Chapter 3

Young love, it came on like a hurricane, fast and fierce.

Jake and I started dating, and, predictably, we were caught by a teacher, and our parents were called.

My parents were furious. They locked me in the house, forced me to break up with him, saying I had no self-respect, that I was ruining my life.

But back then, my mind was only on Jake.

For the first seventeen years, I'd lived like a puppet on a string, docile and obedient.

Jake was like a hammer, shattering the glass bubble of my life, dragging me headfirst into a raw, dangerous, yet strangely captivating new world.

He took me skipping class to bars, snuck me out to a hilltop to watch the stars at midnight, and awkwardly tried to feed me medicine when I caught a cold.

For the sake of "love," I jumped out of my second-story window and eloped with Jake.

At the train station, he held me tight, his heart hammering like a drum against my chest.

He asked, "Ava, are you scared of suffering with me?"

I looked up, my eyes full of light. "I'm not scared!"

"Good! I, Jake Miller, swear that if I ever betray you in this life, I'll die a miserable death!"

Those vows sounded so sincere back then.

The days that followed were indeed hard.

We lived in a cramped basement apartment, ate instant noodles, and huddled together for warmth in the winter.

He'd pick out the only fried egg for me and warm my icy feet with his stomach.

We were desperate to make something of ourselves.

Jake was sharp and ambitious. He caught onto several hot trends early, and his business took off like a rocket.

I, too, transformed from a sheltered girl who'd never lifted a finger to a fierce business partner, fighting side-by-side with him.

We moved out of the basement, into a penthouse, and eventually, a standalone villa.

The day he proposed, he rented every digital billboard in the city, and fireworks lit up the sky all night long.

I honestly thought that was our happily ever after, that we'd live the fairy tale ending forever.

Until that young female intern, Chloe Peterson, showed up.

She was young, vibrant, and her adoring gaze was exactly like mine had been all those years ago.

Jake fell for her.

Fights, silent treatments, throwing things—eventually, it all devolved into mutual destruction.

The lovers who once shared everything became enemies who wanted nothing more than to tear each other apart.