Introduction

My life was a perfectly curated dream.

Three years with Ethan, a diamond on my finger, and a wedding just a week away-timed perfectly with my family's groundbreaking AI launch that he was a key part of.

I, Ava Riley, the brilliant architect, had given him everything-my heart, my connections, my family' s influence.

Then, he walked into our penthouse, his face grim, and shattered it all.

"It' s Chloe," he said, his ex-girlfriend. "Her mother is dying. Her last wish is to see Chloe get married. To me."

My fiancé was going to marry his ex-girlfriend days before our wedding, and he told me with clinical detachment, as if discussing a logistical minor issue.

He said it was "filial piety," just "a ceremony, a piece of paper."

He expected me to accept this monstrous betrayal, to be "reasonable."

My heart didn' t just break, it congealed into ice. I was not his partner; I was a business asset, a temporary stepping stone in his grand design.

The humiliation thickened when he had the audacity to suggest using our pre-paid waterfront wedding venue for his impromptu ceremony with Chloe.

And then, his true colors emerged. As I refused, his charm vanished, replaced by ugly entitlement, culminating in his fingers digging into my arm.

"You have until Saturday to come to your senses," he snarled. "You can either accept this with grace, or you can fight it and lose everything."

That physical threat, the raw intimidation, was the final severance.

The man I loved was gone, if he ever existed. Only a calculating, abusive stranger remained.

I wouldn' t be his victim, nor a footnote in his story.

No, I would not cry. I would not scream.

I calmly called my brother, Liam. "The wedding is still on for next Saturday," I stated.

"Find me a different groom."

There was only one man who could make a statement, someone Ethan feared, someone who held a grudge as deep as mine: Lucas Thorne, my family's fiercest rival, a ruthless tech mogul.

My brother had one simple question: "Are you sure? He's ruthless."

My answer was already forming: "So am I, now."

I would play his game, but I would win.