I had just delivered a premium caviar dinner in the middle of a torrential downpour. The hundred-dollar tip in my pocket had actually made me smile.

Until I heard the voices drifting from the open terrace of the Long Island mansion.

"Eric, she actually buys the paraplegic routine? She's delivering takeout in this weather to support you?"

"If she knew you were an Upper East Side billionaire playing poverty simulator, she'd probably jump off a bridge."

Eric? My boyfriend's name.

I peered through the crack in the heavy door. Eric Crawford was lounging on a velvet sofa, casually swirling a crystal glass of whiskey.

"Cheap women like Vera have serving others baked into their DNA," he sneered. "Who told her to outshine Lily back at our Ivy League university? Tricking her is just a little punishment."

I stood frozen in the freezing rain, my tears mixing with the downpour.

Two years. He had faked a catastrophic illness for two years, all to help his childhood sweetheart get back at me. His shattered legs, his bankrupt parents—it was all a meticulously crafted lie.

I backed away from the estate, wiping the icy rain from my face. My fingers were numb as I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in years. My father. The Wall Street titan.

"Dad," I whispered into the receiver. "I was wrong. I'll agree to the marriage alliance."

~~~~~

The moment I hung up, Lily Sutton's cloying voice drifted out from the mansion.

"My sweet Eric spoils me, teaching that bitch a lesson just for me... I love it."

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I watched her trace Eric's jawline. And there, glinting under the chandelier on her ring finger, was my mother's heirloom ring.

Eric chuckled, playfully nipping at her fingertips. "Anything for you, babe."

His legs—the legs that were supposedly paralyzed from a car crash—were comfortably crossed and propped up on a designer coffee table. The thick white leg cast that had fooled me for two years looked glaringly ridiculous now under the crystal lights. The muscle tone was firm. No atrophy. No weakness.

I gripped my empty delivery bag and pounded on the heavy oak door.

The raucous living room plunged into a dead, suffocating silence. Every eye snapped toward me.

I walked straight toward Eric. My soaked combat boots left muddy, dripping footprints across the priceless Persian rug.

Eric's throat bobbed. His eyes darted around in pure panic. "Vera... what are you doing here?" His voice was tight and dry. "I was just... catching up with my frat brothers..."

I ignored his pathetic lie. My eyes were locked on the diamond gleaming on Lily's finger.

"Give me back the ring."

Eric's fake smile shattered. He clearly hadn't expected me to be so cold. Out of sheer habit, he rolled his wheelchair an inch forward, slipping right back into his gaslighting routine.

"Vera, sweetheart, listen to me—"

"Listen to what?" I cut him off, a mocking smirk tugging at my lips. "Are you going to explain how you so generously fenced my mother's ring to Miss Sutton for a profit? Or are you going to explain how your paralyzed legs were miraculously healed by God today?"

All the color drained from Eric's face. He opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

The silence thickened.

Until Lily let out a dramatic, mocking snort.

She stood up, swaying her hips as she clicked over to me in her red-soled heels. She deliberately flaunted her hand right in my face.

"This ring is a gift from Eric. You like it? You want it back?" She dragged out the word gift, her eyes dancing with provocation.

Eric swallowed hard, his face pale. "Lily, stop! Vera..."

"Vera what?" Lily snapped impatiently, looking me up and down with utter disgust, taking in my cheap, dripping rain jacket.

"You want it? Fine. For Eric's sake, I suppose I can give it back. But you're not getting it for the original price. I've worn it. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you a discount. Fifty thousand dollars. Cash. Hand over the money right now, and you can take it."

Fifty thousand dollars.

After signing the financial cut-off agreement with my father to pay for Eric's "medical bills," I had drained every cent I had. I had even pawned my mother's belongings. Right now, I couldn't even swipe a credit card for five hundred bucks.

I stared at her triumphant face, then shifted my gaze to Eric.

He looked away. He was letting her do this.

In that split second, the last pathetic shred of illusion I held for our past turned to ash.

"Fine." My voice was dead. "I'll buy it."

I just wanted my mother's last token back. After that, I would never cross paths with these pieces of trash again.

"You'll buy it?" Lily threw her head back and shrieked with laughter, as if she'd just heard the funniest joke in the world. She pointed a manicured finger at the insulated delivery box I was still holding.

"You couldn't make fifty grand if you delivered takeout for the rest of your miserable life! Look at what you're holding. A5 Wagyu and white truffles. Have you ever tasted it? Have you ever even seen it? Do you even deserve it?"

Without warning, she snatched the delivery box from my grip and hurled it at the marble floor!

Crash!

The heavy insulated box hit the hard stone with a sickening thud. The lid popped open, and the exquisite, priceless ingredients spilled everywhere. Bluefin tuna sashimi, caviar, and premium A5 Wagyu scattered across the floor.

Lily laughed at the mess. She stepped forward, driving the sharp heel of her stiletto directly into a piece of pristine tuna, grinding it into the marble.

"See that? A fifteen-thousand-dollar dinner, and I can trash it if I feel like it! And bottom-feeders like you could never afford to be this reckless, right?"

"You can't make money, you'll never step foot into our class. You only deserve to smell it! That's the difference between you and me, understand?"

The frat brothers and socialites erupted into piercing jeers.

"Exactly! A trashy delivery girl trying to compete with Lily?"

"Look at her, destined for the slums, and she says she can pay fifty grand? Well, maybe she can go to Central Park and find a sugar daddy!"

"True, she's got a hot body. Those old Wall Street geezers love the innocent look."

Fueled by the crowd's agreement, Lily's arrogance peaked. She looked at the ring on her finger, then back at my wretched state, her face twisting with extreme disgust.

"Eric said this was some antique, but considering you can't even pay rent, it's probably cheap flea-market garbage. Only you would treat a piece of scrap metal like a treasure."

She slid the ring off her finger.

Then, before anyone—even Eric—could react, she yanked open the sliding glass door, pulled her arm back, and threw it.

The ring traced a silver arc through the torrential rain.

Splash.

It vanished into the raging, swollen waters of the estate's river.

"No!"

It was the only thing I had left of my mother!

My body moved before my brain could process it. I sprinted for the terrace, ready to vault the railing and dive straight into the freezing water!