Chapter 2

The server quickly pushed me toward the exit. "Mr. Finch was kind enough to help clean up your mess, but there won't be a next time."

He glanced at my wrinkled pajamas with disgust. "This isn't a place for someone like you. Get out now."

I broke free from his grip and explained patiently, "I'm here looking for someone. Once I find him, I'll leave on my own."

The server scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I've seen plenty of social climbers like you. Do you even have the qualifications to enter a banquet like this? If you keep refusing to leave, I'm calling security!"

"Wait," Nathan said from behind him.

He looked at me and sighed helplessly. "She's here to see me. Let me talk to her."

Clara stood beside him, draping her arm over his shoulder in a possessive gesture. "Vivian, Nathan and I are about to get married. I would think anyone with a shred of dignity wouldn't come looking for their ex at a time like this."

Nathan's expression darkened as he couldn't help but lecture me. "Stop obsessing over me. Even if you wait for me ten years, I still won't fall in love with you.

"Being with you back then was just a mistake. Now that I finally have a chance to correct that mistake, I hope you can let go of the past sooner rather than later."

Clara looked me up and down, mockery flashing in her eyes. "I can understand why you'd want to come find Nathan. After all, he's a well-known entrepreneur now, and there's no shortage of people trying to curry favor with him."

Perhaps my wrinkled pajamas gave her confidence, because Clara continued arrogantly, "You graduated from a prestigious university too. How did you end up like this? If I were you, I'd be too ashamed to show my face in public!"

Nathan frowned and pulled out his phone. There was a hint of impatience in his voice. "If you think I wronged you when we broke up, I can give you a breakup settlement now. Would 50 thousand dollars be enough?"

His finger moved across the screen twice, then suddenly froze. "You blocked me?"

I was somewhat puzzled by his intense reaction. Wasn't blocking an ex after a breakup perfectly normal?

Besides, I had someone at home who was particularly jealous. If he knew I still kept my ex-boyfriend's contact information, he'd probably give me grief for ages.

"Wasn't it you who said you hoped I wouldn't come looking for you after we broke up?" I retorted.

Nathan's expression turned cold. He looked like he wanted to say something, but held back.

I added in a flat tone, "The breakup money isn't necessary either. I don't need it."

After being rebuffed repeatedly, Nathan's expression grew even worse. He said coldly, "Who are you pretending for? If it weren't for seeing how pathetic you look now, I wouldn't even bother talking to you."

Clara immediately began soothing him gently. "Oh, she did graduate from a prestigious university after all. Seeing her in such a sorry state now, we should think of it as helping her out."

"Clara, you're still so kind-hearted. If you ask me, what's the point of caring about a woman like this? Look at how wretched she looks. Just get lost already."

His tone was contemptuous, as if he'd forgotten that ten years ago, he was in an even worse state than I was.

In my previous life, Nathan's family disapproved of their son being with Clara precisely because she was a shady woman who liked taking shortcuts.

When I first met Nathan in university, he had just picked Clara up from a club and was being forced by his family to break up with her.

During Nathan's most depressed period, I was the one who stayed by his side, helping him get through it. He loved photography, so I used the money I'd planned for starting a business to buy him equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Even with my small build, I carried dozens of pounds of equipment behind him through freezing winters and scorching summers, hoping he might genuinely smile again.