Chapter 2

Four years ago, Claire was brought before Gerald.

The old man offered a contract. She was tasked with keeping an eye on Adonis by posing as his girlfriend.

The goal was to prevent him from his antics of street racing, binge drinking, street fighting, and womanizing.

She would be offered a stunning salary of ten million dollars a year for her work.

At the time, Claire had just graduated. She was broke, unemployed, and had a critically ill mother and a younger sister still in school to take care of.

Given the circumstances, she accepted the offer without hesitation.

To win over Adonis, she spent a full year desperately chasing after him like a lapdog.

She had her hair done in a specific curly hairstyle he liked and changed her fashion style, tailoring it to his taste.

She even went as far as to change all her taste in food to match his. On the occasions Adonis deliberately flirted with other women right in front of her, she would let it slide.

Her advances were so blatant that Adonis’s friends felt like they had to speak up.

“Adonis, if you’re not interested, let me have her instead.”

That night, Adonis became very upset.

The following day, Claire received the “girlfriend evaluation form”.

“I’ll only date you if you meet these requirements.”

Everyone who read the list agreed that Adonis must have expressly customized it to put Claire in a hard place.

Claire, however, was unfazed.

She treated it like a full-time job where she had to hit all of her KPIs.

Within three months, she successfully won him over and became what was known to everyone as the “perfect girlfriend”.

However, even during their first anniversary, Bonnie still deemed that Claire was inadequate for Adonis.

Claire went to confront Adonis. She was hoping that he would take his side, seeing as they had been together for a year at that time.

All Adonis did was dismiss her icily, “Rules are rules. If Bonnie says you’re unqualified, then you’re unqualified.”

Claire swallowed her grievance, but stuck by his side nonetheless.

Three years passed in the same fashion. By then, everyone thought she loved Adonis to the point of a complete, unhealthy obsession.

Some of them even tried to advise her to stop giving in to Adonis’s whims and that she had to reel him in.

Some claimed that she was simply too submissive to tame Adonis.

Even Bonnie continued to taunt her, she acted as if she were none the wiser.

As far as she was concerned, it did not matter, for she was only in it for the forty million dollars.

After all, what kind of job pays you forty million in four years?

Claire tried to console herself with this, but still, she could not help but feel the urge to cry.

After all, anyone would catch some feelings in four years.

Meanwhile, Adonis remained as closed off as ever.

Upon getting home, Claire started to pack her belongings.

Adonis returned home sometime the following morning, still reeking of alcohol. The first thing he did was to go to the couch to get some shuteye.

Then, his gaze darkened when he spotted the suitcase on the floor.

“You sure are moving fast this time. Is this your new strategy?”

In the past, whenever they broke up, Claire would always invent some reasons to stay.

But this time around, she no longer glued herself to him shamelessly.

She said faintly, “I’m going to pack up and move out of here as soon as possible.”

Adonis gave her a look before letting out a scornful scoff.

“Suit yourself.”

Then, he casually undid the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing a red streak along his neck.

Claire felt a sharp throb in her chest. She lowered her gaze to pretend not to notice it.

Suddenly, Bonnie appeared out of nowhere.

“Ms. Monroe, since you have broken up with Ady, I have to do my duties as his personal assistant and inspect the items you are taking out of the house.”

Claire shot her a baffled look.

“What do you mean?”

Bonnie remarked with disdain, “It means I have to go through everything inside your bags. How else can I be sure that you didn’t steal anything?”

Claire clenched her fists, then turned to Adonis.

“You're just going to let her humiliate me like this?”

Adonis toyed with his lighter while answering candidly, “She's just doing her job.”

Claire smiled ironically, then stepped aside to let Bonnie conduct her inspection.

She thought she was such a fool to even expect Adonis to defend her in the first place.

With that, Bonnie marched straight into the room where she was met with a wall mounted full of handbags as well as a massive walk-in closet filled with designer clothes.

She proceeded to announce with contempt and jealousy shining in her eyes, “This one, this one, and this one were paid for by Ady. They belong to him, so you have no right to take them.”

Claire stayed silent. She was not planning to take them anyway.

Bonnie proceeded to rummage through the drawers and the suitcase, nearly turning the room upside down in the process. She even went as far as to pry open Claire's diary.

Toward the end, she managed to fish out a bracelet inside a suitcase.

Claire immediately cried out, “That’s mine!

“It was my mother who gave it to me. It’s a personal item that has nothing to do with the Kents.”

It was a bracelet Claire’s late mother, Heather Monroe, had worn every day when she was alive.

On the day she passed away, she gave the bracelet to Claire as a memento. Ever since then, Claire had cherished it more than her own life.

“That bracelet is important to me. Give it back!”

Bonnie feigned obliviousness. “I was just curious and taking a look. Why are you so nervous?”

Noticing Claire’s persistence, she made a show of being frightened, then handed it over.

“Fine, here you go!”

Moments before Claire managed to graze it, Bonnie suddenly let go.

Smack!

The bracelet dropped on the floor and instantly shattered into pieces.