Just after midnight on my birthday, I quietly went to the banquet hall where Luke Bennett had prepared my party. I wanted to leave the ring there, along with the project contract I had begged my father to approve for him.

But the lights were still on.

Bright balloons covered the floor. Luke was still tying them one by one. Someone laughed and asked if he was serious about not breaking up with me yet, even dragging Madison Carter over to help set up my birthday party.

Luke put out his cigarette and said, "This one is too sensitive. Too much trouble."

Madison laughed beside him. She reminded everyone of their bet: whoever dated all twelve zodiac signs first would owe the other a condition. Luke had already reached his eleventh girlfriend.

"Of course I will not quit now," Luke said. "I am already looking for the next one. Just wait until I beat you."

I watched his cold profile through the crack in the door, threw the ring and the contract into the trash, and turned away.

Someone behind me asked what sign I was.

"Scorpio," Luke answered.

Luke Bennett, of all the signs you chose to mock, you picked the one that remembers.

When I reached the doorway, my phone lit up.

"Baby, you are going to love tomorrow's birthday party. I put so much work into it."

Luke Bennett's profile picture kept blinking on my screen.

Balloons, flowers, the laughter of his friends around him. Every detail was proof of how seriously he had prepared this party.

"Baby, why are you not answering? I can see that you are typing.

"You have to tell me when something is bothering you. That is how relationships last."

Last?

When had he ever planned for us to last?

My thumb hovered over send. I had typed, "Luke Bennett, let's break up."

Then I deleted it.

I wanted to ask him if he had ever liked me at all. I wanted to ask whether every tender moment had been an act. But I could not make myself press send.

Luke either did not notice my silence, or he simply did not care. He went on talking.

"Baby, Madison and I made a bet.

"It involves you.

"She said that if I broke up with you, she would owe me one condition. You know me. I just do not want to lose to her.

"You will help me, right?"

I stared at the screen without moving.

So that was why he had gone through all of this tonight. He even bothered to invent a reason to get rid of me, his "sensitive" girlfriend.

When I still did not reply, he sent another message.

"Then I will tell everyone I begged you hard enough to win you back. That way you look good in front of my friends, and I look good in front of yours. Just play along once, okay?

"Whatever bag or dress you want, your husband will buy it for you."

Maybe he thought text was not persuasive enough, because a voice message came in next.

His familiar voice played through my speaker, soft and coaxing in a way I had never heard from him before.

"Wife, everyone in our group knows about my bet with Madison. She already broke up with her boyfriend to set an example for me, but I kept dragging it out because I did not want to upset you. Tonight they all laughed at me and said I could not afford to play.

"We will fake the breakup. After I win the bet with Madison, I will find the right moment to say I won you back, all right..."

The voice message cut off abruptly.

In the noisy background, Madison called, "Luke, come drink."

I replied with one word.

"Okay."

Then I blocked him.

Leaving the chat, I changed my phone wallpaper. It had been a picture of Luke and me.

We had taken it a week after we started dating. I had dragged him through the mall and tried to sneak a photo of us together, but he noticed immediately.

He had ruffled my hair with a doting smile and taken my phone.

"If you want a picture together, why not just tell me?"

The moment he pressed the shutter, he kissed my cheek.

Back then, he laughed and called me silly. I even argued that I was not.

Looking back now, I really was.

I should have seen the amusement in his eyes from the beginning.

Exhausted, I went home.

Luke was already sitting on my couch, looking smug and a little drunk, his cheeks puffed with fake irritation.

"Why did you block me?"

He lifted his phone. My name sat above a row of messages marked with gray ticks.

I pushed him away.

"We broke up."

Luke was about to argue when a woman's voice rang out.

"Luke, your body wash smells so good."

I turned toward the sound.

Madison Carter was wearing Luke's bathrobe and my slippers.

In my home.

"Luke Bennett, who gave you permission to bring her here?"

"Emily, she got drunk and threw up all over herself. My place was too far. Yours was closer, so I brought her here to clean up."

Madison clung to Luke like an octopus, then pointed at me.

"Luke, she is so mean.

"Break up with her. Break up!"

Luke frowned and lowered his voice to soothe her.

"Did you not hear? We broke up, princess."

"Luke Bennett, take your person and get out."

Luke froze.

"Emily, she is drunk. Can you just be a little understanding..."

"Get out."

I repeated it.

His expression changed too.

"Emily Miller, is this really necessary?"

Yes. I wanted to ask myself the same question. For a man like this, was any of it necessary?

He was still wearing the hair tie I had given him around his wrist. But now, the hand wearing my little hair tie was holding another woman.

It was not necessary, Emily.

I used every bit of strength I had to shove them both out the door.

"Luke Bennett, I never want to see you again."

The apartment went silent.

Then my phone chimed.

"Baby, good acting. It almost felt like we really broke up."

"But baby, you really do not need to block me. They will not check my phone."

I turned off the screen and ignored him.

Even now, Luke still thought this was just a fake breakup to fool his group of bad friends.

But I no longer wanted to play his game.

I threw away everything Madison might have touched and had replacements delivered overnight. I stayed busy until I no longer knew what time it was, then fell into a heavy sleep.

When I woke, there was a text from Luke.

"Come to the banquet hall at six tonight. Birthday dinner.

"Just say we broke up but can still be friends."

I still did not reply.

At six that evening, I arrived at the banquet hall anyway.

I wanted to make things clear. I wanted to put a clean period at the end of this relationship.

The manager respectfully pushed open the door for me.

When everyone inside saw me, the noise died.

For the first time, I took a long look at Luke's friends.

Amusement. Spectacle. Pity.

I had never truly belonged in his circle. At this moment, that no longer mattered.

Luke put out his cigarette and pulled out a chair for me with practiced thoughtfulness. Then he told the server, "Please turn down the air-conditioning and bring her a blanket. She gets cold easily."

Under everyone's stare, he took a packet of instant ginger tea from his pocket, mixed it with hot water, blew on it, and pushed it in front of me.

Someone began, "Luke, you and your girlfriend..."

Luke answered without thinking.

"Not girlfriend. We broke up."

Perhaps he realized that caring so much for an ex looked strange, because he added, "It is her birthday. A farewell meal does not need to be ugly."

His friends gave him a knowing look, then turned toward the door.

Madison Carter arrived late in a dramatic dress and went straight to sit beside Luke.

She asked, "What farewell meal?"

"Luke and his girl..."

Someone poked the speaker.

"Not his girl anymore."

"Right. Miss... what was it again?"

Luke frowned and interrupted.

"Emily."

"Oh, just call her Miss Miller," Madison said lightly. "We will not see her again anyway. A name is not that important."

Everyone brushed over it with laughter.

Only Ben Wallace, sitting across from Luke, kept staring at my face as if trying to remember something.

I had met him two months ago at a Miller family event.

I gave him a small nod.

Luke noticed him staring and said with a teasing edge, "What, are you interested in my ex-girlfriend?"

Madison patted Luke on the shoulder.

"She is your ex. Why do you care?

"Do you not want to win our bet?"

This time, Luke did not answer.

His friends soon changed topics.

"Madison, I heard your dad is going after the Miller Southside project."

"Not officially," Madison said. "But Carter Group is very well prepared."

"Maybe you should convince your dad to partner with Luke.

"Only your families could handle a project like that. Once you two land it, give the rest of us a little piece too."

Madison glanced at me, then smiled sweetly at Luke.

"I am willing, of course. But whether my dad agrees depends on Luke."

Luke placed the shrimp he had just peeled into my bowl.

"It is her birthday. Do not talk business."

Madison's smile stiffened. She raised her glass.

"Look at me, stealing the spotlight. Miss Miller, you do not mind, do you?"

The wine in her glass poured over my dress without spilling a drop elsewhere.

I wiped it calmly, looked at every face around the table, then locked my eyes on Madison.

"I do mind.

"This dress is from Chanel's latest collection. Thirty thousand dollars.

"The items Miss Carter used at my house yesterday have all been thrown away. Total value: nineteen hundred dollars.

"Since Miss Carter is clearly so generous, please pay for everything together. Card or cash?"

"Are you robbing me?"

Even Luke looked at me with disapproval.

"Emily Miller, that is too much."

"Luke, where did you find this girlfriend? No, ex-girlfriend?"

"Latest Chanel collection? She knows where she bought it."

"We came over in the middle of the night to help set up her birthday party, and now she treats us like suckers."

Ben, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

"Emily Miller. I remember now."

"You are Robert Miller's daughter. The Miller heiress."

The room went still for a few seconds.

Then sharper laughter exploded across the table.

"Ben, you have not even been drinking. How is your brain already fried? How could she be the Miller heiress? She just happens to have the same last name."

Madison scoffed.

"Ben, if you want to rescue a damsel, you do not need to invent such a bad lie."

Ben looked at Luke.

"Luke, she is your girlfriend. You should know her best.

"Do you really not know she is Robert Miller's daughter?"

Luke stared at me, brows drawn tight.

Madison pulled him closer to her side, placing a clear line between us.

"Ben, if you like Miss Miller, go after her yourself.

"Luke has already broken up with her. He will not stop you.

"But you teaming up with Miss Miller to lie to all of us? Did she offer you something?"

"Ben," Luke said, his dark eyes turning to him. "When did you two get in touch?"

"Enough!"

I did not want to keep performing in this circus.

Luke cut me off, his tone suddenly sharp.

"You are defending him?"

"Luke Bennett, I am Robert Miller's daughter.

"What happened between us has nothing to do with Ben. You do not need to question him."

Luke gave a cold laugh.

"Emily Miller, you are lying to me for him?

"Since we started dating, when were you not with me? Which dress, which pair of shoes, which bag of yours did I not buy?

"Would Robert Miller's daughter have that much free time? Would she use her body to trade with a man for money?"

The slap rang through the suddenly silent banquet hall.

I lowered my hand and looked into the black eyes in front of me.

Once, I had seen those same eyes in the dark.

That night, when a creep cornered me and I was too frightened to move, he had appeared like the only light in a sky full of darkness.

Later, I learned his name was Luke Bennett.

To get close to him, I began asking my best friend Sarah Collins to bring me to parties in his circle. I chased him openly and warmly.

The night our relationship changed, Madison handed me a glass of brutal high-proof liquor.

She said, "If you can finish this, Luke will date you."

I glanced at Luke. He was hidden in the corner of a couch and said nothing.

They wanted me to back down.

But I, Emily Miller, had never been good at lowering my head.

I smiled and took the glass.

Just as the liquor reached my lips, Luke rushed over with anger in his face.

"Are you crazy?"

I fell into those eyes again.

Now, it was still those eyes. But when they looked at me, there was no warmth left.

"Emily Miller, are you crazy?"

Luke backed me into a corner, his long fingers clamping around my wrist.

"Do you care that much about how he sees you?

"Am I wrong? Back then, were you not the one chasing me like your life depended on it?

"We dated for a month. Did you not sleep with me?"

He glanced at Ben, who stood frozen nearby, and smiled with bitter mockery.

"Or do you think you found someone more worth trusting than me?"

He lowered his head close to my ear.

"Emily Miller, ask him. Would he dare take a woman who was mine?

"Between us, you were never the one who got to decide."

I pushed him away and looked at the man who once made my heart race.

When I loved him, I was willing to run into the wall again and again.

Because I had loved him, I had wanted us to part with dignity.

But now that I saw him clearly, I no longer wanted to swallow a single grievance.

Before I could speak, noise rose at the entrance.

"Emily, happy birthday! Look who I brought!"