Chapter 1

In the sixth year of dating my boyfriend, he moved his childhood sweetheart into our future home just to cheer her up.

When I tried to kick her out in fury, he stopped me.

He yelled at me, "Avery, Chloe is just like a sister to me! If you act like this, how can I ever marry you?"

I replied, "This is who I am. If you can't marry me, then get the hell out!"

When I walked into the house, there was another woman there.

My boyfriend, Carter, was smiling softly, leaning in to take a bite of the cake she was feeding him. They looked disgustingly intimate.

A woman's intuition told me their relationship was anything but innocent.

I slammed my handbag onto the entryway console.

The noise startled them, and they both turned to look at me.

The woman flashed a bright smile, her eyes full of defiance.

Carter jumped up immediately, putting distance between them, panic flickering across his face.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Carter, who is this? Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Before Carter could speak, the woman sashayed over and grabbed my arm. "Hi! I'm Chloe. Carter and I grew up next door to each other—childhood sweethearts, basically."

I pulled my arm away with an expressionless face.

"Don't play family with me. My mom never gave me a sister."

Cut down so publicly, Chloe's eyes instantly welled with tears. She spun around to whine to Carter, "Carter, look at how mean she's being!"

To my utter disgust, that idiot Carter actually fell for it. He turned on me with an accusatory scowl. "Avery, Chloe is like a little sister to me. I've looked out for her since we were kids. You don't have to be so hostile."

I glared at him and pointed at the personal belongings scattered all over the sofa. "You still haven't explained what all of this is."

Looking awkward, Carter stepped forward and took the luggage from my hand. "These belong to Chloe. She just got back from overseas, and her parents are out of state. She doesn't know anyone here, so my mom was worried sick. Mom asked me to let her stay here for a couple of days."

"Avery, she's practically family. Don't be so petty."

I almost laughed out loud from pure rage.

"Carter, are you telling me that just because your mom was worried, you moved your so-called 'little sister' into our future marital home?"

"You're being completely unreasonable! She's my sister. What's wrong with letting her crash here for a few days?"

Chloe chimed in from the side, "Yeah, Avery, I'm only staying for a few days. As soon as I find a job, I'll move out."

"Carter, this is our marital home! Do you even know what that means? I spent months supervising the contractors for every inch of this place. We handpicked all the furniture together! Why the hell did you let another woman move in without even telling me?"

Carter looked defensive and cornered. "My mom insisted I look after Chloe. How could I say no to her?"

"And the only reason I didn't tell you beforehand was because I knew you'd get mad like this."

Hearing his twisted logic made me want to crack his skull open to see what kind of garbage was inside.

"So what, I'm supposed to thank you for being so considerate?"

Seeing the sheer fury on my face, Carter finally realized I was at my breaking point. He quickly tried to soften his tone. "I'm sorry, Avery. I didn't think you'd care this much. I promise, the second Chloe gets a job, I'll have her move out immediately, okay? Please, just stop being mad."

Seeing Carter bend over backward to placate me, Chloe pouted indignantly.

"Carter, you bought this place! You have every right to decide who stays here. Why are you groveling to her..."

Carter cut her off sharply.

"That's enough! I messed up here. Chloe, find a job as soon as you can and move out."

"Carter, are you abandoning me? Did you forget what you promised my mom? You said you'd take good care of me!"

"Chloe, drop it. When you move out, I'll come visit you all the time. Don't worry, I won't let you suffer alone in this city."

The two of them went back and forth, gazing into each other's eyes like tragic star-crossed lovers.

And I was just the wicked villain tearing them apart.

I reached my absolute limit. I marched straight up to Carter and slapped him hard across the face. "Carter, I never realized how completely shameless you are."

Before Carter could even react, Chloe let out a piercing scream.

She rushed over, caressing Carter's cheek with theatrical heartbreak. Seeing the red handprint, she turned and glared at me furiously. "Avery! Who do you think you are, hitting him like that?"

"Shut up, or you're getting one next."

Chloe looked terrified by my venom. She shrank back into Carter's arms, sobbing, "Carter, she's terrifying..."

Carter looked down at me, his voice icy and harsh. "Avery, how much longer are you going to throw this tantrum? I told you, Chloe is just my childhood neighbor. Can you stop causing drama over nothing?"

Tears burned the corners of my eyes, but beneath my blinding rage was an ache of deep hurt. "Causing drama? Carter, go ask anyone on the street—who moves a girl with zero blood relation into a marital home before the bride-to-be has even moved in? Carter, I built this home piece by piece to fit our dreams. How could you do this to me?"

Carter looked down guiltily, but he still stubbornly retorted, "Even so, you shouldn't have slapped me. Especially not in front of Chloe! This is my house. Don't I even have the right to let my own sister stay here?"

Looking at this completely unrepentant man, an overwhelming exhaustion washed over me.

"Fine. You're right. It's your house, and you can invite whoever you want. I don't have the energy to scream at you anymore. Let's take some time apart to cool off."

I turned on my heel and walked out.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carter reach out to stop me, but Chloe clamped onto his arm, holding him back.