FAZER LOGINIf Alicia had only seen through Felix sooner, then on the day he broke off his engagement, she would have married him without hesitation and never let him leave her again.No… She should never have gotten involved with Andrew while Felix was still her boyfriend in the first place. But it was already too late now.…Felix's POVMy insider intel on the Duroville plot came from my fiancee—actually, my former fiancee. I called off the engagement because of Alicia.I offered her family a huge sum of money as compensation, but they returned it.I figured they were furious. And to be fair, I knew I was in the wrong.After my company went public, I spent a fortune at an auction house to buy an original masterpiece from a renowned artist as an apology.My former fiancee's parents didn't really blame me. The engagement had been something both sides entered willingly, after all.The person who was truly angry was that young woman with mutism, the one I'd once teased into speaking up se
Was Alicia unable to let Felix go because she still loved him? Or was it because she simply couldn't stand being the one who lost, thanks to her insatiable need to come out on top?She pulled into her driveway and slumped over the steering wheel, her breathing shaky. Maybe she really did love Felix.But she'd always believed money was the only thing keeping the two of them connected—that as long as she had money, Felix would always stay by her side.Had she really let Felix go when she got engaged to Andrew?Let him go? What was there to let go of? How could she possibly let go? In her eyes, he'd simply always been nothing but a shameless nobody.She had believed that he was so shameless that even if she got married, he'd still willingly become her lover as long as she paid him enough.And yet, she had never looked past Felix's sycophantic smile to see the burning ambition in his eyes. Andrew was acting up again. Once again, he complained that she'd bought him all those preci
"Nora, I've come to return the money," I said.Nora froze on the spot. Alicia, who was sitting off to the side, lifted her head too.I turned to look at Alicia. "I'm here to return everything Ms. Ellison gave me while we were together."I pulled out a ledger. Starting from ten years ago, I'd recorded every gift Alicia had given me after kissing me, right down to what each one would be worth today after adjusting for inflation.It had originally started out as a young man's diary. But the further along it went, the more formal and impersonal it became.There were no longer any excited descriptions about how happy I'd been to receive each gift—just cold, emotionless records of the date, the item, the quantity, its market value, and what that value amounted to today.The final entry was the piece of land she'd given me. The money Nora paid me over the years was wages I'd earned, so I hadn't included it."The total comes to a billion dollars. I've added another 20% as a thank-you to
Besides, how could Alicia ever really marry me? Andrew, on the other hand, was smart.Whenever he wanted money, he always held his ground and acted like he absolutely refused to take it.Either way, Alicia was always going to give her boyfriend money. As long as he lived in the huge mansion she gave him while stubbornly insisting he wasn't a sugar baby, Alicia would just think he was some principled guy who'd managed to stay above it all.All those priceless accessories were things Alicia had forced on him. He had nothing to do with any of it.And her suddenly installing him as my department head? That was just her showing her boyfriend some outrageous preferential treatment. It wasn't like he had actually asked for it.But I was different. I couldn't hide the fact that I was completely driven by money. I was terrified that if I missed the opportunity, I'd never get another one. So, I was never going to be the kind of man Alicia truly liked.Still, on the day of their engagem
From then on, I started keeping my mouth shut at work. That was because my superior was leaving, and I wanted her position.The last thing I wanted was for Alicia to hand me the position with a single word. Then, just after I'd spent three straight days working on my promotion proposal, I suddenly got word from upper management.A manager was being transferred in from an overseas branch to take over our department. And that person was Andrew.That was when I realized how naive I'd been. There was a difference between Alicia genuinely favoring someone and simply throwing a few little perks their way.I was the latter, whereas Andrew was the real deal.She could get me coffee, figurines, and concert tickets without breaking a sweat. But she would never be willing to make me a manager or hand me any real power.After all, I was just the heiress' personal companion, her kept man. Why would she ever actually give someone like me a position of real authority?I tore up my promotion
Alicia clutched the half-box of condoms. "Do you seriously think this is funny?"I scratched my head. "What?""There's a limit to how jealous you can get. Bringing him here was just a necessary measure. Don't go seeing filth in everything just because your own mind is filthy!"The half-box of condoms and I were thrown out of the room. Then she slammed the door shut right in my face with a loud bang, sending a gust of air my way.The person I'd spent ten years desperately trying to help could now speak without stumbling over a single word. This was great!I guessed the person who tied the knot really was the only one who could untie it.Nora kept bombarding me with messages telling me to come back home. I took every last cent I'd earned over the past decade and left.The engagement ring was the only thing I didn't take with me. I left it with the black card Alicia had given me and only took what I'd earned through my own work.As for gifts from my girlfriend, I left those behind







