Chapter 2

Ryan toyed with his lighter, letting out a mocking laugh.

I ignored him, scanning the crowd for James Foster, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Even though he and Alex both went to Capital University, they were in different departments, so there was no reason for them to be at the same party.

I wondered if he'd sent me the wrong address.

I wasn't about to get tangled up in old drama.

I tossed out a quick "Sorry to bother you," and turned to leave.

My messages to James went unanswered, and my calls went straight to voicemail.

I decided to head home.

Just as I was about to open the car door, a hand suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"Emmy," Alex murmured, his gaze turbulent with emotion. "Will you forgive me?"

That nickname "Emmy" used to make me blush, especially coming from someone as uptight as Alex. In the end, it became the spell that finally pushed me over the edge.

"Alex, still playing games?" I yanked my hand away, expression cold. "I don't have a brother."

Just as the tension was about to snap, a soft laugh sounded behind me.

"Emma, what a coincidence. Didn't expect to see you here," Sophia said.

She strutted over in her high heels, her face as arrogant as ever.

Back then, her presence would've made me feel small and insecure.

But now, all those memories have been burned away, leaving nothing but ashes.

"Emma, why don't you come home with me and Alex? Your mom misses you," Sophia said.

I heard myself reply, calm and steady, "I don't have a mom."

My brother and my mom. They both took her side in the end.

So, I cut them out of my life a long time ago.

Ryan was right. I really was pretty slow.

Even with Alex tutoring me nonstop, I barely managed to get into a no-name college.

Meanwhile, he was the top scorer in the college entrance exams and got into Capital University.

We were both in Capital City, not too far apart.

We couldn't see each other all the time, but those years were pure sweetness.

They were the warmest memories in my once lonely life.

Alex was the whole package. He was handsome, smart, and girls were all over him.

But with him, I never had to worry. He always made me feel secure.

I'd drop by his campus all the time, and thanks to his fame, my name kept popping up on the school forums.

Gradually, people started saying that I was a nobody, with no skills, no connections, and poor grades, and that I was not good enough for him.

Alex had already made our relationship public, and when he heard all that gossip, he got pissed. He said nobody else could see how amazing I was.

So, during a final exam, he swapped every answer about "materialism" with "Emma-ism."

He almost flunked that test, got publicly reprimanded by the whole department, and earned himself the nickname "love fool." But it made him the talk of the campus.

He wanted the whole world to know I existed.

But when the topic of marriage finally came up, Alex said, "Emma, let's get married in secret for now.

"Give me a few more years. Once I've made a name for myself, I'll give you the grand wedding you deserve."

I said yes, and ended up waiting four whole years.

Alex made it big in his career.

But I never got the dream wedding I'd been waiting for.

All I got in the end was his betrayal.

On our fourth anniversary, I lost the heirloom bracelet Alex had given me, and he was furious.

For the first time, he lashed out at me, then stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

That day, rain poured down in sheets as I searched every possible place, desperate to find it.

Finally, I remembered the little house we'd shared back in high school. The one he'd bought.

When I pushed the door open, I saw him on top of another woman, moving with her, completely caught up in it.

At that moment, my scalp tingled and my blood ran cold.

The woman was Sophia.

Alex had mentioned her a couple of times.

At first, he said Sophia was some nepotism case. Her dad pulled strings to get her into the company, and she was probably a total troublemaker.

But then he started going on about how smart and capable she was.

That's when he started calling me stupid all the time.

We had less and less to talk about, and he'd always say, "You're too dumb to get it anyway."

But deep down, I was honestly happy for him. At least he finally found someone who could keep up with him.

And there it was. The bracelet I'd been desperately searching for, now on Sophia's wrist, giving me a defiant look.

Turns out, all that guilt that had been eating me alive for days was nothing but a cruel joke on me.

I didn't lose it. He was the one who put it on her with his own hands.

Sophia got up slowly, settling herself into Alex's arms. "Surprised?

"Honestly, we've hooked up everywhere in your house; on your bed, in the bathroom, by the windows you name it.

"Today, we wanted to see what it was like where you two had your first time."