The billionaire heir to a massive shipping empire was getting married, celebrating with a high-profile parade of ninety-nine luxury yachts along the West Coast. My best friend excitedly dragged me to the harbor to watch the spectacle. Out of habit, I snapped a photo first, wanting to share it with my boyfriend right away. But a second later, two familiar figures walked right into my camera frame. My boyfriend, who was supposed to be working overtime, was wearing a bespoke designer tuxedo. He was holding another woman's hand, leading her onto the glittering flagship yacht. I froze, my mind going blank. Anger surged through me, and I wanted to rush forward to confront him, but my best friend grabbed my arm, stopping me. "Chloe, Elena was always meant to be Julian’s fiancée. If you make a scene now, you’re just going to embarrass yourself." "Julian pretended to be broke and lived in a cramped basement with you for five years. I actually felt bad for how much he had to hold back." "As your best friend, I’m advising you to have some self-respect. Don't be a shameless homewrecker." The cold ocean breeze slapped my face, and my heart turned completely to ice. My boyfriend of eight years had been lying to me this whole time. And the girl I treated like my own sister had known all along and kept it from me. My phone buzzed with a Snapchat notification. It was a message from Julian. "Babe, I just got off work. I took two more Uber rides to make some extra cash." "Don’t be jealous of other people. If I work a little harder, I’ll save enough for an engagement ring soon and propose to you." Looking at the elegant billionaire standing on the yacht, I felt nothing but pure disgust. "No need. My mom wants me to go back home for some blind dates."
The reporters swarmed the couple. Julian casually looked back. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted me standing outside the crowd. The smile on his face froze instantly. He reflexively let go of Elena’s trailing wedding gown. "I thought you said she wouldn't know. Who brought her here?" He pushed past the crowd and leaped off the deck of the yacht. Amidst the gasps of the onlookers, he ran toward me desperately, panic written all over his face. "Babe, let me explain!" "I didn't mean to keep this from you... I was just afraid that the status gap between us would make you feel insecure." "Elena and I are just putting on a show for the families. Please don't make a scene, okay?" Holding back my tears, I violently shook off his hand. "You’re still trying to lie to me even now!" I looked past him at Elena, who was wearing a satin, diamond-encrusted wedding dress, looking as elegant as a white swan. Around her neck was a sapphire necklace that had recently been auctioned for $20 million. Meanwhile, Julian, the man who had been with me for eight years, couldn't even "afford" a $300 engagement ring. My best friend, Vivian Cole, frowned. "Chloe, are you really trying to ruin the wedding of the century?" "Let’s be real here. You have no right to throw a tantrum. Can you grow up for once?" I stared at her in utter disbelief. We had been best friends for over a decade. After her parents divorced, I was the one who brought her into my home, sharing my parents' love with her. I had even cut down on my own expenses and begged my parents to help pay for her college tuition. And now, she was standing here, accusing me to defend outsiders! Elena let out a soft laugh, stepping up to Julian’s side and shaking her head at me. "Chloe, even your best friend has more class than you." "Do you know what kind of event this is? Who gave you the courage to come here and cause trouble?" My chest felt incredibly tight, and I couldn't help but raise my voice. "My boyfriend of eight years is suddenly marrying someone else. Am I not even allowed to ask for an explanation?" "Shut up!" Seeing the reporters sniffing out a scandal and starting to gather around, Julian lowered his voice, warning me coldly: "Do you want to broadcast our private business to the entire world?!" "Vivian, please take her back and help her calm down." Vivian nodded, locking her hands tightly around my shoulders. "Don't worry, Julian. I’ll make sure she leaves." It wasn't until Julian and Elena, arm in arm, boarded the yacht again under the spotlight that Vivian finally let me go. She sighed with deep envy. "They look so perfect together!" "Chloe, take my advice. You and Julian belong to different worlds. Give up, and stop clinging to him."
Vivian hailed an Uber. "I still have things to do at the clinic, so I won't ride back with you." "Chloe, people need to have self-respect. I don't want a best friend who is a homewrecker." It finally clicked. She had purposely brought me here tonight to witness Julian and Elena's wedding. A bitter taste spread through my chest. The Uber driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror, and the silent judgment in his eyes made me feel like I was sitting on needles. I returned to our tiny, 100-square-foot basement. As soon as I pushed the door open, the entire room was visible. A small twin bed, a desk squeezed tightly against it, and on the desk lay a half-ironed Louis Vuitton shirt. Julian had told me he was competing for a promotion and begged me to buy him a luxury piece to "look the part." I had gritted my teeth and spent a whole month’s salary on it. On the day I swiped my card, he had laughed so hard seeing how much it pained me to spend that money. Now, the image of the $20 million necklace he gave Elena flashed through my mind. He wasn't happy because he received a gift. He was laughing at how pathetic and poor I was. My eyes stung. I grabbed a pair of scissors, shredded the shirt to pieces, and threw it into the trash can. Then, I rummaged through the room, grabbed all of Julian’s things, threw them into a suitcase, and shoved it outside the door. I sent him a text: "[Julian, we’re done. I threw your stuff out. Pick it up yourself.]" Right after sending it, I blocked and deleted him on Snapchat. After doing all this, I collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. I remembered our sophomore year in college. I was working part-time at the cafeteria when I overheard Julian complaining that he could barely afford food. Feeling sorry for him, I gave him my own meal. His expression back then was so strange, but I was too busy working to think much of it. Now that I think about it, he must have found me incredibly hilarious. A broke student working for tuition actually pitying the heir of a multi-billion-dollar shipping empire. Later, he started pursuing me. After graduation, I followed him to the West Coast to build a life. The West Coast is incredibly expensive, and rent is insanely high. Even this tiny basement cost me $3,000 a month. Julian said he wanted to save up to marry me and buy us a big house, so I took on the burden of the rent. But the first time he saved up $10,000, he supposedly clicked on a phishing link, and his account was wiped out. The second time, he allegedly donated it to a little girl with leukemia. The third time, he got into a car accident and had to pay for damages... For five whole years, he hadn't saved a single penny. He couldn't even afford a cheap $500 engagement ring. But it wasn't that he didn't have $500. He just didn't want to marry me. Suddenly, the front door was pushed open from the outside. A dripping wet Julian rushed in and hugged me tightly. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his voice trembling. "Babe, please don't break up with me." "Just wait for me a little longer. I promise I’ll marry you." The cold rainwater on his body soaked through my clothes. For a split second, my heart softened. But then my eyes landed on the shredded designer shirt in the trash can. I snapped back to reality and pushed him away. "Julian, you’re married." His body stiffened, but he hugged me even tighter. "Chloe, my older brother passed away, and my dad had a brain hemorrhage and is still in a coma." "Your family is ordinary, so you don't understand how dangerous high society can be. Only Elena's family can help me secure my position right now." "But the only person I love is you. The only one I want to marry is you. Can you just wait for me for another six months? Just until I stabilize things..." His voice grew softer, and my vision started to blur. I suddenly remembered a month ago, when we were preparing to celebrate our eighth anniversary. He had received a phone call, turned pale, and told me his family had an emergency and he had to leave for a while. I had stuffed a debit card into his hand. It had $100,000 on it—every single penny I had saved from working for five years. Because he had promised me countless times that once we saved enough for a down payment, we would move back to my hometown, get married, and settle down. So, I had worked myself to the bone to save that money. "Julian, I don't understand your high-society struggles." "But I’ve already waited for you for five years. I don't want to wait anymore." "I promised my mom that if I wasn't married by twenty-seven, I would go back home and let her set me up."
Julian gripped my shoulders tightly, his eyes bloodshot. "You’ve been with me for eight years! How can you marry someone else? I won't allow it, Chloe! I won't!" Anger flared in me, and I slapped him across the face. "Julian, you are married to Elena now. You have no right to control me!" "It's just a marriage of convenience!" "You waited five years, so why can't you wait another six months?!" "Don't worry, Elena is very open-minded. As long as you stay quiet and behave, she won't cause trouble for you." I was shaking with pure rage. I used all my strength to push him out the door. "Get out!" "I never want to see you again!" Through the closed door, Julian’s muffled voice continued, trying to coax me into being his kept woman. "I’ll buy you a villa, okay? You can move your parents in. I’ll give you $10,000 a month for living expenses." "You won't have to wake up early and squeeze onto the subway for work anymore. I’ll take care of you..." So, he had seen how hard I struggled over the past five years. He had just chosen to ignore it. Tears streamed down my face as I collapsed onto the floor, completely exhausted. The man I had loved for eight years had turned into an absolute monster on the other side of the door. My bones felt icy cold, but my skin was burning hot, and my consciousness began to slip. I had suffered from severe pneumonia a few years ago. Whenever I ran a high fever, it became extremely dangerous. I dragged myself to open the door, my voice incredibly raspy. "Julian... can you take me to the hos—" Before I could finish, his phone rang. He checked it, his face changing instantly, and he rushed toward the elevator. "Elena is feeling unwell. Just hang in there for a bit. I’ll call Vivian to come over." His retreating back distorted in my vision. I couldn't hold on any longer and blacked out. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed. Vivian was bending over me, replacing my cooling patch and checking my forehead with the back of her hand. "Good, your fever is going down." "Chloe, it’s just a breakup. How did you end up like this?" Her eyes were filled with pity. "One is a billionaire heir, and the other is a wealthy heiress. Messing with them was never going to end well for you." "When did you find out?" I stared directly into her eyes, watching her every expression. Vivian bit her lip, avoiding my gaze. "The year he first started dating you, he confessed his identity to me." "He gave me a million dollars and set me up with a job. The only condition was that I had to help him hide his secret." "He said that saving up for a ring and a house was too easy for him, so I was the one who suggested he use fake scams, donations, and car accidents to drag out the time..." A million dollars was all it took to buy out our ten-year friendship. Money and a bright future are hard to resist. I couldn't even find the energy to blame her. But— "Vivian, leave. I’ll pretend I never had you as a friend." Vivian’s eyes widened. "You’re ending our friendship over this little thing?" "Fine, Chloe. Don't regret this!" She slammed the door and left. Shortly after, a nurse came in to administer my IV. The needle missed my vein over ten times, making me gasp in pain. The nurse looked at me with a mocking smile and tossed a local tabloid newspaper onto my bed. "Ms. Shen, you’re famous now." Confused, I looked down, and a massive headline caught my eye: "《On His Wedding Night, the Billionaire Shipping Heir was Seducing His Slum Mistress, Leaving the Wealthy Heiress Devastated》" My private photos took up half the page. My pupils dilated. Only Julian had those photos. He had begged me to take them on his birthday. Rage boiled in my chest. Just as I was about to call him, my phone rang. It was Julian. "I went to see you last night, and Elena was upset, so she leaked those to the media." "Just let her vent her anger. Don't make a big deal out of it." Before I could say a word, he hung up. Meeting the nurse’s judging eyes, I didn't even have the energy to explain myself. I simply closed my eyes. But I never expected Vivian to publicly label me a gold-digger. In front of the reporters' cameras, she put on an act of deep disappointment. "Chloe and I have been friends for over ten years. I tried to warn her not to interfere in other people's relationships." "But she wouldn't listen. She was obsessed with marrying into money and kept harassing Mr. Vance." The video went viral, shooting straight to the top of the trending page on Twitter. My brain buzzed. I stared blankly at Vivian’s face on the screen, unable to believe she would stab me in the back like this! But before I could even process my best friend's betrayal, my phone rang again. It was my mother, her voice filled with tears. "Chloe, your sister Emily had an accident!"
"Your sister saw Vivian’s interview on the news. She was so distracted and panicked that she didn't see the construction site... A falling steel bar pierced her chest!" "The doctor said there’s a matching heart available right now, but there's a strict time limit. If we can't raise the $100,000 for the surgery fee within an hour, the heart goes to the next patient on the list!" "Taking out a loan on our house will take too long. Do you have $100,000 with you?" My heart hammered violently against my ribs, and a cold sweat broke out all over my body. "Mom, don't panic! I have $100,000. I’ll transfer it to you right away!" I quickly unlocked my phone and tried to transfer my savings—the money I had worked so hard to save. But the screen flashed: "Transaction Failed." Then I remembered. A month ago, I had given that debit card to Julian for his "emergency." Given his massive wealth, he surely wouldn't care about a measly $100,000. But when I logged into my mobile banking app, the cold, glaring balance of $0 made my eyes sting. With trembling hands, I called Julian, but the call wouldn't go through. In my panic, I accidentally opened Snapchat and clicked on Vivian’s story. "Accidentally crashed a private party. Crying over the beautiful love story of our favorite billionaire heir and his gorgeous wife! ~" In the center of her photo grid, Julian and Elena were kissing passionately under the fireworks at a luxury mansion on the hill. A sharp pain pierced my chest, but I didn't have time to think. I quickly traced the location and rushed over. When Vivian saw me at the entrance, her face fell, and she tried to push me back out the door. "Julian finally got Elena calmed down! What are you trying to ruin now?" I was still weak from my fever. When she pushed me, I lost my balance, fell hard onto the concrete, and a sharp, blinding pain shot through my wrist. Elena sneered, raising her eyebrow at Julian. "Julian, did your little mistress switch to a victim-playing strategy now?" The surrounding crowd burst into laughter. Julian’s wealthy friends looked at him with mocking grins. "Man, your standards must have been really low back then. You dated "this" for eight years?" "She’s so embarrassing." Julian looked embarrassed and glared at me. "Stop acting. Get up right now." There were only ten minutes left! Anxiety consumed me, and I forced myself to stand up. "Julian, give me back my $100,000!" "Oh, so you’re here for money," Elena sneered mockingly. "Kneel down, slap yourself, and I’ll give you the $100,000. It’s pocket change to me anyway." "Elena is so generous!" "Slap yourself once more, and I’ll throw in another ten grand as a wedding tip!" Listening to their relentless humiliation, the taste of copper rose in the back of my throat. "I am only here to take back what is rightfully mine!" "Julian, you said your family had an emergency last month, so I gave you a debit card with $100,000 on it." Julian frowned. "What debit card?" Only three minutes left. Tears of pure desperation finally spilled over. "My sister is in critical condition! Give me the money back! I'm running out of time!" "I’ve never seen any debit card. Besides, where would you even get that much money?" Seeing that Julian was denying it, I gritted my teeth and turned to Elena. "Is it true? If I kneel and slap myself, you’ll give me the $100,000?" Julian stared at me in utter disbelief. "Chloe, have you lost all your self-respect for some cash?" To save my sister’s life, I didn't hesitate. I dropped to my knees right in front of Elena. Elena looked down at me with pure disgust, as if she were looking at a piece of garbage. "Julian, a mere $100,000 to show you exactly what kind of trash she is? Totally worth it." She pulled out her phone to transfer the money. But Julian grabbed her hand, his expression incredibly complicated. "Chloe isn't a gold-digger. Don't use money to humiliate her." No matter how much I begged and explained, Julian refused to let Elena send me the money. I watched the clock on the wall hit the hour mark. All the strength was drained from my body, leaving me completely numb and hollow. "Julian, the biggest regret of my life was ever meeting you." Lied to for eight years, and in the end, I lost both my love and my life savings. My heart was completely dead. I turned around and walked away without looking back.
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