Chapter 1They Said I Was Too Wild for Him. They Were Right.

I was the quintessential bad girl.

I spent five years chasing Carter Sterling, the flawless golden boy everyone admired.

He was aloof, arrogant, and constantly looked down on me.

"You smell like smoke. It's disgusting."

I would just shamelessly wrap my arms around his neck, bite his lip, and pass the nicotine lozenge from my mouth into his.

After dating for a year, I hand-crafted a pair of custom rings.

I ran off to find him, ecstatic, only to overhear someone asking what he thought of the Dupont heiress.

His eyes were indifferent: "Not bad. Pretty obedient."

My breath caught in my throat. Then, I heard them ask what he thought of me.

"Too wild. She's not marriage material. I like good girls."

I was wild. She was good.

I figured, since the answer was out, it was time to let go.

* * *

When Carter got home, he saw me chewing on a mint.

He frowned. "Smoking again?"

Usually, when I saw that look on his face, I would've already thrown myself at him, hanging off his shoulders and kissing him over and over, forcing the man who seemed as cold as the winter moon to flush with desire.

Then, I’d smile and ask, "Can you taste the smoke?"

His eyes would darken, his thumb subconsciously rubbing my waist, but his face would remain stern.

"It's the middle of the day. Stop messing around!"

"Can't you have a little decency as a woman?"

When facing the guy I'd loved for seven years, what did I know about decency?

I would just loop my finger around his tie and give it a gentle tug.

"Baby, why don't we go to the bedroom so you can teach me?"

A faint blush would quietly creep up the tips of Carter's ears, brighter than the lipstick smudged on the corner of his mouth.

His voice would grow husky, though he’d still try to sound proper. "Teach you what?"

I would give a wicked smile, my red lips curving as I pulled him step by step into the bedroom.

But this time, I didn't have the energy.

I swallowed the crushed mint and walked right past him.

His Adam's apple bobbed. His gaze was dark and unreadable, as if he was expecting something.

I chased him for five years and we had been together for one.

I had seen disappointment, disgust, and impatience in his eyes.

When it came to me, the only things missing were love and anticipation.

He only agreed to be my boyfriend because, when his startup company was first getting off the ground and he was cornered by debt collectors, I called up my guys from the bar to bail him out.

Using a mix of threats and cash, I threw down a hundred grand to settle his debts.

At the time, he looked at me with distant, detached eyes.

"What do you want?"

I rested my chin on my hand, my eyes carefully tracing his features.

He had lost some of the boyish charm from seven years ago.

I smiled, looking as captivating as I could.

"I like you. Be my boyfriend."

It was my twentieth confession.

He was silent for a long time. Just when I thought he was going to reject me again, a soft "Yeah" broke the silence.

I was instantly overjoyed, practically jumping up to kiss him on the cheek.

My friends from the bar all cheered, hyping us up and chanting for a real kiss on the lips.

My face felt hot.

I looked at Carter.

But his icy, frostbitten expression was like a bucket of cold water.

He didn't like me.

He looked down on me.

But I thought it didn't matter. Time would change everything.

I was so stupid.

I suddenly laughed.

Carter tugged at his collar with his long, articulate fingers, looking impatient.

"What are you acting crazy for now?"

"I don't have any contact with Chloe Dupont anymore. If you keep throwing these baseless tantrums, then let's just break up."

Over the past year, he had threatened to break up with me countless times.

If you smoke again, we break up.

If you drink, we break up.

If you dye your hair, we break up.

To keep him, I willingly shut down my bar, kicked the habits he deemed trashy, and tried my best to learn how to act like a refined, high-society lady.

After all, my wildness was originally born because of him anyway.

But this time, I was just tired.

"Okay, Carter. Let's break up."