Chapter 1

After seven years of dating, Holden said he was bored and found a younger girl.

This time, I didn't cry or throw a fit. I simply threw away the ring, shredded my wedding dress, and bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles.

He even bet his friends that I would definitely be back within three days, begging him to take me back.

He was wrong.

Three days passed, and then another three. I completely vanished from his world.

Holden finally couldn't take it anymore and called me: "Ella, stop throwing a tantrum. Come back."

But the voice that answered from the other end of the line belonged to a strange man, who let out a low chuckle: "My wife is asleep and can't come to the phone. I need to wake her up with a kiss first."

Chapter 1

Ella Rosales's POV:

Tonight, at the Burks family's annual charity gala, I planned to propose to Holden.

It had been seven years. I felt the timing was right.

I quietly slipped out of the main banquet hall, only to accidentally hear Holden's voice.

"She's boring. I'm sick of her."

"Ella? I mean, she is definitely gorgeous," his friend chuckled softly. "But you guys have been together for so long, Holden. I still can't believe you let her walk around dressed like that tonight. She has half the room green with envy."

Holden scoffed. "She's always the same. Always exactly the same. Nothing new. Seven years-no matter how pretty someone is, you get tired of looking at them."

His tone was laced with a cold, dismissive contempt I had never heard before. "Besides, I told her it was just a fling, just having some fun. It's no big deal."

A sudden chill washed over me.

A fling? Just having fun?

My mind was spinning. He was talking about me like I was a used toy, tossed aside for a newer, flashier model.

Another friend spoke up, asking, "Holden, what are you doing? Ella is so good to you, and she loves you so much. What the hell is going on with you?"

Holden laughed. "Hero-worship gets old. She'll be fine. She's always fine. If she wants to cling to me, let her."

I slowly turned around, my legs trembling, and walked away from those voices, away from the laughter, and away from the ruins of my seven-year romance.

Later that night, my phone rang. It was Holden. "Weren't you at the gala? Why didn't you come find me?"

"I wasn't feeling well," I replied shortly.

Holden didn't ask a single follow-up question.

I gripped my phone so tightly my knuckles turned white.

In that moment, my resolve to break up with him completely solidified.