News of our broken engagement spread like
wildfire. Everyone speculated, wondering what
uld have gone wrong between our seemingly
fect couple. People fished for information,
out I just said we’d fallen out of love. Being
cheated on isn’t exactly something you brag
about.
Summer, however, had no such qualms. She
paraded around with Ethan, making sure
everyone knew they were together. Friends told
me about it, and I just laughed it off. Until the
donations became an issue. My assistant
<
informed me that the village I’d helped… was
Summer’s hometown. When the charity workers
visited, they found the house abandoned,
dilapidated. Summer’s family had died years
ago, when she was in high school. All that money… she’d pocketed it.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” my assistant
said, dumbfounded. “She lied about everything!”
I’d even called Summer’s “family” during the
holidays. Someone had answered. Now, I
realized it was probably all a scam. I shivered.
She was so good, I never suspected a thing.
Then I heard that Ethan had taken Summer to
meet his grandfather, who promptly threw them
both out. I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or
say “serves you right.”
I focused on work, tuning out any news about
Ethan. But I underestimated his audacity. He
showed up at my office, not to reconcile, but to
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12:13
100
ask for a favor. “Olivia,” he pleaded. “Grandpa
loves you. Just put in a good word for Summer.
I’ll owe you forever.”
“Are you insane? You want me to defend your
mistress?”
He winced. “Don’t be so harsh.”
“Then get out.”
He sighed. “Olivia, do you know the biggest
difference between you and Summer? She’s not
as heartless. You went off to run your company,
forgetting all about me. When I was sick, it was
Summer who was there for me, not you.” His
eyes softened as he talked about her. “She’d
just moved here, didn’t even know her way
around, but when she heard I was sick, she
rushed over, took care of me, made me soup…
That’s when I realized someone actually cared.”
I almost choked. I’d brought him the medicine
<
and made the soup. He’d been asleep when I
left for an emergency meeting. I’d been
replaced without even knowing it. But it didn’t
matter anymore.
“Wow,” I said flatly. “She sounds amazing. Don’t
let her get away.”
“Olivia, she’s a good person. Please, for old
times‘ sake, just help her out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ethan, come back when
you’ve developed a brain.”
At a Carter Corp. event a few weeks later, I
noticed Ethan’s uncle, not Ethan, was heading
the project we’d discussed. Apparently, Ethan
had chosen Summer over the company, and his
grandfather had stripped him of his heir
apparent status. I couldn’t believe he was that
stupid.
Then, I got engaged. Not to Ethan, but to his
Then, I got engaged. Not to Ethan, but to his
uncle, James. On the day of our engagement
party, Summer vanished, taking all of Ethan’s
money. James also gave Ethan a parting gift:
the truth about Summer, the con artist who’d
fabricated her entire backstory. Ethan,
desperate to find her, had a car accident, losing both his legs.
And me? I was finally free to start my new life.
