Chapter 1
Seven years ago.
For the sake of my future, I left that poor guy behind.
He stood in the pouring rain, pleading desperately.
"Babe, please don't go.
"I'll work hard and make money, I swear. Please, don't leave me..."
I pulled my hand away from his, cold and determined.
I slipped into the luxury car and left without a second glance.
Seven years later.
He'd become the most coveted young master among Aeloria's elite.
He was dressed in a sharp suit, his aura cold and forbidding, like he was untouchable.
He casually caught my wrist.
"1.5 million dollars for one night. Is that enough?" a man asked, his tone cold and nonchalant.
I lifted my head, frozen.
Beneath the sparkling chandeliers of the banquet hall, he stood tall in his tailored suit.
He was the center of attention, surrounded by admirers.
It was Ashton Colbert.
He was the guy I abandoned seven years ago.
Everyone's eyes were on me, full of mocking amusement and contempt, like they were waiting for a show.
My cheap waitress's uniform was a total misfit in this lavish, golden scene.
I gripped the tray in my hands so tightly that my nails dug into my skin.
Beside Ashton, a woman in a designer gown laughed sweetly and slipped her arm through his.
She scoffed, "Ashton, why bother talking to this kind of woman?
"She'll do anything for money. It's filthy."
The woman was Bella Hamilton, a rising star and Ashton's fiancée.
She looked at me like I was vermin from the gutter.
Ashton didn't say a word. He pulled his hand back, his gaze never leaving me.
Those eyes that once overflowed with love were now as cold as ice, filled with nothing but hatred.
It had been seven years.
He'd changed so much I could barely recognize him.
That was only natural.
Now, he was the Colbert Family's golden boy, the one everyone in Aeloria's elite was desperate to get close to. He was no longer the boy who'd skip meals all week to buy me a strawberry ice cream.
And me? I was still the kind of person who'd give up anything for cash.
My heart clenched painfully.
I still needed six hundred thousand dollars for my mom's surgery.
I had no other choice.
I met his eyes and forced a groveling, servile smile.
I said, "It's enough.
"With that kind of generosity, of course, it's enough, Mr. Colbert."
I caught the frost in his gaze.
"Good," he said.
He flicked a black card from his suit pocket and let it fall to the floor without a second thought.
He added, "Pick it up.
"Consider it a deposit."
The card landed on the polished marble with a crisp, ringing snap.
To me, it felt like a stinging slap across the face. It was sharp, public, and utterly humiliating.
My dignity was trampled beneath his feet.
Barely suppressed laughter echoed from the crowd.
One second, two seconds...
Slowly, I stooped down.
Just as my fingertips were about to brush the card, a polished leather shoe slammed down on it.
It was Ashton.
He loomed over me, his eyes cold with hatred, like he could devour me whole.
Ashton sneered, "Bridget Dutton, are you this cheap?
"You'd lose all your pride for money?"
I was trembling, not from fear, but from pure humiliation.
I lifted my head and met his gaze.
"Mr. Colbert, did you forget?" I asked, my voice steady but laced with sarcasm.
"Wasn't I already like this seven years ago?"
I laughed bitterly, but tears still spilled down my cheeks.
"My pride was left behind in the rain that night, thanks to you."
Ashton's face darkened.
My words clearly stung him. He pressed his shoe down on the card even harder.
He said, "Good.
"Glad you know your worth."
He moved his foot aside, his voice full of disgust.
"Pick it up. Then follow me."
I grabbed that cold card, like I was picking up the pieces of my broken pride.
Walking behind him out of the hall, I could feel Bella's hateful stare stabbing into my back, sharp as needles.
I didn't care.
I just knew my mom was going to make it.
The car raced ahead and stopped right in front of the presidential suite at a luxury hotel.
Ashton swiped the card and shoved me inside, his movements harsh and cold.
"Strip," he said.
He ripped off his tie.
Without a second thought, I started taking off my cheap uniform, one piece at a time.
Just as I was down to my last piece, he suddenly called out, "Stop."
"Turn around," Ashton said, his voice cold.
I turned around without protest.
He didn't move closer and just stood a few steps away, his gaze icy and scrutinizing, sizing me up.
His look cut right through me, making me feel like I was nothing but a naked clown on display for him.