Chapter 1
The day Starlight Tech rang the bell at the Shecrity Stock Exchange, the champagne tower in the hall was blindingly bright.
Eric Shaw stood on the stage, his spirits soaring, radiating a brilliance I had never seen in him before.
I sat in the front row, wearing the red dress he'd personally picked out for me.
As his fiancée of seven years and the company's biggest investor, I smiled at him with practiced grace.
Everyone was certain he was about to specifically thank me.
I was as sure.
He cleared his throat and looked past me, focusing on a spot a few feet behind.
"Today, I want to thank a woman."
He paused for a moment, his voice booming through the hall.
"Without her, Starlight Tech wouldn't be what it is today. I nearly quit so many times, but she was always right there, backing me up and helping me keep going."
A chill sank straight through my heart.
Seven years ago, he had said the same exact thing to me.
But now, his eyes were fixed on his secretary, Grace Grant.
She stood in the crowd in a white dress, her eyes red, looking fragile and delicate.
The shareholders beside me whispered, their glances full of sympathy mixed with faint mockery.
I gripped my handbag tighter, my nails digging into the soft leather, but my smile stayed steady.
I told myself to hold steady. I'd been through worse humiliation than this.
"Now, I want to invite the most important person in my life to come up on stage," Eric said, his voice trembling with emotion.
He reached out his hand, not to me, but to Grace.
In the suffocating silence, Grace covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face as she slowly made her way to the stage.
Eric didn't even spare me a glance.
His eyes were locked on Grace.
He dropped to one knee and took out a black velvet ring box from his suit pocket.
The lid snapped open. The huge pink diamond inside was so bright under the stage lights it almost stung my eyes.
The ring was called "The One."
Last month at an auction, I was immediately drawn to it. He laughed and said my taste was too plain, that it wasn't right for me.
It wasn't that it didn't suit me; it was never meant for me.
"Grace, will you marry me?" Eric asked.
The applause and shouts exploded in an instant.
Camera flashes fired nonstop, capturing that touching moment and making sure to include me in the shot, alone and looking foolish.
I stared at the two locked in a tight embrace on stage, at the stock price soaring on the big screen.
I'd spent seven years building Eric up, only for him to stab me in the back.
A bitter laugh escaped me, moisture welling up in my eyes from the force of it.
But I didn't cry, nor did I lose control.
Head high, back straight, I got to my feet slowly, turned, and walked out under the weight of all those pitying, curious stares.
The moment I walked out of the Shecrity Stock Exchange, I dialed a number.
"Xavier Lewis," I called.
His low, lazy voice answered on the other end. "You finally see things clearly?"
"Yeah." I stared up at the gloomy sky, my voice steady. "I'm ready."
"Alright, I'll have someone pick you up."
"No need," I said, hailing a cab and giving the address. "Meet me at City Hall."
After hanging up, I issued one last order to my assistant, Sophie Parker.
"Pull out of Starlight Tech. Sell everything. Withdraw all ten billion dollars."
As the car pulled away, I ripped the diamond ring Eric gave me when he proposed off my finger and flung it out the window.
Goodbye, Eric.
Goodbye, my reckless seven years.
*****
Outside City Hall, a black Maybach was parked quietly by the curb.
The window rolled down slowly, revealing Xavier's flawless, almost unreal face.
He wore a simple white shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off his strong forearms and a low-key but obviously expensive Patek Philippe on his wrist.
"Ms. Goodman, are you sure?" he asked, handing me his ID card. "Once you do this, there's no turning back."
I opened the car door, got in, pulled out my ID card from my bag, and placed it next to his.
"I've never been more sure," I said.
Xavier chuckled softly and didn't press further. He called out to the driver, "Let's go."
The AC was blasting. My nerves finally started to unwind after a whole day of tension.
Eric and I were tied together by a business deal.
Seven years ago, fresh out of an Eropia business school, I set out hunting for projects with a hefty startup fund from the Goodman Fund.
Back then, Eric was a tech guy with no one believing in him. His head was full of algorithms, yet he couldn't even pay for server renewal.
I gave him his first 15 million dollars.
I used the Goodman family connections to pave his way and brought in every single client.
Starlight Tech owed half of its success to Eric's brilliance, and the other half to the money and connections I poured into it.
We were partners in business and in life.
He promised that once the company went public, he'd give me a wedding so grand the whole city would talk about it.
I believed him with all my heart.
For his startup, I ignored the Goodman family's constant calls to come back and take over, pouring everything I had into him and his dream.
I believed we were partners fighting side by side, each other's sole reliance.
It wasn't until a year ago that Grace walked into our lives.