On our anniversary, my boyfriend, Bryce Walker, told me he had a surprise for me.

He flew me to Las Vegas and blindfolded me with a silk scarf.

After what felt like an eternity, strong arms pulled me against the chest of a stranger.

My body was limp, the drug coursing through my veins. I cried, begging him not to touch me.

A soft chuckle came from above. I recognized him—the most mysterious lone wolf from our college days, Julian Sterling.

He raised a hand to wipe away my tears, his voice a low whisper. "Leave him," he sighed. "Be with me."

Then, he handed me a tablet.

The screen showed a live feed from the suite's main room.

A high-stakes poker game was in full swing. Bryce and his friends were shrouded in smoke, and I was the prize. Someone asked him:

"Is your girlfriend really that hot? I won't believe it until I get a taste."

"What are you thinking? That's Bryce's girl. You think he won't kill you if you touch her?"

Amid the clamor, Bryce spoke, his voice languid.

"Win this hand, and she's yours."

Through the jeers, someone else asked, "What about that little angel of yours, Chloe Jennings? I'd love to..."

"Don't you dare!" Bryce slammed his hand on the table.

"Chloe is the only pure angel in my heart. If any of you so much as lay a finger on her, I'll wring your neck!"

He let that pack of hyenas talk about my body, spewing the filthiest fantasies imaginable.

Yet, he wouldn't let anyone so much as breathe on Chloe.

I dried my tears and turned to Julian. "If I become your girlfriend, will you help me destroy him?"

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1

"Are you serious?"

Years after graduation, Julian still had that same cold, unapproachable aura about him.

He shot me a scornful glance.

"You're not just saying that to escape, are you?"

As he spoke, his arm tightened, pulling me flush against his chest.

"Don't forget, your boyfriend lost you to me."

"Whether you agree or not, tonight, you belong to me."

His warm breath brushed against my neck.

I wanted to shove him away with all my might, but my body was as limp as a ragdoll.

A low chuckle rumbled in his chest as he leaned in, as if to kiss me.

But he stopped just a breath away from my lips, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"Avery, tell me, is your boyfriend blind?"

His fingers traced a light path across my cheek, tangling in my hair.

"Using you as a poker chip. Losing you to another man."

"If my woman were in a room with another man, I'd go insane."

His hand slowly drifted lower, and I could feel my cheeks burning.

"Julian..."

I realized the champagne Bryce gave me must have been heavily drugged.

"Help me... or—"

I steeled myself. "You can have me."

I squeezed my eyes shut and heard him let out an impossibly soft laugh.

Then came the rustle of clothing.

I bit my lip, my body tensing in nervous anticipation.

But the next second, a shock of icy water jolted me from head to toe.

I gasped, my eyes flying open to find he had tossed me into a large, cold-water bathtub. Julian had already straightened his clothes and was standing a few steps away.

"I don't prey on the vulnerable. But that doesn't mean I'm rejecting your offer."

The suite's lighting was dim, and I couldn't make out his expression.

He said, "From this day on, you're my girlfriend. I'll help you get your revenge on that scumbag, no questions asked."

With that, Julian turned and left the bathroom.

As the cold water washed over my skin, the drug's effects finally began to recede.

I don't know when I passed out.

I only remember waking to the sound of Julian’s voice. "Your boyfriend is outside."

I hadn't even processed his words.

The bedroom door creaked open.

Bryce tiptoed in, and just as I was about to make a sound, Julian's hand covered my mouth.

When I saw the girl he was leading by the hand, I froze.

Her name was Chloe Jennings. She was a social media model, dressed in a pure white dress, the very picture of innocence.

Soon, Bryce pressed her against the living room wall, kissing her with a restrained, infatuated passion.

My mind flashed back to the surveillance footage.

Bryce had called Chloe the "only pure angel" in his heart.

But in the beginning...

I used to be the "one-of-a-kind" girl he spoke of.

I stared out, my eyes fixed on Bryce, his gaze now filled with a tenderness I hadn't seen in years.

Chloe, not satisfied, hooked her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss, guiding his hand beneath her dress.

But Bryce gently stopped her.

"Be good," he murmured. "I don't want our first time to be rushed, not here. After the music festival, we'll go back to New York. I'll get us the most expensive suite."

Chloe smiled shyly.

"Avery's been devoted to you for six years. Did you sweet-talk her like this too?"

Bryce was silent for a moment. "No."

Chloe pouted coquettishly. "You're lying, I don't believe you."

A bitter smile touched my lips.

He wasn't lying.

I remembered our first time.

He'd coaxed me, whispering about giving me the most unforgettable experience.

It ended up being on the floor of his empty start-up office.

He couldn't even spring for a hotel room.

So this was the difference between being loved and not.

"Bryce, am I prettier, or is your girlfriend prettier?"

"You are."

Chloe hooked her arms around his neck and chuckled softly. "That makes sense. Otherwise, you wouldn't have used her as a stake and lost her to another man."

"Maybe right now, she's in bed with someone else. Aren't you sad?"

Bryce let out a scornful laugh.

"She's already tainted anyway. What's one more time?"

His words struck me like a physical blow.

I was still cold to the bone long after he and Chloe had disappeared.

I knew what he was talking about. That time in college.

At a party, I was cornered and harassed by a few drunk jocks from the school team.

I came back with my dress torn.

Vicious rumors flew, claiming I had been assaulted by those men.

I insisted, again and again, that they hadn't succeeded.

On the surface, Bryce seemed to believe me, holding me gently. "I know. My Avery will always be pure and innocent."

But behind my back, he told his friends:

"Avery? Who knows how many men have touched her."

"I don't even want to touch her. She's disgusting."

So, from the very beginning...

He had never believed me.

The next day, when I found Bryce, he was in a meeting with several venture capitalists.

Brimming with confidence, he was painting a grand vision for his company.

"Aren't you going to give me an explanation?" I demanded, my voice like ice.

Bryce glanced back at me and laughed.

"Julian Sterling has been eyeing our project. All I had to do was give you to him for one night in exchange for a truce and a fifty-million-dollar investment."

He sneered.

"Isn't that a hell of a deal?"

I couldn't take it anymore. I slapped him hard across the face.

But the slap only seemed to provoke him.

He touched his stinging cheek, and his smile grew even more vile.

"Avery, I said I would give you a home. No matter what happened in your past, I'll still buy that apartment."

"But if you keep making a scene, I have no problem putting the apartment on hold for another year."

His tone was so condescending.

After all, until now, I was the one desperate for a home.

I grew up in foster care, consumed by an insecurity that made me desperate for a place to finally call my own.

But in Bryce's eyes, that just made me easy to control.

The last time he'd postponed buying the apartment we had our eyes on was because Chloe had cried, claiming I'd cursed at her and pushed her down.

If he had just checked the cafe's surveillance footage, he would have seen the truth.

Chloe had thrown herself to the ground. She had been pestering and provoking me, and when I ignored her, she resorted to slander.

Before I could even explain, Bryce believed her unconditionally.

"Avery, you've gone too far! Chloe is so innocent, how could you push her?"

"Go apologize to her right now, or you can forget about our house!"

I had done nothing wrong, so of course, I refused to apologize.

And just like that, the house was put on hold.

But now, I understood the chilling clarity of not being loved.

Forget the house.

I didn't even want him anymore.

By the time I came to my senses, Bryce was long gone. When I finally composed myself, I typed out a text and sent it to him:

"Let's break up."

A long time later, he replied with two perfunctory words, "As you wish."

I smiled bitterly and turned off my phone.

I found myself at the food truck park we used to frequent, wandering aimlessly.

Back in college, Bryce said he didn't have money for fancy restaurants, so he often brought me here.

Five-dollar burritos, seven-dollar cheese fries, and three-dollar lemonade.

We were broke, but I'd never felt richer.

Five years after graduation, Bryce had become a new-money tech mogul.

He could buy me designer bags worth thousands of dollars and treat me to hundred-dollar dinners after fooling around with Chloe.

But he no longer loved me the way he had back then.

I remembered the first time he introduced me to Chloe.

He sat in his car, gazing at the girl in a pleated skirt and pigtails at the school gate, and said:

"She's a friend's younger sister, who just started school here. He asked me to look after her."

Later, his gaze on Chloe grew more and more intense. More and more tender.

One night, when he was drunk, he looked at Chloe's retreating back and chuckled.

"Avery, don't you think she looks just like you did five years ago?"

"So pure, so unstained."

Yes, she was so pure and flawless.

Not like me. Not the haggard, worn-out woman who’d pulled all-nighters designing his entire company headquarters for free. He didn't want the calculating, world-weary woman who had scraped by to build his empire.

But he forgot.

Who was it that turned me into this?

The burrito in my mouth tasted like cardboard. I stood in the cold wind, large tears falling one by one.

"Crying into your food won't make it taste any better."

Suddenly, a hand snatched the burrito away.

I turned my head in surprise to find Julian. He had been following me all this time, not too close, not too far.

He handed me a tissue and gently wiped away my tears.

I looked at him, dazed. "What are you doing here?"

Julian stared at me, his expression complicated.

"You agreed to be my girlfriend. Can't a guy take his girlfriend on a date?"

He slowly leaned closer, took my cold hand, and tucked it into his coat pocket.

"Or are you already thinking of backing out?"

Julian and I walked in silence for a while.

He suddenly asked me:

"Why didn't you tell him that I didn't touch you last night?"

I shook my head. "I broke up with him."

Julian glanced at me in surprise. "I thought you wouldn't have the heart. You two were... the campus 'it' couple, after all."

I don't know if it was my imagination.

Julian's voice was muffled, a little awkward.

I looked up at the sky and smiled. "Yes, everyone thought we had a perfect relationship. Even I did."

Three years ago, Bryce's start-up failed, and he nearly went bankrupt.

Even his partners advised him to give up and cut his losses.

But I didn't.

I worked around the clock on his business proposals, designed his entire company headquarters for free, and poured my talent into creating the aesthetic foundation for his brand.

After the company was revived, Bryce hugged me, his eyes red.

"Avery, I love you."

He said from then on, he would protect me for the rest of my life.

On my birthday, he gave me a blueprint he drew himself, promising to design a one-of-a-kind house just for me.

He said I would always be his most cherished masterpiece.

But it wasn't until I saw him spend a fortune on Chloe, sponsoring her trip around Europe, that I finally understood.

He didn't want a masterpiece.

He wanted an angel.

"Maybe it's fate, Julian. You saved me back then, and maybe I was always destined to repay you."

I took the initiative, taking his hand in mine.

"From now on, I'm your girlfriend."

Julian let out a sneer.

"I thought you'd forgotten about that."

How could I forget?

In college, there were rumors about Julian and me for a while.

He was the notorious "lone wolf," the unsociable oddball who skipped classes, got into fights, and was a headache even for the professors.

In my memory, he was withdrawn.

I would avoid him whenever we crossed paths.

But at that party, Bryce was supposed to pick me up but stood me up for an online meeting.

I was walking back to my dorm alone through a dark path on campus.

Unfortunately, I ran into a group of drunk jocks.

They cornered me, covered my mouth, and tried to tear my dress.

In my moment of despair, it was Julian who saved me.

He fought like a cornered animal, all fists and fury, a madman who didn't care about his own life as he drove them away.

"Aren't you going to get lost?" he'd growled at me.

He recognized me. Hiding his bleeding fist behind his back, he followed me from a distance, protecting me.

I asked cautiously, "You're bleeding. How about I take you to the infirmary?"

"None of your business. Meddler."

He snapped at me coldly, like a hedgehog bristling with spines.

My conscience got the better of me, so I followed him to the infirmary.

By the time I got back to the dorm, it was almost dawn. My classmates saw me return with him, my clothes torn, and the rumors started immediately.

They said Julian and I had spent the night together.

And other things, each more awful than the last.

As the rumors swirled, I didn't care what others thought, but I repeatedly explained to Bryce that there was nothing between Julian and me.

On the surface, Bryce comforted me, saying he believed me.

But behind my back, he told his friends:

"Who knows what happened that night? Maybe Avery hooked up with that Sterling guy."

No wonder.

He never touched me again, claiming he wanted to wait until after we were married.

My thoughts returned to the present. We had just walked into an art gallery's opening party. Julian went to get me some champagne, and as I stood before a painting, a familiar voice chirped from ahead.

"Bryce, look, isn't that Avery?"

Chloe looked at me with an innocent smile, a glass of champagne in her hand.

"Why is she here all alone? Bryce, how could you leave your girlfriend by herself? I'll go say hi."

"Chloe!"

Bryce frowned and called after her, but he didn't stop her.

He strode up behind her, staring at me warily, as if afraid I would do something to his precious angel.

"What are you doing here?"

I sneered. "It's a free country. What business is it of yours?"

Chloe smiled and hooked her arm through Bryce's.

"Avery, Bryce just sponsored my trip to Europe next month. He said you've been too busy designing for his company to take a proper vacation. You've worked so hard."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

I turned my head, wondering why Julian hadn't returned, but Chloe took the opportunity to flash me a triumphant smirk.

"Look, these are the brownies from the party. They're delicious!"

"You must be hungry. Here, have a piece!"

I looked up coldly.

"Didn't he tell you? We broke up."