Half a month I'd gone without rest, revising that proposal dozens of times until I was finally satisfied.

Bella wasn't just my closest friend—she was my assistant. However late I stayed up, she stayed up with me.

And Ezra had voluntarily stepped aside from this bid entirely.

Now the two people I trusted most had joined hands to set me up.

Bella walked over, eyes rimmed red.

“Lexi, you're my best friend. I never meant to steal him from you.”

“But I really do love him. I couldn't stand watching him lose. You can punish me however you want—even if it means I never see him again……”

She sobbed like her heart was breaking, and Ezra pulled her into his arms, his expression full of tender concern.

“Alexis, look what you've done—you've scared her half to death. This was all my idea. A woman should be soft and supportive like her, not competing with her own man at every turn!”

“You know exactly how much the Henson family sank into landing this project. A loss that size—Henson Corp is going to need Stephens Corp's backing going forward.”

“Just accept what Bella and I have, let the wedding go ahead tomorrow, and I might even consider giving the Hensons a cut of this project. That's better than losing everything, isn't it?”

Listening to him, I laughed.

He knew perfectly well the Stephens family would never accept someone of Bella's background.

He just wanted me as a shield.

I stood up, unhurried.

“No need. The project and you—I don't want either.”

I looked at Bella. Still that same pitiful, fragile act.

When she first joined the company, she was being bullied by a senior manager.

I fired him on the spot, transferred her to my side, taught her to read financial statements, to build proposals from the ground up.

When a client tried to grope her at a business dinner, I smashed a bottle over his head and tore up a contract worth millions.

Bella had cried so hard she couldn't speak：

“Ms. Henson, I'll work so hard for you. I'll help you land more projects. I won't let you down.”

Now she called me Lexi. Said I was her best friend.

Then conspired with my fiancé to steal my proposal and let the whole world think I was the other woman.

My voice came out flat and quiet：

“All these years, I was blind. Your man—take him back.”

“You're fired. Next time we meet, call me Ms. Henson.”

The color drained from Bella's face.

I walked past her without a second glance.

It was raining outside. I stepped straight into it.

I hadn't gone more than a few steps before Ezra's message came through.

“Who said you could leave? You made Bella cry. Get back here and apologize to her!”

The first time he'd ever had a high fever, back when we'd just gotten together—I'd rushed over to take care of him.

I tried to make him a bowl of porridge and nearly set the kitchen on fire.

Watching him drag himself out of bed—still sick—to clean up my mess, I told him I was sorry.

He took my face in both hands, his gaze steady and serious.

“Lexi, with me, you never have to say those three words.”

“You make a mess, I'll clean it up. You make a mistake, I'll make it right.”

“But watching you bow your head and apologize—I can't take it.”

And now he wanted me to apologize to his mistress.

At some point, an umbrella appeared above my head.

Ezra held out a handkerchief, his expression soft and helpless.

“You and that stubborn streak. If you don't want to apologize, don't. No need to punish yourself over it.”

“The bid thing was my fault. I shouldn't have hidden what was going on between me and Bella either. If you hate it, I'll hand the development rights back to you and cut contact with her. Here, dry off before you catch a cold.”

The truth was, Ezra Stephens was never supposed to be on my list of arranged marriage candidates.

The Stephens family was deep in a business crisis back then. No one wanted a strategic marriage with a family that could collapse any day.

But I chose him anyway.

Not for any grand reason. Just because at my birthday dinner, my father's illegitimate son called my mother a short-lived bitch cursed to die young.

Ezra didn't hesitate. He rushed over and beat the kid half to death.

And when my father forgot my birthday entirely, off celebrating an anniversary with the other woman,

I sat in front of my mother's grave all night. Ezra stood behind me the whole time, holding an umbrella.

The umbrella covered me and my mother's headstone. He was soaked through.

By dawn his hands were shaking.

Something shifted in my chest. Without thinking, I took the handkerchief and wiped my face.

A second later, searing pain tore through both eyes, and the burn in my sinuses was unbearable.

Tears and snot poured out before I could stop them.

Laughter exploded around me.

I forced my eyes open and saw the others walking over with Bella.

“Oh my God, how's that extra-strength onion juice treating you? Look at her face right now”

“Ezra said she made Bella cry and wouldn't apologize, so let her cry all she wants!”

“A few fake lines and she totally fell for it. What an idiot!”

Bella ran over with a few tissues.

“Lexi, are you okay? I tried to talk him out of it, but he cares about me too much……”

I managed to wipe my face clean, but then I caught the glint on her ring finger.

I grabbed her wrist, my voice raw：

“What is this?!”

That was the stone Ezra had won at auction for nine figures.

I designed the setting myself, found the craftsman, spent six months having a pair of wedding rings made.

Ezra had been keeping them both.

He'd smiled and said that was what it meant to be of one heart, that he'd put mine on my finger himself on our wedding day.

Now it was on another woman's hand.

Bella started crying again.

“I'm sorry, I just wanted to know what it felt like to wear a wedding ring that matched his.”

“I'll give it back right now, I swear……”

She made a show of tugging at the ring, but it wouldn't come off, and she stood there looking helpless.

Ezra caught her hand and held it. His expression darkened.

“That's enough, Alexis! I can't marry her, and that's already unfair to her. What's the big deal about a ring?”

“There are plenty of wedding rings in any jewelry store. I'll wire you the design fee and the labor cost, every cent!”

“This was always an arrangement for mutual benefit. As long as the title of Mrs. Stephens is still yours, what more do you want? Don't push your luck!”

I've never been someone who lets her emotions take over.

But something heavy pressed against my chest all the same.

That day at my mother's grave, I'd told him：

“Go home. You don't have to force a marriage. You stood in the rain for my mother all night, so I'll help the Stephens family.”

Ezra had smiled：

“You don't have to help me. But I'm going to marry you.”

“I know Miss Henson is proud and capable and never leans on anyone. But it's strange. The rain stopped, and I still want to hold the umbrella for you. When it's cloudy, to keep the rain off. When it's clear, to keep the sun off.”

When he said it, a drop of rainwater slid from the tip of his hair.

And landed like a single ripple on the still surface of my heart.

I held nothing back. I helped him, I agreed to marry him, and I believed we were trading one honest heart for another.

Now he called it mutual exploitation.

Someone nearby complained about the cold and suggested the hot springs. One by one, people climbed into their cars.

Bella settled into the passenger seat of Ezra's car, eyes still glistening.

“Lexi, I really never meant to hurt you.”

“But I'm too emotional right now. I don't think I can be in the same space as you. Would you mind getting back on your own?”

The rain had soaked through everything long ago, cold wind worming into every crack between bone and skin.

And Ezra really did reach out and block the car door.

He pressed the umbrella into my hand, looked at my swollen red eyes, and softened his tone just slightly.

“See? Bella cares about you so much. Can't you just meet her halfway? She's never going to threaten your position as Mrs. Stephens.”

“I just secured that land. There's no better match in all of Mountain City, and you know it, Lexi. You're not a stupid woman.”

“So stop making a scene. The wedding goes ahead tomorrow. I wouldn't trust anyone else with this anyway. I'd worry Bella would be mistreated.”

Ezra got in the car.

When the door shut, the warm air from inside brushed across my face like a slap.

It didn't hurt. But it was enough to wake me up.

What Ezra forgot was that besides not being stupid, I also couldn't stand a single grain of sand in my eye.

So I made a social media post.

“I am officially announcing my breakup with Ezra Stephens, and congratulating him on reuniting with his ex-girlfriend, who also happens to be my former best friend, Bella Malone.”

Attached was a photo of the two of them kissing in that private room.

Ten seconds after I posted it, Ezra's call came in.

I didn't answer. I turned off my phone.

When I got back to the Henson residence, my father was sitting on the living room sofa.

His mistress, Scarlett Finch, sat beside him, feeding him fruit.

Their middle-school-aged illegitimate son was holding a set of markers, scrawling all over the carpet my mother had bought.

My fists clenched slowly. This place that had once held every good memory I shared with my mother.

Ruined, in the end.

When she saw me, Scarlett's eyes flickered with something uneasy before she came over with exaggerated warmth, reaching for my arm.

“Lexi's home! You must be hungry. What do you feel like? I'll have the housekeeper make it.”

This woman who had stolen my mother's husband. Who had driven her into depression until she threw herself off a building.

Standing here now, in my mother's home, playing lady of the house.

I shoved her away：

“What the hell are you? Take your bastard and get out.”

Scarlett stumbled back and turned to my father with wounded eyes.

He stormed over and backhanded me across the face.

“You ungrateful brat! You're the one who lost the South District development rights. Who was it that swore up and down she'd secure them? You botched it, and now you have the nerve to throw your weight around at your Aunt Scarlett and your little brother?!”

“And who gave you permission to break things off with Ezra?! Our only play now is marrying into their family so he'll throw us some scraps and we can recover our losses!”

“What successful man doesn't have a few women on the side? Why do you have to be so difficult? You're exactly like your dead mother, stubborn to the bitter end!”

“Delete that post right now, then go find Ezra. Get on your knees and beg him if you have to, but you bring that wedding back to me!”

Look at that. My own father.

So cold-blooded. So mercenary. In his eyes there was no wife, no daughter. Only profit.

I pressed my tongue against the inside of my cheek where he'd hit me, and let out a cold laugh.

“My mother only ever had one child. That foul-mouthed little bastard doesn't get to call himself my brother.”

“You're so desperate to grovel for the Stephens family? Send your precious mistress over. Or go yourself. You're already the expert at screwing around. Why let a little thing like gender stop you?”

My father's face went white with rage and his hand swung up again.

Someone caught his wrist.

Ezra's gaze swept to the right side of my face, and his expression darkened.

“Uncle, I asked you to talk to her. Who told you to hit her?”

“Relax. I know that post was just Lexi blowing off steam. I'll go through with the wedding tomorrow as planned. The Henson family will get every benefit we agreed on. There's no need to make things difficult for her.”

Only then did my father crack a smile. He took Scarlett and the boy and headed upstairs.