Chapter 2

The second we stepped into the house, Harvey's mother rushed up, grabbed Mia's hand, and hugged her happily.

She said dotingly, "Harvey told me everything. You two are so mischievous."

"Mia, I always knew you were the right one for Harvey. If it weren't for back then..." Out of the corner of her eye, Harvey's mother saw me changing my shoes and quickly pivoted, "You two are just meant to be."

Harvey walked over and stood between them. "Mom, we're just joking around. It's just an April Fools' dare."

His mother placed his hand over Mia's. "If only this weren't a joke."

I ignored them, walked past the entryway, and went straight into the bedroom to drag out my suitcase. I hadn't even packed two shirts when Harvey followed me in.

"Jenny, everyone is here. Don't ruin the mood." He lowered his voice. "Let's all have dinner tonight to celebrate."

I swatted away his hand and continued packing.

"Tomorrow is the pre-sale for the final installment of your thriller trilogy. I invited the whole team over. Just treat it as a celebration dinner."

I froze. This novel was the result of three full years of hard work, born out of countless sleepless nights.

If I completely blew up at him right now, tomorrow's pre-sale would definitely tank.

I zipped up my suitcase. "Fine. Just this one meal."

Harvey's face instantly lit up, and he turned back to the living room to arrange the dinner.

I'd just consider this my final farewell to the past.

At the dining table, the company's shareholders were all present. Mia sat next to Harvey with her head held high, looking every bit the lady of the house.

When the maid came to serve the food, she instinctively tried to hand it to me first, like she usually did. But Mia stopped her. "Hey, take a good look at who's actually sitting at the head of the table now."

The maid looked at me awkwardly, then at Harvey, who tacitly approved. She whispered an apology to me and then served the dish to Mia.

Mia smiled, satisfied.

Seeing this, the shareholders tactfully started praising Mia, gushing about how deep her bond with Harvey was and how perfect they looked together.

I just kept my head down and ate, plotting my escape.

Suddenly, Mia picked up a bowl of piping hot clam chowder and tried to hand it to me.

"Jenny, you don't look well. Have some hot soup."

My pregnancy nausea made me gag at the smell of seafood. I scowled and refused.

Harvey's face instantly darkened, assuming I was deliberately embarrassing Mia.

"Jenny, Mia is just trying to be nice." He snapped in a commanding tone. "Isn't this your favorite dish? Just drink it."

Mia approached with the bowl, a barely noticeable smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Just as she got close to me, her wrist flipped, and the entire bowl of scalding soup splashed onto her own arm.

She immediately let out a piercing scream, tears welling up in her eyes. "Ah! It's boiling!"

Harvey rushed over, pulling her into his arms, his face full of panic. "How could you be so careless?"

Mia looked at me with a wronged, hesitant expression. "It was Jenny... maybe she didn't mean it. I know she never liked how close we are..."

I had had enough. The surging emotions made me bite my lip, and my stomach began to ache faintly. "I didn't! You did it yourself..."

"Enough!" Harvey cut me off, his eyes full of absolute disgust. "You're still making excuses. I know you hate our game. You deliberately embarrassed Mia just now, and now you scalded her. I never knew you were so incredibly jealous!"

I fought back the bitterness in my throat and was about to defend myself when my phone screen suddenly lit up.

It was an email from my editor, attaching the promotional poster for tomorrow's pre-sale.

I clicked on the image. In the author section for the new book, right in front of my name "Jenny," there was another name prominently displayed:

"Mia."