Two years into my secret marriage, my ex-boyfriend Brandon Chase finally remembered me.
He slapped a black card and a set of apartment keys onto the table, his voice dripping with condescension: “Seraphina, I know you’re still waiting for me. Partnering with Tiffany will cut ten years off my struggle to build my company. You can be my mistress for now, and once the company goes public, I’ll divorce her…”
“Now that my career is stable, I immediately came looking for you.”
I looked at him, saying nothing.
He sighed. “I know you resent me, but Tiffany’s family is incredibly influential, and you’re just a regular assistant. If I left her for you, she’d be a laughingstock in her social circle.”
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting two years. This card has five million dollars, consider it compensation. Move in tonight, okay?”
Seeing that smug, ‘I’ve got this’ look on his face, I simply raised my hand.
“Security, please escort him out.”
Honestly, it was laughable. I’d just won an international design gold award, and my husband had just granted me two weeks off. I never expected to run into trash like this.
**Chapter 1**
Brandon Chase was dragged out by two burly security guards, one on each arm, still yelling in utter disbelief.
“Seraphina Hayes! How *dare* you do this to me? You’ll regret it! Who else would ever want you?!”
The coffee shop instantly fell silent, all eyes subtly drifting my way.
I picked up the coffee in front of me, long gone cold, took a slow sip, then expressionlessly picked up the black card and the obnoxious keys from the table.
I walked over to the cleaning lady, Maria, who was tidying up plates in the corner.
I slipped the black card and keys into her hand.
“Maria.”
She stared at me blankly, then at the items in her hand, looking utterly confused.
I gave a faint smile, my voice calm.
“That Mr. Chase, who just got escorted out, really appreciates your hard work.”
“This five million dollar bonus and an apartment are his way of acknowledging your diligent efforts. Please, take them.”
Maria gasped, her hand trembling, nearly dropping the items.
“M-miss, I can’t possibly… how could I accept something like this…?”
“He gave it. Just take it. The password is six eights. The apartment is at the Royal Towers, Building A, Unit 1101.” I finished, then turned and walked away.
Behind me, I heard Maria’s effusive thanks, and the air around me was thick with an absurd, ironic tang.
Just as I got back into the car, my assistant Maya called.
“Seraphina, the ‘Timeless Treasures’ charity auction for antique watches starts in half an hour. Your car’s waiting downstairs.”
“Got it.”
This trip back home, besides seeing family, my top priority was to bid on that specific vintage military watch.
Half an hour later, at the auction house.
I’d just settled into my reserved seat when I felt two hostile gazes land on me.
I looked up. Well, well. Speak of the devil.
Brandon was there, arm-in-arm with his newlywed wife, Tiffany Monroe, standing not far away.
He saw me, first freezing, then a smug, ‘I knew you couldn’t let me go’ expression spread across his face, as if my presence here was solely to stalk him.
Tiffany, on the other hand, was like a peacock in full display, her chin tilted slightly, scrutinizing me from head to toe as if I were a cheap knock-off.
“Brandon, is this Miss Hayes?”
Her voice wasn’t too loud or too soft, just enough for everyone around to hear.
“I thought she was some formidable figure. Turns out she’s just a regular assistant. Is this even a place she should be?”
Brandon immediately patted her hand reassuringly, but his gaze was glued to me, laced with a mix of reprimand and indulgence.
“Seraphina is just throwing a tantrum, don’t bother with her.”
I couldn’t be bothered with that pair of pathetic showboats. I lowered my head and flipped through the auction catalog.
Soon, the auction began.
One dazzling, jeweled item after another was presented, drawing gasps of admiration from the crowd.
Finally, it was time for the military watch I was interested in.
The host announced: “The next item is a military wrist-watch from World War II. The brand is unknown, starting bid is one hundred thousand dollars.”
The watch was projected onto the big screen. The casing was severely worn, its leather strap cracked and brittle. Next to the dazzling jewels that had just been sold, it looked utterly plain, almost… shabby.
A wave of whispers rippled through the audience.
Brandon’s scoff was clearly audible.
“Seraphina Hayes, your taste is getting worse and worse. After leaving me, is this the only junk you can afford?”
Tiffany giggled, chiming in, “Brandon, don’t say that. Maybe Miss Hayes wants to buy it for her collection. You know, for ‘nostalgia.’”
She dragged out the word ‘nostalgia’ with a pointed, sugary sweetness, dripping with insinuation.
I ignored them and simply raised my paddle.
“Three hundred thousand.”
Brandon’s face darkened.
He probably thought I was publicly defying him.
He immediately raised his paddle: “Five hundred thousand.”
I didn’t hesitate: “One million.”
Brandon’s face turned even uglier.
He seemed convinced I was just being childish, trying to get his attention.
He gritted his teeth and raised his paddle: “One point five million.”
“Three million.” I raised my paddle again, my voice nonchalant.
The entire room erupted in murmurs.
Spending three million dollars on a ‘junk watch’ with an unknown history? Everyone probably thought I’d lost my mind.
Brandon’s face was beet-red. He glared at me, as if trying to detect even a hint of bluff or regret in my expression.
But he was disappointed.
Ultimately, the watch was successfully acquired by me for three million dollars.
Maya went to handle the paperwork, but Brandon walked over to me, lowering his voice in warning.
“Seraphina Hayes, have you thrown enough tantrums?”
“Draining your savings on this trash, just to get me to look at you again? Is it worth it?”
He turned, then coldly addressed Maya, who stood beside me: “Keep your boss in check. Don’t let her go crazy again.”
With that, he walked away, an infuriating ‘I’m so worried about you’ look on his face.
Honestly, his arrogance knew no bounds. It was sickening.
**Chapter 2**
The auction ended, and I waited in the lounge for Maya to finish the paperwork.
“Seraphina, all alone here?”
Tiffany opened with a false sweetness, a victorious smirk playing on her lips.
She took out a delicate velvet box from her Hermès handbag and opened it in front of me.
Inside was a brand-new diamond-encrusted ladies’ watch, sparkling blindingly under the lights.
“Brandon just bought me this ‘Stellar Sparkle’ watch, but I think it’s a bit too flashy. Your wrist looks bare, why don’t I just give it to you?”
She held the watch out, like she was bestowing a great gift.
“Women, you know, should wear delicate, beautiful things. An old, broken military watch like that just brings bad luck.”
Brandon chimed in, his voice laced with condescending instruction.
“She’s right, Seraphina. You don’t need to drain all your savings on junk like that just to get my attention.”
“You weren’t like this before. Why have you become so vain and childish?”
He reached out, actually trying to take the military watch I’d just bought from the box Maya was holding.
“Listen to me. Give me that junk, and I’ll get you a new one.”
My eyes turned cold, and I subtly moved, avoiding his hand.
This watch, which he called junk, was profoundly significant to me.
It was a relic, worn by my husband, Alexander Vance’s grandfather on the battlefield. It was a gift from his father when Alexander turned eighteen, and later, he gave it to me as a token of our love.
Putting it up for auction was just a formality for the group’s charity foundation. I never expected it to cause such a dramatic scene.
Seeing that I wouldn’t “listen,” Brandon’s patience finally ran out.
His voice grew harder.
“Seraphina Hayes, what are you even trying to prove? Do you want to embarrass me in public?”
Disregarding my wishes, he directly tried to snatch it.
In the struggle, the watch box in Maya’s hand clattered to the floor.
The seemingly unremarkable military watch rolled out of the box, and a clear crack instantly appeared on the watch face.
My mind went blank, a ringing silence, as if something had exploded inside me. A surge of uncontrollable rage shot straight to my head.
I sharply raised my hand and, with all my might, delivered a resounding slap across Brandon’s face.
*“Smack!”*
The crisp sound echoed loudly in the quiet lounge.
Everyone was stunned.
“Brandon Chase, you are *dead* to me!”
My voice was icy cold, every word squeezed out through gritted teeth.
Brandon clutched his face, also stunned by my violent reaction.
He stood frozen for several seconds. Then, a twisted look of realization spread across his face.
He stared at me, his eyes blazing with jealousy and a twisted kind of madness.
He’d decided this ‘junk watch’ must be from some new lover. My fury, my loss of control – in his twisted mind, it was all the guilt and pure rage of someone caught red-handed.
He sneered, his voice filled with the pain of betrayal.
“Fine, Seraphina Hayes, I finally get it.”
“I wondered why your personality suddenly changed. So, you found yourself a new man?”
“For something another man gave you, you dared to hit me?!”
**Chapter 3**
People around us started pointing and whispering.
Tiffany immediately seized the opportunity, adding fuel to the fire.
“Oh my goodness, Seraphina, how could you hit him? Brandon was only trying to help you!”
“Even if… even if you found someone else, you can’t treat Brandon like this, can you? He was your ex, you had so many years together…”
She looked utterly heartbroken, but with a few words, she painted me as some kind of fickle, ungrateful cheat.
Brandon bent down, picked up the cracked wrist-watch from the floor, his eyes terrifyingly dark.
“So nervous? Which secret lover gave this to you?”
He meticulously examined the watch, turning it over and over, as if trying to stare a hole through it.
Finally, on the back of the watch face, he found a hand-carved mark, almost worn beyond recognition.
It was an ‘Xan.’
Alexander Vance had carved it himself.
“Xan?”
Brandon stared at the initial, first puzzled, then letting out a contemptuous sneer.
“Heh, Seraphina Hayes, I truly underestimated you. When did your taste get so bad?”
“You hooked up with some guy who isn’t even worth revealing a full name? And he gave you something so cheap?”
He naturally misinterpreted ‘Xan’ as some shady alias or a sugar baby’s pet name, his voice filled with scorn and disdain.
I wasn’t about to waste a single word explaining anything to him.
I snatched the watch back from his hand, clutching it tightly in my palm, the cold metal digging into my skin.
I looked up, my gaze icy, and corrected him word by word.
“It’s from my husband.”
“Husband?”
“You married some random guy just to spite me?”
“Seraphina Hayes, are you insane?!”
He suddenly seized my wrist, his grip so strong it felt like my bones would shatter.
“I’m giving you one last chance. Break it off with him and come back to me, now!”
His eyes were bloodshot, and he had that infuriating ‘look-at-all-I’ve-sacrificed-for-you’ expression.
“Considering you used to be with me, I can overlook your recent foolishness.”
“But you need to move into the apartment I offered, get rid of that other guy’s baby, and be ready for my call, anytime!”
I looked at his crazed expression and felt nothing but disgust.
I forcefully yanked my hand away, my eyes filled only with the disdain one reserves for trash.
“Brandon Chase, do you honestly think you’re worthy?”
Just then, Maya, my assistant, having finished the paperwork, rushed over.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, she immediately bowed respectfully to me.
“Mrs. Vance, all the paperwork is complete, and your car is ready.”
She paused, then added: “Mr. Vance just called, asking when you’ll be finished. He’s waiting for your call.”
“Mr. Vance?”
Brandon’s face instantly twisted into an even uglier grimace at the sound of the surname.
He looked at me, as if he’d caught me red-handed, a cold sneer on his face.
“So, it’s a Vance. Very well.”
“Seraphina Hayes, you just wait.”
He thought he’d finally caught the surname of my “other guy.”
**Chapter 4**
I didn’t want to waste another second with that lunatic.
Clutching the damaged wrist-watch, my heart aching with urgency, I immediately got into the car, escorted by Maya.
Behind me, Brandon watched my retreating back, a sneer on his face as he addressed Maya.
“Go tell your boss that tomorrow, at the FutureTech Summit, I’ll have a huge ‘surprise’ for her.”
His confident tone suggested he was already certain of victory.
I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what his “surprise” would be.
He probably thought my “Mr. Vance” was some bloated, flashy tech mogul who’d just gotten lucky with the latest trend.
He planned to expose my “sugar baby” scandal at tomorrow’s summit, in front of everyone, to force me into submission and satisfy his pathetic male ego.
Truly, laughably stupid.
In the car, I called Alexander Vance.
The call was answered almost immediately.
The moment I heard his voice, my tightly wound nerves finally relaxed, and my voice held a hint of vulnerability I hadn’t noticed myself.
“Xan… our love token… I… I broke it.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end.
Then, Alexander’s deep, gentle voice came through, filled with comforting strength.
“Did you hurt your hand?”
“As long as you’re okay, a watch is just a watch. If it’s broken, we’ll fix it.”
“Don’t overthink it. Come home soon. After the summit tomorrow, I’ll go with you to get it repaired.”
Hearing his soothing words, my heart warmed, and only then did I realize something.
Tomorrow’s FutureTech Summit… wasn’t it hosted by Elysian, the luxury conglomerate Alexander Vance helmed?
…
The next day, at the FutureTech Summit.
The room was packed with the elite, a constellation of stars from the tech and finance worlds.
Brandon and Tiffany strutted through the crowd like two strutting peacocks who’d just won a fight.
His eyes, like radar, scanned the room for me, and for the ‘Mr. Vance’ he’d conjured in his imagination.
When he saw me sitting alone, perfectly composed, in the third row of the guest section, his conviction solidified.
I saw him whisper a few words to Tiffany, who immediately covered her mouth, shooting me a look of disdain and schadenfreude.
Clearly, they believed my front-row seat was bought by my ‘Mr. Vance’ at a hefty price, solely to satisfy the vanity of *me*, his ‘gold-digger’ girlfriend.
I ignored them, my head bowed, reviewing the summit agenda.
Finally, the summit officially began.
The host took the stage, using the most elaborate and grand rhetoric to introduce the keynote speaker for the event.
“Over the past five years, he’d taken the luxury industry by storm, consolidating nearly half of the global market. With a visionary eye, he seamlessly merged technology and art, forging an entirely new business empire.”
“He is the legend of our era!”
“Now, please give a warm round of applause for the founder and patriarch of the Elysian Group – Mr. Alexander Vance!”
As his words faded, the hall erupted in thunderous applause.
The spotlight instantly illuminated the stage entrance.
Alexander Vance, impeccably dressed in a tailored bespoke suit, walked calmly onto the stage.
His handsome, cold face appeared on the big screen, his deep eyes like frosty stars. He commanded the stage with the presence of royalty, instantly silencing the entire room.
In that moment, I clearly saw Brandon, not far away, his smug, arrogant expression instantly freeze, then shatter into a mask of pure disbelief.
He stared fixedly at Alexander on stage, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
Of course, he knew Alexander Vance.
Alexander was a titan of industry he could only look up to, a business emperor he didn’t even have the qualifications to curry favor with.
He was the mysterious power behind the Elysian Group, the very company he dreamt of securing investment from.
Alexander stopped at the center of the stage, but his gaze didn’t fall on any of the guests in the audience.
His eyes, cutting through the bustling crowd, landed gently and precisely on me.
He picked up the microphone, his thin lips parting.
His first words instantly shocked everyone present.
“Before I begin today’s address, please allow me to attend to a personal matter.”
His dark eyes were deep and unwavering, his voice calm yet carrying an unquestionable authority.
“My wife was… mistreated yesterday.”
“As her husband, I need to get justice for her.”
**Chapter 5**
He subtly tilted his head, gesturing to the backstage director.
The next second, the enormous high-definition LED screen behind him instantly switched to surveillance footage from the auction lounge yesterday.
On the large screen, the images were so clear you could see the pores on people’s faces.
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