I’m rich, I’m pretty, and I have a handsome, domineering CEO as my childhood sweetheart.

With this setup, I should’ve been the heroine of a sweet, fluffy romance.

But on my twenty-second birthday, I finally realized—I was nothing more than the vicious supporting character in his CEO love story.

…

My name is Chloe Sterling.

The man standing in front of me now is Alexander Vance.

The woman he’s shielding behind him is Isabella Reed.

Today is my twenty-second birthday party. Isabella came as Alexander’s assistant, accompanying him to the event.

She was supposed to hand me the birthday gift Alexander had prepared, but somehow she lost her balance and bumped into me. My hand jerked, and the red wine I was holding splashed straight onto Isabella’s dress.

Our parents are business partners. Alexander and I grew up together. He’s three years older than me, and ever since I was little, I loved trailing after him. He could never shake me off.

When we were kids, Mrs. Vance once laughed and asked if I’d like to be her daughter-in-law.

I asked her what “daughter-in-law” meant.

She told me it meant marrying Alexander, always being together, spending a lifetime side by side.

I didn’t know what marriage really was back then, or what it meant to spend a lifetime with someone. I only knew that I wanted to be with Alexander, always.

Because he was good-looking—the best-looking little boy I knew.

My dad laughed and said I’d inherited my mom’s lovestruck tendencies.

When I was seventeen, mimicking the dramas I’d seen on TV, I wrote Alexander a love letter and confessed to him.

He looked at me with a cold, indifferent expression and told me I should focus on my studies. He said he only saw me as a little sister, then rejected me.

But I still refused to give up. I believed that as long as I persisted, he would fall for me someday. I had at least a little confidence in my looks.

So I threw myself into studying, working hard for one goal—to get into his university.

The moment I received my admission letter, I couldn’t wait to share the news with him. But that was when he told me he was going abroad.

I spent four years of college without Alexander. Whenever I walked through campus, I’d tell myself I was walking the same paths he once did, and somehow, that made it all a little less lonely.

He came back when I graduated, but as soon as he returned to the country, he took over Vance Corporation. He was busy around the clock, and I could barely see him.

So I started going to his company every day, bringing him food and drinks, fussing over him. Everyone in the building knew I was hopelessly, shamelessly in love with Alexander.

Our parents arranged an engagement between us. I was over the moon, and he didn’t object.

I knew, deep down, that he didn’t actually like me. To him, it was just a business alliance. But I thought that was good enough. As long as we got married, we’d be together forever. One day, he would love me.

Then Isabella appeared, and for the first time, I felt threatened.

“Chloe! Why did you splash red wine on Izzy?” Alexander demanded furiously.

I didn’t answer. Just a moment ago, a wave of dizziness had washed over me—and I suddenly awakened.

The world I was living in was actually a novel.

The male lead was Alexander.

The female lead was Isabella.

And me? I was the vicious supporting character.

The stumbling block and catalyst for their romance, the one whose entire existence was meant to show just how great their love was.

The story went like this: after graduating from college, Isabella, through relentless effort, managed to get an offer from Vance Corporation. Because she was just a graduate from an ordinary university, her colleagues looked down on her and ostracized her, dumping all the menial tasks on her.

One night, Alexander went back to the office late to retrieve some documents and ran into Isabella, who was still working overtime. In her, he saw a stubborn refusal to give up, a tenacity that caught his eye. From then on, he started paying attention to her, and found that no matter what she did, she was always optimistic and full of energy.

And just like that… he slowly began to fall for her.

Whenever he saw someone bullying her, he would step in and stand up for her. Later, he even transferred her to his side as his assistant, helping her grow. With time, the two of them naturally fell in love.

As the so?called vicious supporting female, I obviously couldn’t stand watching them be so lovey?dovey. I kept making trouble for Isabella in every possible way. But because she was the heroine, she always managed to turn danger into safety. In the end, Alexander got a hold of some dirt on my family’s business and forcibly sent me abroad.

Not long after I left, the Sterling Corporation went bankrupt due to mismanagement. My father was sent to prison, and my mother, devastated by the blow, fell ill and never got out of bed again. My family was ruined, everyone scattered, and my fate was miserable.

Now that I already know the entire plot, there’s no way I’m going to let the story in that book play out again.

I, Chloe Sterling, am rich and pretty, with more suitors than I can count. Why the hell would I hang myself on the crooked tree that is Alexander—even if it is a very good?looking crooked tree?

There are plenty of handsome men in the world. Lose this one, I’ll just find another.

“Chloe Sterling, don’t think that just because you’re not talking, this matter never happened,” Alexander said when he saw me staying silent.

For some reason, my nose suddenly stung, and my tears slipped down uncontrollably.

Even with this god?like, all?knowing perspective, I still couldn’t help feeling sad. I just didn’t know whether that sadness was for Alexander…or for myself.

Seeing me cry, Alexander’s eyes flashed with surprise, and his tone softened a little.

“There’s nothing between Yi’an and me except a normal superior–subordinate relationship. Stop targeting her from now on. Apologize to her, and we’ll call it a day.”

“Really? Just a normal superior and subordinate?” I let out a cold laugh. “If she’s just a normal subordinate, would you, without figuring out what actually happened, accuse your fiancée over a damn assistant?”

Alexander’s expression instantly darkened. Isabella, noticing, tugged at his sleeve.

“Zhiyan, I was the one who accidentally bumped into Miss Sterling. Don’t blame her.”

In Alexander’s eyes, I was just a spoiled, unreasonable rich girl who threw tantrums for no reason, who did nothing all day but eat, drink, play, and cling to him.

So the moment he saw Isabella and me standing together, no matter what had happened, his first instinct was to assume it was my fault.

I shot him a cold look. “I’m tired. Hurry up and take your beloved little assistant to get cleaned up.”

Without another glance back, I turned and left.

For the next few days, I locked myself up at home and didn’t step outside. Finding out something this huge all at once, I needed time to process it.

When Scarlett Bennett heard I’d been holed up at home for days, she rushed over to keep me company, saying she was afraid I’d do something stupid.

Her worry was completely unnecessary. Over these few days, I’d already thought everything through. Who cares about some damn novel, or who’s the male or female lead? I’m Chloe, just Chloe—a living, breathing person. The world I live in is real. My friends and family are all real, flesh and blood. Why should I torment myself over some story?

Still, the ending for the male and female leads is irreversible. If I don’t want to end up as cannon fodder, I need to stay the hell away from them. So right now, the most important thing is to break off my engagement with Alexander.

“I’ve decided. I’m going to call off my engagement with Alexander!”

Scarlett practically jumped up with excitement. “Chloe, you’re finally back to normal!”

“I wasn’t normal before?”

“Not just ‘not normal’—you were damn near crazy.”

I gave Scarlett a thumbs?up. “Nice. That little rhyme was pretty good.”

Because of my sudden awakening, Scarlett insisted we had to celebrate. She dragged me to the club owned by Lucas Bennett.

The moment I walked in, I was stunned.

A long row of men sat on the couch, all types, like I’d just walked into some bizarre catalog of male specimens.

Scarlett waved a grand hand at them and said to me, “Pick whichever one you like.”

I grabbed her and pulled her to the side, lowering my voice. “Scarlett, are you out of your mind? This is illegal.”

“What are you thinking?” She rolled her eyes. “They’re all my senior brothers from the same school. I invited them here on purpose, to introduce you. I don’t want you getting hypnotized by Alexander’s pretty face any longer.”

“You’re not afraid the paparazzi will catch you? The top young actress partying with a row of pretty boys in the middle of the night?”

“Relax, my brother’s place is Fort Knox.”

When it came to my finally cutting ties with that scumbag, Scarlett was more excited than I was. She’d already had a lot to drink.

I got dragged along with her and ended up drinking a lot too. The result was that when the party broke up, the two of us were staggering, clinging to each other as we made our way to the restroom.

After I threw up, my head cleared a little, and then I started rambling to her non?stop.

“Ruanyuan, remember this: stay away from men, or you’ll end up miserable.”

“Men are all trash, especially Alexander.”

“What’s he got to be so damn smug about anyway? Just because he’s a little better looking?”

“I think that junior of yours just now was pretty good. Fair skin, baby?smooth. Send me his Facebook later.”

I was getting more and more worked up, when a sudden chill ran down my spine. I turned around—and Alexander was standing right behind me.

At first I thought I was seeing things. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Nope. It was really him.

Ever since I realized this was all just a novel, my feelings for him had slipped right out of the plot’s control. Like the wind, they’d scattered, gone wherever they wanted.

Before, whenever I saw him, I would lose control and walk toward him on my own, my heart filling with stupid, uncontrollable joy.

But now? Nothing. After all, who the hell can feel happy in front of a face that cold?

Damn plot. It turned me into his doormat for five whole years. Five years. Who knows how many people have laughed at me behind my back?

The more I thought about it, the more wronged I felt, and the tears started streaming down my face.

God… this is so humiliating…

Scarlett saw me crying and thought I was heartbroken because of Alexander. She charged forward and started cursing him out.

She went on and on about how good I’d been to him, how devoted I was, how he didn’t even like me but still got engaged to me, and after getting engaged he was still flirting with some little assistant. Total scumbag.

The more she yelled, the more I couldn’t stand it. I reached out and grabbed her arm.

She was aiming her words at Alexander, but for some reason it felt like every sentence was scolding me too—scolding the idiot I’d been all these years.

I deliberately skipped over Alexander’s already thundercloud?dark face and tugged Scarlett away with me.

Alexander caught my wrist, then called Lucas and told him to come take Scarlett home.

Once Scarlett left, I instantly lost my support and swayed on my feet. Just as I thought I was about to hit the floor, Alexander caught me.

I immediately shook his hand off and steadied myself against the wall.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Chloe, what the hell are you doing?” he snapped. “I told you, Isabella and I are just in a normal boss?and?employee relationship.”

I looked up and saw that arrogant, untouchable expression on his face, and I really wanted to punch him. If I could’ve stood straight, I might have tried.

“Why didn’t you pick up when I called you?”

My head was spinning. I didn’t want to listen to his crap. I pulled out my phone and called the driver, telling him to come pick me up.

I don’t know what got into Alexander, but before I could even say the address, he snatched my phone and told the driver he didn’t need to come.

Then he dragged me toward his car. I struggled a few times and couldn’t break free, so I gave up. It’s not like he was going to actually do anything to me anyway.