Chapter 1

I secretly pulled every string to turn my girlfriend into the top sales champion in our company.

Yet, at her grand victory party, she turned down my marriage proposal for the ninety-ninth time.

All because the "one who got away"—a man who vanished years ago—sent her a text: Wherever you are is home. Let's start over.

Swallowing my pride, I pleaded with her, "Can't you just give me a fair chance?"

She snapped at me with cold impatience, "So what if we dated for a few years? We're legally married! There's a line, Julian, and he was here first!"

Legally married.

They had tied the knot behind my back years ago.

At that exact second, my heart went completely ice-cold.

If she wanted to talk about who came first, fine. I was going to take back everything I had ever handed her.

I pulled out my phone and called my assistant to cancel every single one of her client contracts.

"Starting today, tell all my uncles and business partners to stop funneling sales accounts to Chloe. Tear up every contract waiting to be signed. Everything goes strictly by the book."

My assistant was stunned. "Mr. Vance... but that's Miss Chloe. Isn't she your..."

I stared coldly into the distance, my voice flat and emotionless. "She's another man's wife now. Carry out my orders immediately."

Knowing that Chloe had secretly married Dylan Miller behind my back pierced my chest like a thousand needles, flooding me with agony and sheer betrayal.

No wonder she had shot down every single elaborate proposal I meticulously planned over the years.

Back then, she always gave me the same excuse: she wanted to build her own career first. She claimed she didn't want to be the kind of woman who depended on a man for handouts.

Because I respected her pride, I silently backed her from the shadows for years.

I took her from a clueless, green graduate with zero connections and built her up into the company's envy-inducing top sales champion.

The VP of Sales position was practically handed to her on a silver platter.

I was confident that with her career secured, our wedding was right around the corner.

Who could have guessed that her secret marriage would hit me like a sledgehammer?

When I first met Chloe, she was working part-time at our campus store.

My wallet had been stolen, and I couldn't pay at the register. The impatient crowd behind me started shoving and yelling at me to get out of the way.

Chloe stormed out from behind the counter, chewed them out, and swiped her own card to cover my bill.

That fiery sense of justice captured me instantly.

I admit, my heart skipped a beat that day.

I began pursuing her with everything I had.

The only problem was her college crush, Dylan Miller.

Dylan was a handsome campus counselor at our university.

Charming, charismatic, and riding high on popularity.

Chloe was head over heels for him. She rented an off-campus apartment with him, constantly skipping classes just to be by his side.

Then, out of nowhere, Dylan vanished.

He was abruptly fired by the university.

Chloe couldn't get a hold of him no matter how hard she tried.

Heartbroken and utterly shattered, she spiraled into a deep depression.

I stayed quietly by her side, guarding her through the dark, until she finally turned around and saw me.

Eventually, my dream came true, and we became a couple.

Back then, I felt so lucky that Dylan had disappeared right on cue.

Who would have known that years later, just as Chloe and I were on the brink of marriage, he would suddenly reappear?

A notification popped up from my burner SnapChat account. Dylan had just posted an update.

I clicked it open, and there she was—Chloe, flashing a blinding diamond ring, smiling radiant as a blooming flower while snuggled tightly in Dylan's arms.

Dylan had captioned the picture: No matter how far I wander, my wife is always waiting for me.

A shrill ringtone cut through the quiet room.

Chloe's slurred, arrogant voice barked through the speaker, "Julian, Dylan and I got wasted at the restaurant. Hurry up and get your ass over here to pick us up!"

Disgusted, I was about to hang up.

Her temper flared instantly. "Julian! What's with that attitude?! Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?"

Dylan grabbed the phone, his voice dripping with mock guilt.

"Julian... look, are you still mad at me and Chloe for being secretly married?"

"The truth is, we both had our reasons. Don't take it to heart. I won't interfere with your life with Chloe. Once I sort out my personal mess, I'll divorce her and let you two be together."

Chloe screamed angrily from the background, "Dylan, why the hell are you explaining anything to him?! Who does he think he is? He doesn't even hold a candle to a single hair on your head!"

"He's just throwing a tantrum because I rejected his stupid proposal! Serves him right! You don't waste sympathy on two-faced losers like him!"