Chapter 1

"Three years, Ethan. Isn't it time this charade ended?"

I heard the words from behind the partially ajar emergency exit door.

"Pretty much. Her birthday is in ten days. I plan to make it unforgettable for her. Let her experience what it's like to fall from heaven to hell at the peak of her happiness."

That was Ethan's voice.

He was my husband. The man who knelt beneath a sky of fireworks and told me his feelings for me were real.

"The cruelest part is, you're playing the loving husband while secretly teaming up with her ex-fiancé to dismantle the Davis Group's foundation."

Blake was there too. My ex-fiancé who betrayed me, the same guy now having an affair with my husband's sister, was casually chatting and laughing with Ethan.

"Watching her treat her enemy as a savior, blindly devoted... Chloe, when you humiliated me back then, did you ever imagine this day?"

I bit my lip hard, tasting blood.

So from start to finish, I was just a pawn on their chessboard, waiting to be slaughtered.

If that's the case, then don't blame me for being ruthless.

Chloe's POV

When I was twenty-three, I witnessed my fiancé's betrayal firsthand.

I didn't yell or make a scene. I calmly gathered evidence and, the day before our families were set to merge through marriage, I publicly tore up the engagement contract, leaked a video of his infidelity, and made Blake and his family the laughingstock of our social circle.

For the next three years, I stopped believing in any promises or genuine feelings. I poured all my energy into my family's business, becoming a respected, even feared, figure in the corporate world.

I thought my life would go on like this forever. That I would never have another weakness. That I would never fall for anyone again.

Until Ethan appeared.

The city's most mysterious and low-key financial magnate. He patiently pursued me, a woman known for my cold demeanor and detached nature.

He understood me, tolerated me, and slowly melted the icy wall around my heart.

The day he proposed, he lit up the entire city with fireworks for me, kneeling before me with eyes only for me.

He said, "Chloe, I can't promise to heal all the pain you've suffered, but I will spend the rest of my life proving that my love for you is real."

I believed him. I carefully placed my long-sealed heart into his hands.

It was a lavish, "wedding of the century" affair.

The media said I must have saved the galaxy in a past life to have someone like Ethan devote everything to me. I transitioned from a powerful businesswoman to Ethan's cherished wife.

I gradually let down my guard, feeling incredibly fortunate that after freezing myself off, I could be enveloped by such fervent love.

Until one day, Ethan took me to a charity auction.

I had a headache from days of exhaustion, so I left early to wait for his driver in the underground garage.

When I reached the car, I realized I had left my handbag, which contained my mother's heirloom necklace, in the lounge.

I went back to retrieve it, but as I passed the partially ajar emergency exit door, I heard hushed voices from inside.

"Three years, Ethan. Isn't it time this charade ended?"

"Pretty much."

Ethan's voice was as steady as ever, but it carried a coldness I had never heard before.

"Her birthday is in ten days. I plan to make it unforgettable for her at the party I'm throwing. Let her experience what it's like to fall from heaven to hell at the peak of her happiness."

I froze, my mind suddenly blank.

Isn't my birthday in ten days?

Are they talking about me?

"Heh, you spent three years setting this up. First, you secretly shorted the Davis Group's overseas projects, causing her father to fall critically ill. Then, when she trusted you most, you had her sign that flawed betting agreement. The cruelest part is, while you played the loving husband, you teamed up with her ex-fiancé to dismantle the Davis Group's foundation. Ethan, you have played a grand game to avenge your sister."

"She publicly broke off the engagement and leaked that video, ruining my sister's reputation. It led to public humiliation and ultimately drove her to suicide."

Ethan let out a cold laugh.

"How could I ever let her off easy?"

Every word, like an ice pick, stabbed into my limbs, instantly freezing my blood.

The woman my ex-fiancé cheated with was Ethan's sister?

And he approached me, married me, all to avenge his sister?

While I was still in shock, the conversation in the emergency exit continued.

I heard someone ask again,

"And after that? Once the Davis Group is taken care of, will you finally rekindle your relationship with your little darling, Serena?"

Serena...

The dancer, so delicate and ethereally beautiful, like she didn't belong to this world, whom I'd met several times at parties, always looking at Ethan with a hesitant, unsaid longing in her eyes?

So, Serena was the woman he truly loved?

"Of course."

Ethan's answer held no hesitation.

"I've made her suffer enough these past years. Once this is over, I'll marry her."

"Right. If it weren't for your sister, you and Serena would have been married long ago."

There was a pause. Then the accomplice turned to another person, a hint of playful mockery in his smile.

"But Blake, aren't you bothered by playing this act with Ethan, pretending in front of your ex-fiancée?"

"Does it feel good, watching the woman who once rejected you now blindly devoted to her 'current' man?"

Blake scoffed, the malice in his laugh undisguised.

"Bothered? I'm loving it."

Blake said gleefully.

"Watching her get played by Ethan and me, treating her enemies as saviors, as her redemption, loving him blindly, completely unaware that she is about to be devoured until there's nothing left. Chloe, when you humiliated me back then, did you ever imagine this day?"

I clenched my jaw, tasting the metallic tang of blood on my tongue, my nails digging hard into my palms.

My entire heart felt like an invisible hand was squeezing it, mercilessly crushing it.

I didn't dare move until their conversation stopped, and their footsteps faded away, finally disappearing from the emergency exit. Only then did I slide down the wall, utterly drained.

Unbelievable. My most trusted husband was the brother of the person I indirectly caused to die.

He approached me, married me, to destroy me!

He sabotaged my family's business, causing my father to fall critically ill!

He tricked me into signing a deadly agreement, making me personally bury our family's legacy!

He even involved my most detested ex-fiancé in his revenge, turning me into a complete joke!

And I, utterly unaware, was immersed in the beautiful dream he wove for me, believing true love had finally found me.

A chill enveloped my body and soul. I don't remember how I left.

I stumbled back to the parking lot, each step feeling like I was walking on knife-edges.

I pulled open the car door and sat inside.

"To the mansion."

My voice was hoarse.

The driver acknowledged and started the car.

However, just as the car was about to pull out of the parking space, the other car door was pulled open.

A tall, upright figure got in, closed the door, and instructed the driver,

"Drive."

"Yes, Mr. Kingston."

Seeing Ethan sitting beside me, my breath hitched, my hairs stood on end, and I instantly froze.