Chapter 1

My best friend, Vivian Sibley, sent me a message just as I tossed some crumbs into the trash.

"Queenie, put next Monday as your last day!"

She even sent me a photo of her resignation letter.

A second later, my boyfriend, Nigel Gabbard, texted me too. "Did you finish your resignation letter?"

I stared at my phone, still unable to accept that they had betrayed me.

The three of us had grown up together. Vivian had always been by my side since we were kids, and I treated her like my own little sister.

When she couldn't find a job, I got her into my company. I trained her with patience and even introduced my clients to her.

She often thanked me in front of other people.

Nigel had always said he wanted to marry me. He confessed to me when we were 18, and we had been together ever since. It had been almost seven years.

"The birthday purse Nigel gave you was something Vivian didn't want. There's a mark inside it. He's liked Vivian since he was a kid."

The moment I heard my orange cat, Marmalade, speaking in my mind, I rushed to the closet and checked the purse.

Sure enough, scratched into the bottom lining were two letters. "VS."

Those were Vivian Sibley's initials.

In that instant, I finally woke up.

The love and friendship I had treasured were both lies.

"But that purse is worth a three-million-dollar prize." Marmalade's voice said again.

I spun around and saw him jump onto the windowsill and lick his paw. Then he continued, "I heard the big white cat at the boutique talking about a serial number giveaway. The winning number belongs to that purse. But Nigel never left a phone number at the store, and the promotion ends in three days!"

I quickly pulled up my chat history with Nigel, found the boutique's address, and decided to claim the prize after work tomorrow.

Nigel had always wanted me to pay the 100,000-dollar down payment on a house while he covered the rest of the mortgage.

But now I wouldn't need his help anymore. I could pay for the whole house myself.

Just then, Nigel called me. "Queenie, are you asleep? Why didn't you reply to Vivian or me? Did you finish your resignation letter? Vivian said Palmora is amazing. I've already booked our flights for next week, so don't back out on me."

Again, he was listening to Vivian.

He had explained it to me before, "We're a couple, but Vivian is single. We should take better care of her and let her have her way."

I believed them, so I never thought anything was wrong.

"I finished it. I was taking a shower, so I didn't reply sooner," I answered casually.

Nigel laughed. "That's great! We're finally going to make our childhood dream of traveling around the world come true. Get some sleep. Love you forever!"

His voice was as gentle as always, like he was comforting a little kid.

If I had heard those sweet late-night words before today, I would have felt warm inside.

Now they only made me sick.

Starting today, I would never waste another second on this rotten love or this fake friendship.