Chapter 1

Jerry's POV

When Lily returned to the private room with her clothes disheveled, I had just hung up the phone. I stared at her expressionlessly. The hickeys on her neck stood out starkly against the fabric of her evening gown.

After sitting down unsteadily, she glanced listlessly at the things I had bought from the auction and said flatly, "Jerry Fuller, this has nothing to do with Cecil. He just didn't want my virginity to be auctioned off to someone else."

"Is that so?" I let out a cold laugh. "Have you forgotten what status you hold now?"

Lily clenched her teeth and angrily crushed the gift I had bought for her into dust.

"Don't try to lay down rules for me with that marriage contract! We're not even engaged yet! Cecil just didn't want someone else to take my first—"

Before she could finish, Cecil walked in carrying a glass of water and a box of birth control pills.

"Jerry, don't get the wrong idea. I was only trying to protect Lily. It's not my fault your bid was a second too slow."

As he spoke, he deliberately unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the scratch marks on his chest.

"I was just following the auction rules. After all, it was something I bid on and won, so it's perfectly reasonable for me to take it, no?"

"That's enough, Cecil. Why don't you head back first?" Lily calmly swallowed the pill and cast a disdainful glance at me. "At the end of the day, what we have is just a marriage alliance. If you're really so hung up on my broken hymen, I can just go to the hospital and have it restored."

Cecil's unrestrained laughter echoed through the private room, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery.

Emboldened and utterly afraid of consequences, he shrugged and said nothing more.

I let out a bitter laugh as my gaze swept over Lily's face, struck by how unfamiliar she seemed.

Three years ago, she had knelt before me, destitute.

"Jerry, as long as you're willing to help me, I'll do anything."

As it happened, my family was pressuring me to get married, so she became the girlfriend I used to appease them. And through that encounter, we truly fell in love.

To keep Lily from feeling inferior to me, I spared no effort in elevating her status. For her sake, I personally went to break off my original engagement.

My family warned me that she was hardly a suitable partner, but I simply laughed it off.

Over the years, I helped Lily become the new darling of Starworth's elite circle. I believed I had never let her down in any way. Yet, this was how she repaid me.

Lily stood before me with an air of arrogance and said in a displeased tone, "Jerry, I already told you—we're not even engaged yet. So, what I do with my body is none of your business."

I merely responded with a cold "Oh" without even lifting my head.

"All of high society will have their eyes on the engagement party next week. If anything goes wrong with the ceremony, you're finished! So, are you sure you want to make things ugly?"

"Ugly?" I let out a scornful laugh, my gaze falling on the hickeys on her neck. "So it wasn't ugly when you and Cecil were having an incestuous affair?"

"It's not like we're related by blood. You—"

I raised a hand to cut her off, my expression cold. "Enough. There's no point in saying more. I won't marry someone who fools around in the restroom."

The resentment in her eyes was just about to flare up when my friend, Thomas Spence, interrupted us. Spotting the hickeys on Lily's neck, he grinned at me mischievously and said, "Jerry, I know you've dropped a fortune on this pretty face tonight, but come on, have a little self-control."

"What's it got to do with him?" Cecil looked at me with disdain, swaggering over to Lily's side. As if staking his claim, he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Lily and I grew up together. What makes Jerry think he deserves her?"

Thomas' smile froze instantly.

Lily waved dismissively at Thomas, her expression cold. "You, get out first. We—"

Before she could finish, Cecil leaned in and kissed her. He then asked her with sickening tenderness, "Babe, is this guy a friend of Jerry's? No wonder he's so clueless. He can't even see what's between you and me."

He sounded like a rooster crowing in victory, his voice rising a few notches.

"Dude, I'd advise you to cut ties with someone like Jerry sooner rather than later. When I bid on and took Lily's first time, he could only stand outside listening against the door."

Trembling with rage, Thomas slapped Cecil hard across the face.

Lily pointed at him furiously, her eyes bloodshot. "How dare you hit him? Do you have a death wish or something?"

I swept my gaze over the pair of scumbags with utter disgust and scoffed coldly.

Then, I said to Thomas, "That's enough. They're not worth getting your hands dirty."

"Jerry, stop right there!" Lily chased after me and grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going? You think your friend can just hit someone and walk away?"

Cecil clutched his cheek, his expression dark with displeasure. "By seniority, you should be calling me 'Uncle'! So, how dare you treat me like this? Believe me when I say I can make sure your engagement party never even happens. Just you wait!"

With that, he snatched his jacket from the couch and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.