I'd barely stepped out of the marital home when a message came in from my mother.

【Here's Jesse Baxter's contact info. In a few days there's a get-together with his family to talk over the marriage. Get to know each other privately first.】

【I always said that Merlin Fisher was no good. Thank goodness you saw through him before you told him about our family's situation.】

In college, I'd deliberately hidden the fact that I was the Finch heiress.

I lived in the shared dorms, ate normal cafeteria food, even wore only custom pieces with no logos on them.

I'd genuinely believed that because Merlin Fisher and Virginia Sullivan had known me from my humble days, they were people I could give my whole heart to.

Even Virginia's job had been something I quietly arranged through my family's connections.

Thinking of that, I made a call.

"Mom, have Dad tell Uncle Graham Lambert there's no need to hold the promotion slot for Virginia anymore."

"Why's that?"

"The woman Merlin cheated with is her."

My mother went quiet for a beat, said nothing, and hung up.

A little later a message came through.

【Your Uncle Graham says her work was never up to much anyway. If it weren't for your sake, she'd have been let go long ago.】

【There was an overseas training opportunity he was thinking of adding her to. Forget that now.】

I thought about it. Sure enough, last week Virginia had mentioned she was going abroad for a month of training.

She'd been over the moon about it, even said she'd cook and treat us to dinner.

The next second, I walked straight into the two of them coming in arm in arm.

The moment they saw me, they sprang apart like they'd been shocked.

I spoke first, feigning surprise.

"Merlin, Virginia, didn't you say you both had to work overtime this weekend? What are you doing here at this hour?"

Virginia went white as a sheet and stumbled through an explanation.

"Oh, I have a relative who lives here. They've been unwell lately, so I asked Merlin to help drive them to the hospital to get checked."

I nodded.

"Then you'd better hurry. Don't let it drag on."

Once I was in the cab, Virginia tagged me in the group chat.

【Carrie, come over for dinner at my place tonight. Let's celebrate me getting the training slot.】

I smiled a little and replied, "OK."

Coming back a month later, Virginia's place looked a lot emptier.

I asked, offhand,

"Where's your old furniture? Are you moving?"

She and Merlin traded a smile.

"Yeah, Carrie. Once we've moved in, we'll have you over for the housewarming."

They thought I was completely in the dark, never guessing that I was the one who'd designed that apartment.

Watching the two of them prep food in the kitchen with practiced ease, I pulled out the receipts she'd stashed under the coffee table.

A couples' hot-spring ticket, dated exactly the week Merlin lied to me about working overtime. Dozens of hotel charge slips on top of that.

Even the silver bracelet pressed in beside them was the same design as the one on Merlin's wrist.

I photographed every one of them before they came out.

Sitting at the dining table, I looked at the boiling pot of spicy broth, and a sour ache turned in my stomach.

Hot pot again, dip-and-cook. Virginia's favorite.

And half a month ago I'd just had surgery for a stomach polyp. I was supposed to watch what I ate.

Merlin remembered her tastes down to the last detail. Anything about me, he'd forgotten clean.

Seeing that I hadn't touched a thing, Virginia, tucking in happily, asked in passing,

"Carrie, why aren't you eating?"

"I just had polyp surgery. I can't eat spicy food."

The words were barely out before both of them froze.

Virginia tugged at me, guilty.

"I'm so sorry, Carrie, I forgot."

"What do you want to eat? Let me go make you something."

"No need."

I shook her hand off me.

Merlin glanced at her wounded face and his expression darkened.

"Carla, aren't you overdoing it a little?"

"Just because Virginia's always been the one to accommodate you, you're going to blow it up like this?"

Watching his angry face, I let out a snort of laughter.

"What are the two of you putting on a show for? I meant there's no need to go out and buy anything. Just take your phone and order delivery."

While the two of them sat there looking uncomfortable, I placed an order for sashimi on Merlin's phone.

When the payment came through, the screen showed insufficient balance.

I put on a surprised face.

"Didn't you just get paid? Where's your money?"

He glanced at Virginia, then handed me another card.

"There's money on this one. Use it."

Virginia's expression went cold in an instant.

I could guess well enough. This was probably the money Merlin had squirreled away without her knowing.

While the two of them ate their cheap hot pot, I sat there eating thousands of dollars' worth of premium Japanese cuisine.

Halfway through the meal, Virginia's phone rang.

Her eyes lit up. She swiped to answer, her tone light and proud.

"Manager, is my plane ticket all arranged? I'm actually celebrating with a friend right now."

The next second, the smile froze on her face.

The voice on the other end came through clearly in the quiet room. Every one of us heard it plainly.

"Virginia, your overseas training slot has been revoked. Approvals received notice from upper management. Your eligibility is void."

"On top of that, after an overall review of your work performance, the company has decided to formally let you go. Come in Monday to process your separation."

Virginia's chopsticks clattered down onto her plate, the sound trembling.

"Why? Wasn't the slot decided long ago? What do you mean, letting me go?"

"It's a decision from above. There's nothing I can do about it on my end. That's how it is."

The line went dead.

Virginia sat frozen in place, every trace of her earlier pride wiped clean away.

Merlin panicked too and grabbed at her arm.

"How could this happen? Isn't there some kind of mistake?"

She shook her head over and over, her voice choking up.

"I leave the country next month. The visa's all processed. How does my job just disappear like that..."

"No. I'm going in Monday to ask them about this."

Watching her like that, Merlin spoke carefully.

"My advice is to take the severance and walk."

"This company is a leader in the industry, after all. Falling out with them won't do you any good."

But Virginia was in no state to listen to him.

I heard she went in and caused a huge scene at the company. Not only did she not get her wages or severance, they fired her outright on the spot.

In this industry, connections were everything, and now she'd have a hard time finding work at all.

That month, I put all my focus into spending time with Jesse.

After signing off the details with Merlin's mother, I didn't show my face again and handed everything over to my assistant.

The only extra thing I did was install cameras in the new apartment.

I told Joanna about it.

"Aunt Joanna, this way I can check on the work whenever I want, and if anything goes wrong it's easy to trace."

Joanna agreed without a second thought.

A month later, the renovation was starting to take shape.

Merlin and Virginia finally came to see the place for the first time.

They pushed the door open and were met with dark solid-wood wainscoting running wall to wall, the whole space heavy and oppressive.

Virginia's face fell at once, her tone sharp with displeasure.

"Why is it all dark? I wanted cream white. Who told you to change the style on your own?"

Merlin's face went cold too.

"This is way too dated. It's not the look we wanted at all."

The assistant stepped in right away, soothing them with the lines I'd prepared in advance.

"This is only the rough stage of construction. The finishing details and soft furnishings haven't been done yet."

"Every detail, every finish, the final look, was all confirmed with Aunt Joanna beforehand and signed into a formal contract. You have nothing to worry about."

That eased some of Virginia's doubts, though she still looked a little worried.

Merlin, on the other hand, smiled and reassured her.

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

"My mom's always careful about these things, and she's got good taste. Since she went and signed a contract to lock in the plan, the finished place is going to look elegant and high-end. We just have to wait and enjoy the results."

Only then was Virginia won over.

She leaned into Merlin, close and affectionate, her eyes full of dreams for their marital home.

And in that moment, I was downloading and saving the footage.

The wedding date with Jesse was set almost at once, for the middle of the following month.

At the same time, both families let word out about the coming alliance, and the whole city buzzed with it.

Even Merlin brought it up with me now and then.

"Did you see it? The Baxters and the Finches are marrying into each other. Now that's two powerhouses joining forces."

"I saw that Baxter heir in the news—pretty good-looking, actually. Though the Finch daughter's a real mystery. Nobody's even seen her face yet."

I sat in his passenger seat and answered without much interest.

"Oh, right, Carrie, there's a class reunion this weekend. You coming?"

I paused, then let a slow smile curve my lips.

The private room at the reunion was loud and lively.

A few rounds in, someone turned to Merlin with a grin.

"Merlin, you dog! I ran into you at the sales office for that downtown development the other week. You and Carla tying the knot soon or what?"

The moment the words landed, everyone jumped on it.

"Right, right! You two were the golden couple of the whole school back in the day."

"Bought the place and everything—so when's the official announcement? When do we get to drink at your wedding?"

Every eye in the room swung to Merlin.

His body stiffened, and the panic in his eyes was plain.

That apartment—everyone simply assumed it was bought for me.

He forced out a laugh, trying to brush it off.

"I was just looking around. Marriage is still a way off. No rush."

The words were barely out before the classmate who'd spoken froze, baffled.

"That's not right. I saw you swipe the card and pay the whole thing off with my own eyes. The salesman was standing right there congratulating you on paying in full for your marital home. The entire sales office saw it. How can you say you didn't buy it?"

Another classmate piled on.

"Yeah, that development's insanely expensive, and you paid the whole thing in cash, and now you're playing dumb? You're clearly planning some secret proposal, right?"

Merlin's face grew uglier by the second, with no way to defend himself.

Beside him, Virginia's face had gone ashen too.

While the crowd was still egging him on, I drew an invitation out of my bag.

"I actually am getting married soon. You're all welcome to come to my wedding."

The moment I said it, the color drained from Virginia's face.

Merlin reached out to drag me away, his voice dropping low.

"Carrie, don't listen to their guessing. It's not what they think.

"Come with me first. Let me explain in private."

I turned aside to avoid his hand and lifted my eyes, calm.

"Whatever you have to say, say it here."

Seeing that I wouldn't budge, he gave up on holding anything back.

He gritted his teeth.

"Fine! I'll tell you the truth. I never once planned to marry you."

I stared at him, stunned.

"What are you saying?"

Merlin was about to say more, but a classmate's startled cry cut him off.

"Wait, the groom is Jesse Baxter? The heir to the Baxter family, that top-tier dynasty?"

Then someone made out the name at the very top of the invitation.

"The full name on your invitation… is Carla Finch?"