Chapter 1
I stuck by Colin for seven years. He always said he'd marry me once he secured his place at Moore Group.
So I kept waiting, standing by his side as he went from a nobody—the illegitimate son—to the heir of Moore Group.
However, he never wanted me in the public eye.
At the celebration party, Colin's business partners started making a fuss about his love life.
"Mr. Moore, I know plenty of heiresses from prominent families. Want me to introduce you to one?" someone joked.
In my last life, I couldn't help myself—I blurted out our relationship right there in front of everyone.
The heiress of the Rose family, Vivian Rose, the perfect match for him, tearfully got engaged to someone else.
Colin didn't say a word, but he threw me out of his villa in the middle of the night.
When Vivian framed me for stealing the company's confidential files, Colin interrupted my defense, looking at me with nothing but contempt.
"Vivian's pure and kind. If she says it, that's all the evidence I need," he said.
It wasn't until I was kidnapped by Colin's rival, barely hanging on and begging him for help, that I realized he was busy chasing after Vivian, caught up in their little game.
That was when it finally hit me—I was just something he played with when he got bored.
When I opened my eyes again, with everyone staring at me in shock and disbelief, I flashed a smile and spoke up, "Just kidding. I already have a boyfriend."
*****
As soon as I finished, the whole room went dead silent.
Colin snapped his gaze to me, and his eyes went cold in a heartbeat.
Vivian instantly sidled up to Colin, almost melting into his side, her voice soft and sweet.
"That's wonderful! Congratulations, Evelyn. I always saw you hanging around Colin and thought maybe you two were..."
She then turned to the crowd, putting on a look of concern for everyone to see.
"Let's not give Evelyn a hard time. She's had a tough time sticking by Colin all these years."
My fingers tightened around my champagne glass, but I kept my cool smile on.
"Ms. Rose, maybe don't bring it up again. My boyfriend's the jealous type—if he hears about this, I'll have to sweet-talk him for hours," I said.
Vivian's face stiffened for a moment.
Someone quickly jumped in to smooth things over. "Alright, alright, let's keep the party fun. Ms. White was just joking!"
I casually set my glass down, flashing an easy smile.
"Once my boyfriend's not so swamped, I'll bring him around to meet everyone for real."
Before I could even finish, Vivian suddenly gasped, "Oh no!" and splashed her entire glass of red wine all over me.
She covered her mouth, acting all surprised, but there was a nasty gleam in her eyes.
"Evelyn, why not call your boyfriend over right now? Don't tell me you're just making things up and still trying to rope Colin in.
"After all, you've been chasing him for seven years. I'm really curious—who could possibly make you forget about Colin after all this time?"
The wine made my dress all sticky and gross, but honestly, Vivian was enough to make me gag.
When I didn't say anything, Vivian just looked even more sure of herself.
She tugged at Colin's sleeve, giving me a challenging look.
"Colin, do you think Evelyn's mad at me?" she said, pretending to be all sweet and innocent.
Just as I was staring at the mess on my dress, I heard Colin's cold voice.
"No, she's always had a temper. It's not your fault," Colin said coldly.
Vivian looked even more smug, giving me a look that screamed pure contempt.
I dug my nails into my palm; the pain was the only thing keeping me grounded and holding onto my dignity.
Just then, a gentle male voice called out from behind me.
"Looks like I showed up just in time, huh?" he said.
The guy was dressed in a tailored suit, gentlemanly and composed—a total contrast to Colin's icy, domineering presence.
He walked straight over to me, took off his suit jacket, and draped it over my shoulders.
"Sorry I'm late. Got stuck in traffic," he said.
Why was he here?
Vivian's face flickered for a moment, but she quickly put on her most graceful smile. "Mr. Lucas Moore? What a coincidence."
Colin's expression turned stormy in an instant, his gaze glued to Lucas' hand on my waist.
"Lucas, when did you and Evelyn get so close? Why was I never told about this?" Colin narrowed his eyes, his voice icy.
However, Lucas kept his smile, not even bothering to respond to Colin.
I spoke up at the perfect moment, "You two can keep chatting. We're heading out."
With that, I linked my arm with Lucas' and started to leave, but Colin stepped right in front of us, blocking our way.
I ignored his intense gaze and spoke up first.
"Could you move? You're in the way. Thanks," I said, my voice cool and a little impatient.
Just then, Vivian called out from behind me, "Evelyn, Colin's going to help me pick out my birthday necklace later. Won't you come with us?"
I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Last time, I took a knife for Colin and was stuck in the hospital, but he ditched me to go necklace shopping with Vivian instead.
Why was this happening so soon this time around?
I shot a look at Colin, who was gloomy and brooding, just glaring at me without saying a word.
"No thanks. My boyfriend's the jealous type," I replied with a careless smile.
As I was about to step out the door, I heard a loud, cold snort from behind me.
Once we were in the car, I leaned back in my seat and cut right to the chase.
"Mr. Lucas Moore, you came back to the country all of a sudden—are you planning to get involved in the Moore Group power struggle now?" I asked.
Lucas chuckled softly, saying, "If I said I came back just to help you, would you buy it?"
Help me? Seriously?
I glanced over, catching his gaze right as he looked at me.
The light hit the beauty mark by his eye, and for a split second, my heart did a weird little flutter.
"Nope. Not buying it," I said flatly.
I simply looked away, turning my gaze out the window.
Right before I got out, Lucas suddenly spoke up, "Evelyn, if you ever run into trouble, you know where to find me."
I paused, didn't look back, just murmured a soft "mm" and closed the car door without a second thought.