Chapter 1
Standing in the pouring rain, delivering a $2,500 premium sushi order with a hundred dollar tip, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.
That’s when I heard the laughter spilling out from inside the mansion.
‘She actually buys that you’re paralyzed from a car crash? And she’s been doing food delivery every day to support you? Hell, she even sold her mom’s relics for cash?”
‘If she knew you were worth millions-a freaking Manhattan elite playing poverty games-she’d probably die of shock, right?”
Behind the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, Reed toyed with the wine glass in his hand.
Trash like her, serving others is what she was born for.”
It’s payback for how she always outshined Sage back in school. This is what she gets.”
stood there in the rain, tears streaming down my face.
wo years. He’d been faking his condition for two goddamn years, all to help his childhood sweetheart get revenge on me.
lis paralyzed legs, his dead parents, those helpless tears-every single thing was part of his sick, twisted lie.
Viping away tears, I called my billionaire father, whom I’d been stubbornly refusing to contact for years-
Dad, you win. I’ll agree to the arranged marriage.”
s I hung up on my dad, Sage’s voice drifted out from the mansion.
My sweet Reed spoils me rotten, so of course he’d teach that little bitch a lesson for me. I’m absolutely thrilled.”
ler slender fingers traced along Reed’s jawline.
hat’s when I saw her wearing my mother’s ring on her finger.
eed let out a low chuckle, gently biting her fingertip with his teeth.
You’re such a little troublemaker!”
could see his supposedly paralyzed legs casually crossed and resting on the coffee table in front of him, looking perfectly normal.
hose thick white casts that had fooled me for over two years looked especially glaring under the lights.
aking a deep breath, I picked up the delivery bag and knocked on the door.
he door opened automatically, and everyone present locked eyes with me. The once-boisterous living room instantly fell into deathly silence.
walked toward Reed step by step, my soaked shoes leaving clear wet prints on the floor.
leed’s voice came out dry and tight, his eyes darting around nervously:
How… How did you get here?”
I’m just hanging out with some friends today…”
Yet I ignored him completely, just stared at the ring on Sage’s finger.
Give me back the ring.”
The smile suddenly froze on Reed’s face-he clearly hadn’t expected me to be so cold.
He instinctively wheeled his chair closer, trying to soothe me with his usual gentle tone: “Willa, listen to me…”
“Don’t bother!”
I cut him off, my lips curving into a smile that looked worse than crying.
“You want to claim you kindly helped me sell this ring to Miss Sage at a high price.”
“And that your paralyzed legs just happened to miraculously work today.”
“Am I right?”
Hearing this, Reed’s face went white instantly. He opened his mouth but said nothing.
The atmosphere grew even more tense.
Sage let out a scornful laugh.
She stood up, swaying gracefully in her heels as she walked over to me, deliberately holding up her hand with the ring right in front of my face.
“This ring was a birthday gift from Reed. You like it now? Want it back?”
She emphasized the “birthday gift” with pure provocation and smugness in her eyes.
Upon her words, Reed’s face went pale. “Sage, stop it! She…”
‘She what?” Sage cut him off impatiently, looking me up and down with contempt at my soaked, cheap delivery uniform.
‘You want it? Fine.”
‘For Reed’s sake, I’m not completely unreasonable. But the original price is off the table.”
‘I’m generous, so here’s a friendship discount-$500,000, cash, right now. Then you can have the ring.”
Lucia Morh is a passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.