this dinner," I said. "In that case, we might as well put an end to it and go our separate ways. I hope we won't met again."