Chapter 2

I was genuinely baffled. Why was he making such a big deal out of this?

Isn't deleting and blocking an ex the most normal thing in the world?

Besides, I had a very possessive husband at home. If he ever found out I kept my ex's contact info, he'd sulk for days.

"Didn't you say you never wanted to see or hear from me again after the breakup?"

Julian's face turned icy. He parted his lips to argue, but no words came out.

I added in a flat tone, "Keep your money. I don't need it."

Rejected again and again, Julian's expression turned sour. He sneered, "What's with the tough act? If you weren't looking so utterly pathetic right now, I wouldn't waste my breath talking to you."

Vivian stroked his arm in soothing mock-gentleness.

"Oh, come on, babe. She did go to a top university after all. Seeing her fallen so low, we should just treat this as charity."

"Vivian, you're always too kind," Julian scoffed, his tone dripping with disdain. "Why bother with a woman like this? Look at the state of her. Get lost, Chloe."

He sounded so arrogant, conveniently forgetting that ten years ago, he was a thousand times more pathetic than I was.

In our past life, Julian's family disapproved of Vivian because she was a manipulative social climber fueled by jealousy.

The very first time I met Julian in college, he had just dragged Vivian out of a shady nightclub, while his parents threatened to cut him off if he didn't break things off with her.

During the darkest period of his life, I was the one who stood by him and pulled him back onto his feet.

He was passionate about biotech and pharmaceutical development, so I spent my entire startup savings to purchase tens of thousands of dollars worth of lab equipment for him.

Freezing winters and boiling summers, I carried heavy testing kits and equipment behind him, doing whatever it took just to see him smile again.

Who would've thought that Julian was the one who confessed his feelings to me first?

I knew his past with Vivian. I had seen him zoning out while staring at old photos of them on his phone.

So when he asked me out, I asked him very seriously:

Did he truly let her go?

He held me tight back then, his voice unwavering.

"I never truly loved her. I only treated her as a close friend. The one I love is you, Chloe. Please be with me."

We dated for seven whole years. Even his fraternity brothers were stunned.

"He used to be head over heels for Vivian. We honestly didn't think you two would last this long."

What none of them knew was that behind closed doors, Julian avoided my questions about marriage countless times.

"Chloe, I'm just not the marrying type. Can't we just stay like this forever?"

It wasn't until his parents gave him an ultimatum that he finally caved and agreed to wed.

Yet on our honeymoon, the news broke: Vivian had swallowed pills and committed suicide.

Julian didn't rush to the hospital. Instead, he called a live press conference.

In front of the blinding cameras, his eyes burned red and his voice shook with hatred.

"Chloe tricked me. She drove my first love, Vivian, to her grave. She is an evil, calculating monster."

"Vivian left a note saying Chloe constantly humiliated and threatened her, telling her she was trash who didn't deserve me."

"Today, I'm using my life to expose Chloe's true colors to the world."

With that, he downed a handful of pills on live television.

As he collapsed, I saw a triumphant smile curling on his lips.

The suicide letter he left behind was filled with passionate declarations of love for Vivian. Not a single word was addressed to me.

At the very end, he wrote with trembling ink:

Vivian, my heart only ever belonged to you. Wait for me. I'm coming to find you.

My love for him burned down to cold, dead ashes at that exact second.

So, when we woke up reborn and Julian demanded a breakup, I didn't fight it.

Because I knew there was no stopping a fool determined to ruin himself.

I watched them get back together, deleted every trace of his contact info, and believed our paths would never cross again.

Yet here we were.

I made a move to leave, but Vivian wasn't about to let me off that easily. She wanted to humiliate me in front of everyone.

"You think you can just talk back to us dressed like a hobo? What an absolute joke!"

"Tell you what, I can hook you up with a gig here as a busser. If you learn how to serve people with a smile, you could easily clear five figures a year."

Someone eager to brown-nose her chimed in with a laugh, "This is a luxury downtown Seattle hotel! Working here is a privilege someone like you couldn't dream of. You'd better thank Miss Vivian!"

Trapped in the small crowd, I sighed helplessly.

"Thanks, but I already have a job."

"I work in pharmaceutical research."

The moment the words "pharmaceutical research" left my lips, Julian's gaze snapped back to me. His eyes flickered with complicated emotions, and his lips parted.

Looking away, he said coldly, "How much can lab research possibly make? You can't eat your hobbies for dinner. Out of courtesy for our past, I can set you up with a decent corporate position."

I blinked, instantly realizing he had gotten the wrong idea.