chapter 1

Seven days before my wedding, I was trying on my dress when I saw a post from Xie Chen’s ex-girlfriend.

Their fingers were intertwined.

The caption read, “Still in love.”

Three minutes later, Xie Chen replied, “I want to lose myself in you again.”

It was a wonderfully romantic way to announce their reunion—if I had not been Xie Chen’s wife.

The bridal consultant watched me stare at my phone in silence. “Ms. Ji, is there something about the dress you don’t like?”

I looked up at my reflection, dressed head to toe in white.

The gown had been custom-made in my favorite style. I truly had loved it. That was why I had taken a photo to send Xie Chen, only to stumble across this absurd betrayal instead.

I forced a smile. “Something came up.”

I walked into the corridor and called him. He declined the call, then sent a message: “In a meeting.”

Right. He had left on a business trip two days ago, claiming there was a crucial project that required his personal attention.

Apparently it was crucial—there must have been billions riding on that project in bed.

He called back an hour later.

His voice was gentle. “Momo, what’s wrong?”

From his tone, he clearly did not know that his affair had already been exposed.

I had known Xie Chen for seven years, from the age of twenty-one to twenty-eight.

I had stayed with him from the days when he owned nothing to the present, when he ran two companies. He was no tycoon, but he had become somebody in City A.

We had first met when I was fresh out of college and looking for work.

He was three years older and had spent three years in the workforce before striking out on his own. His company was new and desperately short-staffed—especially short of naive graduates like me, who could be fed grand promises.

One glorious future painted by him was enough to keep me there for seven years. I drank with clients until I vomited, revised proposals until day and night blurred together, and refused every company that tried to poach me with a higher salary.

I rose from intern to company president.

Our romance, meanwhile, began with a one-night stand.

Two years ago, we both got drunk at a business dinner. When we woke the next morning, he said, “Ji Mo, I’ll take responsibility.”

I no longer remembered exactly how I had felt, but I must have been delighted. By then, I had already loved him in secret for three years.

He was easy to fall for. He had the sort of face that inspired love at first sight.

We had watched dawn break over City A while rushing to finish proposals. We had lain beneath an endless sky after drinking with clients, and together we had endured contempt, ridicule, and every attempt to stand in our way.

Once, after entertaining clients until the small hours, we passed City Square on the way home.

He stopped the car and pulled me into the center of the plaza, where we lay down side by side.

With alcohol on his breath, he told me, “Momo, one day I’ll move our headquarters here.”

It was an elite district where apartments averaged a hundred thousand yuan per square meter.

I laughed. “Why don’t you get some sleep? You’re tired enough. You can have anything you want in your dreams.”

He turned toward me and looked straight into my eyes. “I’ll buy you a huge apartment here too, as a reward for never giving up on me.”

The entire night sky seemed reflected in his eyes. His smile was almost dazzling, yet his voice was utterly serious.

I think that was the moment I fell completely in love with him.