Chapter 1
My boyfriend of seven years wanted to lend one million dollars we'd saved for our wedding house to his childhood friend to bail her out.
I didn't try to stop him. Instead, I turned around and used that money to buy majority control of his company.
Three days later, his childhood friend dragged him to a luxury real estate office to buy a penthouse.
When he tried to swipe his card, the salesperson said politely, "Sir, your card has been frozen."
My boyfriend called me, both furious and humiliated. "What right do you have to touch my money?"
I was sitting in the CEO's chair in the executive office and chuckled softly.
"Your money? Since when did the company's funds become yours?"
On the other end, I could hear his childhood friend sobbing in panic.
I pressed the intercom and told HR to fire him.
*****
When Edward was talking about lending one million dollars to Sophia, the soup was bubbling on the stove.
I turned off the heat, and the steam scalded the back of my hand, leaving it red.
In the living room, his mother, Linda Bennett, smiled with motherly affection.
"Charlotte, Sophia's really had it rough. Her dad owes a ton of money, and the debt collectors are knocking at her door.
"It's okay if you and Edward wait a bit longer to buy your wedding house. You've been together for seven years—what's a little longer?"
Edward was sitting on the couch, head down, reading his phone.
Sophia was blowing up his phone with texts, the screen glowing nonstop.
Sophia: [Edward, I really don't know what to do anymore.]
Sophia: [If it weren't for you, I don't think I could go on.]
Sophia: [Will Charlotte be mad? I don't want to come between you two.]
I set the soup on the table.
Linda frowned.
"Why is it so hot? Are you trying to scald someone?"
That soup was Edward's favorite—corn and pork rib soup.
Back when he worked late into the night, I'd always have the soup simmering, waiting for him to come home.
He used to hold me close and say, "Charlotte, in our future home, there'll always be hot soup every single day."
Now, he didn't even look up.
"Mom, that's enough," he said.
It almost sounded like he was standing up for me.
But then he added, "Charlotte's sensible. She won't make a fuss."
The bowl was so hot it made my fingertips tingle.
I looked at him.
"That money is for the down payment on our wedding house," I said.
Edward finally looked up, impatience written all over his face.
"It's just a loan," he said.
Linda was quick to chime in.
"Yeah, it's not like you two won't get your house eventually," she said.
Richard Bennett, sitting nearby, set down his coffee.
"Don't be so narrow-minded, Charlotte. Sophia and Edward grew up together—no one else could ever come between them," he said.
As soon as he said "no one else," the whole table went dead silent.
For seven years, I stuck by Edward through the toughest years of his startup, was there for Linda through two surgeries, and paid off Richard's gambling debts.
And in the end, I was still just someone else.
Just then, Sophia's call came through.
Edward picked up almost instantly.
She was crying, her words coming out in broken sobs.
"Edward, they're knocking on my door again. I'm so scared," Sophia's voice trembled.
Edward stood up.
"Don't worry, I'm on my way," Edward reassured her.
Linda gave me a shove.
"What are you standing there for? Go get that card," she snapped.
That card had one million dollars on it.
Seven hundred thousand was from my mom's inheritance, and the other three hundred thousand was what I'd managed to save up from years of pinching pennies at work and stashing away every bonus.
The card was tucked away in the bottom drawer of the nightstand in the bedroom.
Right next to it was a proof of our wedding photos.
In the picture, he was leaning down to kiss my forehead.
The photographer had praised how tender his gaze was.
Back then, he smiled and said, "I've been waiting for this day for seven years."
My phone buzzed with a bank notification.
Edward had already tried my birthday as the password.
Wrong password.
Edward's voice came from outside the door.
"Charlotte, stop messing around."
I took out the card and placed it in his palm.
"Are you really going to give it to her?" I asked.
Edward let out a sigh of relief, his voice gentler.
"Sophia just needs it for now. Once she's back on her feet, I'll take you house-hunting right away," he said.
Linda smiled and patted my shoulder.
"That's what being family is all about," she said.
As the card was taken away, our wedding photo slipped off the cabinet.
The frame hit the floor, and a long crack spread across the glass.
Edward barely glanced at it.
"I'll get a new one later," he said.
The door closed.
The dishes on the table sat untouched, growing cold in the silence.
I crouched down and carefully picked up the shards of glass, dropping them one by one into the trash.
Finally, I slid the photo out of the broken frame and ripped it in two along the crack.