Chapter 1

When Ashton's childhood sweetheart, Chloe, threw her sixth tantrum and flew out of the country, I got hired to replace her as his personal assistant.

In just two years, Ashton fell head over heels in love with me.

On the day of our engagement party, Chloe stormed back into the country.

Right in front of everyone, she leaked their old intimate photos into our Snapchat group chat.

"I have plenty of photos like this. Ashton is just using you as a rebound, Serena."

I pulled out my phone, saved the screenshots immediately, and gave her a quick legal lesson: "In this state, distributing non-consensual explicit images is a felony. You can get up to two years in prison for this."

"How many people did you send this to, Chloe?"

Chloe's face went rigid. She looked completely lost.

Instinctively, she turned to Ashton, fully expecting him to take her side.

Ashton simply pulled out his phone and, without a second thought, kicked her out of the group chat.

Chloe gasped. "Ashton!"

"Don't get it twisted, Chloe. I'm doing you a favor," Ashton said coldly. "Serena is right. She graduated top of her class from law school. If you break the law and drag us down with you, I'm not saving your ass."

Chloe bit her lower lip so hard it almost bled. Finally, she forced a smile. "Oh, Ashton, you've got it all wrong. I was just trying to break the ice! I wanted to test her."

"These days, so many gold-diggers have no shame. They'd do anything to climb their way into high society."

"I was just testing her for you. But wow, Serena, you really keep your cool, don't you?"

I smiled and said nothing. During my two years as Ashton's assistant, the number of women trying to throw themselves at him was endless.

I had cleaned up all his messes and used my legal expertise to shield him from countless gold-diggers and blackmailers.

Chloe's little stunt was amateur hour to me. It didn't even make a splash.

In fact, two months after she had left the country, an influencer photoshopped a fake bedroom picture of Ashton and leaked it to get clout. I personally filed a lawsuit for defamation and harassment and threw her in a holding cell for seven days.

Since then, any woman trying to climb into Ashton's bed had to think twice about whether they could outsmart the law.

After all, I was a professional.

Ashton looked at Chloe and said flatly, "Serena isn't like those girls. She's a top-tier attorney. The only reason she accepted my job offer was because I paid her a fortune. I'm the one who got lucky."

He wasn't lying. I could easily make seven figures on my own. I have my own network and resources.

But Ashton offered me a three-million-dollar annual salary. I had no reason to say no.

Chloe fumed in silence, unable to say a word.

Tyler, one of Ashton's buddies, laughed to ease the tension. "Alright, Chloe, stop messing around. You're back, and Ashton is getting engaged. It's a double celebration!"

"Let's raise a glass, everyone!"

Chloe's eyes darted around, and a smirk returned to her face.

"Right! Ashton, you're so unfair. I was only out of the country, and you didn't even tell me you were getting engaged. Good thing I made it back in time!"

"You deserve a penalty!"

Ashton sighed. "What kind of penalty?"

"How about... an arm-locked toast?"

She quickly poured two glasses of champagne and handed one to Ashton. I watched them with amusement. Ashton thought about it, poured a third glass, and handed it to me.

Chloe froze. "Ashton!"

Ashton smiled helplessly. "I know you wanted to see a show. Serena and I will show you how it's done, so you know what to do when you get married."

With that, he locked his arm with mine and drained his glass. The crowd erupted into cheers and whistles. Someone even chanted, "Kiss her! Kiss her!"

I didn't hesitate. I leaned in on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe. Her eyes were red with rage.

She slammed her glass onto the floor and stormed out.

Ashton watched her retreating back and sighed. "I'll go check on her."

I nodded graciously. Once he left, Tyler sauntered over to me, hands in his pockets. "I've seen plenty of girls like you, Serena. You're a much better actress than Chloe."

"But she and Ashton grew up together. You want to take her place? Keep dreaming."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, at least I'm doing better than you. You've been secretly in love with her for years and never had the guts to say it. And now you're trying to threaten me?"

"If I were you, Tyler, I'd keep my mouth shut. It's never a good idea to piss off a lawyer. I can destroy your life in a heartbeat."

"For example... that hit-and-run on the East River bridge last night? I know it was you."