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.

Whenever we fought before, he would give me the silent treatment.

I was always the one to apologize first.

However, this time, I told the butler not to let Jim in again.

After I got rid of everything he had given me, I felt a little better.

But then, he got into a car accident on his way home.

Rowena called, her voice sharp with blame. "What did you say to Jim? He got distracted and crashed. This is all your fault!"

"You’re really holding a grudge over a few texts? How can you be so heartless?"

I was stunned. I found out where Jim had been taken and started getting ready to go see him.

He had left my place just before the accident. I needed to see him to ease my mind.

Just as I was about to leave, my parents came home.

They heard I wanted to go out and immediately stopped me.

"Edward Shaw, the eldest son of the Shaw family, is coming back tomorrow. He doesn’t care about that silly scene you made," they said.

"Why waste time on Jim when you have a fiancé like Edward?"

"Besides, we checked—Jim was distracted because he was talking to his childhood friend on the phone. It wasn’t your fault!"

Their words snapped me out of it. I quietly put the car keys back.

Seeing I had calmed down, my parents exchanged a relieved glance.

Their tone softened. "You’re our only child. All we want is for you to be happy."

"Your wedding is in seven days. Meet Edward tomorrow to pick out your wedding dress."

I nodded and went back to my room, where Rowena’s messages were still coming in non-stop.

[Jim’s awake and asking for you. Why haven’t you gone to see him?]

[You don’t actually think playing hard to get will work on Jim, do you, Ella? Don’t end up regretting it!]

For a moment, I couldn't tell how Rowena really felt about Jim.

If she truly loved him, why was she so eager for me to visit him at the hospital?

I didn’t want to overthink it, so I set her messages to ‘Do Not Disturb.’

That night, the Larson family came over.

"Jim was foolish before. He didn’t know his own heart. After the car accident, he finally realized who he truly loves."

"He asked us to deliver this ring to Ms. Cunningham. He says it’s his turn to confess his love and wants to know if Ms. Cunningham will accept."

My parents were about to refuse but stopped when they saw the look I gave them.

I took the ring—not because I was moved, but because on my last birthday, I had wished for a diamond ring from Jim. He had promised, then kept putting it off.

But when I saw the initials ‘RS’ engraved inside the band, all my remaining patience vanished.

"Tell Jim I don’t accept his confession."

"And make sure he knows exactly who that ring was meant for."

The Larsons looked like they’d seen a ghost. When they read the initials engraved inside the ring, they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything else to convince me.

At the hospital, Jim was dumbfounded as the Larson family returned with cold, sarcastic expressions.

He couldn’t believe it. "How could Ella turn me down?"

It never crossed Jim’s mind that I would look closely at the ring.

Whenever he gave me something in the past, I was always thrilled, never once questioning or even using it.

His fists clenched, eyes darkening with anger.

"I’ve been too soft lately—that’s why Ella’s gotten so bold."

"Spread the word: I’m getting engaged to Rowena in a week. I dare Ella to ignore that!"

The next day, I went to the airport to meet Edward.

The moment our eyes met, I was completely stunned.