Chapter 1
I'd been dating Ethan Bentley for three years, and out of nowhere, I got his wedding invitation. He was marrying someone else.
While he was in the shower, I checked his phone. The top chat was with a woman named Judith Langston.
Ethan typed, [Her drug finally worked. Your illness can be cured. I'll file the patent under your name, and once it's approved, we'll kick her out.]
It turned out my boyfriend, who had always acted broke, was actually a rich heir backing my lab.
I was just a pawn in his scheme to cure Judith Langston, his childhood sweetheart.
Without missing a beat, I texted Edward Graham, the CEO of our rival company, who'd been trying to poach me for three years. [Still interested in stealing me away? This time, you have me and my entire lab.]
*****
I curled up on the couch, staring at the wedding invitation on the table, my mind in turmoil.
A courier had just delivered it.
The envelope was addressed to Ethan.
I thought it was just a normal delivery, so I opened it for him, only to find a wedding invitation inside.
He wasn't just invited, and he was the groom. But the bride wasn't me. It was someone named Judith.
I called the number on the envelope, and it turned out to be a wedding company. The invitation was just a sample they'd sent for confirmation.
The person on the phone thought I was Judith and started gushing, "Miss Langston, your husband really loves you. The custom wedding dress he ordered has arrived. When would you like to come try it on? Oh my, I've never seen anything so gorgeous. No wonder he spent ten million dollars on it. It's designed by a famous designer."
Ten million dollars? The idea of Ethan having that kind of money was hard to imagine.
We'd been together for three years, cramped in this tiny apartment that was barely 500 square feet.
I paid the rent every month.
He always said that in a huge company like Bentley Group, he was just a nobody with no connections, so promotions were impossible. His monthly salary of 3,000 dollars wasn't even enough for himself.
So I took on all the bills like our rent, utilities, groceries, and everything without a second thought.
How could he possibly afford to drop ten million dollars on a wedding dress?
I hung up the call with the wedding company.
Maybe it was just someone with the same name.
I shot Ethan a text, [Where are you?]
Ethan replied, [At work, obviously. What's up? Miss me?]
Judging by his reply, Ethan was as playful as ever, not showing a trace of anything unusual.
The only way to know if he was lying was to see it with my own eyes.
I stuffed the invitation into my bag and headed to Bentley Group.
This was only the second time I'd ever walked through the doors of Bentley Group.
Bentley Group was one of the investors backing my lab.
Back when I first pitched my gene therapy project, nobody believed in it. I ran myself ragged chasing down investors, but almost no one was interested.
That was when Ethan came into my life.
He was just an employee at Bentley Group, but after hearing about my project, he helped me get the company to invest.
But that funding wasn't nearly enough to support drug development.
I kept reaching out to other companies, but none of them were interested.
There was only one left, the pharma giant, Graham Group.
Nervous as hell, I handed my proposal to Edward Graham, the CEO. I was bracing for rejection, but to my shock, he was impressed and said Graham Group would foot the entire bill.
He even invited me to join Graham Group as a senior researcher.
At that point, I was already with Ethan.
Ethan said Bentley Group was a huge company, and the only way I could get in was if my project actually succeeded.
Head over heels in love, all I cared about was working side by side with Ethan, so I didn't even think twice before turning down Edward's offer.
Looking back, I really regretted it. Compared to Graham Group, Bentley Group was nothing.
I thought Edward would pull out after I turned him down, but he didn't even bat an eye. He still backed my lab.
Thanks to Graham Group, it only took three years to get my drug off the ground.
I told Ethan the good news right away, and he said he'd take care of the patent paperwork for me. He told me to sit tight and get ready to join Bentley Group.
Since the research was wrapping up, I finally had some downtime at home, and that was when the invitation showed up.
I headed to the front desk and asked the receptionist, "Excuse me. Is Mr. Bentley here?"
The receptionist smiled brightly. "Which Mr. Bentley? Do you have an appointment?"
"Which Mr. Bentley? Are there more than one Mr. Bentley here?" I asked, still confused.
The receptionist looked a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, we have two Mr. Bentleys. One is Mr. Ethan Bentley, our company's CEO."
"And what about the other one?" I asked, still trying to make sense of it all.
"Oh, the other is Mr. Antonio Bentley. He's Mr. Ethan Bentley's father and the chairman of our company," the receptionist replied.
Relief washed over me, and with numb legs, I shuffled to the lounge and sank into a seat.
On the table, a stack of business magazines lay scattered, and every cover had Ethan's face front and center.
The magazine read, [Ethan, heir to Bentley Group, industry's newest rising star.]
[Bentley Group's heir and Langston Group's heiress are tying the knot. Two giants joining forces, can they dethrone Graham Group and become the top dog in pharma?]
I flipped through every magazine, and Ethan's name popped up on practically every single page.
He was the heir to one of the city's top pharmaceutical companies, but he lied to me, saying he was an orphan raised in an orphanage.
The joke was that, for three years, I actually bought all his lies.
No wonder he always found excuses to keep me away from Bentley Group.
When Bentley Group first invested, I wanted to thank the executives in person, but Ethan always stopped me.
He must've known I was obsessed with my research and didn't give a damn about business stuff.
As long as I never set foot in Bentley Group, I'd never learn the truth about him. That was why he had kept up the act for so long.