Chapter 1My Best Choice

We were halfway through signing the marriage license when Bob Boyle’s first love sent him a photo of herself, supposedly having crashed her car into a ditch in a suicide attempt.

Without a second thought, he left me standing there, went and married her instead, and jetted off on a honeymoon.

That same night, her social media was updated with a picture of a floor littered with used condoms.

Bob’s text came right after. “Even though Lily and I are married, she’s still willing to let you be my mistress. You should learn to be as generous as she is. Don’t be so ungrateful.”

“I know you can’t live without me. Once your father’s assets are all transferred to my name, I’ll make time to see you one day a week.”

“Lily’s delicate. Any children you have will be given to her. After all, she’s the wife, and you’re the side piece. If you want to keep me, you need to know your place.”

I laughed.

As the sole heiress to the Thorne family, the most powerful of Kingsbridge’s four founding families, whoever I married would inherit my family’s entire empire.

What Bob didn’t know was that the moment he walked out on me, I had already changed the groom on the license.

* * *

A month later, I saw Bob again at a private charity auction.

He had his arm wrapped around Lily Hayes, letting her sit on his lap while they kissed, completely oblivious to the world around them.

The catcalls and cheers from the crowd twisted into jeers the moment I walked in.

“Well, well, Bob. Your little lapdog finally got lonely and came looking for you.”

“Miss Thorne, you really broke your record this time. A whole month! You must have been going crazy without him.”

Bob pulled away from Lily’s neck as if nothing was wrong, his eyebrow arched in a mocking sneer.

“Aurora, have I been too good to you? Do you have any idea what a pathetic creature you are? Playing hard to get with me? You? If you had any guts, you’d have stayed away. You can’t even be a proper doormat. It’s disgusting.”

In the five years I’d been with Bob, I’d seen that look, heard those words, countless times.

Before, when my world revolved around him, being publicly shamed like that would have made my eyes burn with tears I wouldn’t dare let fall.

Later, I’d suffocate my sobs in my pillow, replaying my supposed mistakes, terrified he would grow to hate me.

But now, I just calmly replied, “I’m not here for you.”

Bob, clearly not expecting this, assumed I was still putting on an act.

He kicked the chair in front of me aside. “Addicted to the drama, are we? You can stand. Later, whatever Lily likes, you’re going to bid on and win for her. If she’s happy, I might consider forgiving you.”

“Oh, Bob,” Lily cooed, shrinking into his arms and pouting. “I don’t want anything bought with her dirty money. A spoiled princess like her only knows how to show off with her parents’ cash. Who knows if that money is even clean? I want to buy my own things with my own hard work.”

Bob pinched her pouty cheek, his eyes full of doting affection.

“That’s right. My Lily is strong and independent, nothing like this useless, spoiled brat who only knows how to live off her family.”

“But she’s desperate to buy me things,” he continued, his voice loud enough for me to hear. “You know how cheap she is. It pains her not to grovel and spend money on me. Just think of it as a charity case. A cure for her pathetic obsession.”

Lily giggled and reluctantly nodded. Then she looked up at me, her eyes filled with disdain.

“Miss Thorne, with all due respect, you’re supposed to be a lady. Why do you cling to him like a leech? You should try being independent, like me. A woman can’t rely on a man for everything. Otherwise, what’s the difference between you and trash?”

I glanced down at the custom-made, million-dollar gown she was wearing and smiled faintly.

The daughter of a housekeeper, lecturing me—the sole heiress to the richest man in Kingsbridge—on self-reliance?

I walked to a quiet corner and took a seat.

Bob frowned, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. He seemed to sense that something about me was different.

Before he could process it, his friends started laughing again.

“Tsk, tsk, here we go again. Hiding in the corner to cry. Miss Thorne just can’t live without our Bob.”

“Hey, don’t be so harsh. The Thornes are the richest family in Kingsbridge, and Aurora is their only daughter. I heard Mr. Thorne plans to announce her marriage to one of the other three families at her twenty-fifth birthday banquet. They say whoever marries her gets the entire Thorne empire.”

“The Thorne assets are worth hundreds of billions, at least. I wonder who’s going to get that lucky?”

Someone nudged Bob, winking. “Is there any question? It’s obviously our Bob. Everyone in Kingsbridge knows Aurora Thorne is head over heels for him. If he told her to die, she’d race to do it. Look, he ignores her for one month, and she comes crawling right back.”

“Hahaha, she’s the ultimate doormat. Once Bob gets the Thorne fortune, the Boyle family will rule this city. Our boy really knows how to handle women. You gotta teach us your ways, man.”

Bob pretended to be unfazed, but the slight upward tilt of his lips betrayed his smug satisfaction.

He raised his voice deliberately. “A woman who throws herself at you like this isn’t worth one of Lily’s toes. If she wasn’t a fun toy to play with, I wouldn’t even bother looking at her.”

“She’s so desperate for me to marry her, I can’t even shake her off. It’s getting annoying.”

He finished, then waited for me to break down and cry.

Usually, that would have been my cue. My eyes would have welled up, my shoulders would have started to shake.

But this time, I didn’t even spare him a glance, let alone a tear.

Bob’s face instantly darkened. He was about to storm over to me when Lily grabbed his arm. “Bob, the auction is starting. Stay with me.”

He relented, pulling her back into his lap.