Chapter 1

I was waiting for my coffee when a young woman suddenly sat down across from me.

"You're the one going on a date with Adrian?"

I was a little confused.

"A date? Adrian is my husband. We're married."

She froze, then let out a laugh of pure disbelief.

"Husband? Gold diggers really do say the funniest things."

"Don't bother waiting. He's not coming."

"I'm his actual girlfriend. I've met his family."

"God, are you really that desperate? You know he has a girlfriend and you're still throwing yourself at him?"

When I didn't answer, her eyes lit up.

She raised her phone, opened Instagram Live, and shoved the camera in my face.

"Since you're this desperate, let me put you up online. Maybe someone can find you a sugar daddy."

"Save the rest of us from watching a nobody gold digger chase after other women's boyfriends."

I raised an eyebrow.

The moment I realized Adrian had cheated on me, I actually laughed.

I pulled out my phone and, one by one, froze every asset in his name and every authorized user card he had.

Then I looked up and smiled softly into the camera.

"You think I'm the one chasing him?"

"Sit tight. You're about to watch him crawl over here on his knees, begging me to forgive him."

...

The air went still for a second.

Chloe Ramsey burst out laughing.

"Wow. A homewrecker with an attitude?"

"From the look of things, this isn't your first time going after someone else's boyfriend, is it?"

"A serial homewrecker, huh?"

I paused and looked at her.

"You're calling me a homewrecker?"

"You have proof?"

"What you just said is slander. The kind that gets you sued."

"Slander?"

Her expression darkened in an instant.

"You'll do it, but you won't own it?"

She swiped on her phone, zoomed in on a screenshot, and thrust it in my face.

"You know exactly what you did. Playing innocent?"

"You're really going to make me put the receipts out. Disgusting."

I glanced down, and my brow tightened.

It was, in fact, a message I had sent Adrian the night before. The iMessage screenshot was complete.

【You should be back today, right? I'll be at the café downstairs at six-thirty.】

Below it was a selfie of me fresh out of the shower, a towel wrapped around my chest, my hair still half-wet.

The live comments were scrolling fast.

【She literally sent thirst traps to a taken man】

【The delusion is insane. Get therapy.】

【"Oops wrong number" energy incoming lmaooo】

【Chloe babe you're way too nice, I would've thrown that latte already】

【Homewreckers really have no shame these days】

I stared at that screenshot, feeling nothing but disbelief.

Adrian had been away on business for three days. I was his wife. What was wrong with sending him a selfie?

And I was here today because he had told me on the phone, in his own voice, that he'd meet me.

How had those two things twisted, in Chloe's mouth, into evidence that I was seducing him?

Before I could sort my thoughts out, Chloe pointed at me and shouted.

"You see that?"

"Sending Adrian nudes in the middle of the night, then setting up a meet-up right outside his office. What do you call that if not seduction?"

"If I hadn't been up last night scrolling through his phone, I wouldn't have even known a piece of trash like you existed."

Something rang in my head.

"You were with him last night?"

Chloe smirked.

"Where else would I be? I'm his girlfriend."

"Last night was our three-year anniversary."

"Because of that photo of yours, I was furious for a full hour."

"Adrian had to order me a limited edition Hermès in the middle of the night just to get me to forgive him."

At some point, a small crowd had gathered around us.

Most of them were employees from Adrian's company.

They recognized Chloe and started whispering to each other.

"Everyone at the office knows Ms. Ramsey is Mr. Cole's girlfriend. How does this woman have the nerve to show up?"

"Right? Mr. Cole and Ms. Ramsey took three days off to go away together. Word is he proposed."

"Ms. Ramsey has the patience of a saint. I would've thrown her out already."

"Yeah, especially since Mr. Cole gave this café to Ms. Ramsey..."

Chloe's face lit up.

She slowly raised her right hand, showing off a diamond ring.

"He proposed. I said yes."

"Adrian's mom said we'd pick a date in a few days."

I almost laughed out loud.

So the three-day business trip had been him celebrating their anniversary with his homewrecker and getting engaged.

No wonder his authorized card had been bleeding money for three days straight.

And I had been stupid enough to think he was working hard, wining and dining clients.

But what Chloe didn't know was that the great CEO of Cole Group, Adrian Cole, was nothing more than an orphan my family had funded since he was a child.

There was no "Adrian's mom." That woman didn't exist.

Seeing me stay silent, she poked my shoulder.

"Let me spell it out for you. Adrian already told me everything."

"A friend of his tried to set you two up, but he turned it down from the start. You're the one who's been throwing yourself at him."

She tilted her head, the corner of her mouth curling up.

"But honestly, I can't be bothered to deal with you."

"You have one minute to get out. Don't dirty up my café."

I came back to myself and let out a cold laugh.

Then I walked to a table further back and sat down.

"You're this excited over one cheap little rock."

"Guess Adrian hasn't been treating you all that well."