What Lucas didn't know was that if our engagement had gone smoothly tonight, he would have gained wealth and power beyond his wildest dreams.
So the real loser here wasn't me—it was him. Because I was never some gold-digger clawing my way up.
If it weren't for him, I would never have stayed in this city for three years.
Lucas glanced at the disappointment and raw hurt in my eyes, then looked away with utter indifference.
"Why the tears? You should've thought about the consequences before you decided to steal."
"And now you've destroyed everyone's luxury items. Have you figured out how you're going to pay for all of it?"
"I didn't steal those things. You gave them to me."
I glared at him through gritted teeth, but no one believed me.
"Oh, that's rich!" someone laughed. "Do you have any idea who Lucas Henson is? And who are you?"
"Why would he give a watch worth tens of thousands of dollars to someone like you?"
"As if you're worth it."
I wrenched myself free from the hands holding me back, strode over to Lucas, and seized his wrist.
"Tell me," I demanded, my voice sharp as a blade. "Why are you doing this to me?"
His expression darkened instantly. "Who do you think you are? You're not even worth the effort of setting up."
"You thought being with me for a few years meant you could do whatever you pleased? You knew I cared about Daisy. You knew how much she meant to me. And yet you deliberately humiliated her."
I said nothing. I just stared at him coldly—at the hickey half-hidden beneath his collar.
We hadn't been intimate in a long time. So where did that come from?
My gaze shifted to Daisy. She smiled back at me, brazen and triumphant.
And just like that, it clicked.
Lucas had already moved on.
He wasn't worth loving anymore.
I released his wrist and stepped back, a cold smile curling my lips.
"You slept with her, didn't you?"
Lucas stood there, expression blank, and didn't bother to answer. But the look he exchanged with Daisy—lingering, intimate—told me everything I needed to know.
My hands clenched into fists. I closed my eyes slowly.
No wonder Grandfather told me not to rush bringing him home. No wonder he insisted I date Lucas for three years first—to test whether his feelings were real.
I never expected to discover the truth right at the end of that three-year deadline.
"Hey! Gold-digger!"
"You wrecked our stuff. You owe us money!"
"Stop standing there feeling sorry for yourself."
"Yeah—if you can't pay us back, you're finished."
At that, I turned slowly to face the crowd.
These so-called luxury items? I could afford to replace them ten times over. But the thought of compensating them for things I never stole—things that had been planted on me—made my stomach turn.
No one would believe me. I had no way to defend myself.
Was I supposed to just accept being branded a thief?
I pulled out my phone to call the police. Let the law sort this out.
But before I could dial, Daisy kicked the phone right out of my hand.
"Calling the cops?" She sneered. "Let me tell you something—even if they show up, they can't help you. Everyone here knows who's really in charge. They know which side to take."
"And if anyone's filing a report, it'll be us. Because you're the thief. The moment they arrive, you're the one getting arrested."
The others looked at me with undisguised contempt, as if I were some clueless hick who didn't understand how the world worked.
But their disdain didn't touch me.
What did was watching Daisy smash my phone against the floor.
"What a piece of junk," she muttered, grinding her heel into it. "It won't even break properly. Someone get me a hammer."
I tried to stop her, but it was too late.
The phone shattered into pieces.
That wasn't just any phone. The components inside—the custom chips and circuitry—had taken our engineers years to develop.
