Chapter 3

Ray was drunk, and even in his sleep, he kept mumbling that name.

That night, I finally realized he had fallen for a young girl from the company, and he was determined to break off our engagement.

I tried to reason with him. "The economy's tanking, and your father isn't in great shape. Why don't we just get engaged for now?

"It'll steady the stock price and help the Sanford family weather this financial storm."

Ray agreed, and he kept my existence a secret from Louisa.

But none of us knew that Louisa was already pregnant at the time.

She was headstrong. Without a second thought, she ended the pregnancy and left town.

Our wedding went off without a hitch, but Ray ended up resenting me for the rest of his life.

From that moment on, the name Louisa became the invisible third party in our marriage.

"Louisa? She was just a sales rep from a client company. She knew she was pretty and used that to get close to Ray during project receptions," Linda said, her tone dripping with disdain.

Linda couldn't hide her contempt whenever she talked about Louisa.

She added, "Ray totally lost his head over her. He helped her quit her old job and brought her into his own company as his personal secretary. One time, they were getting cozy in the office and got caught by Patrick.

"Patrick was so mad that he fired her right then and there! He even said if Ray didn't break up with her, he would cut him off from the Sanford family."

I asked casually, "Was Patrick really that furious? At his age, why's he still playing matchbreaker?"

"Louisa's dirt poor. There's no way the Sanford family would ever let someone like her marry in," Linda scoffed.

That was true. Before Ray and I got married, he was always suppressed by Patrick's first wife's side of the family. He had no real say in the company at all.

Rachel Sanford, Ray's biological mother, and Peter never got along, so she was always careful at home, just hoping Ray could marry a rich heiress.

I only learned later that Ray being set up with me was just an assignment handed down by the Sanford family.

Linda looked at me with envy. "Norah, your family's so loaded. The Sanfords have always wanted to tie the knot with yours. That day you turned Ray down, Patrick totally blew a fuse."

I gave a little laugh. "It's not me they're after. It's the Olsen family's money."

After three years of lockdowns, birth rates plummeted, and the real estate market was severely impacted. The Sanford family's finances were already in shambles.

This year, with banks clamping down, the Sanfords were scrambling to find a strong, reliable ally.

Teaming up with the Olsen family, with our pharma group's support, was their best shot at survival.

If the marriage deal fell apart, it'd be game over for the Sanford family.

With the Sanford family already in deep trouble, Ray's Cinderella romance only made things worse. No rich heiress in their circle would want to clean up his mess.

Basically, aside from his fancy degree and good looks, Ray was pretty much useless to the Sanford family.

As a rich kid with no real power, and with Peter and Peter's relatives from his mother's side to kick him out, it was only a matter of time before Ray got pushed aside.

Maybe it finally hit him how deep in trouble he was, because after I turned down the Sanford family, Ray swallowed his pride and reached out to me.

He had someone plead his case, hoping to meet me, his family's chosen match and fellow alum, for a one-on-one coffee.

When I got the news, I didn't feel excited or flattered. All I felt was disappointment.

He already had his sweet little girlfriend by his side, yet he still came knocking. Clearly, his parents were pressing him.

If Ray wanted to play the noble hero and still have everything handed to him, fine, I'd meet him and give him a shove in the right direction.

Honestly, I was curious to see if he and his little girlfriend would ever get their happy ending.

The next day, I showed up at the café just like we'd agreed.

To my surprise, the moment we sat down, Ray handed me an envelope.

Inside was a letter.

It was a song request I'd sent to the campus radio back in junior high.

"Norah, I just found out you were an underclassman at my high school. Our families have been friends for generations. Guess we could've met way earlier..." Ray said.

He looked at me like he was throwing me a bone, as if showing up was a favor.

He felt even more like a stranger.

Back then, I was like a lovestruck fool, giving my all, burning myself out for him, never getting anything back.

He always acted above it all, taking my love and my family's wealth for granted.

But he'd never once shown me a shred of warmth, not until this time.

Because in his heart, he blamed me, the rich girl, for barging in and stealing his love away from Louisa.

Today, he came to see me, clearly having made an effort with his appearance.