She Got the Ring, But I Got the Last Laugh

Vivian's POV

When Zachary’s company teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, I became his girlfriend. For five long years, I silently funneled my family’s resources into his business, watching from the shadows as he went from struggling to thriving. And just when the company was about to go public, Zachary finally got down on one knee, promising me the world. He said he’d make me the happiest woman alive.

But happiness shattered in an instant when I stumbled upon his chat history.

[Zachary: I’m only marrying Vivian to make Yvette jealous.]

[Zachary: Once the IPO hits, I’ll be a billionaire, and Yvette won’t stand idly by while I marry that woman.]

[Zachary: As soon as she comes back from abroad for me, I’ll drop Vivian without a second thought and marry her instead.]

The moment I saw those words, I didn’t hesitate. I called my dad and told him to pull our family’s investments from Zachary’s company. I’d let them be miserable together.

"Dad, you can start pulling our investments from Zachary’s company."

With the IPO on the horizon, my father’s withdrawal would be a fatal blow to everything Zachary built on lies and manipulation.

"Did that bastard hurt you? I’ll make sure he regrets it!" My dad, always protective, was ready to confront Zachary without even needing the details.

I forced a bitter smile, swallowing the pain. "Dad, let me handle this one."

My voice cracked, but I couldn’t let him hear how much I was hurting. I quickly hung up, but my eyes stayed locked on that chat window, the words still burning in my mind. My heart felt like it was shattering into pieces.

Zachary Donovan was my senior in college.

I could still remember during my freshman year, I was cornered by a group of thugs and Zachary stepped in without hesitation, getting into a brutal fight to protect me.

That was when I fell hard for him. He was the first man, besides my dad, to stand up for me so selflessly.

From that moment on, I chased after him for years, through our college days. Yet, he never accepted my feelings.

Back then, I used to think his indifference made him more desirable, as if his coldness was a challenge I was meant to overcome.

But looking back now, I see how naïve I was.

Later, after we graduated, Zachary's company went bankrupt, leaving him millions in debt. It was during this darkest time that I became his shadow, never leaving his side, supporting him when no one else would. And after everything, after all those years, he finally agreed to be my boyfriend.

Desperate to help him rise again, I convinced my father to pour our family's resources into Zachary’s company, rebuilding it from the ashes. For five years, I worked silently in the background, making sure Zachary had everything he needed to succeed. The company thrived, and when it was about to go public, he finally proposed to me. At that time, I thought it was the start of our forever.

Little did I know that I was just part of his plan to make the woman he truly loved jealous, and was nothing more than a pawn in his game.

Tonight, Zachary rushed out for a business dinner, leaving in such a hurry that he forgot to log out of his Instagram on the computer. Despite the heartache from what I had already discovered in his chat history, I couldn’t stop myself from opening his timeline.

I had never bothered looking at his timeline before. After all, he rarely posted, not even about the trips we took together. To my surprise, when I opened it now, I realized he had been posting all along. It was just that he changed its share setting to close friends only, and I was not listed in it.

Scrolling through, I found a photo of a girl. Only her wrist was visible, but the gold bracelet she wore stood out. It was the same one I had recently found in Zachary’s suit pocket. At the time, I thought he’d finally learned how to be romantic and planned to surprise me with it on our wedding day.

But no. He gave it to someone else.

Turned out, Zachary knew how to be romantic—just not with me.

Just then, my phone rang, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts.

"Vivian! Get here fast—Zachary’s gotten into a fight!" My friend’s panicked voice pierced through the chaos in my head.

In the background, I heard Zachary’s furious shout. "You bastards better apologize to my girlfriend!"

My heart clenched hard. I wasn’t with him, so the "girlfriend" he was referring to was clearly not me.

I wanted to know what was going on tonight, so I grabbed a coat and rushed to the shoe cabinet, only to find the scarf I had given him lying quietly on the floor. When I picked it up, I saw that there were clear footprints on it.

I’d spent over ten days knitting that scarf, pricking my fingers more times than I could count. And he’d just tossed it aside.

As such, I clenched it and emotionlessly tossed it into the trash can.

I then called a taxi and headed to the bar where Zachary had gotten into the fight. When I arrived, I saw him holding a woman, who was crying into his chest. On her wrist was that very gold bracelet.