Introduction

I leaned against the old warehouse frame, my body aching and face swollen from the fight with my family.

I' d given up everything for Chloe, ready to start a new life with her.

But the workshop wasn't quiet; it blazed with obnoxious music, laughter, and champagne bottles.

Chloe was there, too, stunning in a sparkling dress, laughing with the very society people she claimed to hate.

Then she saw me, and her laughter didn't stop; it only twisted into a slow, cruel smirk.

"Look what the cat dragged in," she purred, her voice cold.

My brother, Marcus, stepped forward, his smug smile sealing my dread.

This wasn' t Chloe' s workshop; it was rented.

My entire relationship, my grand sacrifice, was just a bet.

A monstrously cruel game, orchestrated by Chloe and my own brother, to see if "golden boy" Ethan Cole would actually throw away his life for a girl he thought was a poor, struggling mechanic.

Her friends roared with laughter as they unveiled the prize for their wager: a perfect, gleaming vintage Shelby Cobra, the legendary car I had always dreamed of.

Humiliation burned hotter than any physical pain, scorching every inch of my being.

"You... you lied about everything?" I rasped, the words choked with disbelief and a crushing sense of betrayal.

How could the woman I' d loved, my own blood, orchestrate such a depraved, public spectacle?

Was I truly that naive, that blind to believe in such a perfect lie?

I stumbled, broken, back out into the night, their mocking laughter echoing like a death knell in the empty street.

But as I walked away from the ruins of my life, a chilling realization ignited within me: this wasn't just my humiliation; it was their first move, and now, I was ready to play.