Chapter 2

As the only son of the Whitmore family, Victor was able to refuse anything he didn't like, and he told me not to hold back. I believed him, so I never saw Emma as a threat.

But later, I noticed that he was always late to our dates and forgot our anniversaries. After he began taking over Whitmore Corp, he frequently attended galas with Emma, completely unconcerned about how suggestive the news reports looked.

When I protested, he toned it down a little. But then I saw news break about him adjusting Emma's pearl earrings backstage at a jewelry exhibition.

On Valentine's Day, he promised to make it up to me but stood me up again because of a last-minute meeting. I waited at the revolving restaurant until closing time, only to discover Emma had posted a photo of them at an expensive lounge on her social media.

She and Victor sat close together, smiling at the camera. Looking at the flood of congratulatory messages in the comments section, I lost all courage to confront him.

The next day, Victor came to the design department with my favorite strawberry milkshake. Seeing my swollen eyes, he didn't show any concern. Instead, he impatiently threw down the cup of milkshake.

"Claire, I've promised you countless times that you're the only one in my heart. Emma and I are just business partners. Do you really need to cry endlessly about this? Don't you know that this version of you is suffocating me?"

Tears burst forth as I looked down and asked him, "I never even told you why I was crying. Are you admitting that you've gotten too close to Emma?"

Victor froze, frowning at me. "You're being completely unreasonable!"

That day we had a terrible fight, and all the classmates who disapproved of our relationship seized the opportunity to kick me while I was down. They called me a gold digger, money-hungry, manipulative, and every other nasty name they could think of.

I was completely worthless in their eyes. I didn't reach out to Victor for the next week. Finally, Sam played peacemaker and tricked us both into meeting.

My first instinct was to leave when I saw him. He must have sorted out his feelings during that week because he was all smiles as he blocked my path. Whether I wanted it or not, he pulled me into his arms in front of all his friends.

"Stop being angry. I know I screwed up."

I tried to dodge him, but the next second he placed a cold necklace around my neck.

"A belated Valentine's Day gift. I made it myself. It matches the star necklace you gave me."

Hearing his gentle tone and seeing the exquisite gift, I felt myself softening. After my anger mostly subsided, I was willing to talk to him more. Then I pulled up the news reports and Emma's social media posts to question him.

"You said you're just business partners. Do business partners need such intimate physical contact?"

Victor hugged me from behind and took my phone to look.

"It's a huge misunderstanding. She said her pearl earrings seemed to be different sizes and asked me to check so she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of reporters.

"I didn't even touch her! Babe, you know I'm nearsighted. I just leaned in slightly to take a look."

I already had a smile on my face, but I continued asking, "What about the social media post? You lied about having a last-minute meeting but went to dinner with her instead. How do you explain that?"

Victor turned me around, cupped my face, and gave me a devoted kiss.

"Babe, I swear the client suddenly changed the meeting time that day. Then Emma said she hadn't eaten all day and her stomach hurt, so she insisted on dragging me to dinner."

I batted his hands away, though I could barely suppress my laughter. Just as I was about to warn him, Emma pushed through the door. She walked straight toward me with red-rimmed eyes.

"Sam told me you two fought because of me, so I rushed over. Claire, even though Victor and I are engaged, we're just friends.

"If you really mind, I can ask my father to tell Victor's dad that we should break off the engagement. I'll also leave the country so I won't get in your way anymore."

She was soaking wet, probably from the heavy rain outside. After saying this, she sobbed a few times and was about to leave.

I clearly saw reluctance flash in Victor's eyes.