After My Fiancé Schemed Three Million From Me, I Went Ruthless

Right before the wedding was set to begin, my best friend called me out of nowhere.

Pauline Swanson, please, lend me some money. I'm sick, and the treatment costs three million.

I'll die without it. You have to save me!

Cold sweat broke over me. I turned and called my fianc at once.

But I called ninety-nine times, and he never once picked up.

So I scraped it together from everywhere I could, even taking out a loan to make up the full amount.

The second I'd wired it to her, I raced to the hospital without stopping.

I pushed open the door to her room, and a familiar voice pierced my heart like a needle.

She was sitting up in the hospital bed, laughing into her phone.

"Rufus Gilbert, that trick of yours really worked. You not only got her out of the way, you fleeced her good on top of it!"

"I'll just call this rescue money my wedding gift to the two of you. You owe me dinner one of these days!"

Rufus's voice came through from the other end.

"The wedding was never for her anyway. She's only good enough to be a mistress."

Something warm and metallic rose in my throat. I was about to walk in and demand answers.

Then I turned my head and saw the wedding livestream playing on the TV.

In the dressing room, Rufus was down on one knee, softly kissing the back of his ex-girlfriend's hand.

Amid the cheering, he said the very words he'd once said to me.

"I'll make you the happiest bride in all of Riverton."

I pressed a hand to the dull ache in my chest and laughed until my eyes filled with tears.

So it turned out that promise had never belonged to me.

I stood in the doorway, nailed in place.

The livestream went on.

Rufus pulled out a stack of red-covered deeds, his eyes tender as water.

"These are some properties and shops around Riverton. As of today, they're all yours to manage."

"And this is the transfer agreement for five percent of the Gilbert-Swanson Group. From now on, it's my way of giving you security."

Flora Fox took them and, glowing, held each one up to the camera one by one.

It was like a basin of ice water dumped over my head. My whole body shook.

I'd stayed up through countless nights with Rufus, drunk through countless bottles.

I'd walked with him every step of the way, from a broke nobody to the head of a listed company.

And yet he had never once promised me so much as one percent.

I stood frozen, watching Rufus adjust her wedding gown.

It was exactly like mine.

Except mine had never fit, and this one sat perfectly on her frame.

I remembered when the gown was first finished, too small on me, and I'd wanted to ask the shop to alter the size.

Rufus had dragged me away, impatient.

"Altering the gown is a waste of time."

"The wedding's just going through the motions. What does it matter whether it fits?"

So that gown had never been mine from the start.

And it wasn't that he had no time. He just wouldn't waste it on someone he didn't care about.

Flora smiled shyly for the camera.

"Rufus made this himself. He stayed up so many nights over it."

"Such a fool. Wasn't even afraid of ruining his eyes."

A shriek pulled me out of the memory.

On the screen, Flora was covering her nose, nestled against Rufus.

"Who brought this bouquet? I'm allergic to pollen!"

My best friend answered into her phone on this end.

"Pauline made it."

"How does she manage to disgust you even when she isn't here!"

At that, Rufus's face darkened, and he flung the bouquet away.

Then he turned and handed her a bouquet made of pure gold.

"I knew you were allergic. I had this ready for you long ago."

"Don't be upset. It won't be pretty if you cry your makeup off."

The crowd there teased them for being unbearably sweet.

In a corner no one cared about, the bouquet rolled a few times across the floor, then got stomped hard underfoot.

Rufus's buddy ground the petals to pieces in disgust.

"A vicious, ugly woman like Pauline doesn't come close to Flora!"

"All she ever did was spend Rufus's money. Nothing like Flora, beautiful and successful!"

"She should be like this bouquet, trampled underfoot forever."

I stared blankly at the bouquet.

When his proposal got scrapped a dozen times over, I was the one who fixed it for him, who won him nearly a million in commission.

Back then he'd sworn up and down that he'd always be on my side.

And now he was grinding me into the mud.

I wanted to keep watching, but the screen suddenly went black.

Only then did my best friend notice me. Her mouth opened, but not a single word came out.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth. "Why turn it off? Weren't you looking forward to it?"

She started to explain on reflex. "No, I, I'm sorry, but I really didn't mean to."

"I just, I just"

Looking at her panicked face, the ache in my chest nearly drowned me.

For the past ten years, when I was bullied she was the first to step in front of me, when I was upset she was the first to speak up for me.

She'd treated me as her closest friend, and I'd taken on millions in loans for her.

I'd even borrowed my parents' retirement savings just to help her.

And yet this illness turned out to be a con.

Ten years of friendship, and in the end it was all a joke.

I gave her one long look and turned to leave.

"Do you really have to go running off to be the other woman!"

My steps faltered, but I didn't turn around.

"As for who the real other woman is, I think you know perfectly well."

Before she could react, I walked fast out of the hospital.

By the time I reached the wedding, half an hour had passed.

Outside the banquet hall, a stooped couple stood arguing with a member of the staff.

"We're the bride's parents. Why can't we go in?"

The staffer picked at her manicure and rolled her eyes.

"How many times do I have to say it? No invitation, no entry. I don't care if you're the king of the world!"

"Look at the shabby state of you two. As if you'd ever know the bride. She's the heiress of the Fox Group. She doesn't just let anyone latch on to her."

"Beggars."

I was about to step forward and argue when a woman dressed like a wealthy socialite walked past.

The staffer immediately smiled, all sweetness, and ushered her inside.

My parents asked, "Why can she go in?"

The staffer said impatiently, "She's the bride's aunt."

"Mr. Gilbert gave specific orders. Any relative of the bride is to be treated with the highest standard of hospitality."

"Beggars like you get thrown out."

My parents wanted to say more, but I stepped up and pulled them aside to the corner.

I explained things in a few quick words, hailed a cab, and sent them back to my place.

Then I walked straight into the wedding.

Onstage, Rufus Gilbert was reciting his vows with tender feeling.

I let out a cold laugh. "A scumbag putting on a devoted act. He really has a talent for it."

The crowd erupted, and countless cameras swung toward me.

Rufus's face darkened. "Pauline Swanson, what nonsense are you spouting?"

I frowned, my eyes full of fury.

"You toyed with my feelings, then set me up to swindle three million out of me. Rufus Gilbert, do you have a heart at all?"

The crowd's gazes shifted to him, curious and contemptuous.

Panic flashed through Rufus's eyes, and he immediately looked toward the couple in the audience.

"She's talking nonsense. The only one I love is Flora. She's just an employee at my company."

He clenched his fist, and his stare at me turned venomous.

"You've been acting out in private, and I was gracious enough not to hold it against you."

"But you couldn't have me, so your love turned to spite, and now you've come to make a scene at my wedding."

"Someone get her out of here, now!"

My love turned to spite?

I laughed until my whole body shook, and before I knew it, my eyes had filled with tears.

Flora suddenly stopped him and, looking pitiful, cried to the cameras.

"Pauline Swanson, you bullied me back then. You're the reason Rufus and I broke up. I never said a word against you."

"But today is my wedding. Can't you just let me go?"

The crowd pointed and whispered, and the noise burst apart inside my head.

When had I ever bullied her?

Flora was the one who broke it off, because she looked down on Rufus for being poor.

I was about to open my mouth to explain when Flora suddenly flung out a stack of photos.

They scattered through the air, and a few landed at my feet.

In the photos, Flora was cowering wretchedly in a corner, someone shoving her head against the wall.

That someone's face was mine.

My hands trembled as I held the photo, and I looked up at Rufus onstage without thinking.

Rufus had his arm gently around Flora, murmuring something with his head bowed.

"Rufus... you believe I bullied her too?"

His movements paused, and something shifted in his eyes.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth into a bleak smile.

Once, someone framed me for leaking company secrets.

I had asked him then, too, whether he believed me.

Back then he held me in his arms and comforted me. "I will always trust you, unconditionally."

To save me, he stayed up night after night for half a month.

But now...

So forever was that short after all.

Security hauled me away while Flora tipped up the corners of her mouth in triumph.

My best friend dragged me by the hair and threw me into a pitch-black room.

The moment the darkness closed in, my breath went ragged, my chest crushed as if under a boulder, the pain shaking through my whole body.

She locked the door, then sneered and kicked it.

"You wanted to ruin the wedding, so you can just stay in there!"

My head swam. I had no strength left to speak.

"I have claustrophobia."

"So you have it. Rufus already told me. If you came to make trouble, lock you in here."

"Works every time~"

The last of my strength drained away, and I slid down the wall to the floor.

The first year the company was founded, an elevator broke down.

I was trapped inside for three hours, and that was when the claustrophobia started.

Back then Rufus promised me he would never let my world fall into darkness again.

He broke that promise. For someone else.

Just before I passed out, someone kicked the door open and rushed in against the light.

The silhouette looked exactly like Rufus.

When I woke again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

Rufus's messages hadn't stopped coming.

I only did it for the company! The Fox family has money and power. Once I marry Flora, the company will rise to a whole new level!

As for the three million, consider it payback for bullying Flora.

Just apologize to Flora publicly. She's kindhearted, she'll forgive you.

A trace of blood rose in my throat, sweet and metallic. I coughed lightly and, with a trembling hand, blocked him.

The livestream had gone viral, and my phone flooded with countless abusive texts.

I was reading them when my phone was suddenly pulled from my hand.

Sarah Henson brought a spoonful of soup to my lips. "Don't look at that. It'll only upset you."

She was the CEO of a listed company I'd once worked with.

And the one who got me out.

I thanked her. The soup had barely touched my lips.

Then Rufus and Flora swept into the ward with a whole crowd behind them.

Rufus's face was cold. "Because of your scene, the whole internet's in an uproar. People are saying Flora framed you."

"Tomorrow the company's holding a press conference. You'll go and clear it up. You'll say you were the bully."

He demanded it as if it were his right. It almost made me laugh.

"Whether she was framed or not, don't the two of you know perfectly well?"

Rufus frowned and shot a glance at Flora.

"Whether it's true or not doesn't matter. That you bullied Flora is a fact now."

I let out a scoff.

So he knew I hadn't done it.

It was just that to him, my innocence didn't matter.

Rufus's lips moved slightly. "Don't forget, the company's future has no room for your antics."

My breath caught.

I'd been with him building the company since my junior year of college.

Ten years now. The company was my life.

I gritted my teeth and, with difficulty, nodded.

"I'll agree to it. Only"

I hadn't finished my conditions before Rufus cut me off.

"Since you've agreed, then sign this resignation letter."

"From today, the general manager's seat belongs to Flora."

My eyes went wide. I stared at the two of them, unable to believe it.

"I worked at that company for ten years!"

Something flickered in Rufus's eyes, a flash of reluctance.

"Sign it, and I can still give you some compensation. Don't, and you won't get a cent."

"You caused the company all this trouble. Not demanding compensation from you is already more than fair."

"Don't forget your parents are still sick."

My hand shook, and for the first time, the letters on the page came out crooked.

Rufus, since you've shown me no mercy, don't blame me for showing you none.

They walked off with the files, smug and pleased with themselves.

I curled my hands into fists, my eyes turning colder by the second.

Sarah tilted her lips into a smile. "Why not come work for me? Same position, and I'll pay you a hundred times better."

I shook my head. "No. Better to rely on myself than on anyone else."

I borrowed the legal team from Sarah's company.

Once I'd handed the lawyers every piece of evidence I had of Rufus's affair, along with all the other documents,

I went to the Gilbert Group.

My former coworkers stared me down, muttering behind my back.

I ignored them, packed up my things, and turned to leave.

Flora blocked my way.

"I suspect you're walking out with company secrets. Someone, search her!"

I knocked away the man who stepped toward me. "What proof do you have?"

A coworker snatched my bag. "Proof? Who needs proof?"

"Our director standing right here is proof enough!"

"She's an overseas PhD. You're just a run-of-the-mill college grad. What are you acting so high and mighty for?"

I let out a cold laugh. "Aren't you a run-of-the-mill college grad too? Barking because your master lets you."

He backed off, red-faced and furious.

Flora lifted her nose in the air. "Someone as broke and shabby as you, of course you'd walk off with company secrets. This is perfectly reasonable suspicion."

"You little thief. You stole another woman's boyfriend, and now you're stealing company secrets too!"

She lifted a cup of coffee and poured it straight over my head.

Most of my clothes were soaked through, and she laughed like a lunatic.

I slapped her across the face.

She shrieked, cursing between her teeth.

The next second, Rufus rushed over, pulled her behind him, and raised his hand to hit me.

Then stopped it midway down.

"Pauline, can you not make a scene here?"

The onlookers chimed in one after another.

"Exactly, a whore trying to play the saint!"

"Homewrecker! I used to think she and Mr. Gilbert were a couple. Turns out she's been the one chasing after him this whole time! Shameless!"

My throat felt stuffed with cotton. I swept my eyes over them, turned, and walked out.

When I got home, I found my parents standing outside the door in tears, covered in bruises.

My things were piled at their feet, smashed beyond recognition.

The moment they saw me, they pulled me into their arms.

"It's our fault. If your father and I amounted to something, he'd never have thrown you away."

My expression darkened. "He's the one who cheated. This has nothing to do with you."

I keyed in the code, but it kept flashing an error.

The old code had been our wedding anniversary, Rufus's and mine.

I called Rufus.

"Rufus, do you have any conscience at all? My parents helped you, and you actually sent people to beat them!"

"I didn't..."

Rufus's voice caught, and Flora's voice came through the receiver.

"Who told them to barge into my home? They got what they deserved!"

His voice changed pitch. "Pauline, keep your parents in line!"

Then he hung up.

I settled my parents into a hotel.

The next day, I stormed straight into the press conference.

The reporters camped out there and the passersby surged toward me.

Pointing and whispering.

"Shameless homewrecker! Bullying the real girlfriend, breaking up a couple, then crashing their wedding. Heaven should strike down trash like you!"

"Die, you bully!"

I went straight for the microphone on the stage.

"I admit I was wrong."

"My mistake was believing Rufus truly cared about me."

Rufus froze, then lunged forward to grab the microphone.

My bodyguard hauled him up by the waist.

"Now, I'm going to reveal the evidence of this shameless pair's affair."