My relationship with Luke had started as a simple transaction. But it was shifting into something far more complicated and nuanced.

I began to reevaluate this seemingly frivolous playboy.

It was the night before the engagement party. I had just finished showering and was applying body lotion in front of the mirror when the bedroom door violently burst open.

Jim stumbled in. He reeked of alcohol, and his eyes were bloodshot. When he saw me dressed in nothing but a thin bathrobe, his gaze instantly burned with desire and desperation.

"Cece!" Jim cried.

Then, he rushed up to me. He grabbed my wrist with such force that I grimaced. His warm, alcohol-laced breath hit my face when he continued.

"Don't get engaged! Please just believe me one more time!"

Jim's voice was hoarse and filled with despair. Tears streamed down his cheeks and dripped onto the back of my hand.

I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened. His nails practically dug into my skin. His voice shook as he cried, "The huge debt and ruined reputation were all an act!"

Jim's thumb gently brushed over my pulse as he continued, "It was all to draw out the person who killed my birth parents! That person is hiding among the Forrest Corporation's top executives!"

With my wrist still tightly gripped, he dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead against my stomach. I could feel the tremble of his breath through my thin bathrobe.

"I couldn't drag you into this! Anne and the child were just part of the cover!" Jim added. Doubt flickered in my heart as I took in his anguished expression.

I waited and longed for him for three years… Was it really going to end like this?

But then, images flashed through my mind. First were the intimate photos from Anne's social media. Then, it was memories of my lonely nights on a hospital bed.

My hand froze midair and slowly clenched into a fist.

My icy tone and every word sliced into him like a knife. "Three years ago, I would've believed anything you said. Now, every word that comes out of your mouth makes me sick."

Jim's face turned ghostly pale. His gaze was full of disbelief and agony.

He staggered forward and tried to get close again, but I reached over and pressed the emergency button by the bed.

"Guards!" I called.

Two guards immediately rushed in and restrained Jim. When they saw I was only wearing a bathrobe, they quickly averted their eyes.

"How should we handle this, Ms. Forrest?" one of the guards asked.

I turned away and hugged my arms tightly across my chest, refusing to look at Jim.

"Throw him out," I ordered.

Jim thrashed against the guards. His voice cracked with despair as he yelled, "You can't do this to me, Cece! I did it to protect you! I love you!"

His voice was cut off when the door closed. I sat on the edge of the bed, my hands still trembling slightly.

The next morning, the makeup artist dressed me in the custom black gown Luke had prepared for our engagement party. My reflection looked pale, but my eyes were resolute.

As soon as the car pulled out of the Forrest family estate, I received Dad's urgent call. He was clearly agitated. "Bad news, Cecilia! Jim is missing! He took the modified off-road vehicle from the garage!"

My heart clenched. My grip tightened around my phone. What was Jim going to do?

Luke spoke up from beside me, sounding unbothered. "Relax. I arranged a little surprise on the road for him."

I turned to him. He was casually adjusting his cufflinks.

"What did you do?" I questioned.

Before Luke could answer, the shriek of crashing metal and police sirens sounded from behind us. Luke's phone rang. He answered and put it on speaker.

The voice on the other end was tense. "Mr. Larson, the target vehicle has broken through the roadblock and is speeding toward the banquet hall! It's like he's gone mad! He's already smashed through three roadblocks!"