My arranged fiancé, the heir to the family empire, kept a trophy girlfriend on the side, spoiling her rotten. Just as I was preparing to break off the engagement, I suddenly saw comments scrolling across my vision: [What did the Crown Prince do wrong? He just wants to get your attention.] [Don't break off the engagement, baby! If you just shed a few tears, he'll give you the world immediately.] I turned my head and looked out the window. The trophy girlfriend, wearing expensive jewelry, clung to Ethan Sterling's arm with a radiant smile. Ethan lowered his eyes lazily, a look of casual indulgence on his face. I smiled and replied to my lawyer's message: [Continue drafting the annulment agreement.] 01 As soon as I sent the message, the comments exploded: [How can you be so cruel? The poor Crown Prince is probably getting drunk at a bar right now...] [Sigh, the Crown Prince is just a bit proud and stubborn, and now he's lost his wife.] [It's fine. The Crown Prince will just bankrupt her family, then she'll have no choice but to beg him obediently.] [Then she'll have to fight other women for his attention every day. The Crown Prince will be so happy!] I stared at the comments, laughing coldly in anger. I looked sideways again, locking eyes with Ethan Sterling. He raised an eyebrow slightly, letting the girl continue to cling to him, showing no guilt at being caught. Seeming to notice my ugly expression, the corner of his lips quirked up. The trophy girlfriend Ethan kept was a small-time influencer. Walking together, they looked like a perfect match. Many people stopped to watch and take photos. The glass of the cafe I was in was transparent. I didn't know if I had been photographed too. I cursed silently in my heart. Picked up my bag and called the driver. Changed the location for him to pick me up. Who knew, as soon as I stepped out, I bumped straight into Ethan. Me: ? "Did you walk this way on purpose?" I asked. "Paying that much attention to me?" Ethan smiled lazily. The girl beside him looked at me vigilantly but didn't speak due to her status. Thinking of the comments just now, I felt annoyed. I tried to walk around them but was grabbed by the wrist. I turned back. Ethan lowered his voice: "Unhappy?" I glanced down at the girl hugging him. "Not unhappy. I wish you a long and happy life together." After speaking, he still didn't let go. The girl rolled her eyes. "Where did you come from? Still disturbing others shopping?" She shook the expensive bracelet on her wrist and looked at Ethan coquettishly. "Are you just jealous no one bought you one?" I said calmly: "Do you know I'm his fiancée?" She froze for a moment, then scoffed: "Family arrangement, what feelings are there? If Ethan really liked her, would he be with me?" Ethan sneered. Then he lowered his eyelids, his dark eyes staring straight at me. My expression didn't change, and I nodded. Then I glanced at the hand still holding my wrist, with its distinct knuckles: "Let go." Ethan didn't move, looking at me: "Find another male partner for the banquet the day after tomorrow." Hearing this, the girl was stunned for a moment. Then she sized me up, and after a while, giggled: "Oh, so you're his fiancée. So what? Ethan will accompany me the day after tomorrow." I calculated. The annulment agreement should be sent to the Sterling family tomorrow. "Okay," I said. "Can you let go now?" Ethan paused, his face darkening. "Who will you find?" Several young men with good family backgrounds, looks, and figures flashed through my mind. I said sincerely: "Haven't decided yet, but I can pick one out when I get home." The silence in the air was palpable. Besides the bustling commercial street, various gazes were cast towards us. The comments popped up again: [Oh my god, the Crown Prince is pissed off.] [Crown Prince: Can't you just cry and submit? Must you make me angry?] [Baby, act coquettish, cry! Don't waste your beauty and the Crown Prince's love for you!] [Seriously, don't be stubborn, baby. If the Crown Prince goes crazy, who knows what he'll do... Bankrupting your family and locking you up will make you behave.] "Chloe, well done." Ethan ground his teeth, his voice dropping to freezing point. He let go of my hand. I stepped forward, looked at the necklace on the girl's neck, and looked deeply at Ethan: "You said before you would give this necklace to me." With that, I turned and left. Ethan chased after me, his tone unclear. "You still remember?" "But I don't need it now." "She acts coquettish with me, revolves around me every day... and calls me hubby." Ethan's voice was deep. So you gave her the necklace you promised me? My throat and stomach churned. The comments boiled over with this sentence: [He's hinting at you!] [The Crown Prince finally couldn't hold back, hehe. Baby, call him hubby once, and he'll give you his life.] [The Crown Prince dreams of being called hubby by baby. He probably has to change the sheets when he wakes up...] I stopped, locked eyes with Ethan, and said word by word: "Right. In the future, I will act coquettish with other men and call other men hubby. Then he will also satisfy my demands." "Say that again." There was a coldness in Ethan's voice I had never heard before. His big hand gripped my shoulder bone, with force as if trying to crush my bones. At this moment, the girl who followed timidly spoke: "Ethan, what's wrong?" Ethan didn't spare her a glance, still staring at me dead on. She pouted and glared at me: "Did you make Ethan angry? When Ethan is with me, he's never unhappy." I felt more and more disgusted inside. Turned my head away, not wanting to say another word. After a long time, Ethan's hand dropped. He closed his eyes irritably, shrouded in gloom. "Even she knows not to make me angry, Chloe." He left this sentence coldly and turned to leave. The girl immediately followed, coaxing him with a sweet voice. Their backs looked like a match made in heaven. Comments surged: [Baby just refuses to submit, pushing away the person who loves her with her own hands.] [Wouldn't it be fine just to say a few nice words to the Crown Prince? Insisting on giving that white lotus a chance.] [I'm speechless. Look at the trending search! Passersby posted photos and videos online.] 02 After getting into the driver's car, I opened my phone. By this time, several friends had already messaged me: [Oh my god, how are you on the trending search? That woman beside your fiancé is an influencer, did you know?] [Are you okay, babe? Someone just sent me photos. Why does Ethan Sterling parade his mistress in front of you? Scumbag!] [That influencer next to your fiancé says in her live streams every day that she has a man who loves her very much and buys her everything... turns out it's Ethan Sterling.] [I'm speechless. Ethan Sterling didn't even have a female mosquito around him before. We said he kept himself clean; why did he suddenly start keeping a little influencer?] I considered my words, replied one by one, and clicked on the trending search. Clear photos and videos captured the pulling and pushing between Ethan and me perfectly. The comments below were uniformly defending the influencer: [Is this woman just jealous of our Lily? Trying to seduce someone else's boyfriend.] [Didn't you see Lily's boyfriend's attitude towards her? So fierce. In contrast, he spoils Lily so much.] [This woman still lingered around them. After they left, she kept staring. Pretending to be deeply affectionate?] [Speechless, ahhh, green tea stay away, don't seduce someone else's boyfriend.] So my fiancé has already become someone else's boyfriend. I curled up in the back seat, staring blankly into space. For this trending topic to stay until now, and even intensify, it definitely had Ethan's authorization. Does he really like me as much as those comments say? If he likes me, would he tolerate people on the internet twisting right and wrong and endlessly abusing me? I closed my eyes in pain. After a long time, I dialed a number, my voice hoarse: "Get someone to remove the trending search, quickly." The comments became active again: [Heartbroken for baby, can't take it anymore. If only baby submitted and acted coquettish, it wouldn't be like this now...] [A bunch of brainless netizens, just following the trend. Lily is the mistress! Pissing me off.] [The Crown Prince is indeed a bit excessive, but baby is too independent. He just wants to see baby rely on him and show she can't do without him.] [Feels like this trending search is hard to remove. Someone is already shorting baby's stocks. People from the Chloe Group saw it; it will definitely affect the stock market.] My gaze lingered on the last comment for a long time. Sure enough, not long after, the phone rang. The other end said helplessly: "Someone keeps buying the trending search. We are removing it here, but the effect is minimal." I didn't speak. The other end sighed, "Did you provoke someone? This trending search keeps refreshing and won't go down. This is a big spender. Your fiancé isn't removing it either? Just watching?" Because the person buying the trending search is my fiancé. But... soon he won't be. My dad's call came right after. His voice was full of anger: "Chloe! What's going on with you? Do I need people to ask me? I didn't even know!" I was silent for a moment. "Ethan cheated. Is that my fault too?" "Men cheating is common, but how could you let this kind of thing get out! And let that woman be safe and sound in front of you, showing off?!" My dad's voice suddenly rose. I explained patiently, "Ethan bought this trending search, and he keeps the mistress. Dad, this has nothing to do with me. I'm already asking people to remove the trending search." My dad sneered, "Not being able to control a man's heart is your fault." After saying this, he hung up. The car stopped steadily. The driver turned back to remind me: "Miss Chloe, we're at the villa." Like a walking corpse, I pushed open the car door and walked step by step towards the pitch-black villa. My dad's words were so high-sounding. When he cheated and kept a bunch of people outside, he turned around and blamed my mom for being old and charmless. But he forgot who supported his business with all her dowry and who paid silently behind the scenes. 03 Late at night. I called Ethan. It connected almost instantly. "What?" His tone was lazy. "Stop buying the trending search," I whispered. He paused on the other end, his tone rising, "Why so listless? Are you sad?" "What exactly do you want?" I couldn't control it, my voice breaking. He didn't speak. I said hoarsely: "Watching my identity get exposed, being called a mistress, Chloe Group's stock price falling, are you happy? Are you satisfied?" When saying this, I couldn't help trembling all over. How could there be such an unreasonable lunatic? After a while, Ethan spoke slowly: "Don't cry, baby. Want to see me? I can come to you now." I opened my mouth. But couldn't make a sound. I stood on the balcony. The cool night wind blew past, cooling the tears that had just fallen. I was like a complete joke. Finally, only two difficult and dry words remained: "Don't come." Ethan repeated with unclear emotion: "Don't come?" "What do you mean, Chloe?" His voice turned cold. "I don't want to see you." Using my last bit of strength, I hung up the phone. I lay back in bed in a daze, unable to sleep for a long time. The trending search still hung high. Relatives in the family WeChat group tagged me one after another, their tones full of blame. Until a cousin sent: [Let me say, cousin, if you can't keep Brother Ethan, don't hog the toilet. Don't you know how much impact this has caused?] Once started, peers in the group chimed in. A younger cousin sent a facepalm emoji: [Too embarrassing, being ridden on the head by a mistress. If I were Cousin Chloe, I wouldn't have the face to go out.] [Brother Ethan spent money on that influencer. Didn't he spend any money on you, cousin?] [If not, just change the engagement partner, right? Anyway, Brother Ethan doesn't like Cousin Chloe.] With the last sentence sent, the chattering group instantly fell silent. I smiled bitterly. I wished I could just change partners. But my dad was still in charge of the Chloe Group, and I was his only daughter. He wouldn't be willing to let go of this opportunity to curry favor with the Sterling family. I muted the group messages and scrolled through my Moments. The first one was a group photo posted by a rich kid. Standing in the center were... Ethan and Lily. Ethan intimately held Lily's waist, lazily raising an eyebrow at the camera. The former and a crowd of brothers toasted happily on both sides. What does it look like? Right, like an official announcement photo. I liked it and turned off my phone. Comments surged like a tide at this time: [Baby don't be sad, the Crown Prince is faking it! We all know the Crown Prince loves you the most.] [Yeah, after his bro posted this, he checks every minute to see if you liked it.] [He really wants to see you. You rejected him tonight; he's almost dying of sadness.] [Baby call him quickly, tell him you're jealous, he'll come to find you immediately hehe!] I closed my eyes numbly. Driving all these comments out of my mind. I didn't know how long passed. I propped up my cold body, got up, and sent a message to the lawyer: [Give me the annulment agreement first. I'll find a chance to give it to Ethan later.] I needed a day to transfer assets and couldn't be disturbed by anyone. After attending the banquet, taking the early morning flight, I would fly to another country. By then, the annulment agreement would be in duplicate, sent to my father and Ethan respectively. Staying in the country, even if I refused to marry Ethan to death, I wouldn't have a peaceful life; sooner or later, my dad would marry me off to someone else. 04 Everything went smoothly. ... I even carefully selected a mermaid dress. Stepping into the banquet hall in high heels, I smiled. My friends came over to ask how I was doing recently. One even poked me with her elbow, "No male partner, right? I'll lend you my brother." I thought for a moment, "Forget it, I don't think being alone is shameful." "True, having a man around hinders our chatting!" she said smilingly. Suddenly, there was an uproar in the distance. We looked towards the source of the sound— Ethan in a silver-gray suit, looking lazy, with a faint smile on his lips. His arm was held by Lily, who also curved her eyes prettily. Ah... I thought Ethan said he would accompany Lily, meaning shopping or something. Turns out he's accompanying her to this banquet. My gaze fell on Lily's dress. Identical to my mermaid dress. When I ordered it, I was told there was only one in the country. The one on Lily... was shipped overnight from abroad? Ethan intended to embarrass me. Sure enough, as soon as Lily saw me, her face changed immediately. She bit her lip and turned to say something to Ethan before Ethan looked over unhurriedly. Lily walked over on her small heels, glaring at me with almond eyes: "Did you send someone to find out what dress Ethan ordered for me? Did you do it on purpose?!" Hearing the commotion, other scattered people at the banquet gradually gathered around. My friend was shocked: "Don't talk nonsense..." Lily scoffed, "Just jealous that Ethan treats me well! This kind of method is really disgusting, and you don't even look as good as me in it." My friend said silently: "Better looking than you." Lily was anxious, went back to Ethan and shook his arm, "Ethan, look at them!" Ethan's eyes were pitch black, his gaze lingering on me for a long time. After a while, he hooked his lips and smiled. The comments suddenly became noisy: [Ahhhhh, the Crown Prince smiled! He thinks baby looks better!] [Eyes are the most honest indeed, hehe, Crown Prince and Baby forever! I bet on it.] [But wait a minute... The Crown Prince wants to stimulate baby, make baby go to him obediently and pitifully, wait a minute...] While I was still confused about the meaning of the last comment, the microphone suddenly rang. Everyone looked over. The senior secretary of the Sterling Group held the microphone and a card, saying: "Thank you all for coming to this banquet. There is an important matter I declare here—Mr. Sterling has decided with the board that 2% of the shares of Sterling Group will be gifted to Miss Lily for free." The whole audience was in an uproar! I looked up sharply, in disbelief. Ethan held important shares, but I didn't know exactly how much. But another 2%, given to an un-fiancée... even if only 2%, in the huge Sterling Group, the annual net income is a very considerable figure. He gave it to Lily. And had someone announce it at this time. Comments were scrolling crazily: [Here it comes, the crazy Crown Prince's big move! Poor baby is being laughed at by everyone, can only obediently beg the Crown Prince!] [Yeah, then baby helplessly stays by the Crown Prince's side, being endlessly demanded... so spicy.] [What is baby insisting on! The Crown Prince loves you so much, slap Lily quickly, then hold the Crown Prince and act cute.] Bearing everyone's sarcastic and gloating gazes, I walked towards Ethan step by step. His gaze followed me tightly. I walked up to him. He lowered his eyes, a hint of an arc on his lips. I also curved my lips, words rolling out of my throat one by one: "The annulment agreement is already on the way. It won't be long before it reaches your hands. Whether the cooperation with the Chloe Group continues is up to you to decide. "I'm out." I locked eyes with Ethan. After saying the last sentence expressionlessly, I turned to leave. Ethan grabbed my wrist violently, his fingertips trembling slightly from too much force, "What do you mean? Chloe, what do you mean?" I didn't look back: "Annulment. Don't understand?" "I don't agree!" He roared low, his voice tight, "Are you blaming me for giving the shares to someone else..." I frowned, "I have nothing to do with you. What does the whereabouts of Sterling shares have to do with me?" "Of course it does—" I turned around impatiently. The bottom of his eyes was a turbulent ink color, "As long as you want, everything is yours. No need for annulment." Ethan's gaze locked onto me tightly, his voice hoarse. I didn't want to say more to him, "Let go." "I won't let you go." He increased his strength, almost stubborn. I grunted in pain. At this moment, my friend blocked him, gnashing her teeth, "Ethan Sterling, you keep a mistress outside yourself, and won't allow Chloe to annul the engagement? Does that make sense?" Lily screamed: "Who are you calling a mistress? Ethan loves me the most!" My friend sneered, "Then why isn't he willing to let Chloe go and marry you instead?" Lily froze, looked at Ethan, choking with sobs: "Ethan, what are you doing? You didn't like her anyway. Isn't annulment just right?" Ethan didn't look at anyone else from beginning to end. The corners of his eyes were slightly red, "Chloe, stop messing around. Shares, necklace, they are all yours." "Why do you think I would care?" I asked back. I shook off his hand fiercely. Entangling with him further would only delay my schedule. I said lightly: "Wish you happiness, a long life together, and a son soon." Ethan moved his lips. I took a step back, "Don't stop me. Don't make me look down on you." Walking towards the banquet hall gate, the comments in front of me refreshed continuously: [Huh? What is this direction? Is it the grand finale? Isn't baby going to live happily with the Crown Prince?] [The Crown Prince played too hard... Baby seems to be really jealous.] [Baby just annulled the engagement like this. Who knows what the crazy Crown Prince will do? Maybe kidnap baby tomorrow.] [What? Captivity play? Waiting...] Of course, I was afraid of Ethan going crazy, so now or never. In a few hours, I would cross half the globe to another country.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "389337", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel