A Pawn in Your Game

The day the Labarres declared bankruptcy, everyone assumed I would break off my engagement to Zach Labarre.

In the middle of a torrential downpour, I abandoned my umbrella and helped the disheveled Zach into the car.

"I'll give you ten million dollars. If you succeed, come back and marry me. If you fail, I'll marry you instead."

Five years later, Zach returned, leading three publicly listed companies.

In front of all the media, he announced, "Leah Chandler and I ended our engagement five years ago."

The day the Labarres declared bankruptcy, everyone assumed I would break off my engagement to Zach Labarre.

In the middle of a torrential downpour, I abandoned my umbrella and helped the disheveled Zach into the car.

"I'll give you ten million dollars. If you succeed, come back and marry me. If you fail, I'll marry you instead."

Five years later, Zach returned, leading three publicly listed companies.

In front of all the media, he announced, "Leah Chandler and I ended our engagement five years ago."

-

For the past five years, there had been another woman by his side.

She offered him her shoulder when he was tired, comforted him when he was down, and celebrated his successes.

They supported each other through thick and thin, sharing their triumphs and sorrows. Their relationship was harmonious, a bond formed in adversity and strengthened by mutual affection.

And me? The woman who had invested ten million to help him rebuild his life? I had become a joke.

"This is 30 million," Zach said, handing me a card. "It's my way of repaying the favor from back then."

The once impulsive and brash Zach had transformed into a mature, composed man exuding confidence and sharpness.

Back then, I had been utterly bewitched by that face. I had begged my father—pleaded, really—to help him one last time.

And even now, with just one glance at him, a flicker of possessiveness stirred within me.

How pathetic.

I picked up the card and handed it to my secretary without a hint of emotion.

Looking directly at Zach, I ordered coldly, "Check this thoroughly. Not a cent less."

As the secretary took the card, Zach let out a long sigh of relief, as though a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

I admired my freshly manicured nails, my tone indifferent. "Do you think this clears your debt to me?"

Zach straightened his back, his expression solemn. "Ms. Chandler, if you ever need anything in the future, don't hesitate to come to me. I will do whatever it takes to help."

Then, after a brief pause, he added, "Except marry you."

He said it with such earnestness, as though trying to present himself as a man of integrity.

But too bad, I wasn't impressed.

"Those diamond earrings you bought at the auction yesterday—I like them. Have them delivered to me by tomorrow morning."

The earrings, which Zach had splurged a fortune on, were reportedly meant as a gift for his fiancée,