I Caught My Broke Boyfriend Cheating，Then Bought His Company

On Valentine's Day, my best friend and I went to a new upscale restaurant for dinner.

Only I never expected to run straight into my boyfriend — the one who'd told me he was working late doing food deliveries.

"What? Done playing poor for that little girlfriend of yours?"

The girl sitting across from him asked the question.

He gave a scornful click of his tongue and slid a Patek Philippe watch across the table to her.

"She's just an ordinary girl. Average family, no background. Fine for a little fun."

"Wasn't it settled? A few years of playing around, then our two families do the marriage."

Looking at that Patek Philippe, I thought back over these three years of dating him.

He only ever took me out for a bowl of spicy ramen.

For gifts, he only gave me nine-dollar lipsticks.

Even when we went away, he only ever booked a fifty-dollar budget motel.

I'd thought he was genuinely poor, so I gave in to him on everything, afraid of bruising his pride.

Never once did I imagine he was faking poverty right back at me.

My best friend's fingers flew across her phone.

"Got it. Small-to-midsize company. No wonder I didn't recognize the name from anyone in our circles."

I glanced at the message on her screen, then texted my assistant.

"Draw up an acquisition agreement for me."

...

After sending it, I went to the restroom to wash my hands before leaving.

But the moment I stepped out, I came face to face with Antony Wiley and Carol Vance.

Antony looked stunned to see me.

"What are you doing here?"

I said nothing, but he'd already drawn his own conclusion, his tone thick with disdain.

"Didn't I tell you I was working late on deliveries tonight? What are you doing picking up work here? Aren't you embarrassed?"

I looked up at him. "You're not working late on deliveries?"

His expression faltered for a split second before he smoothed it into a look of helplessness.

"My boss called me in last minute to keep a client company. Nothing I can do. That's the job."

He lowered his voice, impatience already leaking through. "Hurry up and go. This isn't a place for you. Don't cause me trouble."

I stayed where I was.

The woman beside him slowly turned around and looked me over from head to toe.

"So this is the little girlfriend you were talking about. She does look meek enough. Just... too cheap."

The next second, she pretended to knock the delicate dessert plate off the edge of the table.

The crack of shattering porcelain burst through the corridor, dessert scattering across the floor.

She arched a brow and looked at me.

"Sorry, my hand slipped. Aren't you working here? Clean it up."

I glanced down at the mess, then lifted my head again.

Antony had stood beside her the whole time, without saying a word.

I turned to look at his face, and he didn't just stay silent. He shoved me.

"Pick it up! Standing there making a fool of yourself in front of my client. Have you no shame?"

I didn't move, so he pushed again, harder, his hand pressing down on my shoulder to force me down.

I suddenly thought of last winter, when he'd said money was tight and I'd stood in the freezing wind at the street corner handing out flyers, my hands numb with cold.

The money I earned went to buying him a warm coat, while I couldn't bring myself to spend it on a single hot meal.

I thought of every argument, how I was always the one to apologize first, afraid of wounding his pride, afraid of embarrassing him, afraid he'd think I didn't know any better.

I thought of the countless nights I believed I was aching for him, loving him.

All of it a joke.

My giving in, my understanding, every time I lowered my head.

In his eyes, it only proved I was cheap.

The corridor went quiet for two seconds.

Then my best friend strode over, yanked his hand away, and pulled me behind her.

"Smash something, make her clean it up, hold her down to make her apologize. Where do you two get the nerve?"

Antony frowned and started to speak.

But she'd already turned and pulled me away.

She pushed open the restaurant's glass door, then stopped, turned back to me, her chest still heaving.

"I'm so furious. You just let that scumbag walk all over you like that! You should've just thrown your identity in their faces and scared them to death!"

I smiled and patted her arm.

"There's no fun in exposing him now. He thinks I'm an ordinary girl, so let him keep thinking it."

"Blowing it all up now would let them off too easy. I want them to destroy everything they have with their own hands."

Back home, I looked around the rental Antony and I had shared for two years.

The paint on the walls had yellowed, the water heater quit every few days, and the stairwell always carried a smell of mildew.

Back then he'd said he was just starting out and couldn't afford anything better, so I hadn't thought much of it and moved in to share the place with him.

I never imagined it would turn into a joke.

Antony came home at dusk. The moment he was through the door, he opened with a probing question.

"Who was that girl who bailed you out tonight?"

"She carried herself like someone with real weight. No small player."

Hearing that, I more or less understood.

My best friend had moved in top-tier circles since childhood, appearing in public on her family's behalf. Carol must have recognized her.

Antony was testing me, trying to find out whether I was hiding some kind of background.

The outside world all believed it was my younger brother running the family's affairs.

He was flashy and played the crowd, the face the family always showed the public.

But no one knew that the person who actually held those assets, who signed those agreements, was me.

I came out holding a glass of water, my face blank, my voice a little dazed.

"Probably the restaurant manager. Saw them giving me a hard time and came over to say a few kind words, I guess."

Antony stared at me for two seconds.

Then he laughed.

"That's what I thought."

He leaned back into the couch and crossed his legs.

"With your circles, there's no way you'd know a big shot like that."

"From now on, stop crowding into things like that. Behave yourself, stay in your place, and quit trying to climb above where you belong."