Half an hour later, a Rolls-Royce Phantom glided to a stop in front of a hillside manor. After getting out of the car, I stared at the brightly lit manor in front of me, feeling like it'd been a lifetime since I last saw this place.

For the past three years, in order to be with Marvin, I'd almost cut myself off from my family entirely.

The moment Mom saw me, she swiftly rushed over. Holding my hands, she looked me up and down, her eyes slowly reddening.

"My precious Evelyn, you've finally come to your senses! I knew from the moment I laid eyes on Marvin that he wasn't a good man. His gaze was calculating and full of schemes! He didn't have an ounce of sincerity in him."

Dad sighed before handing me a cup of warm water. "Your mom's right. You were so madly in love with him before that we couldn't say too much about it. We didn't want to push you away. It's good that you've finally seen through him yourself."

I gripped the warm cup, my throat tightening.

He was right. I'd finally seen Marvin's true colors, but it'd come at the cost of having wasted three years of my love and devotion.

To prove to everyone that Marvin loved me for who I was and not for my money, I'd pretended to be an ordinary woman from an average background. But even while I kept that act up for three years, I never let him suffer. In fact, I paid for all of his expenses.

Not long ago, I'd even convinced my parents to agree to let me marry him. My plan was to tell him the truth on his birthday and give him the deed to three buildings as a token of my love and commitment to him.

But now…

Mom looked at me and changed the subject. "What's done is done. It's in the past now. I found someone new for you. He's perfect in every way, including his family background, his looks, and even his character. Marvin doesn't even come close to holding a candle to him!"

"Mom, for the time being, I don't want to—"

"You have to meet him!" Mom remained firm. "You won't regret meeting the man I chose for you!"

Seeing that I was still hesitant about it, Dad said, "Just meet the guy. Think of it as making a new friend. Your mom has spent so much time worrying about you, you know."

At their insistence, I had no choice but to agree to the blind date.

"Fine. I'll go. Who is it anyway?"

But Mom chose to keep me in suspense. With a meaningful smile, she said, "Oh, you'll see when the time comes. I promise it's going to be a happy surprise!"

…

The next day, I headed to the mall in the city center, which was the location Mom gave me for the blind date. After parking the car, I walked toward the restaurant while texting her to grumble about how cliché the spot for the blind date was.

I was still typing away with my head lowered when a familiar voice rang out in front of me. "It's only been a day since we broke up, Evelyn, and you couldn't help tailing me already?"

I looked over and saw Camellia clinging to Marvin's arm as she eyed me with a mocking smile. Snorting, she stepped forward to stand in front of Marvin.

"I'm warning you, bitch. A broke wench like you should know your place. Marv is my man now. If you even try to pester him, don't blame me for not showing you any mercy!"

I couldn't be bothered to waste my breath on them, so I tried to move past them. However, Marvin doggedly followed after me, commenting sarcastically, "Evelyn, I know you're still hung up on me, but we're worlds apart now.

"Look at you! Even after we've broken up, you're still wearing the same shabby clothes you got from some random thrift store. Meanwhile, look at what Cammy got me. This watch alone is worth more money than you can possibly make in a lifetime. Knowing your place is a crucial part of life, you know?"

He flexed the Rolex on his wrist with an air of superiority.

At my silence, Camellia assumed that I was feeling hurt and crushed, which only made her even more smug.

She linked arms with Marvin again and announced loudly, "Marv and I are getting married at The Haven Hotel on the eighth of this month. Don't you dare show up, and don't bother sending us a gift either. We don't need poor people sullying our wedding.

"And stop pestering him so shamelessly. Give it up, Evelyn!"

I looked at Marvin and Camellia. This ridiculous couple's performance only made me laugh.

"You think I need to give up on Marvin?" I snorted, my eyes cold and void of warmth. "I think you've misunderstood. I'm here on a blind date."

"A blind date?" Marvin guffawed hard, like I'd told the most ludicrous joke he'd ever heard. "Evelyn, can't you at least make your lies sound believable? Look at you! What man in his right mind would want to be with you?"

Poking me condescendingly in the shoulder, Camellia chimed in, "If you're just trying to win Marv back, just be upfront about it. What's the point of resorting to such flashy lies?"

I couldn't be bothered to clarify things with them. Just then, my phone rang—it was my blind date calling. I took the call in front of them, putting it on speaker mode.

A polite and slightly apologetic male voice came from the other end, "Hey, Evelyn. This is Nathan Lloyd."

For some reason, the name sounded rather familiar to me.

"I'm really sorry about this, but something urgent came up. I'm afraid I won't make it to our blind date today."

"It's fine. You should take care of your business first," I responded agreeably.

"To make up for this, let's have dinner three days from today. We can eat at the revolving rooftop restaurant at The Haven Hotel. It'll be my treat. Is that okay with you?"

The Haven Hotel was the top luxury hotel in the city. A meal at the hotel's rooftop restaurant could easily cost more than what an ordinary person earned in a year.

Before I could even respond, however, Marvin and Camellia were bent over with laughter beside me.

"Go on. Keep the act up," Marvin said as he clutched his sides, laughing so hard that he almost teared up. "Where did you even find that actor anyway, Evelyn? What, you're trying to prove that you're doing just fine even after you broke up with me?"

Camellia took his arm and looked at me scornfully. "It's useless. Everything you do will simply make Marv find you even more pathetic."

I simply put my phone away, not even feeling the urge to rebuke the pair of clowns.

"Are you done?" I asked coolly. "If you are, I'd like to have my lunch now."

My composure completely enraged them.

"You're so full of yourself, you broke bitch!" Camellia jabbed a finger at me, her face twisted in fury. "How dare you think about eating here? I bet you're going to dine and dash, aren't you? Security! Hey, security!"

Her piercing shrieks quickly brought over two uniformed security guards, and one of them recognized her.

"Yes, Ms. Hough? What do you need us to do?"

Smirking, Camellia pointed at me and commanded, "Kick this stalker out! She's ruining my and my fiance's appetite. Broke and shameless bitches like her aren't welcome in this mall!"

Marvin crossed his arms and added contemptuously, "Yeah, toss her out! Just the sight of her nauseates me!"

However, the security guard simply looked at them with a grim expression, his tone professional as he replied, "Ms. Hough, Mr. Stuart, we've just received a complaint that you two are creating a disturbance and harassing the other guests. Please leave the mall at once."

Camellia and Marvin were stupefied.

"W-What did you just say?" Camellia couldn't believe her ears. "You're telling me to leave? Do you even know who I am? I'm a VVIP guest here at this mall!"

"This is an order from the CEO herself," the guard said before holding his arm out to escort them off, his expression stoic.

"This is unbelievable!" Camellia shrieked.

She wanted to continue kicking up a fuss, but without saying another word, the two guards grabbed both of them by the arm and started hauling them out.

I was just about to head into the restaurant when Mom showed up in a Chanel suit.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I was pretty surprised to see her.

"Do you think I wouldn't show up? I had to make sure you came for the blind date, of course!" Mom rolled her eyes before chuckling. "Oh, but I forgot to tell you that we own this mall, too."

Laughing in exasperation, I took her arm and led her into the restaurant to have lunch together.

By then, the guards had dragged Marvin and Camellia out of the mall. As they stood there looking slightly disheveled, they spotted me linking arms with a middle-aged woman dressed in luxury attire.

The cogs in Camellia's mind started turning. "I've figured it out! Here I was, wondering where that broke bitch got the guts to act like that. Turns out she found herself someone to latch onto!"

Grinding his teeth, Marvin spat out, "I can't believe she actually found herself a rich woman to suck up to!"

After seeing me enter the restaurant, the two of them reluctantly trudged away from the mall.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for my dinner with Nathan. Thanks to Mom's persistent urging, I left the house hours before I actually had to.

As soon as the car came to a stop at the hotel entrance, a massive wedding poster slammed into my line of sight. It was a photo of Marvin in a suit with a blissful smile on his face, with Camellia beside him.

Only then did I remember that they were having their wedding today.

What a coincidence that was.

I walked into the hotel lobby and was about to head up to the rooftop when a voice called out, "Evelyn, what are you doing here?"

Camellia had spotted me. She immediately furrowed her brows and hurried over.

Marvin's face grew unpleasant the instant he saw me. "Evelyn, I told you not to bother me anymore! How can you be so shameless?"

"You don't own this hotel," I said coolly. "Do I need to report to you whenever I come here?"

Camellia snorted. "I see what's going on. You just can't let it go, so you showed up here to ruin our wedding, didn't you? Do you even know how much it costs to hold a wedding here? Your monthly salary isn't even enough to rent the most basic ballroom, you broke bitch!"

Marvin, with his arm around Camellia, looked at me in utter disdain. "There's no way in hell I'd ever marry you, Evelyn, so just give it up already! Look at Cammy, and then look at yourself. Do you really think you're worthy of me?"

The guests around them started whispering among themselves, curious about the situation.

"Is she the groom's ex? She's all dressed up, too. Is she here to steal the groom?"

"They've already broken up, yet she refuses to move on. How embarrassing for her!"

"She's just a deluded woman who wants someone way out of her league. She deserved to get dumped."

The comments stoked Marvin's ego, much to his satisfaction. "Heard that, Evelyn? This is the life I deserve. Take my advice and get lost now. Stop humiliating yourself here. You and I have long since become two people from entirely different worlds."

After taking in their show of smugness, I was just about to retort when a middle-aged man dressed in a suit dashed into the hotel lobby.

"Ms. Hough, our newly appointed CEO has just called off the redevelopment project at the south side of the city, the one where your family home is located."

The smile on Camellia's face froze at once.

"What did you just say?"

The man, who was drenched in sweat, confirmed the news once more. "It's true. We just received an official memo from the headquarters, stating that the plan for that district needs to be re-evaluated…"

He trailed off when, out of the corner of my eye, he spotted me. Immediately, he straightened up and turned to me with a respectful expression. "W-What are you doing here, Ms. Gray?"