Chapter 1

1: 1

Craig James was cheating on me.

His childhood sweetheart was nestled against his chest, the two of them so close they were about to kiss.

The System shrieked in my ear with excitement: “Host, quick, walk away heartbroken, suffer in silence, give the male lead the cold shoulder, and the heartbreak points will shoot right up!”

The words had barely left it when I shoved the office door wide open.

And slapped Craig James across the face.

The System let out a shrill blast at once: “Host, how could you hit the male lead, this doesn't fit the……”

Before it could finish, a chime sounded.

【Heartbreak points +1】

The System changed its tune instantly: Host, please hit harder.

Who says tormenting the male lead isn't tormenting?

I smiled faintly and said to Craig James: “Something you should know. I gave our wedding rings to Stan Weiss.”

Stan Weiss was the man Craig James had been feuding with for twenty years.

01

Craig James's eyes went red on the spot.

He clenched his jaw, veins standing out at his temple, and forced out a low growl: “Miriam Cox, say that again!”

I couldn't blame him for reacting like that.

The center diamonds on both our wedding rings had belonged to his late mother.

When he proposed, he'd told me it was his most precious possession, that it stood for how much he cherished me.

I thought it would be a promise for a lifetime.

Until his sweetheart Willa Chandler came back from overseas.

Craig James didn't hesitate to postpone our wedding.

He said Willa had just gone through a breakup, and seeing us happy would push her over the edge.

Then he said the Chandler family had gone bankrupt, that Willa was out of work now and could barely support herself.

So he made Willa his secretary.

I always thought he was just honoring some old childhood affection. Until last weekend, when I was tidying the bedroom and happened across an album.

It was full of photos of Willa, from childhood all the way up.

That was when it hit me. Willa wasn't the girl Craig James had grown up playing with. She was the one who got away, the first love he'd hidden in his heart and pined for over ten years.

Now the Chandler family was ruined, and his moon had fallen from the sky.

Of course he'd want to keep her close and cherish her.

I looked at Willa hiding behind Craig James, let out a scoff, and repeated myself: “Craig James, I gave our wedding rings to Stan Weiss.”

“Why?” Craig James asked through gritted teeth.

“Because he liked them.”

At my answer, Craig James froze, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

Because that was the line I used to say to him all the time.

I would drain every cent of my savings to buy Craig James a watch.

I would crawl up all nine hundred and ninety-nine steps on my knees to get him a one-of-a-kind protective charm.

When people asked me why I did it.

I only ever had one answer: “Because Craig likes it.”

I was still saying that line now. I'd only swapped out the subject.

Craig James knew better than anyone how fierce my love could be, so once the confusion passed, a film of tears rose in his eyes.

He clenched his jaw, holding the tears back, and with the slap mark slowly reddening on his face, there was somehow a kind of broken beauty to him.

Tears really were a man's secret weapon!

I almost went soft!

Good thing Willa spoke up in time.

She stepped out from behind Craig James, eyes red as she explained: “Miriam, you've got it wrong. An eyelash fell into my eye, and Craig was just helping me get it out.”

I was a month older than Willa, so she called me Miriam.

Craig James was two years older than her, and she called him Craig.

I lowered my eyes and said nothing.

Craig James's expression eased. He let out a breath and said: “Miriam, don't get jealous over nothing. Willa and I have known each other for years. If there were anything between us, we'd have gotten together long ago. It never would have come down to you.”

“I won't hold this slap against you. But stop making up lies to spite me. You know how much the rings mean to me.”

I drew a deep breath, lifted my head, and said: “Craig James, the honeymoon's already booked and it's nonrefundable, and you don't have the time, so I've decided to go with Stan Weiss.”

With that, I turned and left without looking at his face.

The System's alert sounded again.

【Heartbreak points +3】

It wasn't until I'd walked out the front doors of the company and my mood had settled that the System, quiet all this while, finally spoke up in a small voice.

“Host, Stan Weiss doesn't even know who you are!”