How to Break a Playboy

My wealthy fiancé vanished the night before our wedding. When I finally tracked him down on a luxury yacht, I stopped outside the halfopen cabin door.

I heard him let out a dry, mocking laugh. "I only went after Sloane to piss off Sebastian." He swirled the ice in his glass. "But now that I actually have her? The thrill is dead.

It's just boring." Someone chuckled in the background. Lachlan leaned back, his tone dripping with casual cruelty. "I wasn't just going to let it go, though.

Ditching her at the altar and watching her make a total fool of herself? Tell me that's not hilarious." I stood frozen in the dimly lit hallway.

I had spent ten years chasing Sebastian before I finally walked away and chose Lachlan. My breathing remained perfectly steady. I didn't shed a single tear.

I just turned on my heel and walked straight out the heavy glass doors into the cold night air. It looked like I was going to be the runaway bride. Later, the whispers spread.

They said the arrogant, untouchable heir tore the entire city apart. He never found his missing bride. Chapter 1 A month before the wedding, Lachlan vanished.

I scoured the entire city looking for him, coming up empty. On the seventh day of his disappearance, I got a tip that he was down in Miami.

I booked a redeye flight that very night. I finally tracked him down on a luxury yacht.

My hand hovered over the brass doorknob when I heard his dry, mocking laugh from inside the cabin. "I only went after Sloane to piss off Sebastian. But now that I actually have her?

The thrill is dead. It's just boring." I froze in the hallway. He didn't sound drunk. His voice was brutally, perfectly sober.

He leaned into the cruelty of his next words. "And honestly, after finally tasting her, it was pretty damn underwhelming." A chorus of sleazy chuckles echoed through the door. "You're the man, Lachlan.

Taking down that untouchable ice queen." Lachlan clearly ate up the praise. "Don't let the way she threw herself at Sebastian fool you. She was innocent.

Too bad…" "Too bad what?" someone asked.

I heard the sharp flick of a lighter, followed by Lachlan slowly exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Too bad that even though I was her first, I wasn't the first guy she loved.

She was obsessed with Sebastian for ten years.

Who knows if she's even over him?" "If Sebastian and I weren't sworn enemies, if I didn't want to use Sloane just to rub it in his face, I never would have played the devoted, silently protective nice guy." Someone teased, "You've had her for three years now.

Why the sudden regrets, man?" Lachlan's tone dropped, turning cold and irritated. "Because I spent so much damn time chasing her, and now I feel cheated." Another voice chimed in. "Word is she's tearing the city apart looking for you.

She's going crazy. Is it really cool for you to just vanish like this?" Lachlan took another drag. "Ditching her at the altar and watching her make a total fool of herself?

Tell me that's not hilarious." Through the narrow crack in the door, I couldn't find a single trace of guilt or affection on his face.

He just looked like a man who had finally settled a score. Like he had been waiting for this exact moment.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek until the metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth.

I dug my nails brutally into my palms, forcing myself to swallow the dry, jagged lump in my throat. I had actually believed Lachlan was my safe haven. My endgame.

I only said yes to him after making sure that what I felt was real love, not just gratitude. The night we made it official, he lit up the entire skyline with fireworks.

Three years later, he bought a private island under my name and proposed beneath a sky full of glowing lanterns. I thought it was romance. I thought it was love.

I never suspected it was just an elaborate, twisted stage play designed solely to destroy Sebastian. Was his decade of supposed devotion really just an act?

Unwanted memories dragged me under.

When I was twelve, I was pulled from a quiet southern town and dumped into my estranged wealthy family's estate—awkward, terrified, and painfully insecure.

Sebastian had shielded me from the vicious bullying back then, and I fell for him with a hopeless, pathetic desperation.

I chased him so hard that every single person in our social circle knew about it. But he only ever looked at me with pure disgust. Eventually, the humiliation carved me hollow.

I gave up on him. And that was when I finally noticed Lachlan, standing in the shadows, quietly watching over me. It was pouring rain that night.

He held the umbrella over my head, soaking his own shoulders. "Sloane," he had whispered. "I don't need you to look at me. I just want you to be free." God, what an absolute joke.

I wiped my slate clean and let Lachlan take over my life.

Just as I dropped my walls and started planning every single detail of our massive wedding… I had unknowingly handed him the knife to carve me open.

Chapter 2 Every word was a knife carving into me. My nose stung, a sharp burn spreading to my eyes.

A single, treacherous tear spilled over my lashes, but I scrubbed it away with the back of my hand.

The voices inside the cabin kept going, eagerly brainstorming for him. "If you really want to wreck a woman, you have to drag her to the peak of happiness and then shove her off the cliff.

Wouldn't that be a hell of a lot more entertaining?" "Exactly. So you need to go back, Lachlan. Go back and help her pick out the dress.

Mail out the invitations with her." "Play the perfect, unsuspecting groom right up until the wedding day, and then leave her standing at the altar looking like an absolute joke.

I bet Sloane would actually lose her mind." Disgusting, predatory laughter filled the room. Bile rose in my throat.

I swallowed it down, forcing myself to wait for Lachlan's response. A pathetic part of me was still begging to hear him say, cut the crap, I actually love her.

Or even just, that's taking it too far. But the silence stretched on. Finally, Lachlan's low, smooth voice broke the quiet. "Yeah. That's a solid plan.

Let's go with that." My lungs seized, the air turning thin and heavy as a sharp ringing filled my ears.

The corners of my mouth twitched upward into a rigid, hollow smile as hot tears finally blurred my vision. You want to play games, Lachlan? Fine. I'll play your little game.

I can't wait to see the look on your face when you show up to humiliate me on our wedding day, only to realize your bride is already long gone.

I scrubbed every trace of my trip to Miami and flew straight back to the penthouse Lachlan and I shared.

I dragged out every single gift he had given me over the last few years and started destroying them. I read somewhere once that a brutal breakup is like a chronic joint ache.

On sunny, busy days, you barely even notice it's there. But the second the sun goes down and the cold creeps in, the pain settles deep into your bones until you can barely breathe.

Maybe this was just withdrawal. I stood up and spread my custommade wedding dress flat across the hardwood floor.

I grabbed my heavy fabric shears, jammed the blade right into the expensive lace neckline, and dragged it hard all the way down.

With a vicious, satisfying rip, the dress tore in half. It was a permanent reminder.

Trust is exactly like silk—once you slice it open, no amount of careful stitching will ever make it whole again.

I shoved the ruined remains into some garbage bags and tossed them into the guest study, a room Lachlan never bothered to use. Sleep was a joke.

I lay in bed, endlessly scrolling through TikTok, when a "People You May Know" suggestion popped up on my screen. The username was Lachlan's Girl.

Some dark, twisted instinct made me click the profile. It was an entire digital diary of a girl obsessively pining over a guy. Her latest video was tagged in Miami.

The caption read: [The man I've loved for ten years is getting married next month. I'm finally going to shoot my shot.

Wish me luck.] In the background of her photo, resting casually on a table, was a hand I knew intimately. A platinum engagement band gleamed on the ring finger. It was Lachlan.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

It wasn't a text from my missing fiancé, but an incoming call from Sebastian. "Take a wild guess who I just bumped into down in Miami?" I didn't even blink. "Sebastian, I literally couldn't care less.

Stop using burner numbers to call me." Chapter 3 Just as I was about to hang up, I caught the smugness he was trying to hide beneath his voice. "Sloane, do you really not know why Lachlan has been MIA for so long?

He doesn't want to marry you." "He can't get over the fact that you used to chase me. He only got close to you to get back at me.

He's not the guy you think he is." "What's your point, Sebastian?" My patience was already gone. "Sloane, my point is… besides you being obsessed with me for a decade, I've never had any other girls around…" I sat up, my voice sharpening. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you, Sebastian?

Five years later, and you're still obsessed with trying to drive a wedge between us." "But let me make this clear. No matter what happens, this is my choice.

I made my bed, and I will never come crawling back to you." Sebastian went quiet for a second before ignoring my statement. "I just sent you something.

You're going to want to see it." I ended the call and opened my messages. A video file sat there. The lighting in the video was dim, like a club.

A girl stood facetoface with Lachlan. He blew out a ring of smoke, looking as casually detached as always.

Over the loud cheering in the background, the girl stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. And he didn't pull away. The video cut to black.

I immediately opened the girl's social profile. She had already posted a new update. [I'd say that was a success.] The attached photo was a clear shot of their kiss.

Rage and sheer exhaustion starved my brain of oxygen. I bolted to the bathroom and gripped the edges of the marble vanity, gasping for air.

A sharp, stabbing pain ripped through my chest, turning my legs to jelly. I collapsed onto the freezing tile floor.

I somehow dragged my aching body back to bed and curled into a tight ball. Unwanted memories hit me.

Right after Lachlan and I made it official, I woke up in the middle of the night and told him I wanted to see the stars from the mountains. He didn't ask a single question.

He just indulged my crazy whim, threw me in his car, and drove us straight to the peak in the dead of night.

The midnight air was freezing, but he wrapped his arms tightly around me, letting his body heat soak into mine. He leaned down and whispered, "The moon is beautiful tonight, Sloane.

Can I kiss you?" There was no going back to that. None of it was real. I drifted into a feverish sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, footsteps echoed in the living room.

Cold sweat coated my skin. I didn't have the energy to move. The bedroom light suddenly snapped on. The harsh glare forced my eyes shut. Then came Lachlan's panicked voice. "Sloane?

Baby, what's wrong?" I woke up in a hospital bed at 7:00 AM. Lachlan was sitting next to me, gripping my hand tightly.

He looked completely exhausted, like he had stayed up all night watching over me. He stood up to pour me a glass of water. "I leave for a few days and you trash your body?

You know your stomach is a mess." "Do you have a death wish or something?" He sounded genuinely angry. Look at how ridiculous this is.

During the week he was missing, I couldn't eat or sleep. I dropped five pounds in days.

I was convinced he had pissed off the wrong people in the business world and ended up kidnapped. I spent every single night paralyzed by fear, soaking my pillow with tears.

Meanwhile, he was living it up without a care in the world, making out with some random girl. "Not going to say anything?" Lachlan pinched my cheek, a soft smile dancing in his eyes. "You know you're going to get punished for this, right?

Alright, sit up and eat something." He grabbed a thermos from the table. "Your man went home and made you some hot soup.

I haven't slept a wink." Acting exactly like the perfect fiancé, like absolutely nothing had happened, he helped me sit up and started feeding me, spoonful by careful spoonful.

Chapter 4 Several times, I almost opened my mouth to ask him. Lachlan, aren't you exhausted from all this acting?

Or to just tell him outright that I heard every word on that yacht, and if he didn't want this, we could cancel the whole damn thing right now.

But I clamped my jaw shut and forced the words back down my throat. I stared at the sterile hospital blanket, my chest tight.

Just because I made the mistake of chasing someone else when I was a kid, did that mean I was completely disqualified from ever being loved? "Baby, hey, why are you crying?" Lachlan set the thermos down, his thumbs hastily brushing against my cheeks. "I'm sorry.

I messed up, okay? I'm so sorry." I lowered my gaze and closed my eyes, letting him pull me into his arms.

He rubbed slow, soothing circles into my back. "I'm so sorry I worried you, baby.

I just got overwhelmed." "The reality of finally marrying you hit me, and it felt too good to be true. I needed to clear my head to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

I should have told you. Can you forgive me?" Liar. "We're getting married in twenty days.

I'm going to stay right by your side from now on, making sure you are the most stunning bride in the world, okay?" But Lachlan, there isn't going to be a wedding.

He wiped away the last of my tears. When those dark eyes locked onto mine, he looked so intensely devoted it made my stomach turn. "I'm going to step out for a smoke.

Then we'll get you discharged." Lachlan was too confident.

Or maybe he just didn't care if I got suspicious, since he was just putting on a performance for his twisted little game anyway.

He left his phone faceup on the nightstand, the screen constantly lighting up with notifications. I reached over and picked it up. The passcode was my birthday.

I always knew it, but I had never once felt the need to snoop. I swiped it open. A contact named Payton had blown up his messages.

He had just added her yesterday. [Lachlan, it's so late. Make sure you get some rest!] [I heard you're getting married! Can I get an invite?

I want to celebrate with you.] [When we got off the plane, I saw you holding your stomach. Are you feeling okay?] [I stayed up all night making you some hot soup.

It's perfect for warming you up! Tell me I'm the best!] He hadn't replied to any of the earlier texts.

But to that last one, he had sent a single response. [Bring it to this address.] My eyes slowly dragged over to the pink thermos sitting innocently on my hospital tray.

A fresh wave of nausea hit me. Payton's texts continued. [Are you sick? Is it serious?

I can stay at the hospital with you, okay?] [Let me know when you finish the soup, I'll make more.] [Take care of yourself, Lachlan.] [I've been sitting in the lobby all night and my legs are totally numb.

My cramps are killing me.] I locked the screen, swiped the notifications back to unread, and placed the phone exactly where I found it.

I threw off the thin hospital blanket and swung my legs out of bed. I walked down to the main lobby. Sure enough, there was Lachlan.

And sitting right beside him was the girl from the video. I stood by the elevator banks, completely numb, watching them laugh and chat through the morning crowd.

Payton was wildly gesturing with her hands, her ponytail bouncing with every movement.

She suddenly pouted, rubbing her stomach, and Lachlan reached over, affectionately ruffling her hair.

Watching their easy intimacy, I felt like the other woman intruding on their relationship. From making out in the club to the tender head rubs in the hospital lobby.

Lachlan clearly enjoyed her company. And why wouldn't he? Who wouldn't love someone looking up at them with unconditional worship? A bitter, hollow laugh escaped my throat.

I turned on my heel and walked around the corner, only to run straight into Sebastian. Chapter 5