Chapter 1

Xavier froze for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle.

“Arabella, making a bet isn’t supposed to be a spiteful game,” he said softly. “We’ve been together for seven years. Why do you always get so jealous and refuse to trust me?”

Right. Xavier and I had been together for seven years.

Yet in the mere three months since my best friend, Aurelia, moved in next door, he had made ninety-nine bets about her.

And ninety-nine times, he had stepped in to help her.

When Aurelia didn’t know how to hang her laundry, he hung it for her.

When Aurelia didn’t know how to buy groceries, he bought them for her.

Even when Aurelia didn’t know how to tie her shoelaces, he bent down to tie them for her.

Yet when the light bulb at home broke, Xavier simply brushed me off.

“Arabella, I’m busy cooking dinner for Aurelia. Why don’t you just look up a tutorial and change the bulb yourself?”

Terrified of the dark as I was, that was how casually he dismissed me.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Xavier—it was that he had crossed the line long ago.

But just as I was about to speak, Xavier cut me off.

“Alright, I get it. You’re using a breakup to force me to stop making bets because you don’t want me helping Aurelia,” he said smoothly. “We’re getting married in three days anyway, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to indulge you for once.”

With that, he unlocked the apartment door next door as if he owned the place and casually turned off the running faucet.

He smiled back at me. “Looks like you actually won this bet, Arabella. Go pick out whatever piece of wedding jewelry you want.”

Ignoring the stakes I had just set, Xavier pulled out a credit card.

It held the wedding fund he had been saving over our seven years together.

Looking at that card, a foolish moment of hesitation flickered in my heart.

It wasn’t because of the money, but because of Xavier’s apparent determination to marry me.

I thought I would give him one last chance to earn my trust.

However, that final chance crushed every last bit of my hope.

When Xavier went to swipe the card at the jewelry store, the cashier spoke up apologetically, “I’m sorry, sir... There aren’t enough money on this card. Would you like to use another form of payment?”

Xavier looked slightly embarrassed, while I stood there completely baffled.

There was supposed to be two hundred thousand dollars on that card, and the diamond jewelry set I’d picked out for my wedding cost only one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

How could there not be enough?

“Arabella, I saw Aurelia trying to sell cosmetics earlier. She was so clumsy that there was no way she was going to make any sales, so I spent some money to help her out. There’s still one hundred thousand dollars left on the card, which should be enough if we switch from the diamond necklace to the earrings and bracelet.”

My cheeks burned hot, though I couldn’t tell whether it was from anger or humiliation.

“Forget it, Xavier,” I said quietly. “I don’t want the jewelry anymore, and I’m not marrying you either.”

Just as I turned to leave, Xavier grabbed my arm. “Arabella, stop throwing a tantrum. Is one hundred thousand not enough for you to spend? Besides, you never cared about stuff like this anyway.”

I truly didn’t care about the weight of the gold or the jewelry.

What I cared about was that Xavier had become Aurelia’s guardian angel, while I had been turned into a complete laughingstock.

Whether he made a bet or not, he was always going to help Aurelia.

I was the only fool who believed his excuses and kept trying to persuade him to stop betting.

My heart twisted with bitterness, leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

I forcefully yanked my arm out of Xavier’s grip. “You’re right, it isn’t enough. So why don’t you take this remaining hundred thousand and give it all to Aurelia as well?”

Without turning back, I walked away.

When I got home, I dialed my manager, Talia Rhodes.

“Talia, I accept the transfer to the corporate headquarters in New York.”

Her voice on the other end sounded confused. “Arabella, you specifically turned down the promotion earlier so you could prepare for your wedding. Why the sudden change of…”

I looked up at the new light bulb I had changed all by myself in the dark.

I gave a bitter smile. “Because I’m not getting married anymore.”