Chapter 1

During the long holidays, I stared at the two suitcases sitting by the villa door and knew once again that my fiancé, Patrick Myers had ditched me.

He promised he'd take time off so we could go hiking together. Yet here I was at home, and he was showing up in a nine-photo grid posted by his "bro-girl," Grace Sanders.

In the pics, Patrick and his two best buddies were kneeling on the steps like three obedient puppies, each with a dog leash around their neck. And Grace was holding all three leashes.

The caption read: [The man you think about day and night is nothing but my well-trained dog.]

The post was deliberately set so I was the only one who could see it.

I took a screenshot instantly and dropped it straight into the rich-kids' group chat.

Since Patrick was already someone else's dog, I figured I'd better make it official. I wouldn't want anyone dragging him back to me.

*****

Since the post was only visible to me, Grace Sanders didn't care at all when she snapped those photos.

In the pictures, Grace was glammed up in a tight sports bra and peach yoga pants, rocking oversized sunglasses and dramatic red lips. She looked way more like a call girl than someone heading out for a hike.

Three diamond-studded leashes were casually wrapped around her fingers, but instead of precious dog breeds, the other ends were leashed to Patrick Myers and his two best bros.

The three of them were on all fours on the ground, the silver collars around their necks flashing in the sunlight, looking like Grace's pets.

Leashes hung from their necks, but there wasn't a trace of shame on their faces. Instead, they fixed their gaze on Grace's lens like well-trained pups, each with a black leather muzzle strapped to their face.

The leashes cut a bold arc through the air, the dog tags with their initials sparkling next to the luxury Bulgari bracelet on Grace's wrist.

Their fawning smiles and Grace's triumphant smirk landed like a punch straight to my chest.

Looking at the suitcases I'd spent forever packing, I suddenly felt at peace with everything.

If Patrick would rather play someone else's pet than be a human around me, then he had no shame at all. He was not even worth me feeling bad over.

I was just grateful I never ended up marrying a dog. Otherwise, I'd be a dog too.

As I stared at the post on my phone, I decided I couldn't let this slide.

So I hit like and commented: [Mutts and his chick. Hope you guys stay together forever.]

Then I saved every photo, took a screenshot of the whole post, and sent it straight to the high society business group chat.

The group was full of big shots and execs from the same industry, including a bunch of their family members, as well as Patrick and his two friends' parents.

Normally, it was all business talk, but people would also gossip about the latest news and drama.

As soon as I dropped those photos in the group, the whole chat went dead silent.

Two minutes later, once I was sure there was no way to unsend those photos, I posted a formal apology in the group chat.

I typed: [Apologies about that. Due to my own oversight, I accidentally sent those photos to the group. They're now past the recall window, so please delete them yourselves and kindly refrain from sharing them further. Thank you.]

After my half-hearted apology in the group chat, I scrolled back through Grace's feed and saw she'd already wiped that nine-grid post.

Before I could even exit out of her page, my phone lit up with a call from a number I knew all too well.

I barely had time to hit answer before Patrick's furious voice exploded through the phone.

"Zoey, are you nuts? If you've got issues, go get them fixed. Don't go psycho on me," Patrick snapped. "Who the hell told you to drop those in the group? Get rid of those pics, now."

I rushed to apologize, sounding as sincere as I could. "Baby, please don't be mad. I swear it was an accident. I sent them to the wrong group by mistake.

"There's no way to unsend them now, but I'll tell everyone you want them gone, okay? Please, don't be mad at me.

"By the way, babe, weren't you wearing a muzzle? How'd you manage to talk with that thing strapped on?"

Patrick was so pissed he just hung up on me.

As soon as Patrick hung up on me, I got messages from the other two mutts.