On Valentine's Day, Lily Compton's youngest uncle, Cecil Compton, makes a grand show of putting a no-limit bid on Lily's first night at the auction.

"Lily, we've been childhood friends since young! I must be the first man to pop your cherry!"

I let out a scoff before taking off my engagement ring and throwing it at Lily's face.

"Our engagement ceremony will be taking place soon. Your behavior reflects both our families' reputations."

Cecil glares at me maliciously. "Lily, you and Jerry have yet to get engaged, and yet here he is, already setting up rules for you! Things will definitely get worse for you if you do end up marrying him!"

Lily's gaze turns glacial as she lets out a cold huff.

"This is just a marriage alliance. Is my virginity really that important, in any case? Besides, Cecil has already dumped his money on the bid. I can't just let him walk away with nothing, can I?"

As I coldly watch the shameless pair walk into a washroom, I dial a number.

"Since Lily treats our marriage like child's play, then I suppose there's absolutely no reason for the Comptons to continue existing in this world."

Jerry's POV

When Lily returned to the private room with her clothes disheveled, I had just hung up the phone. I stared at her expressionlessly. The hickeys on her neck stood out starkly against the fabric of her evening gown.

After sitting down unsteadily, she glanced listlessly at the things I had bought from the auction and said flatly, "Jerry Fuller, this has nothing to do with Cecil. He just didn't want my virginity to be auctioned off to someone else."

"Is that so?" I let out a cold laugh. "Have you forgotten what status you hold now?"

Lily clenched her teeth and angrily crushed the gift I had bought for her into dust.

"Don't try to lay down rules for me with that marriage contract! We're not even engaged yet! Cecil just didn't want someone else to take my first—"

Before she could finish, Cecil walked in carrying a glass of water and a box of birth control pills.

"Jerry, don't get the wrong idea. I was only trying to protect Lily. It's not my fault your bid was a second too slow."

As he spoke, he deliberately unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the scratch marks on his chest.

"I was just following the auction rules. After all, it was something I bid on and won, so it's perfectly reasonable for me to take it, no?"

"That's enough, Cecil. Why don't you head back first?" Lily calmly swallowed the pill and cast a disdainful glance at me. "At the end of the day, what we have is just a marriage alliance. If you're really so hung up on my broken hymen, I can just go to the hospital and have it restored."

Cecil's unrestrained laughter echoed through the private room, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery.

Emboldened and utterly afraid of consequences, he shrugged and said nothing more.

I let out a bitter laugh as my gaze swept over Lily's face, struck by how unfamiliar she seemed.

Three years ago, she had knelt before me, destitute.

"Jerry, as long as you're willing to help me, I'll do anything."

As it happened, my family was pressuring me to get married, so she became the girlfriend I used to appease them. And through that encounter, we truly fell in love.

To keep Lily from feeling inferior to me, I spared no effort in elevating her status. For her sake, I personally went to break off my original engagement.

My family warned me that she was hardly a suitable partner, but I simply laughed it off.

Over the years, I helped Lily become the new darling of Starworth's elite circle. I believed I had never let her down in any way. Yet, this was how she repaid me.

Lily stood before me with an air of arrogance and said in a displeased tone, "Jerry, I already told you—we're not even engaged yet. So, what I do with my body is none of your business."

I merely responded with a cold "Oh" without even lifting my head.

"All of high society will have their eyes on the engagement party next week. If anything goes wrong with the ceremony, you're finished! So, are you sure you want to make things ugly?"

"Ugly?" I let out a scornful laugh, my gaze falling on the hickeys on her neck. "So it wasn't ugly when you and Cecil were having an incestuous affair?"

"It's not like we're related by blood. You—"

I raised a hand to cut her off, my expression cold. "Enough. There's no point in saying more. I won't marry someone who fools around in the restroom."

The resentment in her eyes was just about to flare up when my friend, Thomas Spence, interrupted us. Spotting the hickeys on Lily's neck, he grinned at me mischievously and said, "Jerry, I know you've dropped a fortune on this pretty face tonight, but come on, have a little self-control."

"What's it got to do with him?" Cecil looked at me with disdain, swaggering over to Lily's side. As if staking his claim, he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Lily and I grew up together. What makes Jerry think he deserves her?"

Thomas' smile froze instantly.

Lily waved dismissively at Thomas, her expression cold. "You, get out first. We—"

Before she could finish, Cecil leaned in and kissed her. He then asked her with sickening tenderness, "Babe, is this guy a friend of Jerry's? No wonder he's so clueless. He can't even see what's between you and me."

He sounded like a rooster crowing in victory, his voice rising a few notches.

"Dude, I'd advise you to cut ties with someone like Jerry sooner rather than later. When I bid on and took Lily's first time, he could only stand outside listening against the door."

Trembling with rage, Thomas slapped Cecil hard across the face.

Lily pointed at him furiously, her eyes bloodshot. "How dare you hit him? Do you have a death wish or something?"

I swept my gaze over the pair of scumbags with utter disgust and scoffed coldly.

Then, I said to Thomas, "That's enough. They're not worth getting your hands dirty."

"Jerry, stop right there!" Lily chased after me and grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going? You think your friend can just hit someone and walk away?"

Cecil clutched his cheek, his expression dark with displeasure. "By seniority, you should be calling me 'Uncle'! So, how dare you treat me like this? Believe me when I say I can make sure your engagement party never even happens. Just you wait!"

With that, he snatched his jacket from the couch and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Jerry's POV

The next instant, Lily struck me hard across the face.

"Jerry, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you really going to kick up a fuss over something so trivial? Have I been too lenient with you? If anything happens to Cecil, I'm going to make you pay!"

I looked at the undisguised reproach in her eyes and suddenly felt a tightness in my throat. All my years of devotion meant less to her than a single tantrum from Cecil.

Watching her leave, I picked up my phone and made a call.

"Send word down—terminate all cooperation with the Compton family, effectively immediately!"

No sooner had I arrived home than I saw Lily and her father, Hugh Compton, sitting in the living room.

"Jerry, what's this I hear about our cooperation being canceled?"

Expressionless, I took out the engagement token and placed it on the coffee table.

"It's not just the cooperation. Since you're both here, we might as well call off the engagement while we're at it."

Mr. Compton's vision went dark, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.

"T-the engagement is just days away. You can't make a rash decision at a time like this!"

I looked at Lily and let out a scornful snort.

"You've already got a handpicked son-in-law you've been grooming for her, so what do you need my family's business for?"

Mr. Compton's face stiffened. He turned to Lily and asked, "What is this about?"

Lily remained silent, and I let out a laugh.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Then, allow me to say it. It's just that a certain someone has no sense of shame and got involved with her own uncle. Since they grew up together, why not just make him your son-in-law? You'd still all be family anyway."

Lily's face was the picture of indifference as she replied nonchalantly, "Jerry, what gives you the right to interfere in my life?"

Three years ago, she had begged me to help her retrieve her mother, Rosa Hudson's, keepsake. Lily, who had always been so proud, submitted for the very first time.

"Jerry, if you agree to help me, I'm willing to be with you."

Back then, her gaze was unyielding. When she looked at me, there wasn't the slightest trace of affection in them. Even after receiving my financial support, she still refused to get close to me.

"Jerry, what we have between us is only a business transaction. There are no feelings involved," she told me stiffly.

What an idiot I was. I actually believed that if I just put in enough effort, I could win her over.

In just three short years, Lily used my resources to turn her company—once on the verge of bankruptcy and liquidation—into a publicly listed corporation now worth tens of billions of dollars.

I finally understood now that feelings were just like the stock market—wishful thinking alone would never yield results.

After everything I'd given, there still wasn't even the smallest place for me in her heart.

"It's my failure as a father to have raised such a daughter! For the sake of all the years our family has served you, could you please give Lily just one more chance?"

As he spoke, Mr. Compton looked ready to drop to his knees before me.

"That's enough, Dad. I'll talk to him myself."

After she saw Mr. Compton out, she looked at me like I was her worst enemy.

"Jerry, did you really have to threaten my dad with the business partnership over something so trivial?"

"Threaten?" I laughed. She certainly had a talent for twisting the truth. "I must have been too lenient to you over the years. Have you forgotten the price of betraying me?"

She stumbled back a few steps, and just then her phone rang.

"Cecil, where are you?" Whatever was said on the other end made her shoot me a resentful glare. She ground her teeth and said, "Don't worry, I'd rather die than marry him! Just calm down first!"

After hanging up, she pulled out my family's engagement token and hurled it to the floor.

"Jerry, Cecil is about to drive his car off a cliff right now because of our engagement! If you still have any decency left, you'll get off our backs."

Jerry's POV

I caught the threat in Lily's eyes, laid bare without any attempt to disguise it, and it hit me as almost laughable.

This was the woman I put on a pedestal for three years. And yet, for her rotten excuse of an uncle, she had the nerve to say something like this to me.

Those rose-tinted glasses through which I used to see her shattered in an instant, and I realized she was nothing special after all.

"So what?" I glanced at the engagement token she had snatched away. "As you wished, our engagement has been called off."

With that, I instructed my butler, Harold Olson, to see her out.

Lily was trembling with rage.

"Jerry, just you wait!"

Perhaps because she had been humiliated under my roof, a twisted heap of scrap metal appeared right outside my front door the very next morning.

When I noticed my car keys were missing from the entryway hook, I knew right away that the scrap metal heap was my limited-edition supercar.

Cecil must have taken it for a joyride without permission.

My heart sank. No matter how expensive a car was, it was just a material possession to me, nothing more.

But hanging in that car was the car rosary my grandmother, Suzanne Manning, left me. It was also the only keepsake I had left of her.

Just then, I received a call from Lily.

"Jerry, do you like the gift we sent you? That's what you get for crossing Cecil!"

My expression darkened as I stared at the heap of scrap metal.

"Where is my car rosary?" I asked.

"What's the matter? You want it back? Come get it yourself!" Lily retorted, her tone dripping with contempt.

"Lily, if you dare do anything to that car rosary, I swear I'll make you wish you were dead."

She snorted and said, "Spare me the act. You're nothing but a worthless bum coasting through life. My family is the new power in Starworth, so bring it on!"

With a grim expression, I ordered my assistant, Arthur Moore, to take me to the Compton residence.

My phone rang again. I was about to decline the call, but when I saw the caller's name, I took a deep breath before answering.

Kristy Hurley's voice came through, carrying her usual composure. "Jerry, are you sure you didn't call off the engagement in a fit of pique?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Do I seem like the type to use a marriage alliance to spite someone?"

"No," Kristy replied, chuckling softly. "But you do seem like a fool who let a woman cloud his judgment—which is why I've found myself a clear-headed ally. If you're looking to dominate the Auropia market, my family's distribution channels are the quickest way in. We each get what we want."

Then, she fell silent for a moment before adding, "But I don't want to trade a marriage of convenience for profits."

"After tonight, that won't be the case anymore." I urged Arthur to drive faster, then said offhandedly, "See you at the engagement party."

I had barely ended the call when a piercing car horn rang in my ears.

An out-of-control semi-truck was barreling straight toward the back seat where I sat. The blinding headlights seared my eyes with pain, and the violent impact crushed the car's frame.

Warm blood trickled down my cheek, the agonizing pain making my vision go dark.

Through the shattered car window, I saw Cecil stumbling out, clutching something in his hand that emitted a soft glow.

It was the car rosary Grandma had left me!

"This thing must be worth quite a bit, huh?"

I struggled to crawl out, but it felt like several of my bones were broken. Even the slightest movement sent excruciating pain wracking through my entire body.

"Put it down," I said with great difficulty.

"Put it down?" Cecil kicked at my car door. "You've been clinging to Lily for three years. Why won't you just leave us alone?"

He suddenly raised his hand and brutally smashed the car rosary onto the ground.

A crisp cracking sound rang out.

"Cecil!" I roared, a metallic taste of blood surging up my throat. "That was my grandmother's—"

"It could belong to the King himself for all I care!" He grabbed me by my blood-soaked shirt and dragged me out of the car.

He pointed at the hickeys on his neck. "Lily did this to me. She said her body belongs to me and me alone. You think she actually liked you? You were nothing but her personal ATM!"

Cecil grew more and more frenzied as he spoke. "Who the heck are you anyway? You're nothing but a stepping stone for me and Lily to climb higher! All she had to do was crook her finger, and you'd practically hand over your life on a silver platter."

Looking at me, he threw his head back and let out a maniacal laugh.

"Jerry, since you love Lily so much, why don't you just die for her right now?"

With that, he grabbed me by the hair and slammed my head viciously against the ground.