Chapter 1

In the tenth year of dating Charles Sterling, our relationship took a nosedive.

He started playing around more and more, keeping a college girl on the side.

This time, news of them getting engaged only reached me after everyone else already knew.

My bestie was used to seeing me cry and beg Charles to stay after every breakup. She scolded me furiously, "If I say one more word to talk you out of this, I'm an idiot."

I shook my head. "When he wanted love, I gave him love. Now the love is gone, but he still has money."

This time, I didn't argue or make a scene. I took the thirty million dollars I'd saved over the years and disappeared completely.

Later, Charles showed up at my new place, blocking the door.

He asked bitterly, "When exactly did you stop loving me?"

I thought about it.

Maybe it was the first time I met his mother, she threw water in my face. He stood there in silence.

*****

I got the call and hurried over to Charles's friend's villa.

He was slouched on the couch, tipsy, with a girl curled up in his arms.

Her features were innocent and fresh, cheeks glowing with youth. She was so clean and pure, like new leaves after a spring rain.

Her playful, coy tone was something I couldn't fake anymore at my age.

His friends were joking around, teasing Charles about what went down with the girl last night.

"I heard Grace didn't check up on you last night. So, how many rounds did you and Sophie go for?"

"Don't tell me you went at it all night."

The crude jokes had everyone cracking up.

The girl's face turned bright red, and she buried her head in Charles's chest, refusing to look up.

Charles lowered his gaze, a fond smile on his lips as he playfully pinched her cheek.

He turned and snapped at his buddies, telling them to shut up. "Sophie's easily shy, not like Grace. Knock it off."

"Alright, let's switch topics. Grace has been with you for years. If she finds out you're getting engaged to Sophie, she'll be sobbing her heart out."

"Crying won't help her. What's she got to compete with Sophie? Her crow's feet?"

With everyone laughing, I strode right in, kicked off my shoes, and slipped into slippers, totally unfazed.

They were saying the same old lines. I was beyond tired of it.

Charles, who was facing the door, clearly didn't expect me to show up. He paused for a second, then gave me a smug, challenging smile.

Then, he grabbed Sophie by the chin and pulled her in for a deep kiss.

The room went silent for a moment, then everyone started hooting and hollering.

A few years ago, seeing this would've made me want to straight-up kill Charles.

I'd have screamed, thrown a fit, gone totally hysterical. But at that moment, I was so over all those jealous catfights.

I stood there, arms crossed against the shoe cabinet by the door, quietly taking it all in.

I watched as the girl, gasping for air after his kiss, tried to escape, only for him to pull her right back into his arms.

When they finally finished making out, I waved my car keys. "Since you're so lively tonight, I guess you can find your own way home. There's no need for me to play chauffeur."

Everyone was startled to see me suddenly appear. All of them, except Charles and Sophie, looked at each other, confused.

Most of them knew Charles and I had been at odds ever since that night five years ago.

All these years, Charles never bothered to hide his wild antics from me.

No one wanted to waste their breath explaining what happened.

Sophie was the first to break the silence. "Don't blame Charles, Grace. If you want to blame someone, blame me. My parents have always been super strict.

"The curfew was at ten, and I hardly ever hang out with guys. I begged Charles to let me experience something new."

Unfazed, I smiled. "Honestly, I'd love to blame you, but you two are a perfect pair of troublemakers. You really do deserve each other."

Sophie had never been insulted like this. Her face went pale as a sheet, and tears spilled down her cheeks.

Charles didn't try to comfort her. Instead, he gave me a cold, sarcastic smirk. "Grace, you're still as ruthless as ever."

I wasn't in the mood to argue. I simply asked if he was leaving or not. If he wasn't, I was heading home to crash.

Charles got up, clearly reluctant.

Before leaving, he took a moment to soothe Sophie, promising to take her to the amusement park in a couple of days. That finally calmed her down.

Once Charles slid into the passenger seat, all that confrontational energy he'd aimed at me disappeared.

He slumped back, looking tired, his brow furrowed. "If I hadn't called, would you care where I spent the night?"

I shrugged, "You already know, so what's the point in asking?"

If he hadn't called from his buddy's phone and I had happened to answer, thinking it was some random caller, I would've switched my phone off and slept peacefully, like last night.

Honestly, I couldn't care less whose bed he's wasting away in.

Charles's face instantly turned stormy. Suddenly, he lost it. He pushed me against the driver's seat and punished me with a rough bite on my lips.

I was so freaked out that I broke into a cold sweat and slammed on the brakes in a panic.

The force threw us both forward. We both banged our heads against the steering wheel.

As soon as the pain hit, I was so pissed I slapped him right across the face. "Charles, if you want to die, don't make me your collateral."

Charles's eyes went blank for a second.

After a moment, he licked the blood from his lip and fixed me with a menacing glare.

He spat out each word, "Grace, you were the one who hurt me first.

"That night five years ago, I should've taken you out first, then gone down with you."