Proposed for Revenge

I became Luke's girlfriend when his company was on the brink of collapse.

For five years, I secretly poured a lot of money into his business.

On the eve of his company's IPO, he finally proposed, promising to make me the happiest woman in the world.

But then, I accidentally came across his messages with a friend on his computer.

"I'm marrying Chloe just to piss Seraphina off."

"The company's about to go public. I'll be a billionaire soon. I'm sure Seraphina won't just watch me marry that woman."

"As soon as Seraphina agrees to come back from abroad for me, I'll break up with Chloe and marry her instead."

Turns out, Luke only proposed to me to make his first love jealous.

I scoffed. Then I immediately called my dad to pull all the investments.

"Dad, withdraw the shares from Luke's company in a few days."

With the company's IPO imminent, my dad pulling out would be catastrophic for Luke.

"Did that kid hurt you? I'll deal with him!"

My dad has always doted on me. He didn't even ask why, and was immediately ready to confront Luke.

I managed a bitter smile.

"Dad, this is something I want to handle myself."

My voice caught in my throat.

To keep my dad from worrying, I quickly hung up.

My eyes stayed fixed on the alarming chat logs on the computer screen in front of me.

Luke and I attended the same university.

During our freshman year, when some guys were harassing me, Luke stepped in without hesitation. He fought them off and ended up with a bloody head.

But it was seeing him like that which made me fall deeply in love with him.

Growing up, besides my dad, he was the first man who had ever thrown himself into danger for me like that.

So in college, I pursued him for a long time. He never said yes.

Looking back, I was really pathetic.

His indifference only made me want him more, making me believe such a man was truly captivating.

It wasn't until after graduation, when his company went bankrupt and he was millions in debt, that he finally started to come around, with me by his side through his darkest days.

That's when he finally agreed to be my boyfriend.

I then pleaded with my dad to use our family's resources to secretly help him from behind the scenes, getting his company back on track.

Five long years, and his company was finally on the verge of going public.

He even proposed to me the day his IPO application was approved.

I thought we were finally going to get our happy ending.

Who knew it was all just a ploy to make his first love jealous?

And I was nothing but a pawn in his game.

On our wedding day, I would probably be the laughingstock of everyone.

Luke was out entertaining clients today. He must have left in a hurry, forgetting to log out of SnapChat on his computer.

Even though those chat logs made my heart ache so much I could barely breathe, I seized the chance to open his Ins feed.

I'd never seen his Ins before.

He seemed to never post, not even sweet photos of us when we traveled.

But opening his Ins now, I discovered he did post.

He had just always blocked me.

Soon, I found a picture of a girl on his feed.

Only her fair wrist was visible, but the stunning emerald bracelet on it was particularly dazzling.

I'd seen it in his suit pocket not long ago.

I thought he was finally getting romantic, planning to put it on my wrist at our wedding.

Instead, it was a gift for another woman.

Turns out, he wasn't unromantic.

He just wasn't romantic with me.

Just then, my phone rang.

"Chloe, hurry over! Luke's in a fight!"

I could faintly hear Luke's angry shouts over the phone.

"You bastards, you need to apologize to my girlfriend!"

My heart gave a violent lurch.

I wasn't even there; the girlfriend he was talking about definitely wasn't me.

I wanted to know what happened tonight, so I grabbed my jacket. As I went to the shoe rack, I saw the scarf I'd made him lying on the floor.

Looking closely, there were clear footprints on it.

I'd spent over ten days knitting it, pricking my fingers countless times, and then given it to him myself.

But he didn't value it at all.

I bent down, picked up the scarf, and expressionlessly tossed it into the trash can.

Then I hailed a cab and headed to the bar where Luke was fighting.

I saw Luke with his arm around a woman, tears streaming down her face.

On her fair wrist, she wore that same gorgeous green emerald bracelet.

"Those guys accidentally spilled a drink on Luke's friend, so Luke started fighting them."

"Luke's had a lot to drink tonight. I'm worried he'll cause trouble." Luke's friend quickly explained, rushing over to me..

When I heard the reason, I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

I remembered once accompanying him to a client dinner. When the business deal fell through, the client deliberately spilled wine on my face.

He didn't get angry then.

Instead, he blamed me for being naive, saying I ruined the cooperation.

Seeing Luke about to charge at the other group again, his friend quickly rushed over to stop them.

"Luke! That's enough! You're getting married soon, don't make a scene!"

Unexpectedly, Luke roughly shook off his friend.

"Who the hell is getting married?!"

"This jerk spilled a drink on my girlfriend! You think this is just going to slide?!"

"No apology? Nobody's leaving, damn it!"

Luke's eyes were hazy with drink, and he swayed as he walked.

His words caused an awkward silence among some of his friends who knew me.

Their gazes turned to me.

I gave a cold laugh, then stepped forward and slapped the man confronting Luke squarely across the face.

My slap silenced the entire room.

"You damn hag! How dare you hit me?!"

After a moment of stunned silence, the man exploded in fury, lunging at me.

I just wanted to see Luke's reaction.

Would he still protect me as he did back then, fighting for me without a second thought?

However, Luke actually shoved me by the shoulder, roaring:

"What are you doing here messing things up?! Haven't I had enough trouble today?!"

"You're useless and only make things worse!"

Luke's words completely chilled my heart.

He even looked at the other man indignantly and said, "We're even now! Get lost!"

The other man was somewhat rational and didn't continue the confrontation, eventually cursing under his breath and leaving.

After they left, Luke collapsed heavily onto the sofa.

Luke's friend awkwardly explained to me, "Chloe, don't overthink it. Luke was just drunk and running his mouth. This is Seraphina, she was Luke's high school classmate and just got back from abroad today."

I cast a cool glance at Seraphina. Tears still clung to her lashes.

She looked as if she'd suffered some immense grievance.

"Seraphina, this is Luke's fiance-"

But before his friend could finish the introduction, Luke suddenly sat up from the sofa.

"Colleague! What fiance?!"

This sudden stab made my whole body tremble.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became incredibly awkward.

After a long moment of silence, Luke's friend quickly tried to smooth things over, offering me a glass of wine:

"Today's a day worth celebrating! Come on, let's raise a toast!"

Unexpectedly, Luke, who had just slumped back, sat up again, glaring furiously at his friend.

"Don't you know she's allergic to alcohol?!"

He was indeed aware of my alcohol intolerance.

But what surprised me was Seraphina's reaction next.

"Luke, you're drunk. Mike is toasting Chloe, not me."

Luke then looked relieved.

"Oh, well, she can drink! She can drink a lot! Make her have a few more glasses."

Hearing that, I felt something in my chest shatter with a painful crack.

I remember years ago at a dinner, I told him before we went that I was allergic to alcohol.

But once we arrived, he immediately told me to toast each client one by one.

That day, I ended up in the hospital, and he even blamed me for being dramatic, for collapsing after so little alcohol.

Yet, despite such a harsh lesson, he still hadn't remembered my alcohol allergy.

It could only mean that he truly never cared about me.

I came here tonight still holding onto a last shred of hope.

But now, it was completely pulverized.

At this point, Seraphina stood up and said to me:

"Since you're here, you should take Luke home. I just got back to the country, so I can't take care of him tonight."

"Oh, and tomorrow when he wakes up, remember to make him a ginger-honey tea. He loves it. If he doesn't have it, he'll have a headache all day."

"Don't forget to cover him with a blanket at night, either. He always kicks off the covers when he drinks too much."

Every word from Seraphina told me that she seemed to know Luke better than I did.

Today, she was merely dumping this mess on me.

I stared at Seraphina's innocent eyes for a long time, truly wanting to slap her.

But in the end, I held back.

I wanted to see how long they would keep up this act.

On the way home, I couldn't help but cry.

Five years of dating, and if you count the four years I chased him.

I had loved this man for a full nine years.

But this was the result.

It also brought back the chat logs I had seen earlier.

As long as Seraphina was willing to come back from abroad for him, he would dump me and marry her.

Today, his goal was achieved.

No wonder he had rushed out in such a hurry this afternoon; he must have gone to the airport to pick her up.

Just then, Luke's phone vibrated. I opened it and saw a message from Seraphina.

But my gaze immediately zeroed in on Seraphina's profile picture.

They had matching profile pictures! Probably changed during that gathering just now.

I remembered last year, I found a famous cartoonist to draw a beautiful avatar for Luke and me.

I excitedly asked Luke to change to the new avatar.

But he just tore into me, calling me childish and telling me to focus on my work.

Yet now, he had a much more childish one with Seraphina.

Then, I felt a small box in Luke's suit pocket.

I carefully took it out.

Inside was indeed a dazzling pink diamond ring.

Engraved on the back was Seraphina's name.

I had asked him countless times for a pink diamond engagement ring.

But he always said money needed to be spent on the company.

However, he had just been waiting for Seraphina all along, to engrave her name on this most important ring.

I tried to wipe away the tears that were spilling from my eyes again. Then, while Luke was sound asleep, I used his fingerprint to unlock his phone and opened Seraphina's message.

"My darling, don't forget to help me choose a wedding dress tomorrow."

Boom! Seeing that message, my head buzzed.

I'd brought up wedding dresses many times, and he always told me to pick one out myself, refusing to accompany me with the excuse that the IPO was imminent.

The truth was, he didn't care what I bought at all.

Because, to him, I was never going to wear that wedding dress.

At that moment, I truly wanted to cry my heart out.

But seeing the driver still in front, I could only dig my nails into my thigh, trying desperately to hold back my tears.

My nails were already deeply embedded in my flesh.

I could only let the physical pain replace the pain in my heart.

And desperately try to let go of this love I had clung to for nine years.

The next morning, I still followed Seraphina's instructions and made him ginger-honey tea.

However, he took one sip and spat it out.

"What the hell is this? Why did you add ginger?!"

"Don't you know I hate the smell of ginger the most?!"

But I distinctly remembered Seraphina saying he loved the taste of ginger-honey tea the most.

Soon, I understood.

He didn't like the taste of ginger-honey tea; he liked Seraphina's taste.

He liked his first love's taste.

I hadn't slept a wink last night, but I'd come to understand a lot about this relationship. Seeing him like this now, for once, I wasn't angry. I poured the entire bowl of ginger-honey tea into the trash.

Luke put on his shoes and said coldly, "The company's about to go public. I'm busy. Don't cause any more trouble for me."

He turned and slammed the door behind him.

I knew he was going to accompany Seraphina to pick out a wedding dress.

I quickly had someone find out which bridal shop Seraphina had chosen.

Actually, I didn't even need to investigate. Without any surprise, Luke had chosen the most expensive and exclusive bridal shop in the city.

It was the same shop I had visited four or five times already.

Three days ago, I had ordered the most expensive wedding dress in the country there.

Today was supposed to be the day the dress arrived.

However, when I arrived at the entrance of the bridal shop, I happened to see Seraphina wearing that very dress, twirling in front of Luke.

Luke was discussing something with the store manager.

"Luke, I really love this wedding dress; I want this one!" Seraphina sweetly clung to Luke's arm, pouting playfully.

Luke, meanwhile, was earnestly negotiating with the manager.

"Call that lady and tell her I'm willing to pay an extra fifty thousand and compensate her with another fifty thousand, as long as she agrees to let me have this dress."

Hearing that, I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

Turns out, for his first love, he could be so generous.

The manager was naturally swayed by Luke's offer and turned to go into the back, saying she would call me.

I slowly walked up behind Luke.

Seraphina saw me first; her face immediately turned pale. She poked Luke's arm and looked at him with a pitiable expression.

Luke then turned around, saw me, and his brow furrowed instinctively.

"With so much going on at the company, why aren't you there? What are you doing here?!"

However, he showed not a hint of embarrassment. Instead, he immediately launched into an indignant interrogation.

I looked at him quietly, not wanting to argue.

Last night, I had cried all my tears for him.

It wasn't worth being sad for him anymore.

Seeing my silence, Luke pinched the bridge of his nose and finally spoke again.

"Chloe, as you can see, the person I truly love is Seraphina."

"Don't make a scene. I'll give you some money, and I hope you can leave gracefully."

My gaze remained fixed on his eyes.

I had come here today to ask him one last question.

"Luke, I just want to know, all these years, did you ever truly love me?"

Luke listened, and a hint of disdainful smile appeared on his lips.

"Chloe, I know you love me to death."

"But today, in front of Seraphina, I have to tell you honestly, I have never loved you."

"I only agreed to be with you because I felt sorry for you, chasing me for so many years."

Although it was the answer I expected, Luke's words were even more heartless than I had imagined.

Well. Good.

If he could be so ruthless.

Why couldn't I?

Just then, the manager came out from the back.

"Mr. Luke, I'm sorry..."

Before she could finish, she saw me and looked startled. "Oh, Miss Dawson, you're here. This gentleman, he..."

Before she could finish, I cut her off. "It's fine. Give the wedding dress to this lady."

"I hope they find happiness."

With that, I turned and left the bridal shop. I called my dad.

"Dad. On Luke's wedding day, tell him about withdrawing the investment."