Dumping My Cheating Fiancé for the Alpha Billionaire

Ten years after I returned home. At my engagement party. My fiancé's childhood best friend dumped a glass of red wine down the front of my dress.

She tilted her chin up, the empty stemware dangling from her fingers. "So what if you're the heiress? Who knows what happened during those years you were kidnapped.

You're probably nothing but damaged goods!" Brooks pressed a placating hand against my arm. "Chloe is just young.

Don't stoop to her level." They were completely oblivious to the heavy silence settling over us. Every other guest in the ballroom had stopped breathing.

Chapter 1 The last time someone dared to be this arrogant to my face was over a decade ago.

I had just been brought back to the estate, drowning in old, illfitting clothes, standing stiffly on the front steps. Felicity pinched her nose. "God, it reeks.

Where did this beggar come from?" Hunter stepped in front of her, shooing me away like a stray dog. It stayed that way until my parents finally showed up.

What followed was exactly like one of those trashy soap operas. My stomach was permanently ruined from starvation. There was never anything on the dining table I could digest.

Hunter refused to acknowledge me as his sister. He snapped a photo of me chewing on a lobster shell—because I didn't know how to crack it—and sent it to his frat brothers.

He conveniently forgot that I had been kidnapped in the first place to save him. On my birthday, the whole family took Felicity to Paris to relax.

I stayed behind, studying day and night, until I secured an early admission spot at an Ivy League university.

All it took was one sentence from Felicity: "With my sister being so perfect, will you guys stop loving me?" Just like that, my parents made the call for me.

They withdrew my Ivy League acceptance and enrolled me in a noname state college. I closed my eyes. The bleak memories instantly dissipated.

Above me, the crystal chandelier cast a brilliant, cold light. Brooks's family had only moved to New York two years ago. Their intelligence network was severely lacking.

I offered a thin smile. "This custom gown is five hundred thousand dollars.

I'll need your credit card, Chloe." Chloe's face lost its color, but she tipped her chin up. "Don't bluff me.

It's just a dress…" I slowly took a warm towel from a passing waiter. "We can get an appraiser in here right now, if you'd like." Her knuckles went white.

She was the girl next door, from back before Brooks's family struck it rich. Brooks hooked an arm around my waist, sighing. "She's so much younger than you.

Why are you being like this?" "I'll pay for it. Put it on my tab." When I stepped back into the hall in a fresh dress, Brooks had his head dipped low, murmuring to Chloe.

Whatever he said made her giggle, a flush creeping up her cheeks.

Catching sight of me, she peeked out from behind his shoulder and stuck her tongue out. "I heard you went to some random state school," she said. "Felicity was my sorority sister when I studied in Europe.

You're both daughters of the same family. How is there such a massive gap?" The moment Felicity's name dropped, my mother's head snapped toward me. Panic flared in her eyes.

Brooks brushed it off. "Maxine, she's just sticking up for me. Don't be mad." He was undeniably handsome—broad shoulders, narrow waist.

Based on looks alone, he could outshine an Alist actor. His ability to read the room, however, was utterly nonexistent. The air in the ballroom had turned suffocatingly thick.

Brooks's family and Chloe remained completely oblivious. Chloe tilted her head. "Speaking of which, why isn't Felicity here today?" The silence dragged.

It was an intimate engagement party, populated mostly by my relatives. No one dared to breathe a word to answer her careless question.

A bead of sweat rolled down my mother's temple. "Felicity has been very busy lately." Her smile was rigid. Her eyes darted nervously to my face.

Chloe scanned the room, looking like she had just struck gold. "Looks to me like your family doesn't even care about you.

Felicity didn't show, and neither did your dad or Hunter!" Chapter 2 Brooks's parents' faces hardened. "Your family might be old money, but ours is nothing to scoff at!

We were against this marriage from the start!" His mother looked me up and down, her eyes sharp and critical. "Maxine, no decent family would want you.

If Brooks hadn't insisted, we never would have agreed to this." Brooks sighed. "My mom is just like this, ignore her—" I took a slow sip of my red wine, cutting him off. "She's absolutely right.

If Brooks hadn't insisted, I never would have handed your company that fivehundredmilliondollar contract last month." Brooks choked on his next words.

His mother's voice spiked an octave. She shoved a diamondencrusted acrylic nail inches from my face. "The CEO of that corporation chose us because of our merit!

What does a little brat like you have to do with it?" Specks of spit flew from her lips. A flash of schadenfreude crossed my mother's face.

My uncles stepped in with forced chuckles, trying to smooth things over. Brooks's father cleared his throat. "We're all family now.

Why bicker on such a joyous occasion?" He raised his glass to the room. Not a single guest moved. They waited in dead silence. Then, I lifted my glass.

Only then did the rest of the room follow suit. Brooks's father froze for a fraction of a second, but brushed it off.

I took two bites of my meal and stood up. "I have business at the company." Brooks chased me out to the lobby.

My phone buzzed with a massive wire transfer notification from his account. "Cool off," he said, wrapping his scarf around my neck. "I'll come find you after you finish working.

Autumn in New York is freezing. Don't catch a cold." The underground garage was climatecontrolled. The interior of my RollsRoyce was climatecontrolled.

When I stepped out of the car, my private elevator would take me directly to my penthouse office. My world existed at a constant, comfortable temperature.

I didn't need his cheap, performative warmth. The driver started the engine before Brooks could even finish his sentence. He stood frozen on the curb, watching me leave.

Before the car even exited the garage, my mother called. "Maxine, did I do okay today? It's getting cold out.

I want to visit your father at the hospital, and about Hunter's loans…" The RollsRoyce merged onto the highway.

The glow of the streetlights blurred into rapid streaks of gold against the glass. I smiled and hung up. Real life doesn't play out like a fairytale.

Cinderella doesn't meet Prince Charming. But someone who crawled their way out of the gutter can endure for years, clawing their way to the very top.

The agonizing trauma of my teenage years no longer kept me awake at night. Because I had already won. It took twelve years. I kicked my father off the board of directors.

I buried Hunter in crippling debt. I shipped Felicity back to the rural backwater she was born in. It was my thirtieth birthday present to myself. Now, I owned the family.

I gave the orders. Brooks and I first crossed paths long before my family ever tracked me down. I was five when I was kidnapped. The traffickers grabbed Hunter first.

I lunged forward and sank my teeth into the trafficker's thigh. It gave Hunter the opening he needed to run. I was sold to a tiny, isolated village in the mountains.

That summer, Brooks was visiting his grandmother for the holidays. He sat on a porch, draped in designer clothes, aggressively tapping away on his handheld console.

I trudged past him, weighed down by a woven basket overflowing with livestock feed. He was strikingly pretty. I couldn't help but stare. Smack.

My foster mother slapped me across the face so hard my ears rang. "How old are you, huh? Already stopping in your tracks the second you see a boy!" Heat rushed to my cheeks.

Chapter 3 The next day, while I was working in the dirt, Brooks walked over and handed me a piece of candy. He asked for my name.

That entire summer, he snuck over to see me, sneaking me things you could only find in the city. I never ate that candy. I kept it until it melted into a sticky, rotten mess.

Years later, the blind dates began.

Thanks to my stellar reputation—"backstabber," "calculating bitch," "the quiet ones are the deadliest"—the men in New York's high society avoided me like the plague.

Brooks's family had just relocated to New York, desperate to establish a foothold among the elite. And so, our paths crossed again. He smiled. "Maxine? I like your name.

Actually, I tried looking for you in college, but you were never around." Back then, Felicity and Hunter were both studying abroad at elite universities.

They didn't consider me a threat. They forgot the golden rule: proximity is power. I played the perfect, driven daughter, stripped of any resentment toward our parents.

I begged to join the family company just to lighten their load, claiming I wanted to learn the ropes so I could assist Hunter when he took over. I started at the very bottom.

I pulled allnighters in the office, skipped my classes, and didn't even bother showing up to my own college graduation.

By the time Hunter dropped out of his undergrad program after eight agonizing years and flew back home, the empire was already mine. The sun was shining brightly that day.

A bizarre sense of childhood fulfillment washed over me. On our oneyear anniversary, Brooks pulled out a diamond ring.

The glittering skyline reflected in his pupils, right alongside my face. I weighed my options for a fraction of a second, then nodded.

Brooks crushed me against his chest, chanting my name over and over. A genuine smile tugged at my lips, but I still offered him a warning. "Brooks, I hold grudges.

The last person who crossed me is currently rotting in a basement apartment." He laughed it off. "Maxine, I swear to you, I will never do anything to make you unhappy." The night of the engagement party.

Brooks never showed up to pick me up from the office. Chloe had gotten blackout drunk, and he had to drop her off at her hotel first. I froze Brooks out for two straight weeks.

His texts went unanswered. My housekeeper reported that he showed up at my front door every single day.

When I finally returned from a business trip, Brooks booked a reservation at a restaurant, begging for a chance to make amends. He was already waiting at the table when I arrived.

He was dressed in a creamcolored cashmere sweater that highlighted his cleancut features.

He pulled my chair out for me, launching straight into his excuses. "Chloe has been having terrible luck with guys.

My mother only brought her along so she could rub shoulders with a better crowd. She figured if I could meet someone like you, maybe Chloe could find her own soulmate at the party.

I swear on my life, nothing like that will ever happen again." Soft jazz drifted through the dining room. I owned this restaurant.

Brooks held a toptier black card for this specific establishment. He had rented out the entire floor for the evening.

Before I could even respond, a shrill voice pierced the quiet atmosphere from the front entrance. "What do you mean I can't go in?

Do you have any idea who I am?" Chloe ripped a black card out of her designer purse. "I am a premier VIP member here!" The floor manager glanced at the embossed signature and hesitated. "Excuse me, miss, but are you Mr.

Brooks's…" Chloe crossed her arms. "I'm his wife." Brooks shifted in his seat, a sheepish look crossing his face. "She's just a kid.

She loves talking nonsense." Chapter 4 Chloe spotted us and practically skipped over. "Brooks!" she chirped. "Those snobs at the door actually tried to block me from coming in—wait, what are you doing here?" She came over pouting, ready to tattle, but the moment her eyes landed on me, her jaw dropped.

A sharp gasp slipped past her lips. Brooks set his jaw, feigning annoyance. "Because you couldn't keep your mouth shut yesterday.

I'm taking Maxine out to make up for it." Chloe whipped her head toward me. "Why are you so petty?

Forcing him to apologize… I bet you just wanted an excuse to cling to him and scam him out of a free meal!" I slowly set my fork down. The silver clinked sharply against the china.

Brooks slammed his palm flat against the table. "If you don't know how to speak, shut up." He glared at her. "I'm taking my own fiancée out to dinner.

I don't need your commentary." Chloe stared at him in pure shock. Her eyes instantly filled with tears. "Brooks…" Her voice cracked, trembling on the edge of a sob.

Brooks's knuckles turned white around his silver knife. A muscle feathered in his jaw. I sat back and watched the show, a faint smirk playing on my lips.

His voice came out stiff. "You're not a kid anymore.

Stop acting without thinking and learn a thing or two from Maxine." "But you said you liked me like this!" Chloe cried. "You said I wasn't fake and stuckup like those rich heiresses—" "Enough." Brooks cut her off, his tone slicing through the air. "Stop embarrassing yourself.

I'll have my driver take you back." Chloe spun around, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

Brooks pressed his lips into a tight line, keeping his eyes glued to his plate to avoid watching her walk away. Right on cue, my phone buzzed on the table.

My secretary's voice carried clearly through the speaker. "Ms. Maxine, the blind dates have all been arranged. All candidates are under twentyfive.

Full medical clearances are spotless, and the genetic screenings came back clean." I tapped the screen to hang up. Brooks was staring blankly at the phone.

I offered him a generous smile. "Didn't you just say it would be great if Chloe could get married early so she'd stop causing trouble?" I swirled the wine in my glass. "Why don't we let her have her pick of the batch?" The moment the words left my mouth, Chloe whipped back around.

She stared at Brooks, her eyes wide with disbelief. Brooks jerked forward. "Maxine, does it have to be this rushed? Are you really in that much of a hurry to marry her off?

She's only twentyfour. She's a full six years younger than you. New York is a shark tank. Can you guarantee these guys are decent? Chloe is naive. She's easily manipulated.

Anyway, she's not ready to date yet.

I'll handle her arrangements when the time comes." My secretary had explicitly mentioned that every candidate was over six feet tall and brought something unique to the table.

Most importantly, they were all younger than Brooks. Three excuses shoved into a single breath. He was panicking. But Chloe couldn't read between the lines.

She locked eyes with him, her gaze burning. "Brooks… do you really want me to go on a blind date with someone else?" Brooks's Adam's apple bobbed.

He caught my gaze out of the corner of his eye and kept his mouth shut. A silent confirmation. Chloe couldn't hold it in anymore.

Fat tears spilled over her lashes, splashing onto the thick restaurant carpet. "I guess I was just being stupid." She spun on her heel and marched out the door.

I tilted my head. "Not going to chase after her?" Brooks shook his head.

He exhaled a long, heavy breath. "Maxine… are you finally satisfied?" Chapter 5 I flipped through the resumes my secretary sent over, completely ignoring him.

The headshots were one better than the last.

I admired them for a moment before casually asking Brooks, "Which one do you think is best?" Brooks scowled and glanced at the iPad, instantly picking them apart.

This one wasn't tall enough. That one's shoulders were too narrow. His nose wasn't straight enough. He was older than Chloe.

He scrolled and scrolled until he finally landed on one he couldn't fault.

Brooks pinched the bridge of his nose, conceding reluctantly. "This one is barely acceptable…" Then, as if realizing something, he let out a scoffing laugh. "But I doubt he'd be willing.

The eldest son of the Vance family… looking like that, a Stanford grad and a D1 athlete." Brooks smirked. "As long as he's willing, I won't object." He let out a quiet breath, clearly relieved.

That evening, Brooks dragged me to a symphony. Throughout the performance, he kept checking his phone.

It didn't take long before panic flashed across his face and he rushed out of the hall.

When I stepped out to the lobby, he was barking into his phone. "If you can't find her, don't bother coming in tomorrow!" Chloe was missing.

While the driver was taking her home, she suddenly demanded he pull over. She got out of the car and never came back.

The poor elderly driver had been searching the streets for five straight hours. I leaned against the wall. "Manhattan is safe enough. There's no need to panic—" Brooks cut me off.

His eyes locked onto mine, heavy with accusation. "Maxine, I know you don't like Chloe.

But under the circumstances, you're really going to stand there and make sarcastic comments?" He stepped closer. "If you had even an ounce of empathy, you wouldn't be listening to this damn symphony.

You'd be out there helping me look for her!" I let out a dry laugh. "She's a grown woman who willingly got out of a car in the middle of downtown.

If you call 911, the cops will laugh in your face." Brooks opened his mouth to fire back, but his phone rang. They found Chloe.

She had gone to a club to drink herself into a stupor and was bordering on alcohol poisoning. The second Brooks got the news, he spun around, ready to sprint to the hospital.

I waved a dismissive hand. "I'll skip the ER visit.

I have a blind date tomorrow." Brooks froze in his tracks. "Chloe is in the hospital, and you're still forcing her to go on a blind date?

Maxine, do you even have a heart?" He didn't wait for an answer. He slammed his car door shut and peeled out of the driveway. I didn't get the chance to correct him.

I was the one going on the blind date. Whatever. He didn't need to know anyway. A twentytwoyearold college athlete with a perfect tan or a twentyfouryearold Oxford PhD.

It was a tough choice. But in the end, I didn't pick either of them. The moment Silas walked in, every other man in the room faded into the background.

Brooks really did have a good eye. Silas had inherited his supermodel mother's sculpted, flawless face, along with a pair of legs longer than Brooks's entire lifespan.

He had a messy mop of dark curls and a pair of deep, oceanblue eyes that blinked down at me. "Maxine, do you remember me?" He explained that our families used to live in the same gated community.

Whenever he walked his dog, he would spot me hiding in the corner of the garden, memorizing vocabulary words by myself. Then, there was the incident.

The nanny—who was sleeping with his father—purposely fed him a slice of peanut butter cake.

When he collapsed in the dirt, gasping for air, I was the one who jammed the EpiPen into his thigh. "Will you give me a chance?" His voice was painfully sincere.

His fingers trembled against the edge of the table. I let my gaze trail over him, scanning him slowly from head to toe. The intense scrutiny turned his cheeks a burning red.

After a long beat, a soft laugh escaped my lips. "Depends on your performance." Chapter 6 It was my seventh day with Silas.

He stepped out of the bathroom, a single white towel slung dangerously low on his hips. Beads of water slid down the flushed planes of his sixpack abs.

The sapphire stud in his right ear caught the crimson reflection of the wine glass resting in my hand. Brooks's name flashed across my phone screen, an unwelcome intrusion.

I had completely forgotten he existed. Silas's large hand clamped around my bare ankle just as I hit accept. "Maxine, I'm sorry.

Chloe couldn't be left alone, so I've neglected you lately." Brooks's voice filtered through the speaker. "But if you hadn't forced her into that blind date, none of this would have happened.

I've already apologized to her on your behalf…" He kept rambling. Silas dragged his lips along my jaw, his jealousy radiating off his skin in waves.

The kisses deepened, turning hungry. With a wicked gleam in his eye, he reached over and tapped the speaker button. My mind clouded over, completely erasing Brooks from my thoughts.

Until a soft, breathless gasp slipped past my lips. The line went dead silent. Brooks's voice hitched. "Maxine, where are you?" Panic spiked in his tone. "It's late.

Where the hell are you?" I was in no condition to answer. Heaven, probably. The friction of the sheets wasn't exactly quiet.

Chloe's voice suddenly piped up in the background. "Hmph. She's just doing this to make you jealous, Brooks.

She probably rented a gigolo like those desperate middleaged women online! I bet he only lets her hold his hand while secretly gagging in disgust!" Brooks actually bought it.

A heavy sigh of relief crackled through the speaker. "Alright, alright. Maxine, I know you're still throwing a tantrum, but Chloe was in real danger this time. Whatever.

If you want to rent a boy toy to blow off steam, go ahead. Put it on my tab.

I know you'd never actually do anything—" Silas snatched the phone from my fingers and chucked it across the room. It shattered against the wall, cutting Brooks off midsentence.

Before I could even muster the energy to be annoyed, Silas crushed his mouth against mine. "Stop listening to that dog bark," he murmured, his voice a gravelly rumble against my ear. "Listen to me instead." Just like that, all my irritation melted away.

I was starting to regret giving Silas a chance. Every time I tried to beg for a break, he swallowed my words. On the morning of our fifth consecutive day in bed.

My head of security buzzed the intercom. Brooks had arrived. And he had brought Chloe.

I opened my mouth to order my security to toss them out, but a heavy arm clamped around my waist, dragging me back into the pillows.

Silas nuzzled into my neck, his voice thick with sleep and need. "Tell them to get lost. Don't let them interrupt us…" "Let them in!" I practically shouted into the intercom.

Taking advantage of Silas's momentary shock, I scrambled out of the sheets, my legs trembling violently when my feet hit the hardwood.

Silas glared at me, pure betrayal in his oceanblue eyes.

I cleared my throat, forcing a serious expression. "They might have an emergency." It turned out to be an emergency, alright.

My private estate was fully staffed with oncall physical therapists, licensed nutritionists, and rehabilitation specialists. Brooks had brought Chloe here for a wellness retreat.

By the time I threw on a silk robe and made my way down the sweeping staircase, they were already making themselves comfortable.

Chloe was draped over my custom Italian leather sofa. Brooks was on one knee in front of her, carefully tipping a glass of water against her lips.

Hearing my footsteps, he didn't even bother to look up. "Maxine, where are the eighteen housekeepers you employ?" I had given them all paid time off, obviously.

Taking my silence as a sign I was still throwing a tantrum, Brooks continued. "Chloe's health is still fragile.

You have the best medical staff right here in the house, so I'm moving her in for a while to recover." My brow twitched. Did they seriously think I was a pushover?

Or did they just get a sick thrill out of doing this right under my roof?

Chloe shot me a triumphant, provocative look from the sofa. "It must have been so unbearable, sleeping in that huge, empty bed all by yourself these past few days.

Brooks hasn't left my side once! We even went to Six Flags together!" Chapter 7 I had once told Brooks that I had never been to an amusement park.

I never had the chance when I was a kid. By the time I finally had the means, I was already thirty. Brooks had promised to take me.

But as time went on, his schedule was always miraculously full.

Once, I had cleared my calendar and practically begged him to go, only for him to shoot me a weird look and say, "Honestly, given your age, isn't it a little inappropriate?" Chloe's gloating voice dragged me back to the present. "I heard you've always wanted to go.

If I had known, I would have brought you back a souvenir. You probably don't know this, but they have so much exclusive merch…" Brooks stroked her hair. "You just recovered.

Rest your voice." Chloe stuck out her bottom lip, visibly annoyed. Brooks sighed, entirely defeated by her pout. "Alright, alright.

Whatever you want…" I curved my lips into a polite smile. "I know." Chloe froze. I met her gaze, my voice completely devoid of emotion. "I know they have a lot of exclusive merch.

But you probably don't know this. I own that theme park." Chloe's jaw snapped shut. Her shoulders trembled, but no words came out.

Brooks's voice dropped two degrees. "Enough, Maxine. You know Chloe just got discharged from the hospital.

Do you have to provoke her?" Right on cue, Chloe let out a weak cough and slumped heavily against his chest.

Brooks scooped her up into his arms and carried her straight into the guest bedroom. He left the door wide open.

Peering over Brooks's shoulder to maintain eye contact with me, Chloe gripped his lapels. "Brooks, when are you finally going to call off the engagement with that old hag?" Brooks pinched her cheek affectionately. "Not until you're fully recovered, at least." He caught me leaning against the doorframe out of the corner of his eye.

He didn't flinch. His fingers merely paused for a fraction of a second. After a long, agonizing wait, Brooks finally finished soothing her.

He stepped out of the guest room, pulled the door shut behind him, and lowered his voice. "Chloe was threatening to end her life. My hands were tied.

I had to lie to calm her down." I arched a brow. "Are you sure it was just a lie?" Brooks rubbed his temples, putting on his best exhaustedfiancé act. "Stop being unreasonable.

Chloe is my mother's goddaughter. I've always viewed her as a little sister. You're always so mature about these things. I knew you'd understand…" The words died in his throat.

His gaze snapped to the space directly behind me.

Silas swaggered down the grand staircase, decked out in headtotoe couture, putting on a display that would rival a peacock in full strut.

The morning light pouring through the floortoceiling windows illuminated his sculpted features and broad chest. Silas flashed a brilliant, blindingly white smile. "Hey there, Mr.

Ex." Brooks stood paralyzed. He whipped his head toward me, his features twisting into an ugly scowl. "Maxine, do you possess a single shred of empathy?

Chloe just got out of the hospital, and you dragged her blind date here