Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
My boyfriend, Ethan, believed in hard science.
My best friend, Rachel, believed in astrology.
Rachel checked her horoscope apps every single morning.
She let the stars dictate what colors she wore and which direction she should walk when leaving the house.
Ethan despised it. He argued with her every chance he got.
He had complained to me more than once.
"She's out of her mind. You're the only person on earth patient enough to put up with her!"
Stuck in the middle, I could only offer an awkward smile and keep the peace.
Until Thanksgiving night. Ethan booked my favorite rooftop restaurant.
In front of all our closest friends, he dropped to one knee before me.
He looked up at me with eyes full of tenderness.
"Chloe, marry me."
My eyes welled with tears. The word "yes" was on the tip of my tongue.
Then he reached into the velvet box and pulled out a pack of condoms.
"Rachel told me that if I proposed with this instead of a ring, we'd be together forever."
The room instantly erupted into roaring laughter.
Rachel leaned against the table, clutching her stomach as she laughed until she could barely breathe.
"See? I told you proposing with condoms was the move! Look at her, she was ready to say yes instantly!"
"Ethan! I won this bet fair and square!"
The warmth drained from my body, leaving me freezing cold.
I looked at the relieved smirk on Ethan's face, and the truth finally hit me.
He had lost a bet.
And I was the punchline.
Ethan and I had been together for five years.
I had been by his side when he was a nobody, right up until he became the hottest new name in the tech industry.
During our hardest days, we shared a single piece of bread in a cramped, drafty studio apartment.
Back then, he would hold me tight.
"Chloe, I swear I'm going to make you the happiest woman alive."
I truly thought tonight was the start of that promised happiness.
I had been choking back tears, my hand reaching out to him.
And he handed me a box of condoms.
"Bro, you're insane! I can't believe you actually did it!"
"Don't cry, sister! It's way more practical than a diamond ring anyway. You guys can use it tonight!"
Rachel walked over, bumping her shoulder against Ethan's.
"You lost, Ethan! Don't you dare forget what you promised me!"
Ethan stood up. There wasn't an ounce of embarrassment on his face. He even turned his head and shot me a casual grin.
I looked at the two most important people in my life.
A bitter, suffocating lump rose in my throat. I couldn't squeeze out a single word.
"You guys have fun. I'm not feeling well."
I grabbed my purse. Before the tears could spill over, I spun on my heel and walked out of the private room.
Behind me, their voices drifted through the air, completely unbothered.
"Ethan, aren't you going after her? Chloe looked genuinely pissed."
Ethan's voice was completely flat.
"I'll talk her down later. You guys know how she is. She always caves."
"Besides, if I actually tied the knot, what would happen to Rachel?"
Rachel's playful, flirtatious voice followed immediately.
"A career woman like Chloe doesn't have time to mess around with you anyway.
If I don't keep an eye on you, some random girl might snatch you away. How would I face Chloe then?"
She paused, her tone laced with pride.
"By the way, I personally picked out that box for Ethan. After all, nobody knows his size better than me!"
Laughter exploded inside the room again.
A wave of humiliation propelled my feet forward.
As I pushed through the restaurant doors into the cold night, I pulled out my phone and sent a text.
"About the arranged marriage. I accept."Ethan's voice came shouting from behind me.
"Chloe!"
He caught up with me, slipping his heavy coat over my shoulders.
"Why are you running off? It's freezing out here. Throw a tantrum if you want, but don't freeze yourself to death."
I shoved him away with all my strength.
"Ethan, does treating me like a complete clown make you feel accomplished?"
He frowned, annoyance instantly taking over his face.
"Why are you being so emotionally unstable?
Rachel said your mercury is in retrograde this week.
I didn't believe her, so I made a bet with her."
"Now look at me. I lost twice in one night."
A bitter laugh escaped my lips, but the tears fell faster.
I remembered when we first started dating. I used to suffer from terrible insomnia because of work stress.
He would clumsily read me bedtime stories, softly humming off-key melodies until I finally fell asleep.
Where did that man go? The one who put my feelings above everything else?
Seeing my silence, Ethan's tone turned harsh.
"Do you have any idea how much money I spent booking your favorite restaurant for your birthday?
I invited all our friends. You walking out and pulling this face—are you trying to humiliate me?"
His self-righteous interrogation left me stunned for a second.
"When you publicly proposed to me with a box of condoms, did you stop to think about how humiliated I would be?"
He froze. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, his voice softening slightly.
"Rachel read it in the stars, okay? I lost the bet, and a deal's a deal. Besides, who told you to take it so seriously?"
"Right. I was the only fool who took it seriously."
I muttered under my breath.
I looked at the man I had loved for five years, and suddenly, everything felt completely pointless.
"Ethan," I said calmly. "We're done. Let's break up."
He went completely still. His hand reached out instinctively to grab mine, pure disbelief written across his face.
"Chloe, over a stupid joke? Are you really making this big of a deal out of it?"
I refused to waste another breath on him. I took a step back and turned to leave.
"Chloe, don't you dare walk away!"
He lunged forward, grabbing my wrist and yanking me back violently.
"Have you had enough yet?!"
I stumbled, completely losing my balance, falling backward toward the street.
Right at that second, a speeding motorcycle roared around the corner. Its blinding headlights flashed directly into my eyes.
Before I could react—
A massive impact threw me into the air.
The moment my body slammed against the asphalt, blinding agony ripped through every bone in my body.
In the final seconds before darkness consumed me,
I saw Ethan, eyes bloodshot, rushing toward me in a panic.
When I opened my eyes again, everything was stark white.
"Chloe, you're awake! How are you feeling?"
Ethan looked completely drained. He grabbed my hand.
When I didn't answer, his grip tightened.
"The doctor said you're going to be fine.
Just a mild concussion and a fractured leg. You just need to rest for a while."
I shifted slightly, and a sharp, piercing pain flared through my left leg.
My gaze moved past him, landing on the figure standing behind him.
Rachel was there too. Her eyes were red, looking far more victimized than I was.
"Chloe, I honestly didn't think you couldn't take a joke. I just wanted to make everyone laugh. You're not actually mad at us, are you?"
I couldn't help but let out a cold smirk.
Standing side by side, they truly looked like the perfect match everyone always claimed they were.
And I was the idiot dancing to their tune.I closed my eyes, not wanting to see either of them for another second.
Ethan's brows furrowed tight.
"That's enough, Chloe.
I stayed by your bedside all night. I haven't even checked on the office. What more do you want from me?"
It was always like this. The moment I refused to play along, he would start listing his sacrifices.
He completely forgot about the early days of his startup.
He had blown off a crucial meeting with a top investor just to bicker with Rachel over some nonsense.
I was the one who swallowed my pride, begging an old friend of my father to secure that contract back for him.
He forgot that when my biological family finally tracked me down, they arranged a strategic marriage with an elite heir.
I had defied immense family pressure and turned it down flat for him.
Back then, I took Ethan's hand, stood tall in front of my wealthy parents, and made a promise.
"Ethan has talent and drive. He doesn't need handouts.
Give him ten years, and he will conquer the tech world. And I will stand right beside him."
Back then, I believed in him with all my heart. And to his credit, he made it.
Yet the price of his fame and applause was an out-of-control ego.
A tear slipped silently down my cheek. My voice came out hoarse.
"I'm exhausted. I want to sleep."
Right then, the doctor pushed the door open and stepped in.
He took one look at the room and turned to Ethan.
"Are you the patient's family? Step outside for a moment.
The test results came back. There's something we need to discuss."
Rachel hesitated for a beat, then hurried out after him.
The hospital room fell dead silent.
Watching Rachel's disappearing back, I remembered when I was still living with my adoptive family.
My adoptive mother had forced me to kneel outside in the freezing snow. Rachel had marched over, hands on her hips, yelling at them on my behalf.
Back then, she told me:
"I'll protect you from now on."
From that day forward, she shared her lunch money with me.
Whenever bullies picked on me, she was always the first to throw a punch.
I held onto that gratitude for years.
That was why, no matter how ridiculously she and Ethan behaved, I chose to tolerate it again and again.
Yet here she was, standing firmly on the other side.
Moments later, Ethan's stunned voice echoed from the hallway outside.
"What? Pregnant? Doctor, are you out of your mind?!"
I froze. My trembling hand slowly drifted down to rest against my flat stomach, and a bitter smile touched my lips.
Fate loved playing cruel jokes on me.
The door clicked open, and Ethan walked back inside.
He stopped beside my bed. His mouth opened, but no words came out for a long time.
Finally, he took a deep, shaky breath.
"Chloe... we're having a baby. Let's get married. Please?"
I stared at his face, feeling only sickening irony.
Ethan, let me play a game with you for once.
I smiled softly at him.
"Okay. Let's get married."
A massive wave of relief washed over Ethan's face. He let out a half-joking chuckle.
"Looks like you finally got what you wanted. Guess I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life."
I turned my head away, saying nothing.
For the next two weeks, Ethan waited on me hand and foot.
His tenderness was almost suffocating, dragging my mind back into the past.
Back when we shared that dingy basement. Every day after work,
if I said my feet hurt, he would carry me on his back without hesitation.
The streetlights would stretch our shadows long on the pavement. He would whisper:
"Chloe, you are my entire world."
Then my mind drifted to later days, when his company took off. He would say with an exhausted scowl:
"Compared to my career, love only takes up ten percent of my life."
Looking back now, Rachel occupied nine of that ten percent.On the day I was cleared for discharge, Rachel called.
Ethan picked up, his voice instinctively turning gentle.
"Hey, Rachel?"
Her whiny, demanding voice came through the speaker.
Even sitting a few feet away, I heard every single syllable loud and clear.
"Where are you? Weren't you supposed to pick me up from work today?
Did you forget our bet? You lost, which means you're my personal chauffeur for an entire month!"
Ethan glanced at me in the hospital bed, dropping his voice into the receiver.
"I really have something going on today. Chloe is..."
"How many times have you bailed on me because of her?!
I'm telling you, you better show up today! Or we're done being friends!"
Holding the phone, Ethan's face twisted into an exasperated, conflicted mess.
I watched him quietly, my voice calm.
"Do you really have to go?"
"I gave her my word, Chloe. It's a matter of principle.
She's your best friend, not some stranger.
I've been taking care of you night and day for half a month!
My entire company is waiting on me. Aren't you satisfied yet?"
He stopped, apparently realizing he sounded too harsh, and forced his tone to soften.
"Be good. Once I drop her off, we'll go straight to City Hall tomorrow morning to get our marriage license, okay?"
A quiet laugh escaped my lips.
Once upon a time, I refused to accept that love could only take up ten percent.
Now I understood that getting even one percent was a luxury.
I nodded.
"Go ahead, then."
He grabbed his jacket instantly, pressing a rushed kiss to my forehead.
"Wait for me."
Watching him practically sprint out the door, I closed my eyes.
Ethan, this is the very last time you choose her over me.
After he left, I handled my discharge paperwork entirely on my own.
Yet the moment I stepped outside the hospital doors, two burly men charged out of the shadows.
They slammed me to the pavement, landing brutal, heavy blows straight onto my abdomen.
Over and over again.
They only stopped when warm, crimson blood began pooling beneath my feet.
"Don't blame us, lady," one of them spat. "Your boyfriend paid for this."
I dragged my broken body across the concrete, clawing desperately until a passerby finally called an ambulance.
When the cold, metallic instruments scraped inside my body in the ER, I didn't shed a single tear.
I just felt completely hollow. My body was empty, and so was my heart.
When I was finally wheeled out of the operating room, I sat alone on the cold plastic bench in the hallway.
My phone buzzed softly in my pocket. A new message popped up on the screen.
Miss Vance, have you considered our proposal?
My thumb tapped against the glass screen, typing a single word.
Yes.
A reply followed almost instantly.
Tomorrow at nine in the morning. Outside City Hall.
See you there.
I locked my phone and dragged my exhausted body back to the apartment Ethan and I shared.
The moment I pushed the front door open, my eyes landed on the coffee table.
The condom box from the birthday prank was sitting right there.
It was completely empty.
Draped across the back of the couch was Rachel's lace bra.
Closing my eyes, I could almost picture the two of them tangled together on that very sofa.
A sudden, violent cramp ripped through my lower stomach.
A fresh gush of warmth leaked uncontrollably down my legs.
I didn't have the strength to stand anymore. I slid down against the doorframe, slumping onto the cold floor.
And there I sat, frozen, all through the night.
When dawn broke, the first rays of morning light filtered through the curtains.
I stood up, washed my face, and applied flawless makeup.
At exactly nine o'clock, I stood outside the City Hall entrance.
The man waiting by the steps caught sight of me and gave a polite, dignified nod.
"Miss Vance. You're right on time."
His voice was deep, steady, and utterly composed.
This was Julian. My arranged marriage partner.
And Ethan's fiercest rival in the tech industry.
I smiled at him. "Mr. Vance, shall we head inside?"
When I held that signed marriage certificate in my hands, my heart settled into a calm I had never known.
Just as we stepped out of the grand City Hall doors, a car screeched to a halt at the curb. Ethan jumped out, panic plastered across his face.
The second his eyes landed on Julian standing right beside me, he froze dead in his tracks.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
I linked my arm through Julian's and smiled.
"Exactly what it looks like. I said I was getting married today, Ethan. I never said it was going to be with you."
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
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