Chapter 2

"Alex, what in the hell was that?"

Jess cornered me in the private lounge moments after I escaped the press.

Her voice was low, trembling with fury. Ryan Miller hovered behind her, a smug, concerned look plastered on his face.

"You publicly humiliated me. My family. For her?"

She spat out the last word like it was poison.

A board member, a nervous Mr. Henderson, wrung his hands nearby.

"Alex, everyone assumed... well, the Vanderbilt alliance is crucial."

Jess cut him off with a sharp gesture.

"He still loves me, obviously," she declared, a strange, forced confidence in her tone.

Ryan stepped forward, placing a comforting hand on Jess' s shoulder.

"Jess, darling, perhaps Alex is just... confused."

His eyes met mine, a flicker of malice in them.

Jess took a deep breath, her expression shifting. It was a performance, I realized.

"Alex, I understand. You' re under pressure. Maybe you felt you needed to make a statement."

She was trying to reclaim control.

"But this... Sophia Chen? She' s nobody. Her family is new money, no real power."

I remembered my past self, desperately trying to please Jess, to live up to her expectations.

She had always spoken of a love that was grand, a partnership of equals, yet she had secretly despised me.

Slandered me to her lover.

"The engagement isn't final until the papers are signed, Alex," my father said, materializing beside me, his face a storm cloud.

He was clearly furious about the deviation from the plan.

"There's still time to rectify this... misunderstanding."

I looked from my father to Jess, then to Ryan, whose hand was now possessively on Jess' s waist.

"There' s no misunderstanding," I said, my voice calm.

I left them standing there, their faces a mixture of disbelief and anger.

Later that evening, my father summoned me to his study.

"You love Jess, don't you?" he asked, his voice softer now, almost pleading.

It was true, in that past life, I had been deeply attracted to her beauty, her social grace.

But she had always resisted true intimacy, claiming she needed her freedom, that our families' expectations were suffocating.

Now I knew the real reason: Ryan.

"I did," I admitted. "But things change."

My father sighed. "This isn't about love, Alex. This is about strategy."

I knew my own principles. I wouldn't force anyone into a marriage, not even for the sake of the company.

If only Jess had been honest back then, perhaps so much pain could have been avoided.

Just then, Jess herself walked into the study, unannounced. Ryan was not with her this time.

She looked awkward, almost hesitant.

"Alex," she began, "I' ve been thinking. Perhaps... perhaps there' s a way for this to work."

I raised an eyebrow.

"I know you desire me," she said, a flicker of her old confidence returning. "And Peterson Global needs the Vanderbilt alliance."

She paused, then dropped her bombshell.

"We can still marry. Fulfill the public expectation. And... I can continue my relationship with Ryan. Openly. It' s a modern arrangement, Alex. Polyamory. Challenging outdated norms."

She actually smiled, as if presenting a brilliant, progressive idea.

"You get the alliance, the wife you want on your arm. I get... my freedom. And Ryan."