Chapter 2

Dad owned several hundred companies and consistently ranked among the top on lists of the wealthiest. I was the textbook definition of a trust fund princess.

When I first met Owen, his family was dirt poor. He couldn't afford tuition and walked around every day in shirts washed so many times they'd turned yellow.

But he worked incredibly hard. He was always at the top of his class academically.

By all rights, there was no way we should have attended the same school, but his grades were so exceptional he got a full scholarship. He juggled his studies while working multiple jobs to earn money.

He once told me he couldn't stand those good-for-nothing rich kids who'd never accomplished anything, so I hid my real background from him.

All for love, I gave up my comfortable life to eat food with him that I could barely choke down. I worked those menial jobs alongside him for wages I wouldn't have looked at twice before. I even had a huge fight with Dad over it.

I was an only child. Dad wanted to groom me as his second-in-command to help shoulder the family business. But I refused his plans, choosing instead to live on a measly 2,000 dollar monthly salary.

I must have lost my mind or gone crazy over love. Back then, my head was full of nothing but romance. I thought Owen could give me everything I wanted.

When I helped him start his company, I finally felt like I'd made it through the hard times. I could show him off to Dad and prove I'd found myself a capable man. But that was all it amounted to.

I'd been too naive, naively stupid.

After hanging up, I returned to the apartment Owen and I rented together. The place was decorated warmly and cozily, the result of all the years I'd lived here. On the nightstand was a property deed for a luxury villa.

It was a gift I'd prepared for Owen. I'd planned to surprise him with it after we went public with our relationship. I'd imagined Owen's reaction to the property deed countless times, but I never anticipated Lila becoming a variable in the equation.

I packed everything away and booked a flight for tomorrow at noon. I'd need the morning to hand off all my work responsibilities.

My phone chimed. It was a video from Lila.

In the clip, Owen carried Lila in his arms. Her face was flushed bright red as she clung tightly to his neck, burying her head against his chest. They looked every bit like a couple in love.

Colleagues stood nearby clapping and cheering, egging them on to kiss. The video was quickly deleted. Lila sent a follow-up message.

"Sorry, sent that to the wrong person."

Of course I didn't believe her. I knew perfectly well this was intentional on Lila's part. She'd pulled stunts like this plenty of times over the years.

Usually, I'd get wildly jealous, confront Owen, and then get lectured by him.

"Can you stop being so sensitive? Why don't you put that energy into your work instead?"

At first, I thought maybe I was overthinking things. But then one day when he was sick and delirious, he called out Lila's name. That was when I knew his heart had already shifted toward her.

I didn't feel much about it and blocked Lila without hesitation. Almost immediately, my phone rang. It was Owen.

"Charlotte, did you block Lila?"

He questioned me the moment he picked up, not bothering to ask what Lila had just done to me. I was used to it by now.

"Yeah," I replied flatly.

"Why did you block her? She's still your colleague, no matter what. How is she supposed to work with you after this?

"She thinks she did something wrong and keeps blaming herself. She's been crying nonstop. Unblock her right now and apologize to her."

I laughed bitterly instead of getting angry. "Do you even know what she just sent me?"

The other end of the line went silent for a few seconds. Owen was probably getting the full story. Soon enough, his dismissive voice came through.

"So she accidentally sent you a video. What's the big deal?"

Of course. Whenever Lila did something wrong, Owen always took her side. I let out a cold laugh.

"Owen, Charlotte is probably still upset about what happened today." Lila's crying voice came through the phone.

"I should be the one apologizing to her."

Owen cooed at her gently. "You don't need to. It's not your fault. Let her cool down on her own."

Then he hung up.

It had always been like this. After any conflict, he'd use the excuse of letting me "cool down" to go comfort Lila instead.

This time, though, I didn't feel angry. I simply drafted a resignation letter and sent it to the company's HR. Even though he'd threatened to fire me, the proper procedures still needed to be followed.

After sending the resignation, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. I lay down on the bed and slept peacefully.

In the early morning hours, I was woken by my phone ringing. It was Owen.

"Come pick me up. I'm still at the office and haven't left yet."

The background noise suggested he was somewhere lively. Before, I would have jumped out of bed without hesitation to get him. But now I just lazily rolled over.

"Call an Uber. There should be plenty of drivers around."

Owen picked up on my tone immediately. "You were asleep?"

"Yeah."

In the past, whenever Owen stayed out late, I'd worry and wait up for him. But now I just felt relieved.

"I'm hanging up."

I put my phone on silent and went back to sleep. I didn't even know what time Owen came home.

The next morning when I got up to use the bathroom, I found Owen sitting in the living room as if waiting for me. "Charlotte, did you submit a resignation letter last night?"

His tone was accusatory, as if I'd done something unforgivable. I nodded, not wanting to explain further.

"Charlotte, you're being ridiculous. I made Lila a shareholder because she's the heiress to Clearshaw Group! This is how we keep her around so she'll invest her money.

"Besides, I did this for the company. This is the only way she'll see I'm serious.

"We need to maintain company resources. We can't just start a company and then abandon it, right?"

These excuses might fool a child, but after all my years in the business world, I wasn't that naive anymore.

Did he even believe his own lies?

"Save it. If you're done, I need to go to the office and process my handover." I cut him off.

Owen's expression instantly darkened. "Charlotte, have some shame! You'd better actually resign and not use this as some jealous manipulation tactic!

"If your background can't compete with hers, you need to know your place. You think just because you're capable, you can call the shots? You think way too highly of yourself!"

I packed my things while listening to Owen's tirade, nodding along. "Yep, you're absolutely right."

"Don't you dare regret this!"