Carter Hayes broke up with me out of nowhere and immediately eloped with a younger girl. Nearing thirty, I was rejected at every blind date my mother set me up on. Five years later, we had a college reunion. They were the picture-perfect, wealthy couple: driving a Mercedes, wearing Arc'teryx jackets, and carrying Louis Vuitton. I, on the other hand, showed up on a bicycle and was immediately isolated in the corner. Until... A busybody intentionally asked, "Chloe, why didn't your husband come?" I smiled and said, "He's busy ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ." 01 I met Carter Hayes the year I first arrived in this city. Right outside the campus gates, I ran into an older couple desperately asking for bus fare. When I refused, they chased me down the street, screaming curses. "You're so young, yet you have absolutely no heart!" "You heartless little bitch, no man is ever going to want you!" My face flushed crimson, and I was shaking with anger. That was exactly when Carter appeared. A massive group of young frat guys was walking by, right at the peak of their reckless, hot-blooded years, and they immediately shielded me behind them. Carter was the most handsome, most arrogant-looking guy in the pack. He was spinning a Wilson basketball on his finger, wearing limited-edition sneakers. He flashed me a row of white teeth. "You alright, freshman?" Naturally, he quickly found out that I wasn't a freshman—we were in the same graduating class—but that didn't stop him from pursuing me. And just like that, we got together. He came from a comfortable, upper-middle-class suburban family. I came from a small, rural Midwestern town. During our sophomore year, Carter took me home to meet his parents. I carried a fruit basket, trailing nervously behind him. But to my surprise, Carter's mother was incredibly friendly to me. I breathed a sigh of relief. Carter winked at me and whispered, "See? I told you my mom would like you." I couldn't hide my happiness. At the time, I didn't know that his mother didn't actually like me. She was just lenient because Carter was a boy. It was just a college fling; in her eyes, he wasn't the one who stood to lose anything. Just like that, we dated all the way to our senior year. The year we graduated, my parents wanted me to move back home. I knew moving back meant I wouldn't find a decent job. I brought it up with Carter. He grabbed my hand in a panic. "No way, you can't go back!" "But the cost of living here is too high. I'm not sure I can survive on my own." Carter pulled me into a tight hug. "It's fine. I'll have my dad get you an easy administrative job. I'll handle the money. All you have to do is focus on being Mrs. Hayes." In that moment, all my anxiety and hesitation melted away. But I didn't actually need his dad's help to find a job. I just wanted a safety net, an option in case I failed. My degree was much more marketable than Carter's. In the end, Carter went to work as an HR recruiter at his dad's friend's company. I went through grueling rounds of interviews and landed a job as a Product Manager at a top-tier tech firm. I stayed in the city. But life isn't a fairy tale where reaching a milestone guarantees a happily ever after. Acing your finals doesn't mean you're set for life. Getting into a good college doesn't either. Staying with him wasn't the finish line. Even walking down the aisle or having kids isn't the absolute end. 02 Regarding marriage. The second year after graduation, my parents urged me to get Carter to make a commitment. I was too embarrassed to push it, afraid of looking desperate, so I brought it up casually as a joke. Carter's hands paused on his gaming controller, pretending he didn't hear me. His mother remained friendly, but she never once brought up the topic of a wedding. The fourth year after graduation. My former college roommate asked why we still weren't married. I forced a lighthearted tone and said, "We're still young! No need to rush into the grave of romance." In the blink of an eye. The sixth year after graduation. Also our tenth anniversary. Valentine's Day. I booked a restaurant with incredible ambiance. Halfway through dinner, I smiled and asked, "Should we... maybe start thinking about getting married?" Under the romantic candlelight, the soft, affectionate look on Carter's face instantly went ice-cold. He said, "Fine. I'll go back and talk to my mom." I exhaled, relieved to have escaped the suffocating awkwardness, and quickly changed the subject. But there was never any follow-up. I asked a few more times, and every time, he looked intensely annoyed. Finally, during an argument sparked by something trivial, he blurted out the truth— "Chloe, my mom refuses to let me marry you!" I froze. Yet, deep down, I wasn't even that surprised. The argument came to a screeching halt. Carter realized what he had just said. But he didn't try to take it back. He didn't say another word and even pulled out his phone to scroll. My anger wasn't hot like fire; it was more like freezing lake water creeping up my body. Suffocating and bone-chilling. "So, you never planned on marrying me at all. Did you?" Carter irritably rubbed his temples. Acting like he had nothing left to lose, he snapped, "We were doing perfectly fine dating like this, weren't we? Why the hell do we have to get married?" "What does a piece of paper even do?" "Besides, your career is peaking right now. Wouldn't getting married just ruin your trajectory..." Every word was an excuse. Every sentence was a deflection. I cut him off. "Carter, you seriously disgust me." He was the person I knew best in the world, yet in that moment, he was a total stranger. I couldn't stop the tears from falling. But Carter had long passed the phase of his life where my tears made him feel protective or guilty. He cursed under his breath, then looked at me with pure mockery. "Chloe, stop acting like you're such a victim. Stop pretending you love me so much." "You just want to marry into a higher tax bracket. My mom's country club is full of small-town girls with the exact same agenda." "I am the absolute ceiling of what you could ever hope to pull. You're pressing me so hard because you're terrified I'll get away." Before he could even finish, I turned and walked out. That night, I crashed at a friend's place. The next morning, I stared at my swollen, red eyes in the mirror and quickly washed my face. When you're an adult, no matter how heartbroken you are, you still have to clock in for work. It wasn't like Carter and I hadn't fought before. We'd always broken up and gotten back together. My friend told me Carter went way too far this time, and I shouldn't forgive him easily. I had just typed "Okay," when a text from Carter popped up on my screen: "My family requires someone from our own social class. Chloe, let's break up." My phone nearly slipped from my hands and shattered on the floor. 03 After the abrupt, cliff-drop of a breakup, I couldn't stop myself from stalking all of Carter's social media accounts. I was desperately searching for evidence that he still loved me. I found absolutely nothing. I checked again and again. Until he posted a short video. It was public. He was holding hands with a girl, walking in the sunlight. I clicked the video and heard his mother's voice behind the camera: "You two look so perfect together! Get closer!" This new relationship was proudly displayed in the daylight, receiving the exact blessing I had never been given. The caption read: [Stop peeking at other people's happiness like a rat in the gutter.] I didn't shed another tear. My fingers were trembling violently. When I went to block and delete his number, I missed the button several times. Once my mom heard we broke up, her hopes of dragging me back to my hometown reignited. "You guys broke up, what's the point of staying in that expensive city?" My aunt chimed in, "Hurry up and come back! Sigh, I've already contacted a few high-quality young men for you, but their families think your age is a bit of an issue..." I rejected them, just like always. The only difference was that Carter was no longer my reason for staying. I stayed at that tech giant for six years. My resume and capabilities had hit a hard glass ceiling there. My status as a thirty-something, unmarried, childless woman was viewed as a massive liability by the executives. After the breakup, I threw my entire soul into my work. For a long time, I practically slept at the office. By the end of the year, my team had crushed our KPIs better than anyone else. But in the end? I got a pat on the back and empty promises. The highly coveted promotion was handed to a male colleague who had a wife and kids. In the company Slack channel, the newly promoted colleague announced he was treating everyone to coffee. A long line of "Thanks, boss!" emojis flooded the chat. Followed by a few jokes about "don't forget us when you're rich." I looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows. Skyscrapers pierced the clouds; the traffic below was endless. The people sitting in these cubicles cycled out year after year, every single one of them exactly like me, and yet completely different. Maybe. Maybe it was time for me to change lanes. I submitted my resignation that very day. Years later, whenever I recalled that moment, it was crystal clear. The biggest, most life-altering decisions usually happen on the quietest, most ordinary days. 04 Five years later. The college reunion. Only about half the graduating class actually showed up. Classmates I hadn't seen in years subtly eyed the bicycle I had ridden in on. "Wait, is that Chloe?" I smiled and waved. "Long time no—" Before I could even finish my sentence, a sleek Mercedes pulled up, and a stunningly dressed young woman stepped out of the passenger side. She was wearing a Chanel tweed suit and looked quite a bit younger than the rest of us. It took me a solid minute to put the pieces together. That was Carter's wife, Tiffany Brooks. She was four or five years younger than our graduating class. She had the pristine face of someone who never had to suffer the stress of a 9-to-5, immaculately manicured down to her toes, clutching a Chanel bag. "Carter practically dragged me here. So annoying, I don't even know anyone." Hearing her complain, a classmate immediately kissed up: "Come to a few more of these and you'll know everyone!" The crowd swarmed her, escorting her inside. The male classmate I had been talking to never gave me a second glance. Once seated, they reserved the seats of honor for Tiffany and Carter, who had just finished parking. I was squeezed into a corner, finding a random empty chair to sit down. But after a few drinks, I don't know how, but the topic of conversation landed squarely on me. Tiffany looked across the table. "So you're Chloe?" I paused. Few people called me by my first name like that anymore. It was usually Ms. Bennett. "Carter's mentioned you to me." "I want to say 'sorry' on his behalf." She said the word "sorry," but her expression looked anything but apologetic. "You guys were just way too young back then. And honestly, it's his fault too. He should have known that girls like you can't afford to waste time. Aside from your youth, you really didn't have anything to offer." The words were incredibly harsh. But no one stepped in to stop her. Everyone was enjoying the drama. Some looked at me with pity; others with thinly veiled glee. Tiffany glanced at my bare fingers and let out a light laugh. "Don't tell me you still haven't managed to get married?" "Carter has a new coworker at his firm. He's in his thirties and hasn't settled down either, just like you. I mean, sure, he's a little short and starting to go bald, but he's a nice guy. I can have Carter set you guys up." Just as she finished her sentence, Carter walked into the private dining room. Maybe it was because his corporate HR job wasn't too taxing, but at thirty-three, he still had a boyish, youthful energy. He was wearing a sleek Arc'teryx jacket and carrying a black LV men's bag, looking as polished as a lifestyle influencer. The moment Carter walked in, his eyes locked onto me. For a split second, he looked stunned, but he quickly recovered and tore his gaze away. He sat down next to Tiffany, affectionately pinched her cheek, and scolded lightly, "Stop messing around." "My coworker already has a girlfriend." Tiffany let out a disappointed "Oh." Watching Carter drape his arm around Tiffany, I felt a strange sense of vertigo. Deeply buried memories flickered in my mind. During the first few years of our relationship, he used to love holding me like that. He practically wanted to be glued to my side. I listened to them chat. Apparently, they had lived a fantastic life these past few years. They traveled abroad, adopted a Corgi, bought a house. Back in college, my roommate had heard the story of how Carter and I met. She had said that a guy brave enough to step in and save a stranger would definitely be a responsible, loving husband someday. I had spent years looking forward to that future. I just never factored in that he didn't actually want to be my husband. The table endlessly praised Carter for his early success, raving about how becoming an HR Director at a major firm at his age made him a winner in life. A female classmate suddenly chimed in: "Speaking of winners in life, did you guys see the cover of Forbes this week?" "The new partner at Sterling Tech. He's only twenty-seven and already financially free!" "I heard he's representing Sterling Tech to ring the opening bell at NASDAQ today!" As she spoke, she pulled up the photo on her phone. Dressed in a sharp bespoke suit, with striking, chiseled features, he looked like a high-fashion runway model. He was so handsome it drew audible gasps from the table. If Carter was the kind of successful guy that made his peers burn with jealousy, this tech billionaire was on a stratosphere so untouchable that jealousy wasn't even an option anymore. Right then, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Liam Sterling: [Reporting in, Boss. Arrived in New York.] He attached a photo of the view from the airport, though his face took up more than half the frame. The weather didn't look too warm, but he had already shed his suit jacket. His tie was loosened, and the top two buttons of his dress shirt were undone. He looked a million times better than the stiff, serious photo on the magazine cover. Suddenly, someone at the table called out: "Since Tiffany is so eager to play matchmaker, we haven't even asked—do you have a boyfriend, Chloe?" I answered instinctively: "I'm married." The room abruptly went dead silent. Carter's hands stopped mid-air as he was peeling a shrimp for Tiffany. "Chloe, stop joking around, none of us heard you got married!" "Well, if you're married, why didn't your husband come today?" I smiled. "He's busy ringing the bell at NASDAQ." 05 Five years ago. When I resigned, I took my two most capable subordinates with me. The hardest part of building a startup is the first step. Finding the right direction, and locking in the absolute resolve to jump. I met Liam Sterling during my second year in business. At the time, Liam had just returned from studying abroad and refused to inherit his family's empire. He was going to interviews everywhere and hitting wall after wall. His resume was too elite, his salary demands were absurdly high, yet his practical experience was worse than a local state college grad. He peppered his sentences with unnecessary business jargon and came off incredibly pretentious. He bombed the first-round interview at my company. I, the CEO, didn't even see him. But when I finally left the office after midnight, I saw him. It was 12:00 AM. The night was pitch black. The streetlights flickered. And he was right there. Doing push-ups on the sidewalk. Me: "..." Seeing me, he immediately scrambled up and marched toward me. "Ms. Bennett! I'm Liam Sterling. I interviewed for your company today!" "I strongly believe your company's trajectory aligns perfectly with my skills. Refusing to hire me is entirely your loss." There was a very good reason he couldn't find a job. But it's true what they say: obscenely good-looking people get away with murder. At the very least, I chose not to call the cops. My rented apartment was just a block away from the office, a ten-minute walk. All the way there, Liam followed me, yapping endlessly about his stellar academic background and trying to showcase his brilliance. I hadn't slept properly in days. Right now, this man was nothing but a giant, buzzing fly in my ear. We cut through an alley in the older part of the neighborhood. From a distance, I smelled the vile stench of cheap alcohol. Two massive, drunken men had cornered a young woman who, like me, was clearly just walking home from a late shift. The girl shot us a desperate, pleading look. The two drunks noticed us. Their expressions didn't change; they just sneered, looking entirely unbothered. But when they looked past me at Liam, one of them let out a loud, "Holy shit." I had just pulled out my phone to dial 911 when a dark shadow launched from behind me. He was as fast as a champion greyhound at the races. Before the two drunks could even react, Liam had them both pinned to the concrete in a single, devastating move. The young girl looked at Liam with stars in her eyes, overflowing with worship and gratitude. And in that exact split second, I decided to hire him. It wasn't just his heroic bravery that moved me. I wasn't the naive freshman who had just moved to the city anymore. I hired him because I had to walk this exact dark alley every single night. Plus, with a face like that, I could totally drag him to investor pitch meetings as eye candy. In this day and age, plenty of VCs are willing to throw money at a pretty face. When a person can serve two highly functional purposes, what possible reason did I have to reject him? So, I cleared my throat. "Mr. Sterling, welcome to the team." A brilliant, blinding light of surprise erupted in Liam's gorgeous eyes. He genuinely believed his relentless persistence had won me over. I wasn't wrong. A long time later, when he wrote his autobiography, he wrote this exact line: [Where there's a will, there's a way. Water cuts through stone. And that's how I secured my wife!] But in that moment on the street, I had to put on a very difficult face. "However, Mr. Sterling, as you can see, our company is in its absolute infancy. We simply cannot match your expected salary..." Liam shook his head frantically. "Not a problem! Uh—can you do three thousand a month?" I grimaced. "That might be pushing it... I'll have to discuss it with the board." Liam looked deeply disappointed. But the next day, when he was told he could get four thousand, he showed up to his first day of work absolutely thrilled. He completely forgot that during his initial interview, his asking salary was easily triple that number. Just like that, he became my employee. We fought shoulder-to-shoulder in the startup trenches. At the very beginning, he showed up to the office every day looking impeccable and highly fashionable. His hair was perfectly styled with pomade, his jaw cleanly shaved, wearing a tailored three-piece suit, and radiating the expensive scent of Creed Aventus. He looked like he was walking a runway. Just like a fresh grad who still bothers to put on full makeup for a 9-to-5. Thankfully, it didn't take long for him to become just as ragged and unkempt as the rest of us. One time, we worked overtime for an entire month straight. The final night, we pulled an all-nighter and everyone collapsed on the office floor. When I woke up the next morning, I caught Liam pinching his stomach, dramatically wailing, "Where did my abs go?!" The second he saw me, he sucked his stomach in so hard he turned blue. I could faintly make out a six-pack. For a long time after that, he practically lived at the gym. Even if we logged off at 10 PM, he'd drag himself to the gym for an hour. As for the moment his identity as a billionaire heir was finally exposed... that happened at a client dinner.
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