Two days before our wedding, I received a text from my fiancé, Liam. "Mia, let's push the wedding back by a day." I was literally at the bridal boutique, staring at my reflection in a wedding dress, completely bewildered. When I called him to ask what was going on, the voice that answered belonged to his high school sweetheart, his 'first love'. "Hi, Mia! A group of us are playing Truth or Dare right now, and Liam lost. He picked 'Dare,' and his dare is to pretend to be my boyfriend for three days. I'm sure you understand, right?" I calmly hung up the phone and immediately dialed another number. "Dad. That thing we talked about last time? I agree. Change the marriage alliance candidate." 1 "Mia, marriage isn't a game. Are you absolutely certain?" "If you still feel this way tomorrow morning, I'll make it happen." After hanging up with my dad, I drove straight to the location they were at. Liam was blackout drunk, draped heavily over Chloe's shoulder. The crowd around them was cheering and howling, "Congratulations, Liam! You finally got what you wanted!" When they saw me walk in, the noise died instantly. Chloe tried to set him down, but Liam frowned and slurred, "Chloe, why are you putting me down? You're my girlfriend right now." I picked up a bottle of cold mineral water from a nearby table, walked right up to him, and poured it directly over his head. "Are you sober now?" He wiped the water from his face. His eyes were ice-cold, devoid of even a shred of guilt. "Mia, are you crazy?!" Sobered up slightly, he saw it was me and didn't offer a single apology. Instead, he snapped coldly, "Good timing. I lost a game of Truth or Dare, so I'm pretending to be Chloe's boyfriend for three days. I've already had my assistant notify all the friends and family. The wedding is postponed by one day." If this were the old me, I would have burst into tears and caused a massive scene. But today, I felt nothing but a chilling calm. "Fine. Postponed by one day." But the groom isn't going to be you anymore. I pulled out my phone and texted my dad: "I've made my decision. I'm not changing my mind." "See? I told you she couldn't bear to leave me," Liam chuckled arrogantly, pulling Chloe closer against him. "Mia, you know Chloe and I are just pretending. Just wait one extra day. We're still getting married. We're going to be husband and wife; you can at least give me this much grace, right?" In that moment, the sheer humiliation made me want to sink into the floor, but it also completely extinguished whatever feelings I had left for him. An eight-year relationship, completely obliterated by a stupid joke from his 'first love'. I didn't say another word. I turned around and walked away. Perhaps because I didn't cry or scream, one of the onlookers muttered, "Liam, Mia didn't even say anything this time. You don't think she's actually mad, do you?" "Impossible. You guys know how it is. She's been obsessed with me since we were kids. We're practically married; there's no way she'd actually break up with me." Liam's mocking, confident voice drifted after me. "Just watch. Give it a few minutes, and she'll come running back to apologize." But this time, he miscalculated completely. Love that requires you to crawl in the dirt isn't love worth having. I left without looking back. When I got home, I opened my phone and scrolled through my social media feed. Chloe had just posted an update. "Ah! I won against my first love in Truth or Dare, and now we have to rekindle our romance for three days! What do I do? I'm so nervous..." And right beneath it was a comment from Liam, acting like a desperate lapdog: "When two people who love each other can't be together, they have to cherish the time they have left." I literally wanted to vomit. I locked my phone, grabbed a pair of scissors, and shredded the wedding dress I had brought home. I tore up every single one of our engagement photos, threw all of his belongings into garbage bags, and then called my assistant. "Sell this apartment within three days." The news of Liam postponing the wedding inevitably spread. Early the next morning, Liam's grandfather showed up at my door, dragging Liam by the ear. "Mia, the Sterling family has wronged you. I absolutely do not agree to postponing this wedding." Before I could even speak, Liam jutted his chin out defensively. "Mia, I knew you'd pull some passive-aggressive stunt like this! Agreeing to my face, but running to complain to my grandfather behind my back. Let me tell you right now, just because you dragged him into this doesn't mean I'm going to cave. I am not changing my mind!" Grandpa Sterling slapped him hard across the face. "What kind of garbage are you spewing?! Mia hasn't said a single word to our family about this! You've completely lost your mind over that Chloe girl!" Liam clutched his cheek, glaring at me with pure venom. "Mia, I made it perfectly clear. I am going to marry you; the wedding is just pushed back one day. Don't think that just because you brought my grandfather here, I'm going to drop everything with Chloe. She finally agreed to be my girlfriend for three days, and I am not throwing that away." Grandpa Sterling raised his hand to hit him again, but this time, I stopped him. "Grandpa Sterling, it's fine." Liam scoffed at my intervention. "Mia, stop putting on an act. Do you honestly think I'm going to thank you for stopping him? You're just trying to play the victim to make yourself look good! Stop dreaming. If it wasn't for our arranged engagement, Chloe never would have gone abroad in the first place. If it wasn't for you, we would have been together years ago. All I want is to fulfill my dream of dating her for three days. If you can't even allow that, you're just being cruel." Smack. I backhanded him as hard as I could. "Liam Sterling, I won't stop you from going to Chloe. The engagement is off." 2 Liam was stunned again, and Grandpa Sterling was furious. "Liam! Apologize to Mia right now!" "Fine, fine, fine! I really misjudged you, Mia. I had no idea you were this manipulative. You say you want to cancel the engagement, but you know damn well our families will never actually let that happen. You're just using this as leverage to force me to give up my three days with Chloe! Well, Mia, I won't let you get what you want." With that, Liam stormed out, vibrating with rage. Grandpa Sterling looked at me apologetically. "Mia, Liam is just temporarily blinded. When I get him home, I'll talk some sense into him." I shook my head. "Grandpa Sterling, I wasn't joking. I meant it. The engagement is over." Seeing my deadly serious expression, Grandpa Sterling was genuinely shocked. "Mia, you..." I couldn't blame him for being surprised. The Vance and Sterling families had been close for generations. My grandfather had even saved Grandpa Sterling's life back in the day. So this marriage alliance... as long as I didn't agree to break it, the Sterling family would never dare initiate the cancellation. Since I was a little girl, I had always followed Liam around. By the time I was fifteen or sixteen, right when girls start experiencing their first crushes, I was completely obsessed with him. At my eighteenth birthday party, our engagement was officially announced. For the past eight years, I had chased him relentlessly, catered to his every whim, and constantly lowered my own standards just to please him. Everyone in the city knew I was madly in love with him. But now, I was the one proactively breaking it off. "Don't worry, Grandpa Sterling. As long as I'm around, Chloe is never going to marry into your family. This marriage alliance was arranged while my grandfather was still alive, and I won't disrespect his memory." "Liam isn't the only Sterling I can marry." Grandpa Sterling froze, the image of his other son suddenly flashing in his mind. "Mia, that's too unfair to you. After all, he's eight years older than you..." I shook my head. "Grandpa Sterling, I've thought about it. Compared to a reckless, immature boy, I think Arthur is a much better fit for me." Grandpa Sterling didn't argue further. He quickly made a call to Arthur, who was currently overseas. Upon hearing the news of the marriage alliance, Arthur's hand reportedly trembled. He booked the very next flight back home. Even though I was the one who initiated the breakup, I couldn't deny that I was still in a terrible mood. When my best friend heard the news, she dragged me out to dinner to cheer me up. By sheer, terrible coincidence, we ran straight into Liam and Chloe. "Liam, you have no idea. If I hadn't suddenly found out you were engaged, I never would have left the country," Chloe's voice drifted over from the next table. "You're getting married so soon... Just being able to be your girlfriend for these three days is enough for me." "Chloe, I'm so sorry..." My heart violently twisted in my chest. My best friend shot out of her chair and pointed directly at Chloe. "I have never met anyone so shameless! You know perfectly well he's about to get married, and you still throw yourself at him like a desperate leech! You're clearly trying to break them up! If you were actually 'satisfied,' you'd be wishing them well!" "Mia, are you done?! I already explained everything perfectly clearly! I'm only pretending to be with Chloe for three days, and then I'm marrying you! I swore nothing inappropriate would happen! You don't need to stalk me and monitor my every move!" My best friend was ready to throw hands, but I pulled her back. I glanced coldly at the two of them. "Liam, you're flattering yourself. I just came here to eat in peace." "You expect me to believe that?" Liam sneered at me. "Mia, did you forget? Back when I was first pursuing Chloe, you used this exact same excuse—'just happening to be there'—to insert yourself into our dates. Are you really trying that old trick again?" He stepped in front of Chloe, shielding her. "But this time, you've miscalculated. I told you I'd marry you, but I am not changing my plans for these three days." Before I decided to cancel the engagement, I always believed that I just wasn't good enough, which was why Liam didn't love me back. But looking at his twisted, arrogant face now, I realized how incredibly wrong I had been. Love is a binary thing. It's either there, or it isn't. And a man like Liam was completely unworthy of the genuine love I had given him. 3 "Whether you change your plans has absolutely nothing to do with me, because I already changed mine!" I didn't back down an inch, my gaze piercing him like ice. "Liam, our engagement is over! From now on, you walk your path, and I'll walk mine! Forget pretending to be her boyfriend for three days—even if you two drove straight to the courthouse and got married right now, I wouldn't waste the energy to stop you!" Chloe stared at me in shock, while Liam's brow furrowed tightly. Just then, his phone buzzed. He glanced at a message from his assistant regarding hotel bookings, and his face instantly darkened. "Mia, there's a limit to your pathological lying! If the engagement is really cancelled, why are you having your people book bridal suites?!" I raised an eyebrow. "The engagement with you is cancelled. What I do with my bridal suites is none of your business." Liam looked utterly unconvinced. "Mia, whatever manipulative game you're playing, it's not going to change my mind! For these three days... I am exclusively Chloe's boyfriend!" Chloe immediately seized the opportunity, her voice dripping with fake, sickly-sweet concern: "Liam, I'm so sorry... I never meant to cause you so much trouble. Maybe... maybe we should just call it off? After all, you're going to marry Mia..." Liam, looking like he was under some kind of hypnotic spell, grasped her hand with profound devotion. "Chloe, don't say that. I lost the game, and I'm honoring the bet! For these three days, we are a couple, and no one can change that!" Chloe shot me a hesitant, artificial look of guilt. "But..." Liam's expression hardened. "I fought hard for these three days! You don't need to care what she thinks!" Chloe pressed her lips together submissively. I, however, had reached my absolute limit. "I just wanted to eat my dinner in peace! Manager! These two are no longer welcome here. Throw them out!" Liam let out a harsh bark of laughter. "Mia, are you brain-damaged? This restaurant is owned by the Sterling family! Who are you, an outsider, to tell me to leave?" "I think you're forgetting who decides the inheritance of the Sterling family!" To repay my grandfather's life-saving favor, Grandpa Sterling had established an ironclad rule years ago: whoever married me would inherit the vast majority of the Sterling empire. And this specific restaurant? Grandpa Sterling had transferred the deed to my name as an engagement gift years ago. Right now, I had every legal right to tell them to get out! Liam obviously knew this. He looked at me with absolute disgust. "Mia, you are sickening. You keep insisting you want to cancel the engagement, but at the same time, you're aggressively clinging to Sterling family assets!" In his mind, he was entirely convinced I was bluffing—using the threat of a broken engagement just to force his hand! I was done arguing with these two drama queens. A moment later, the manager hurried over, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "Mr. Sterling, please... you'll have to leave." Liam clearly hadn't expected me to actually follow through. His eyes turned murderous. "Mia, have you lost your damn mind?!" "This is my property now. If I want someone gone, they're gone!" Liam pointed a furious finger directly at my face. "Mia, you're going to regret this!" "Trust me, I won't be the one regretting anything." "There are plenty of other restaurants in this city. We're leaving!" Liam grabbed Chloe's hand and turned to storm out. I slammed my hand on the table and shouted, "Hold it right there!" Liam stopped and turned around, flashing a smug, intensely punchable smile. "Mia, I knew you'd crack and try to stop me. But I'm sorry... you're too late! Unless you grovel and apologize to Chloe right now, I will absolutely ignore you for the rest of these three days!" Looking at this man's staggering, delusional narcissism, I suddenly felt a profound wave of disgust at my past self for ever loving something so pathetic. I let out a cold laugh. "You're confused. I just wanted to remind you that since you ate the food, you need to pay the bill." Liam's face turned rigid. "Mia, I was going to give you one last chance, but since you want to play it like this, don't come crying to me later!" "I promise you, I will never cry over you again. But surely someone with as much pride as Mr. Sterling wouldn't resort to dining and dashing?" Suppressing his explosive rage, Liam pulled a platinum credit card from his wallet and slammed it onto the table. "Run it!" A few minutes later, the manager returned, looking even more awkward than before. "I'm... I'm so sorry, Mr. Sterling, but this card... it was declined. Insufficient funds." Liam's face instantly turned ash-gray. He realized immediately what had happened: Grandpa Sterling had frozen his accounts because of this stunt. He glared at me with absolute venom. "Mia, do you honestly think this little trick is going to make me beg you? I'm telling you, it's never going to happen..." I mocked him openly. "Not going to beg? Then pay the bill!" 4 Liam's jaw tightened. At this exact moment, he was literally broke. With no other options, he stepped aside and dialed his parents. Unsurprisingly, neither of them answered his calls. His expression grew darker by the second. He then tried calling several of his close friends. But the result was the same. The moment he asked to borrow money, they all suddenly had urgent excuses and hung up. I knew exactly what was going on. Grandpa Sterling was furious this time. Not only did he freeze Liam's cards, but he had also sent a warning to every prominent family in the city associated with the Sterlings. Essentially, right now, no one in the entire city wanted anything to do with him. I didn't hold back. "What's wrong? Can the great Mr. Sterling really not afford to pay for a simple meal? Tell you what, for old times' sake, if you just ask nicely, I'll let you put it on a tab." Liam's hands clenched into tight fists, his face a mask of furious humiliation. Just as he looked ready to explode, Chloe stepped forward. "Liam, don't be angry. I'll pay for it." I was actually a bit surprised she stepped up at that moment. But... did she actually have any idea how much this meal cost? Liam's face flushed with shame. "Chloe, I'm so sorry..." "It's okay. We're a couple right now. And I'm not some gold-digger; splitting the bill is totally normal." Liam's eyes immediately reddened with emotion. He looked like he was profoundly regretting ever letting her go. But I had absolutely zero interest in watching this sickening display of fake romance. The manager quickly took her card. However, he returned moments later with the same bad news. "I'm sorry, Ms. Vance, but your credit card limit is insufficient." Chloe froze, her face turning red. "No, that's impossible... This card has a fifty-thousand-dollar limit..." What kind of meal were they eating that fifty thousand wasn't enough? The manager explained, "The food you ordered wasn't actually that expensive, but you ordered a bottle of vintage imported French wine... that alone is a hundred thousand..." I looked at Chloe with open mockery. A few years ago... when Liam was first pursuing her, she had no idea what his true background or net worth was. But none of that mattered now. I paused dramatically. "Oh, so Ms. Vance doesn't actually have the money. I assumed..." "Who said I don't have it?!" Chloe lifted her chin defensively, pulling out several more credit cards. "Run them all! It'll be enough!" The manager didn't hesitate and quickly processed the transactions. Liam, obviously feeling humiliated on her behalf, glared at me fiercely. "Mia, do you think everyone in the world is as obsessed with money as you are?! I am not going to forget what you did today. Just you wait." Shortly after, he and Chloe finally left. My best friend looked at me, bewildered. "Mia, has Liam lost his mind? Someone like Chloe clearly only came back after finding out his real identity. She's just using this 'fake couple' excuse to drain as much money from him as possible." I watched their retreating figures and smiled. "She's significantly more calculating than you think." My best friend didn't understand, but I couldn't be bothered to explain. "But this time, she's going to be severely disappointed." With the Sterling family changing heirs, who knew how long their "true love" would actually last? Although the interruption was annoying, my overall mood remained relatively positive. After finishing my meal, I headed back to the office. When I walked in, I was surprised to see Arthur, looking like he had just rushed straight from the airport. "Mia. Have you made your final decision?" I knew he was referring to the marriage alliance, and I couldn't help but smile. "If I said I regretted it right now, would it be too late?"
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "391602", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel