Chapter 1

When my best friend Ethan Walker's robotics company finished its first funding round, I invested five million dollars of my own money.

It came from years of patent royalties. Not a cent belonged to Nexora or the Grant family.

On the day of the contract signing, Ethan called. "Adrian, did you accidentally leave off a few zeros?"

I was in a conference room reviewing new server architecture. I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"There's only five hundred dollars in the account. The memo says, 'Good luck with the launch, buddy.'" Irritation edged Ethan's voice.

I went silent for two seconds, then opened my private bank account.

The five-million-dollar transfer I'd already submitted had been canceled and replaced with a new one for five hundred dollars.

Only two people had access to this account: me and my fiancée, Selena Grant.

Eight years ago, when the Grant family was close to bankruptcy, I'd thought marriage was only a matter of paperwork. I assumed we'd eventually share everything, so I made Selena an authorized signer on the account.

Over those eight years, she'd taken money from it several times, and I'd always let it slide.

But I never expected her to cancel my five-million-dollar transfer and then send Ethan five hundred dollars just to humiliate him.

I walked out of the conference room and headed straight for Selena's office.

She stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, listening to the CFO give his quarterly cash flow report. Dressed in a dark gray suit and speaking in her usual sharp, confident tone, she could have been the young female CEO on the cover of a business magazine.

As soon as the report ended, I walked in and placed my phone in front of her. "Explain this."

She glanced at the screen without changing expression. "Vertex Robotics is barely a year old. Its production line isn't even running yet, and it hardly has any clients. Putting five million into it doesn't look like an investment. It looks like you're giving money to a friend."

"It's my money," I said flatly.

"But you're Nexora's chief technology advisor." Selena closed her folder. "People will see your investment as Nexora's endorsement. If the company fails, I'll be the one dealing with the fallout."

I looked at her. "So you canceled it for me?"

"Adrian, you're thirty-one." Impatience flashed across her face. "Stop losing your judgment whenever a friend is involved. A real friend wouldn't care whether you gave him five million or five hundred dollars. It's the thought that counts."

I didn't bother arguing. I opened my account settings right in front of her and removed all her access.

The phone buzzed. Selena had clearly received the bank notification too.

She looked up at me. "You really have to draw the line this hard over something like this?"

"It's not about this." I transferred the five million to Ethan again. "It's about the fact that my decisions should be mine to make."

She let out a cold laugh. "Suit yourself. When you lose it all, don't come crying to me."

Three days later, Selena's childhood sweetheart, Julian Cross, held an investor launch for his new company at the Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

They'd reserved the entire ballroom floor. The place was packed with financial reporters, investors, socialites, and members of several old-money families.

A twenty-minute light show covered the hotel's outer wall before ending with the Cross Dynamics logo.

A strategic investment agreement signed by Nexora was displayed in the most prominent spot at the center of the ballroom.

One hundred million dollars. And that wasn't all. Julian also received a limited-edition sports car, a four-hundred-thousand-dollar watch, and a lease on an entire floor of office space on Madison Avenue.

Someone spotted the number on the agreement and whispered, "A hundred million? Cross Dynamics doesn't even have a finished product. Is Grant investing, or giving her childhood sweetheart a startup gift basket?"

I stood at the edge of the crowd, watching Selena personally fasten that watch onto Julian's wrist.

Her touch was gentle, and when she looked down, I saw a tenderness in her eyes that I hadn't seen in years.

Someone recognized me and joked, "Selena, five million was too risky when Adrian invested in his friend. But when it's Julian, you don't even blink at a hundred million?"

Selena raised her glass calmly. "That's different. Julian and I grew up together. This is his first real venture on his own, so of course I'll give him my full support."

Knowing laughter spread through the room. I laughed too.

So five million was "losing your judgment," but a hundred million was "full support."

Julian made his way through the crowd toward me, deliberately raising his wrist. "Adrian, what do you think of the watch? Selena had it shipped all the way from Geneva. She said my first venture deserved the best keepsake."

"Not bad," I said.

Pretending not to notice my tone, he continued, "Has Selena ever given you anything special?"

The air went still for a moment.

Everyone knew Selena treated our relationship like a business deal, not a romance.

The only birthday gift she'd ever given me was a three-hundred-dollar belt when the company went public.

She hadn't even come home that day. Her assistant had simply left the shopping bag on my desk.

Later, Selena told me there was no point wasting money on gifts for men. I'd let it go.

Someone quickly tried to smooth things over. "Adrian and Selena have been engaged for eight years. Gifts don't matter between them. Julian's just a friend. A watch means nothing."

Selena offered no explanation. She just swirled her glass and looked at me.

I knew that look too well.

She expected me to back down like I always did, then tell her everything was fine.

Instead, I smiled. "Anything else on the agenda for the launch?"

Julian grinned. "Of course."

Ten minutes later, the host announced that the Cross and Blake families were discussing a marriage alliance.

The large screen behind him showed the logos of both family funds. Julian didn't even look at it. His eyes stayed on Selena.

"The Blakes are offering me two hundred million and two board seats." He raised his glass, smiling as though it were all a joke. "Selena, if you can't bear to let me go, you still have time to stop it."

The room fell silent for a second before everyone burst into laughter. "Kiss him! Selena, steal him back!"

Several media cameras swung directly toward me.

Everyone knew I was Selena's fiancé, yet no one seemed to think the jokes were inappropriate.

To them, I was just the Grant family's quiet tech advisor. I owned no shares, controlled no money, and came from no family that mattered.

Most importantly, Selena didn't stop them. She only smiled as if the whole thing were a harmless joke.

I set down my wine glass and walked toward the exit.

Someone called my name behind me. I didn't turn around.

If staying with her meant swallowing one humiliation after another just to prove I was mature, there was no reason to stay at all.