Chapter 2

Just then, my phone buzzed with a notification for a new errand request.

The address was the Pinnacle Club, the most exclusive private club in Kingsport.

I switched back to the vlog and saw that the location tagged in the video was the Pinnacle Club.

My heart sank. Was this fate?

After a moment of thought, I wiped the tears from my face and accepted the request.

I had to get to the bottom of this. Some truths had to be torn open face‑to‑face, no matter how much they bled.

When I reached the private room at the club, the door was slightly ajar, and bursts of laughter and teasing drifted out.

"Jen, you're something else. Three years of playing the broke girl, eating street food every day and living in a basement. That must've been rough.

"But your plan totally worked. The second your parents found out you were going to marry a delivery guy, they panicked and agreed to let you marry Cody overnight."

The speaker was Jenna's best friend, Tori Hastings.

Jenna gave a careless laugh with a hint of disgust. "Every second in that place was torture. But it was all worth it. If I hadn't played hardball, the old man never would've agreed to take in Cody after his family went bankrupt."

Cody's fawning voice followed. "What about that boyfriend you were living with? Ian something? I heard he did your laundry and cooked for you every day."

The room went quiet for a beat.

Jenna scoffed. "Ian Colby? I'll just get rid of him. Poor guys like him are easy to fool."

Cody looked pleased with himself. He took her hand and said sweetly, "Jen, you're the best. You put up with so much for me."

I stood outside the door, cold all over. It was a scorching day, yet I felt as if I had fallen into ice water.

I looked down at the calluses on my fingertips that had not yet faded, and my mind drifted back to last winter.

We had not turned on the heat so we could save money. My hands were covered in red, swollen chilblains from washing clothes in cold water for so long, and the pain was excruciating.

When Jenna came home from work, she pressed my hands against her chest, her eyes red, and kissed every sore.

Her voice was choked with tears. "Ian, no one in the world has ever treated me better than you. When I have money, I'm going to buy you a big house and hire ten housekeepers. You'll never have to touch cold water again."

I secretly picked up another late‑night shift the very next day because of those words.

When she said she wanted an expensive set of business reference books, I spent an entire month making extra deliveries in the freezing wind without telling her.

Now that same woman, whose eyes had once been so full of tenderness for me, openly mocked how cheap I was.

I pulled myself out of the memory, swallowed the bitterness, and pushed the door open.

The laughter stopped at once.

The moment Jenna saw me, shock and panic flashed in her eyes. She shot to her feet on instinct, with Cody's hand still resting on her waist.

"Ian, what are you doing here?"

Cody stayed on the sofa and raised an eyebrow, a clear challenge in his eyes. I realized at once that he was the one who had placed the request.

I did not let my gaze linger on him and looked straight at Jenna. She seemed flustered and shot me a warning look, silently telling me not to say anything.

In three years together, this was the first time I had ever seen Jenna lose her composure. Even when we first met, at her lowest point, she had always carried herself with a cool reserve.

Just as I was about to speak, Cody cut in impatiently.

"You're the delivery guy, right? Why are you just standing there?

"Drop the stuff off and go."