"Well, Mr. Donovan, you stole my ex-fiancée and now you got your eyes on my current wife?" The moment those words left my mouth, Zachary’s face darkened.
Seeing the crowd whispering, he shot me an angry glance and stormed off.
Ashley was flustered red. She said spontaneously, "Trevor! How can you talk about Mr. Donovan like that? Go after him and apologize!"
I shot her a cold look and she paused after realizing her slip-up.
"Trev, don’t take it the wrong way. I’m just trying to help you."
"The Donovan family isn’t what it once was. If you make an enemy of him now, things are going to get tough for you."
I wasn’t fazed. "When he ruined my wedding and took my fiancée, that was when our paths became enemies. From that moment on, it was always going to be war between us."
Ashley seemed ready to say more, but I turned and walked off, finding a quiet corner to be alone. She watched me leave, wanting to say something, but in the end, she didn’t follow.
I waited for a bit among the crowd. I soon saw her laughing and chatting with Zachary, as though nothing had happened.
In the past three years, the Rollins family's company hasn’t grown—in fact under Ashley’s management. In fat, it’s only gotten worse.
Meanwhile its rival, the company belonging to the Donovans had made an impressive comeback, thriving and securing multiple private deals with the Roths. The Rollins was no longer the powerful giant that once nearly drove the Donovans to bankruptcy.
Maybe this was exactly what Ashley had been hoping for...
In this situation, Zachary went from being a struggling rich kid to a confident, successful young man.
As my thoughts swirled, the noise of bidding finally began. Listening to the back-and-forth of the auction, I sipped my wine in a melancholic daze, until I heard cheers.
"The diamond’s been sold! One hundred fifty million!"
"Who’s spending that kind of money? That’s a one-of-a-kind, limited edition!"
"I heard it was someone from the Donovans."
"No way! I clearly saw Ms. Roth place the bid."
At this, I paused and gave a self-mocking smile. Ashley was in her effort to impress Zachary, huh? She really wasn’t holding back.
This charity gala no longer held any meaning for me. After staying for half an hour, I decided to leave.
Just then, someone called my name.
"Mr. Rollins, Ms. Roth is looking for you, by the pool."
I was wary at this turn of event, but I walked toward the pool anyway. There, Ashley was nowhere in sight—just Zachary who was smirking smugly at me.
"Loser, Mae left you for me and now even your wife Ashley is desperately trying to win me over. See this diamond? Ashley gave it to me—one hundred fifty million!"
"What about you? What has she given you?" He waved the sparkling diamond in front of me, almost as if showing off.
I thought for a moment and shook my head.
Indeed, over the years, Ashley had given me very few things—most of them meaningless, trivial gifts. It was as if giving me gifts was just something she had to do, a task to check off.
Could that be anymore pathetic?
I didn’t want to waste my time on him and decided to leave. Before I could do that, I saw the mischievous grin on Zachary’s face. A bad feeling instantly shot up my gut.
Zachary’s gaze shifted past my shoulder, spotting a group of people rushing toward us.
The next moment, he yelled out, "Trevor! You can't steal my diamond! Ah!" He then reached out and yanked me into the pool with him.
"Zachary!"
As we hit the water, I saw the look of terror on Ashley’s face as she called out Zachary’s name.
I’d never learned to swim and was a terrible swimmer. I struggled in the water, helplessly reaching out to Ashley, pleading for help.
