Chapter 1

In the grand banquet hall, Anthony Lake held a bouquet of fresh flowers and confessed to the dancer standing center stage.

Everyone turned to look at me in shock. After all, I had just gotten engaged to Anthony the day before.

And now, here he was, confessing his love to another woman right in front of me, completely ignoring my presence.

His father, Alan Lake, immediately shouted at him. "Don't be ridiculous! This isn't the time for you to mess around. Go apologize to Claire right now!"

It was important to note that the Lake family had initially requested this engagement.

While I had once liked Anthony, our family only agreed to it because we valued the Lake family's influence in the country.

In our circles, everyone knew that casual flings were fine. One just had to be careful not to be reckless and not to take things too seriously.

After all, no matter which two families joined together, it was always about mutual profits. If things got out of hand, no one would come out of it unscathed.

But Anthony didn't seem to understand this. He had fallen in love at first sight with a blind 30-year-old dancer and was determined to be with her.

Anthony stood his ground and resolutely said, "I'm not kidding. I'm being serious."

He continued, "Claire, I only agreed to the engagement because I didn't have anyone I liked at the time. That's why I got engaged to you for the sake of my family. But this is the first time I've truly wanted to fight for something. I hope you can understand."

He didn't even glance at me. His eyes were fixed on the dancer the whole time.

I clicked my tongue, exasperated by his stupidity.

The dancer, Lila Hart, had a veil over her eyes. Her lips trembled slightly as she said, "Mr. Anthony, thank you for your affection, but our social standing is too different. Your family won't approve, and neither will your fiancee."

Although her words made it sound like she was refusing him, they carried an opportunistic hint behind them.

At her words, Anthony finally turned to me. "You heard her, Claire. I know you like me, but please let me go."

Then, he turned to his parents. "Mom, Dad, Lila and I genuinely love each other. Why should status stand in the way of true love?"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire room broke into restrained laughter.

Love was the most insignificant thing in our world.

In that moment, Anthony's parents' faces instantly darkened with complete embarrassment.

Alan ignored Anthony and forced out a smile to appease me. "This doesn't mean anything. Anthony just drank a bit too much tonight. He's not thinking clearly. For my sake, I hope you won't take this to heart. Don't worry. The engagement will not be called off."

When it came to upper society, everyone was entangled in complex relationships. The Lake family would definitely suffer if they fell out with us.

Some of the more connected guests came over cheerfully to smooth things over.

Yet, Anthony seemed utterly oblivious to what was going on as he spoke up again with great urgency. "No, I haven't been drinking! I'm perfectly sober! I want to be with Lila!"

Lila stood there, covering her face. Her voice trembled as she said, "Mr. Anthony, there's no need to go this far for me…"

My parents walked up beside me, smiling as they threatened, "If you're sure about calling off the engagement, then don't blame us for what happens afterward."

Anthony saw a sliver of hope and immediately nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I'm sure!"

Before Anthony's parents could speak up, I said decisively, "Fine. I agree to cancel the engagement. From this moment on, the Sterling family is cutting off ties with the Lake family!"

Alan's face instantly turned pale. He said, "Claire, surely we can talk this through."