Chapter 05

Regret burned in her stomach. Felix paced through the house, talking nonstop. The words leaving his lips were cruel. Josephine cried in the corner of the living room, covering her face with her hands as if she had just buried her own daughter.

As she was being insulted, Chloe opened her lips in several attempts, but nothing she said could erase the stain she was leaving on her own family.

“There’s no need to waste words on her,” Josephine said, her fists clenched. “Your daughter destroyed everything. She ruined our family.”

“She needs to correct the mistake she made, or she leaves this house, and I never want to see her again,” Felix said, his face contorted with rage.

The accusation hung in the air. Chloe didn’t know if she could live with that guilt forever. She stood up, feeling her knees creak as she rose. She could tell them all the things she had kept in her heart: the neglect, the absence, the disregard. Not only that, but she had lived in Megan’s shadow her entire life; nobody ever cared about her—not even her birthday.

Likewise, she hadn’t spent the night with Ruan to get revenge. It was an accident she couldn’t resist. But nobody looked at her pain; they just wanted to pile on a little more suffering.

Chloe couldn’t bear their stares any longer and never wanted them to see or know how much they had hurt her. She ran up the stairs and locked herself in her room.

The desperation was palpable. The guilt was hers. Downstairs, her father’s voice continued to echo with anger. Her phone vibrated insistently in her bag. She cleared her throat before unlocking the screen and seeing the messages glaring at her.

It was a terrifying video.

The man speaking was her ex-boyfriend, Leonidas, who had broken up with her the night before. He knelt in front of a girl who wasn’t her, but when the camera zoomed in, she recognized the face immediately. It was Samantha, her college classmate, smiling and happy as Leonidas proposed to her.

Samantha laughed, turned around, extended her hand, and accepted the proposal.

It felt like a bucket of cold water over her shoulders. Ending the relationship the way it had ended was bad enough, but knowing Leonidas had been cheating on her for some time and was now ready to marry another woman made it unbearable.

Below the video, there was a message.

“Guess who’s still going to be a pathetic virgin? You waited so long for him to propose, and I fulfilled your dream first. That’s precisely what you deserve, Chloe.”

Chloe froze, standing in the middle of the room with her phone in her hands, not knowing what to do next. All the questions from the previous night were answered, one by one, slowly. Tears streamed down her face without stopping, unbearable pain tearing through her chest. She thought she would die. At least he had the decency to break up with her before proposing to Samantha.

This was what she deserved after betraying her own sister. The voice in her head wouldn’t stop accusing her.

Tears ran down her face, her dreams and aspirations quickly overshadowed by harsh reality. Leonidas had said he would propose to her, but he had other plans. She would barely remember what happiness felt like after that day.

Knocks on the door intensified her suffering. Felix’s voice broke through.

“Open this door immediately, Chloe. We’re not done talking yet.”

Before any of them could enter her room, she grabbed a suitcase and began packing her clothes. Her hands trembled slightly, but her determination remained firm. She moved quickly, filling the suitcase while trying to control her emotions.

Ready to escape, Chloe grabbed the suitcase and dragged it to the window. She opened it, intending to climb out, when her bedroom door opened. Startled, she looked up and found the gray eyes of the last person she intended to see that day—Ruan.

“You were really trying to run away after everything that happened?”

He fixed his empty eyes on her face.

“What are you doing here?” Her tone sounded dangerous. “You should be going after Megan. She’s the woman you love.”

“And I’ll love her forever, if that’s what you want to know,” he said, his voice almost breaking. “But she would rather not marry me. She left exactly as I said she would.”

“You can still get her back.” She dropped the suitcase, feeling a battle raging inside her. “Chase her and stop her from making a mistake.”

“You and I made a mistake, Chloe,” Ruan looked at her with a scowl before continuing. “Megan isn’t willing to forgive me, and I’m not willing to forgive you either.”

“You think I forced you to stay with me? Don’t be pathetic, Ruan."

"The sheets we slept on had bloodstains,” he interrupted, shame flashing across his face. “You shouldn’t have wasted your first time with your sister’s fiancé. It was the worst choice you ever made.”

“It doesn’t matter.” The last thing Chloe wanted was to argue or fight with him. Pushing aside all the embarrassment, she continued, “I apologize for ruining your relationship with Megan, but I need to go. My life isn’t here anymore. My father hates me, and I would rather not keep reliving the shame I caused my family.”

Chloe grabbed the suitcase handle again and began dragging it when Ruan’s sweaty hands grabbed her arm once more. That vividly reminded her of the previous night—the intensity, the way his presence ignited something inside her.

Chloe tried in vain to force him to let go.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she looked at him in alarm. “Ruan, let me go immediately.”

“No,” he said, leading her out of the room. “I planned this wedding for months, and now I need a bride.”

“A bride?” She shook her head as her feet stumbled on the steps. “I’m not going to marry you. I can’t do this.”

She shrugged, fighting against him.

“We’re getting married today. Your father agreed.” Chloe stared at him, confusion gripping her. “We made a mistake, and we’re going to pay for it. You’ll be my substitute bride.”