Introduction

From the glittering penthouse suite, the city lights below looked like a sea of diamonds, but for tech prodigy Chloe Davis, her world felt anything but sparkling. Propped against silk pillows, the only sound was the shower running in the master bath, a quiet rhythm against her own anxious heart.

She was about to make the call that would sacrifice her future: agreeing to an arranged marriage for her family.

But then, a notification flashed on the open laptop beside her: a message from "Liam" implying a secret tryst with Ethan Hayes, the venture capitalist titan she was tangled with.

Just as the bathroom door clicked open, Ethan emerged, his voice cold and clipped: "Something came up at the office. I need to leave."

A bitter smile curled on her lips. "Is it the office, or your 'first love'?"

His sharp gaze momentarily landed on her, then he dismissed her with a curt, "I' m off to work. Don' t cause trouble."

She raced across town, and saw him, warm and intimately linked with Liam Miller, a tenderness in Ethan' s face she' d never seen directed at her.

The humiliation was a hot, bitter wave, especially when she later discovered candid photos of Ethan and Liam, his "campus sweetheart," in Ethan's private study-a shrine.

The pieces clicked: she was just a convenient body, a toy.

She' d been used, humiliated, and thrown away. She wouldn't just disappear; she would make sure everyone knew the cost.