### Chapter 2

Stewart's brow furrowed instantly, his voice sharp with impatience.

"All I did was get a marriage certificate with Vivian. What's with the passive-aggressive attitude?"

"I know you're upset, so I'll give you a sum of money as compensation. That should be enough, right?"

I had already cried every tear I had for this man.

Wasting any more heartbreak on him wasn't worth it.

I held his gaze, steady and unblinking, and asked my final question.

"Stewart, in these six years, did you ever love me?"

His frown only deepened.

"You know Vivian's pregnant, and you insist on saying things like that in front of her? Are you trying to upset her?!"

"Just don't make a scene. After two years, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Isn't that enough?"

The rest of his life making it up to me.

I had waited over two thousand days and nights for him to promise me forever.

Instead, I watched him give forever to someone else.

If what he felt for Vivian was only "like a sister," why would such a simple question threaten to break her heart?

There was no "rest of his life" left for me, Stewart. I couldn't afford to gamble anymore.

I turned to leave, but he suddenly remembered something and called me back.

"Contact all your friends and family right away. Tell them the wedding is off. Say you changed your mind at the last minute and decided you didn't want to marry me."

I nodded, calm.

"Fine."

I went to the hospital to get my wound bandaged, then headed straight back to Delgado Corp to wrap up my work.

Back at the office, I posted on social media that the wedding was canceled.

The well-meaning advice came almost immediately:

"Girl, are you crazy? He's about to be the CEO of a publicly traded company! You stuck it out this long, and now you're throwing it away right before the payoff? Why?"

"A catch like that, and women are lining up to throw themselves at him. And here you are, handing him over on a silver platter!"

I didn't reply.

Soon enough, he wouldn't be any of those things.

I was sorting through files when a friend request from Vivian popped up on my phone.

The moment I accepted, a photo of a marriage certificate came through.

"Someone really does love me to death! After that little scene today, he took me straight to get our certificate just to make me feel better!"

In the photo, the two of them were beaming, faces pressed together. It burned behind my eyes like staring into the sun.

I turned off my phone.

Six years with Stewart. To protect his pride, I hid who I was. I lived with him in a run-down studio apartment, survived on dry bread.

I even went through five abortions in those six years.

All because he said he wanted to wait for the right moment to give me and our children a stable, happy home.

In the end, he kept that promise for someone else.

I finished copying my files, then got up to make coffee in the break room.

I stopped in the doorway.

A few coworkers were huddled at the counter, whispering.

"Did you hear? The bride isn't Leonora. It's his childhood sweetheart."

"Apparently this Vivian girl is the one he's been hung up on for years. I saw her in the office once. Way prettier than Leonora. No wonder he could never let go."

"Ha! Leonora spent all those years chasing him, and she ended up with nothing. That's hilarious."

Every word sliced into me like a blade.

I pretended I hadn't heard a thing and walked straight back to my office.

Then I began placing my belongings into a box, one by one.

These same employees used to call me "sis" to my face.

Now that they knew I wasn't the bride, I'd already been downgraded to the desperate ex who couldn't take a hint.

The door slammed open without warning.

Stewart stormed in, swept my box off the desk with one arm, and sent everything crashing to the floor. His face was white-hot with rage.

"What is wrong with you? I told you to say YOU were the one who called it off!"

"Now everyone out there is calling Vivian a homewrecker. Did you spread that on purpose?"

"Post a correction right now, and then apologize to Vivian! She's so upset she's threatening to terminate the pregnancy!"

Listening to him hurl accusations at me, I almost laughed.

### Chapter 3

Mid-rant, Stewart's gaze snagged on the gauze wrapped around my head.

The alcohol had worn off by now, and a flicker of guilt crossed his face. "Your head..."

Before he could finish, Vivian burst through the door, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe:

"Stewart, maybe I should just go get rid of the baby right now! Better that than having everyone call it a bastard!"

Stewart panicked. He pulled her into his arms, his voice going impossibly soft:

"Don't talk like that. You're not the other woman, and our baby is not a bastard!"

"We have a marriage certificate. You are my lawful wife."

"Anyone who says otherwise, I'll destroy them."

But Vivian only cried harder, on the verge of passing out:

"But everyone knows Leonora is your fiancée. I should just stop being an eyesore and leave right now!"

Stewart held her tighter, not bothering to hide his devotion:

"I already told her I'd settle things with her in a couple of years. What more does she want?"

"Stop crying. Every tear you shed feels like a knife in my chest."

Vivian struggled in his arms:

"But everyone thinks I'm the other woman. I can never show my face again. What's the point of staying by your side?"

The moment he heard that, Stewart pulled out his phone and called his assistant, barking orders that the wedding was back on.

Not only that, he wanted the whole thing upgraded to a multimillion-dollar affair.

"That way, the entire world will know that you, Vivian Porter, are my wife."

Vivian finally quieted, burying her face in his chest as her sobs turned into a coy smile. "Stewart, you're so good to me. How could I ever bear to leave you after two years?"

"Then don't. I'll take care of you and our child for the rest of your lives."

Once Vivian was properly soothed, Stewart finally lifted his head and looked at me with a sidelong glare:

"Why are you still standing there? Did you post the clarification? If you did, then hurry up and apologize to Vivian!"

Watching their little love show, I felt like I was the other woman in this story. The laughable third wheel.

But I hadn't done anything wrong. Why should I apologize to her?

"Stewart, what if I say no?"

He stared at me with that look, as though he had me all figured out, and let out a single contemptuous scoff.

"You're clinging on and refusing to leave because you want money. Just say it."

He pulled out a checkbook, scrawled a few strokes with a flourish, and slapped it on the desk.

"You were with me for years, so I'll be generous. A hundred thousand should cover it. Now go stand in front of the entire company and clarify that Vivian is not the other woman."

Employees had crowded around the office doorway, craning their necks for the show.

Feeling every last one of those contemptuous stares boring into me, I laughed. For real this time.

So that was all I was worth. A hundred thousand dollars.

"What's so funny? Think it's not enough? Every meal you ate, every thing you used these past years came out of my pocket."

"You should be grateful I'm offering you a hundred grand at all."

Listening to him say it with such righteous conviction, I felt nothing but a bone-deep bleakness.

I must have been blind to have loved a man like this for six whole years.

I reached across the desk and picked up the check. Slowly.

A knowing smirk tugged at the corner of Stewart's mouth.

Then, right in front of him, I tore it to shreds.

"Keep the money. Your happy little family of three is going to need it."

And that day was coming sooner than he thought.

Stewart's face twisted with humiliated rage.

"Leonora, I told you the wedding is just postponed! It's not like I said I'd never marry you!"

He still believed that no matter how far he pushed, I'd be standing in the same spot, waiting.

But betrayal was the one thing I would never forgive.

"Save it. You'd better enjoy your wedding with her while you can. It might just be the last party you ever throw."

The words left my mouth laced with ice.

"Leonora, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He noticed me bending down to gather my things from the floor, and he froze mid-step:

"You're quitting?"

"There's no reason for me to stay."

I packed my belongings into a box without once looking up at him.

"Fine! Then get the hell out of my sight! Once you leave Delgado Corp, let's see which company in this city would dare hire you!"

### Chapter 4

He was seething, teeth clenched, shouting at me like a cornered animal.

He was waiting for me to regret it. Waiting for me to beg. But I pushed through the crowd at the door and walked out without looking back.

I'd barely gotten into the car when my father called. "That Delgado bastard actually had the nerve to tell me the wedding is still on."

I drew a long breath. So he couldn't wait to announce his wedding to Vivian Porter to the whole world.

"And he had the audacity to say you were the one who fell for another man and called off the engagement first."

"Just wait. I'll make that animal pay."

Even though I didn't love him anymore, the sting still cut deep.

To protect his pride, I'd never told him. His biggest investor, his majority shareholder, was my own father.

And this was how he repaid me. Dragging my name through the mud, stripping whatever dignity was left from what we'd had.

I drove back to the Delgado house and packed as fast as I could.

Six full years, and I'd lived so frugally that everything I owned fit in a single suitcase.

I grabbed it and drove to the bridal shop.

The wedding dress had been custom-made before my mother passed. She'd overseen every detail herself. It was filled with her love, her blessing.

The wedding was off, but that dress was coming with me.

I hadn't even made it through the door when I saw Vivian Porter holding a pair of scissors, demanding the staff alter my dress.

"Stewart, I really love this gown. It's just too small. Tell them to let out the waist right now. We can't let it delay our wedding."

Vivian clung to Stewart's arm, her voice syrupy and simpering.

Stewart was busy negotiating with the shop manager.

"Call the woman who ordered it. I'll pay half a million on top of the original price. She can hand the dress over to my wife."

For Vivian, he really would throw money around without a second thought.

The manager's eyes lit up at the number. He turned and headed for the back room, saying he'd call me.

Vivian kept waving the scissors around the fabric, measuring, snipping at air. My heart was in my throat.

"I don't agree!" I charged in. "Vivian Porter, put my dress down!"

She flinched for a second. Then her expression twisted into something cold and cruel.

The scissors raked across the gown.

The skirt tore apart, shredded beyond recognition.

The back of my hand caught the blade when I tried to block her. Blood welled up instantly.

"Oops. My hand slipped."

Vivian dropped the scissors with a look of wide-eyed innocence, but the smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth gave her away.

I stared at the ruined dress. The pain in my chest was unbearable. Losing Stewart hadn't hurt a fraction of this.

"You vile bitch! That was my mother's. You owe me!"

I didn't feel the cut on my hand. I didn't feel anything except blind rage as I swung and slapped Vivian across her pale face as hard as I could.

"Ah!"

A bright red handprint bloomed across her cheek.

"Vivian!"

Stewart backhanded me even harder. The force sent me crashing to the floor.

"Stewart, my face hurts so much!"

Vivian wailed at full volume, throwing herself into Stewart's arms as if she'd suffered some unimaginable injustice.

My chest heaved. Tears burned in my eyes as I stared up at Stewart from the ground.

He knew what that dress meant to me. Better than anyone.

But he couldn't see the blood running down my hand. He couldn't see the dress torn to pieces on the floor.

All he did was cup Vivian's swollen cheek and stroke it over and over, so gentle, so tender, his hands trembling with how much it pained him.

"Leonora!"

He tucked the sobbing Vivian behind him and turned that frozen stare back on me.

"Have you lost your goddamn mind? If you hurt the baby, how the hell are you going to make that right?!"

"Apologize to Vivian. Now."