The last time I mentioned my engagement to Walter Reagle, everyone in the room went quiet at first.

However, after seeing Walter's annoyed look, they all started laughing.

"Who still believes in old-fashioned childhood betrothals these days?"

"Is Ms. Lawson feeling insecure?"

I ignored their teasing.

I just looked at Walter, who was lounging on the couch with his shirt collar open, showing off the lovebites on his neck and collarbone.

My heart felt like it was being stabbed.

The pain came slowly.

"We were too young to agree to something so silly," he said.

Walter looked up with a faint, mocking smile.

He gave me a lazy look. "We're grown up now, Emma.

"Let's just forget about the past."

Both my childhood friend and my older brother fell for the new student in class, the impoverished Anna Jones.

My childhood sweetheart, Walter, called off our engagement, saying, "I can't stand a spoiled heiress like Emma."

My brother seemed to have forgotten what our mom had asked of him on her deathbed. "Anna's had a tough time. It's only fair to give her half of the love I have for you, right?"

On my birthday, Walter chose to spend time with Anna instead.

On the day he was supposed to be remembering our mom's passing, my brother was having a great time with Anna and her mom instead.

When they went with Anna to Nexus City to receive her impressive design award, I burned down the house that held all our memories.

I pretended to be dead and left the city.

When the news of my 'death' reached Nexus City, the two guys whom I thought were tired of me hurried back home in the middle of the night.

They stood in front of the house that was now ashes, unable to hold back their tears.

……

The last time I mentioned my engagement to Walter Reagle, everyone in the room went quiet at first.

However, after seeing Walter's annoyed look, they all started laughing.

"Who still believes in old-fashioned childhood betrothals these days?"

"Is Ms. Lawson feeling insecure?"

I ignored their teasing.

I just looked at Walter, who was lounging on the couch with his shirt collar open, showing off the lovebites on his neck and collarbone.

My heart felt like it was being stabbed.

The pain came slowly.

"We were too young to agree to something so silly," he said.

Walter looked up with a faint, mocking smile.

He gave me a lazy look. "We're grown up now, Emma.

"Let's just forget about the past."

I was stunned. As I was about to respond, the door suddenly swung open.

Anna stepped in with a tray in her hands, decked out in her waitress uniform.

She flinched when she saw me and whispered, "Emma—I mean, Ms. Lawson…"

She finished speaking with a sad look and quickly glanced at Walter.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"

Anna's voice shook as she spoke. She was ready to set the tray down and leave.

Suddenly, Walter kicked the coffee table in front of him.

The cups shattered, sending glass flying.

A piece of glass cut my arm, and blood started to drip, stinging sharply.

Walter did not even look at me.

His face was pale with anger as he approached Anna.

He grabbed her apron and yanked it off.

"Anna, didn’t I tell you that I don’t want you working anymore?”

Anna nodded quickly, her eyes filling with tears.

"I just don't want to keep taking your money," she said softly.

"You and Matthias have already done so much for me.

"I can earn my own money..."

"It hurts to see you like this." Walter tossed the apron aside.

"You're coming back with me now. Don't let me catch you working again!" he said.

"I'll make sure anywhere you try to work at again gets shut down."

He turned to me sharply.

"Don't expect me to be kind to people who try to push others around."

I held my bleeding arm, staring back at him silently in the middle of the noisy, messy room.

The clubhouse we were in was part of the Lawson family's estate.

Walter thought I had forced Anna to work there.

However, the irony was that Anna was being pampered by both him and my brother.

She had always been treated like a princess.

She had more money than she could ever spend.

Why would she bother getting a job?

I knew the truth.

Even if I told everyone and had the supervisor back me up, Walter still would not believe me.

I was the villain in his eyes, the mean witch who used her family's power to bully his precious princess.

"Emma."

Walter hugged Anna close, protecting her.

"I can't imagine marrying a rich brat like you.

"Let's just forget about the engagement, okay?"

His words hung in the air, and the room went silent.

Anna's face went white as she shook with fear, clinging to Walter.

Her friends watched me, their eyes full of suspicion.

I could not help but laugh.

Ever since Anna's mom got involved with our family and Anna got between Walter and me, I had cried and yelled to get him to understand.

All the attention I used to get started to go to Anna and her mom instead.

How could I, spoiled as I was, stand it?

However, all my tears and tantrums did was push everyone to Anna's side.

I was tired of it all.

"Fine," I said calmly and took a few steps forward.

Walter instinctively moved Anna behind him.

"Emma, take it out on me if you're mad."

I let go of the hand that was covering my wound and showed them my palm.

The red of my blood stood out on my pale palm.

Walter's mouth tightened, and his stern eyes seemed to soften for a moment.

Anna pulled away from him.

"Ms. Lawson, don't be hard on our senior.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come and bothered you..."

She spoke, and tears started to fall from her eyes. "I'll go now."

"Anna, I told you I'd take care of everything."

Walter felt a pang of heartache.

He gently wiped away Anna's tears and then turned to look at me.

Any trace of pity in his eyes had disappeared and was replaced by disdain.

"Emma, can you please stop bothering us?"

I cut him off, "Fine. We can break off the engagement, but I want my things back."

Walter looked puzzled. "What things?"

I reached up and untied the red string that was around my neck.

Hanging from it was a jade pendant.

It was a family treasure Walter's mom had given me when our engagement was arranged.

My mom had given him something even more precious.

It was an item that had once belonged to a royal palace, blessed by a respected religious figure from ancient times.

"Here's your pendant back. Now, return my bracelets to me."

Walter's expression turned icy.

His eyes fixed on the jade pendant in my hand.

I had treasured it since I was fifteen, and everyone knew it.

"Do you think everyone's as cheap as you?"

Walter grabbed the pendant. "You’re always carrying around junk. You’re too attached to it to let go."

He gave me a final icy stare. "I'll find it and give it to you. Then, we'll be square."

When I arrived home, my brother Matthias Lawson was waiting in the living room.

"Emma, there's something I need to tell you."

He handed me a pile of thick papers.

"I plan to transfer this office building to Anna and let her collect the rent.

"She's had a tough life, and now that she's with our family, it's time for her to have some good fortune."

I looked at the papers.

That building was my mother's inheritance, a piece of property her family owned.

I grabbed the paper emotionlessly and ripped it right down the middle.

"Emma!

"What's this supposed to mean?"

Matthias adjusted his glasses and frowned at me.

"I covered for you when you pushed Anna down the stairs back then.

"Giving her a whole building still can’t make up for what she went through.

"Did you forget what Mom said before she died?"

Matthias went quiet all of a sudden.

Mom had held onto his hand so tightly, making him promise to always look after me, care for me, and love me.

He was supposed to never let anyone hurt me or take what was mine.

"I didn't forget.

"But Anna is my sister too now, Emma.

"It's only fair to give her half of the love I have for you, right?

"Emma, you're just too stubborn and bossy."

Matthias let out a soft sigh. "Why can't you be more like Anna?"