Love's Bitter Price

Summer's POV:

The smoke rings choked me until I could not stop coughing. Everyone in the private room turned to stare at me.

Alan Rivers watched me with pointed interest, waiting for my answer.

I looked at him calmly. "I choose the million dollars."

Alan was clearly satisfied with my response. He said with a scoff, "Good girl. Summer, as long as you behave, there'll always be a place for you by my side."

With a grand wave of his hand, he signed a check for one and a half million. At least buying out seven years of my youth came at a decent price.

Mocking laughter filled the room.

"As expected of someone who's been by Alan's side for seven years. She knows her place."

"Not like mine! She nags me every day to marry her without even considering what her status is!"

"If you ask me, when it comes to picking women, you've got to learn from Alan!"

The young woman in Alan's arms pouted. "If Summer has a place in your heart, then what about me?"

Alan smiled indulgently, took a sip of wine, and passed it to Leilani Laurent by the mouth.

"You're different from her. You're my precious darling."

Leilani was indeed different from me. Unlike me, who clung desperately to Alan's side for years, Leilani had merely brushed past him at a flower shop entrance while he was buying me a birthday gift.

Just one glance was enough. Alan fell for her at first sight.

He even skipped my 29th birthday celebration with zero explanation that evening. Alan disappeared completely from my life for a month, then brought Leilani back with him.

It took me seven years to earn a place in Alan's heart. She needed only seven seconds.

Leilani smiled and handed me a glass of wine. "Summer, I just got here and don't understand anything. You'll have to take good care of me from now on!"

I took the glass. The doctor's instructions from this afternoon flashed through my mind, and the words slipped out of me. "Pregnant women can't drink alcohol."

Leilani was not satisfied with that answer. She lifted her head to look at me, her doe eyes appearing innocent and harmless. She looked naive yet alluring. "But the baby's going to be aborted anyway, no? Or do you just dislike me, so you refuse to drink what I'm offering you?"

I instinctively glanced at Alan. He frowned at me. "Summer, don't try playing games with me. Put away all those petty schemes of yours and drink it now!"

I took the glass and drained it in one gulp. The alcohol burned, making me cough continuously, but Leilani still was not done. She forced me to drink three more glasses in succession.

Only then was Alan satisfied. Leilani sat in his lap, smiling at him sweetly. "Alan, don't you have something else to announce?"

Alan's lips curved into a smile. "Feeling jealous, huh? I haven't forgotten."

He tapped the table and spoke seriously. "From today on, Leilani is your future Mrs. Rivers! I've already proposed to her."

Alan raised Leilani's hand. The matching diamond rings on their fingers glinted with dazzling light. The moment he finished speaking, cheers erupted in the room, the noise deafening.

Leilani looked at me, her eyes full of innocent sincerity. "Summer, aren't you happy for us?"

Her tactics seemed crude to me. Over the years, women of all types and methods had surrounded Alan, and I had seen them all. Alan was not blind to her pretense either. He simply chose to indulge her.

"Summer, say congratulations."

I forced out a smile and said word by word, "Congratulations on your engagement. I wish you happiness and a long, lasting love."