Chapter 1

I knelt before Chloe Lane, holding 99 roses in my hands. My voice trembled as I asked, “Chloe, will you marry me?”

Beneath the sea of starlight, I failed to notice the flicker of sadness that crossed her eyes. She forced a smile, as if making up her mind about something, and took the roses from me. “I will.”

A surge of joy exploded in my chest. My long-cherished wish had finally come true. Overcome with excitement, I stood and wrapped Chloe in my arms. Then, I heard a voice.

‘If Gavin finds out I’m marrying someone else, he’ll finally regret leaving me, right?’

I froze for a moment and let go of her.

Gavin was Chloe’s ex-boyfriend—the man she had been tangled up with for seven years.

“What did you just say?” I blurted out.

Chloe looked at me with confusion. A trace of impatience flashed across her face. “I said I’d marry you.”

At the same time, another voice rang in my ears. ‘God, he’s so annoying. If it weren’t for making Gavin jealous, I’d be too disgusted to even look at him.’

I did not mishear. It was Chloe’s voice.

As she watched me stand there in silence, the irritation on her face flickered for a split second before disappearing. She quickly softened her expression and asked gently, “What's wrong?”

I stared at her, my mind in complete chaos.

“When should we hold the wedding?” I asked instinctively, “How about next month?”

Shock flashed across her face, followed by unmistakable regret.

‘I just want to make Gavin jealous. It’s not like I actually want to marry him! What is he doing?’

The ring box hidden inside my jacket dug painfully into my chest. For the first time, I was certain. The voices I was hearing were Chloe’s thoughts, her real thoughts.

I had loved her for years. I thought what we had was mutual love. It turned out that it had all been wishful thinking on my part.

Even this carefully planned proposal, one I had spent weeks preparing, was nothing more than a tool to provoke Gavin.

Around us, the crowd kept cheering. “Say yes! We’re coming to the wedding next month!”

Chloe’s smile stiffened as she lowered her head and fiddled with the roses. “Isn’t that a little soon?”

Someone nearby laughed. “Come on, Owen’s been in love with you forever. Now that he's finally won your heart, of course, he'd want to marry you as soon as possible. He treats you like you’re the most precious thing in the world. What if somebody steals his girlfriend away?”

Something in those words seemed to strike a nerve. Chloe bit her lip. “Fine. Next month.”

At that exact moment, with her hand still in mine, I heard the truth she kept hidden inside.

‘If Gavin finds out I’m getting married, will he come and stop the wedding?’

I stared at her. Only then did I realize that throughout the entire proposal, Chloe had never once looked at me.

While I was dreaming about the future we would build together, the person on her mind was another man.