Chapter 2

“Once I get back, how about I make it up to you with a honeymoon in Fernford? Just the two of us this time. We won’t take anyone else.”

He gave me a brief hug as if to reassure me, then eagerly returned to the banquet hall to discuss the travel plans with my parents.

I stared at the detailed itinerary I’d spent more than two weeks putting together on my phone. It felt as though someone had carved out a piece of my heart.

True to his word, Adrian moved the trip up to three days later.

For those three days, I barely saw Adrian or my parents at home.

Elena was thrilled. She practically posted on social media eight times a day.

Whenever they returned, they came home carrying bags upon bags of clothes and accessories for Elena’s vacation outfits. There was barely any room left to walk.

So I stayed late at the office instead.

When I finally went home three days later, the house was empty.

Elena had posted a photo of the four of them at the airport.

“The whole family is off to Valehaven!”

I opened the live photo attached to her post and heard my parents’ voices in the background.

“Good thing Madison didn’t notice that the mystery boxes had been switched. Otherwise, how could the four of us have enjoyed this trip together?”

My fingers tightened around my phone.

I stood there, frozen.

At that moment, a message from Adrian appeared on my screen.

“Madison, I had my assistant calculate and we should get a few hundred thousand dollars from the wedding. I added some money of my own and transferred $200,000 to Elena.

“It’s her first time traveling abroad. She’ll want to buy things, so how can she go without enough spending money?

“I deducted it from your year-end bonus, sweetheart.”

He even added a cute kiss emoji at the end.

It was one of the emojis Elena used all the time.

I stared at the screen, my heart sinking as though it had been weighed down by a thousand-pound stone and dropped into an icy abyss.

I could barely breathe.

A new comment suddenly appeared beneath Elena’s post. It was from one of her college roommates.

“Wow, Elena! Is that the emerald bracelet you’re wearing? The one that was sold for a fortune to an anonymous billionaire at an auction in Paris eighty years ago?”

Elena replied:

“Yep. It’s the Whitmore family heirloom that’s passed down exclusively to the wives of the Whitmore men.”

She never mentioned who the bracelet actually belonged to.

Then, to make matters worse, Adrian liked her comment.

A moment later, Mom and Dad did the same.

I stared at my phone until my eyes slowly filled with tears.

When I finally looked up, I wiped them away and submitted my resignation through my phone.

Adrian wasn’t at the office, so I followed the usual procedure and processed my resignation through his account.

My resignation notice was one month.

That month would be my final deadline to put an end to this relationship.

That evening, I was working late in my study when Elena suddenly started a video call.

The moment I answered, the lively chatter of my family filled the otherwise quiet room.

Elena sat on the edge of the plush bed in their presidential suite and waved at me.

“Hey, Madison! Miss you!

“I just posted my latest video. Go like it for me!”

Mom’s helpless sigh came from somewhere off-camera.

“You, honestly. Don’t bother your sister while she’s working.

“You’re always so mischievous. What will your future mother-in-law do with you once you get married?”

Adrian sat quietly behind Elena, his head lowered as he checked his emails on his phone. He didn’t even look up when he heard my voice.

But then he suddenly raised his head.

“Elena’s still young. We need to be careful when choosing someone for her. She shouldn’t rush into marriage.”

My heart skipped a beat.