After my 99th failed confession of love to Jim, my parents grounded me for two weeks.

"You've embarrassed yourself enough over that illegitimate son from the Larson family," they snapped. "Has he ever even spared you a proper glance?"

"Stay home and reflect. We've already arranged your marriage to the Shaw family. The wedding will be in two weeks."

However, I didn’t give up. I was so determined to see Jim, no matter what.

Only to walk in on him locked in a deep kiss with his precious first love in a private room.

"Jim, you really know how to play," one of his friends laughed. "If the Cunningham family's heiress catches you like this, she'll probably lose her mind again."

"Seriously, you've turned Ella down so many times, and now that she's grounded, you haven't even sent her a message. Aren't you afraid she'll finally give up on you?"

Jim just scoffed with disdain and said calmly, "What's there to be afraid of? Everyone in the capital knows Ella is obsessed with me. Who else would want her but me?"

"If I hadn't needed her to get back into the Larson family, I never would've postponed my engagement to Rowena in the first place."

I hesitated at the door to the private room, my hand frozen on the handle. It felt like my heart had dropped into a pit of ice.

Inside, Jim Larson was still laughing, his voice full of mockery.

"You don’t get it. I’ve been pretending to like Ella for the past five years—bottling everything up. I had no feelings for her, but I still had to act like I cared."

He looked like he was barely holding it together, knocking back his drink in big gulps. The others rushed over, trying to comfort him.

"But hey, you're back with the Larsons now, right? Once the Cunninghams help you secure those shares, you’ll finally be free."

"And don’t forget—Rowena's been waiting for you this whole time. With a fiancée like her, what are you even worried about?"

Jim grabbed Rowena Scott’s hand, his eyes filled with emotion.

With the crowd cheering them on, he pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her, completely ignoring the fact that everyone could see.

Five years ago, I was in a car crash, and Jim was the one who saved me.

He stayed with me at the hospital for a full month, never leaving my side.

He even traveled to some remote little town just to find a pendant that was supposed to protect me.

Back then, when I saw him bruised and battered, I couldn’t help falling for him.

Even after I learned he was the Larsons’ secret son, I never once looked down on him.

He told me Rowena was just an old friend, nothing more.

However, I never imagined they were actually promised to each other.

I forced the memory out of my mind and turned to leave quietly—only to be stopped by a waiter.

"Excuse me, miss. Are you with this group?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at the door.

My cheeks burned, but I kept my cool.

"I just got here. What's going on?"

Jim looked startled, but when he heard I’d only just arrived, his shoulders relaxed.

His friends hurried out to smooth things over.

"Ella, Jim found out you were grounded because of him, and he’s been drowning his guilt in alcohol. It’s hard to watch."

"This game was just for Rowena’s birthday. He only ended up like this because he lost at Truth or Dare. Please don’t take it the wrong way, Ella!"

I didn’t say a word. I just looked at Jim.

In the past, whenever someone mistook me for his girlfriend, he would deny it immediately.

But today—maybe because he felt guilty—he said nothing.

I swallowed the pain in my chest.

"It’s fine. You all keep playing. I’m heading home."

After saying this, I straightened my back and turned to leave, trying to hold onto whatever dignity I had left.

Jim chased after me.

"Are you mad? I didn’t mean to ignore your texts!"

"We’re just here for Rowena’s birthday, that’s all. You’ve got to believe me—I don’t have feelings for her!"

He thought I’d cause a scene.

However, I surprised him this time. I was calm.

"I get it. I’m not mad."

"You should go back. I’m going home too."

Jim looked at me like he wanted to say more, but he stayed quiet.

"Good that you understand me. I know you’re the best, Ella.

"When you're not grounded anymore, we'll go out, okay?"

His words hurt.

I watched him walk back into the party, and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

'There's no future for us, Jim,' I thought.

I went home feeling hollow and smashed the pendant he gave me.

For five years, it wasn’t just me hoping and holding on.

If he hadn’t kept giving me hope after turning me down, I wouldn’t have chased him for so long.

My parents tried to warn me, but I refused to listen.

Now, after getting hurt so badly, I finally saw they were right.

Jim must have still been worried about me because he sent another message.

[Ella, I'm going to ask your parents to let you out early, okay?]

[Even if they don't like me, I'm going to stand up for you.]

Before, a message like that would’ve melted my heart.

I would’ve believed that Jim really cared about me, that he was the only one who truly understood how I felt.

Now, it just felt like a cruel joke.

I didn’t reply his message, and put him on Do Not Disturb.

Then, out of nowhere, I got a friend request.

It was from Rowena.

The moment I accepted, she flooded me with photos—dozens of shots of her and Jim looking intimate and close.

[You saw what happened today in the VIP room, didn’t you?]

[I actually spotted you there earlier, but I pretended not to.]

My hands trembled as I scrolled through the photos.

Jim was smiling in a way I had never seen before.

He wasn’t always so serious and cold.

He just wasn’t happy when he was with me.

When I didn’t reply, Rowena messaged again.

[I’ve been waiting for Jim for five years, waiting for him to prove himself in the Larson family before I made my move.]

[Now that Jim’s grandpa, Mr. Trevon Larson, is close to passing, Jim’s sure to inherit part of the shares. My patience is finally paying off.]

[Ella, don’t think being a rich girl makes you special to Jim. He’s only ever had eyes for me.]

That’s when it hit me—she wasn’t trying to show off. She wanted to crush whatever was left of my hope.

"You're wrong. Jim's not worth my time," I replied calmly.

Then I powered off my phone and tried to rest.

However, I couldn’t stop thinking about everything I’d done for Jim over the past five years.

Like that time at the auction, I bought up everything for him just to make sure no one dared look down on him.

However the next day, I saw an ancient bracelet from the auction on Rowena’s wrist.

Jim had brushed it off with a casual excuse.

I wanted to believe him. When he asked me not to go, I even gave up my chance to study abroad.

He promised at the airport that he’d treat me well from then on.

Yet three days later, he turned me down again.

All those memories came rushing back, weighing on my chest like a big rock.

I didn’t sleep the whole night.

Then, in the early morning, Jim showed up at my place.

When he saw the dark circles under my eyes, he almost looked smug.

"Ella, do you miss me that much? You look so worn out. Was it because of me?"

I was stunned and about to tell him off, but he cut me off.

"I came today because I need a favor.

"My grandpa wants to see me engaged before he’ll hand over the shares.

"So, will you pretend to be engaged to me?"

He asked as if he was certain I would say yes.

I let out a dry laugh. "And what if I say I don’t want to?"

He knew I was upset about what happened yesterday, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to use me one last time.

Suddenly, I saw Jim in a new light—and he didn’t look so great anymore.

Without the rose-colored glasses, he just wasn’t the same.

Jim thought I was joking and reached out to tousle my hair.

"I get it, you’re upset. However, listen, I’ll plan a nice fake engagement."

"And if you play along, I’ll be your boyfriend for a month, okay?"

He acted like he was doing me a huge favor.

I scowled. "Jim, what do you take me for?"

"When you need me, you’re all friendly, but when you don’t, you just ignore me. Did you ever think about how that makes me feel?"

"I’m not agreeing to some fake engagement. Go ask someone else."

Jim froze, clearly not expecting me to refuse.

He stared at me, searching my face. When he realized I wasn’t joking, his expression darkened with panic.

"Ella, you know I’m not like that. You’re the one who matters most to me."

"Besides, Grandpa only asked me for this one thing. If you turn me down, I’ll be out of the Larson family!"

I didn’t flinch. "I’m not trying to be cruel, but haven’t you always said you could stand on your own two feet without the Larsons? I just want to see you make it on your own."

Jim fell silent, visibly frustrated.

"Ella, it sounds like you just don’t want to help me. Fine. If I have to leave the Larson family, then you won’t see me again."

He turned to walk out dramatically—only to catch a glimpse of something in the trash can.

His footsteps stopped cold.

Jim stood frozen, staring at the pendant I had thrown away.

"Ella, why did you throw away the pendant I gave you?"

He knew how much it had meant to me.

I used to guard it like it was a piece of my heart. No one could even touch it without me giving them the cold shoulder.

Jim’s eyes welled up with tears.

"You’ve been acting strange since last night. What did I do wrong? Don’t I have the right to turn down your confession of love for me?"

"You promised me that if I said no, you wouldn’t get upset. That we’d still be good friends!"

Watching him fall apart didn’t move me.

"Jim, stop it. I never said we weren’t friends."

"I was the one who crossed the line. I shouldn’t have kept bothering you. Let’s just go back to being friends. I won’t step over the line again."

He didn’t need to keep pretending anymore, but somehow, Jim looked like he was the one being wronged.

"Ella, are you trying to get me to confess or something?" he asked. "You’ve become so tricky, I hardly recognize you."

I almost laughed in disbelief.

I was finally being honest, and he thought I was playing games?

Jim let out a long sigh.

"We should both cool off. I’ll think about your confession... I’ll come see you in three days."

Then, without another word, he turned and left.