Chapter 1

My childhood sweetheart finally gave up his playboy ways, claiming he would love only one woman for the rest of his life.

But that woman wasn’t me, the girl who had waited ten years for him.

Fighting back tears, I pushed him away when he leaned in to kiss me again and asked as calmly as I could:

“Is she prettier than me? Does she have a better body?”

He caught my chin and kissed me until he’d had his fill. Only then did he shake his head and casually reply:

“No. But she’s more useful. Love is just a distraction. My career is my life.”

What a career-minded asshole. Fine, then. I slapped him and told him to get lost!

A few days later, when he discovered my father owned an entertainment company worth a hundred billion dollars, he was stunned!

His words left me frozen, unsure how to react.

From my first crush in middle school to my first time in college, I had done everything Ethan Hayes wanted.

But he refused to give me the one thing I wanted.

I wanted us to go public. I wanted to be his actual girlfriend, not some dirty secret.

Whenever I brought it up, Ethan would get angry. “Relationships are too much trouble. I don’t want one right now. When I do, you’ll be the first person I consider.”

“If you can’t wait, don’t come looking for me again.”

Two lines. A promise and a threat. And I had willingly waited seven years.

Now, without a trace of guilt, he was telling me he’d fallen for another girl.

Bitterness surged through my chest until I could barely breathe.

Humiliation washed over me. I pushed Ethan away as he bent to kiss me and pretended not to care. “Oh. I see.”

“Then why did you come to pick me up? Why are you kissing me? Aren’t you worried your girlfriend will get jealous?”

Ethan’s lips curved. He glanced over my shoulder, chuckled, and brushed a quick kiss against the corner of my mouth. “Not if she doesn’t see.”

Before I could react, he slipped an arm around my waist, spun me around, and pressed me against a pillar. His kisses rained down on my lips, my face, and my collarbone.

Hot and demanding, leaving no room for refusal.

My knees weakened. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around his neck.

But his gaze drifted into the distance. Whatever he saw made his smile deepen.

“Rachel’s different from you. She won’t put up with anything shady, and she overthinks things, so…”

He pulled my arms from his neck. His long fingers wiped the moisture from the corner of my mouth, then carefully adjusted my scarf to cover the collarbone he’d just kissed. “So I can give you whatever you want in private. Just don’t flaunt it in front of her or let her find out. If she notices something and gets upset, you and I can’t even stay friends.”

I bit my lip hard enough to break the skin. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

Every place he’d kissed seemed to burn. Inside, it felt like a thousand poisonous insects were tearing into my heart.

I wanted to tell him that I overthought things, too. That I was afraid of losing him. That I couldn’t bear seeing him flirt with other women, either.

I used to be innocent, too. The kind of girl who blushed at the slightest teasing.

I only seemed easy because it was him.

Because I loved him, I kept swallowing my pride, lowering my standards, and giving in.

All I wanted was to be his first choice when he finally decided he wanted a partner.