Chapter 1

I had just stepped into the hall where the law forum was held when I saw Francis Zouche standing on the stage, wearing a sharp suit and speaking charmingly. His every move was filled with confidence and pride.

I froze for a moment, feeling that it was kind of surreal to be seeing him again. It had already been eight years since we parted ways. If I had not seen him that day, I would have forgotten what he looked like.

After Francis was done with his speech about legal matters, he publicly proposed to Heidi Colman, who looked at him with eyes full of admiration from the audience.

The crowd applauded and cheered.

Heidi walked onto the stage, moved to tears. She repeated several times, "I do."

Francis smiled brightly and knelt down. He slid the engagement ring onto the finger of the woman he loved.

In my mind, I could not help but recall the scene when Francis had proposed to me. He had not knelt down like he did now. In fact, he just mentioned it casually. Even the engagement ring was just a ring pull from a beer can. It was uncaring and thoughtless.

But when faced with the one he truly loved, Francis spared no effort to make sure that she got the best proposal possible.

Amid the blessings of the crowd, the two happily embraced.

The people who had crowded around them started to talk excitedly. "Wow, they really are a perfect couple. I'm so jealous."

"Francis is the most promising lawyer in the legal world. He's the kind of man every woman dreams of marrying."

"Stop day dreaming. We stand no chance."

"Exactly, I heard he loves Heidi very much. He has already spent millions by buying her a villa and a luxury car already."

"Heidi's life is perfect now."

Suddenly, someone pointed in my direction and exclaimed, "Look! Isn't that Yvette Quilter? She was Francis' ex-girlfriend that he was once head over heels in love with?"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their eyes toward me.

I noticed that Francis' smile froze when he heard my name, and his eyes darkened.

As the forum ended, the two of them walked straight toward me.

"Long time no see, Yvette," Heidi greeted me with a smile.

Her friends stared at me with disdain and started mocking me. "Why did you come here in a sweatsuit, Yvette? This is a law forum. You should at least dress formally!"

"How many years has it been? Are you still working in the countryside?" another friend said.

"Don't tell me you don't even have a job and came here today to get one?" A third person chimed in.

"I can tell you're not doing well just by looking at you," said a fourth.

I knew these people too. After all, Francis and I had attended the same law school. Just because I was dressed simply in casual clothes today, they thought my life was not going well.

I kept my expression neutral and ignored their remarks. Still, I felt uneasy because Francis was staring at me with a complicated look in his eyes.

"It's been so many years since I've last seen you, why are you still so sloppy? What happened to your career drive?" Francis sounded surprised.

I frowned at his words. I was dressed comfortably, yet in his eyes, I was sloppy. I had known that he was somewhat materialistic. However, I had not known he would be so narrow-minded that he would judge how someone was doing solely based on their clothes.

"Yeah, Yvette. You're dressed so plainly, and you're not even wearing makeup," Heidi chimed in.

She leaned against Francis' arm that was wrapped around her, looking at me as if she were showing off that he was hers.

She scrutinized me from head to toe and showed a disdainful expression. "You're already in your thirties. If you keep being so sloppy, no man would want to marry you."

As soon as she said that, the crowd burst into laughter. After all, Heidi was wearing a custom-made gown with expensive jewelry. She looked impeccably exquisite.

In contrast, I had just come from a business trip in a remote mountain area, so I had not slept well for days and looked exhausted. The brandless casual clothes that I was wearing couldn't hold a candle to her glamorous outfit.

I continued to ignore them and turned to walk away, making it clear that I was not interested in responding to them. Sometimes, ignoring someone was the most effective comeback.

However, Francis stopped me and handed me a bank card. "Everyone says you went to work in the countryside because you were heartbroken over me, and that was why your life turned out badly. I should be a little charitable here. This is for you. Take it."