Chapter 2

“Why?”

My brain short-circuited. I looked at Sasha. “Why?”

Sasha whispered under her breath, “Make it quick. Tell him you cheated and fell in love with someone else.”

I repeated her words verbatim.

There was a dead silence on the other end for a few seconds before he ground out, “You cheated on me... with Sasha?”

*Huh?*

I whipped my head around to look at Sasha in sheer panic. She glared daggers at me. It was only then I realized Jaden had already walked through the glass doors and spotted us.

The air in the room instantly turned suffocatingly awkward.

None of us knew what to do. Even Jaden seemed lost on how to handle having his current girlfriend and his ex-first-love in the same room. It took him a long moment to finally force out, “Stop making a scene, both of you! I already told you, Sasha is just my past. Treating her well is just out of friendship. It won’t affect our relationship.”

Wait, this wasn't how the script was supposed to go!

Wasn’t he supposed to passionately defend his precious white moonlight and publicly humiliate the poor current girlfriend?

I had already primed my eyes to shed tears of bitter humiliation! What was I supposed to do now?

That money sitting in my pocket suddenly felt blazing hot! Knowing Jaden’s cold demeanor and that he despised dramatic clinginess more than anything, I hardened my heart. I lunged forward, grabbed him by the collar, and unleashed hell:

“You lying, unfaithful bastard! You scumbag! You clearly never got over Sasha, but you kept me around just to use my body and toy with my feelings! You owe me an answer right now! Who do you pick—me, or her?!”

My shouting turned the heads of every coworker and client in the room. Jaden went pale. He stepped closer, tugging gently on my sleeve.

“What are you talking about? Mia, when have I ever lied to you?”

Over to the side, Sasha’s eyes welled with tears. “Jaden, I know I shouldn’t have come back and ruined things between you and Mia, but I’d rather you hate me than watch you get played by the wrong person.”

“Mia doesn’t love you at all! She’s just using you as an ATM! She literally just told me that if I gave her two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, she’d leave you for good! The card is right there on her!”

Before I could even formulate a defense, Jaden spoke up first.

“I know. Mia’s only with me for the money. Every single time I flew abroad to spend your birthday with you, I told her beforehand. She took my gold bars and was thrilled.”

He turned back to look at me. “Mia, our arrangement was working perfectly. Why the sudden breakup?”

“Give the card back to Sasha. Stay by my side. You’ll make a lot more in the long run.”

Then, right before my utterly flabbergasted eyes, Jaden reached out, plucked the card from my pocket, handed it right back to Sasha, and prepared to lead me away like it was no big deal at all.

I was completely floored!

Did he actually care about me, or did he not care at all?!

Sasha looked as if she’d been struck by lightning. Overcome with pure rage and shock, her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the floor, clutching her chest and gasping for breath.

Only then did Jaden let go of me to rush over and scoop Sasha up, carrying her frantically toward his car.

As he brushed past me, he tossed out in a hurried whisper, “This is an emergency, I can’t stay with you. I’m still spending Sasha’s birthday with her the day after tomorrow as planned, but don’t worry—your gift won’t be missing.”

I stood there, staring blankly at their retreating figures. Was my gold-digging really that painfully obvious?

And what was even more bizarre: if he knew the whole time, why on earth did he publicly choose me over Sasha just now?

My phone buzzed with a text from Sasha. Her tone was noticeably humbler this time: *Is the deal still on?*

I typed back immediately: *Totally on! Deal is a deal!*

The moment she wired the money directly into my checking account, I decisively blocked Jaden on everything. This time, I was cutting ties completely and permanently!

Truth be told, even without Sasha’s buyout fee, I hadn’t planned on staying with Jaden anyway.

Brandon, my "Pleasant Surprise," had been getting way too clingy lately. The pressure was mounting, and I couldn't juggle them all much longer.