- ( Amelie's POV ) -
Morning light spills softly across my sheets, warm against my skin, coaxing me awake.
For a moment, I let myself breathe in the quiet. No alarms. No deadlines.
No frantic rush to prove I belong in the world I've worked so hard to reach.
Just… stillness. At twenty-eight, with a Harvard degree in Marketing Management
and a reputation for being relentlessly hardworking, I should feel triumphant.
But this morning, I just feel… lighter.
Almost hopeful, like something good might finally be waiting for me.
I rise from bed, stretching my arms overhead as I catch my reflection in the mirror.
Another day, Amelie. Own it.
My routine is the only thing that keeps me steady, a quick shower,
my sleek blouse and pencil skirt, my lucky heels. Black coffee, one slice of toast.
Nothing fancy, just enough fuel to carry me through another day in Velmore City,
a place beautiful in its chaos, where the smell of roasted coffee blends
with the impatient honking of cars and the laughter of early-morning vendors.
Riding the bus feels strangely comforting today. Maybe because, for once,
I'm not bracing myself for disaster.
Or maybe… I'm simply tired of expecting it.
Vérité & Co. rises before me like a palace of glass, my battlefield and my pride.
Working as the assistant to the Creative Director of a prestigious high-end fashion brand
sounds glamorous, and sometimes it is, but it's also brutal.
I've earned my place there through grit, talent, and the kind of work ethic
that leaves no room for weakness. My boss adores me.
My colleagues… not so much. Some envy, some despise, and lately,
some have crossed lines they shouldn't have. Their jealousy twisted into blackmail,
ugly, cruel, and threatening everything I've fought for.
I can't lose my job. Not when my half younger brother Sam still needs tuition for college.
Not when Mom's medical bills keep rising. Our small noodle house back in Santa Catalina
barely covers the basics. Everything else… falls on me.
By noon, I've called Alex three times. By afternoon, five. No response.
No text. No explanation. My gut twists in uncomfortable knots.
He's busy, sure, but this silence feels wrong..unnerving.
He wouldn't ignore me… would he?
By five o'clock, panic gives way to something sharper.
Time to make a decision.
If he won't answer, I'll go to him.
I buy his favorite roast chicken and a couple of cold beers on the way,
my palms cold as I ride the elevator in his building.
The moment the doors open, I freeze.
A pair of red high heels sits by his door.
My heart falters.
No. No, I'm imagining things. It's nothing. It has to be nothing.
I enter the code, step inside, set the food on the counter.
The apartment is dim, unusually so.
The bedroom door is half open.
And then I see them.
Alex, he was naked.
And a woman. Also naked.
Their bodies tangled in a way that feels like a blade driven straight into my chest.
For a moment, I can't breathe. The world loses all sound,
all color, leaving only a raw, stabbing ache spreading through me like fire.
"Alex…" My voice is barely a breath. "What… what is this?"
He jerks upright, shock flooding his features. "Amelie…"
"No." My words break, sharp and trembling. "Don't speak. Don't you dare."
My fingers shake as I rip the engagement ring off my finger.
It slips, glinting once under the dim light before hitting the dresser with a cold, final clang.
"We're done," I choke out. "I'm done with you."
I run before he can say another word. Down the hall. Down the stairs.
Out into the street where the city swallows me whole.
My chest burns, my breath breaking in short, violent gasps.
I call the only person who has never failed me.
"Marie…" My voice collapses with me. "I… I can't…"
She finds me an hour later, hunched over a glass of whiskey in a dim bar.
She slides into the booth, her presence warm, solid.
"Oh, girl…" Marie murmurs, wrapping her hand around mine.
"Men are idiots. I've said this before.
You're lucky it ended now. Trust me. "
"Lucky?" I whisper when she claims I dodged a bullet. "
I don't feel lucky, Marie. I feel cursed. Every relationship I've had,
every man I end up breaking them or they break me.
Maybe it's karma. Maybe I'm just… unlucky in love.
And in work. And in everything."
I spill everything, all the heartbreaks, from my senior high first love
I left behind for Harvard, to the mess of my career, to Alex's betrayal.
Marie listens with equal parts pity and exasperation.
"You're not cursed," she insists. "You're human.
And you're ambitious. Those aren't sins."
But inside, I'm unraveling.
And for the first time, I whisper the thought I've been avoiding.
"Maybe I should just… go back to the US." My voice trembles. "Take Ken's offer in LA. Start over."
Marie squeezes my hand. "If that's truly what you want… then maybe it's time.
But listen to me, wherever you go, you'll land on your feet."
The next morning, exhausted and hollow, I take the bus home to Santa Catalina.
The salty breeze greets me first, carrying the scent of the sea and distant laughter.
Cobblestone streets. Local vendors calling to each other.
The noodle house where Mom, despite her brain diagnosis,
still insists on cooking whenever she can.
"Amelie," she breathes, smiling softly when she sees me.
"Back so soon?"
I hug her gently, afraid to squeeze too hard.
My thoughts drift to the father who abandoned us when I was five,
the abusive stepfather who ended up in jail,
and the dream that took me to Harvard but left me searching for closure I never got.
Life has never been generous, but I've learned to fight anyway.
Back in Velmore, Marie, my best friend, supermom,
and the owner of Golden Vow Agency, is juggling her growing business.
Though having a few staffs, she still handles everything
from wedding coordination to matchmaking for the elite.
So when a lawyer approached her about a very particular problem
involving a very prominent family… she thought of me.
Dr. Elijah Chen.
Thirty-three years of age. A famous Neurosurgeon in Zurich.
Also a Harvard graduate.
Officially engaged… unofficially not.
His family still believes he's marrying his ex-fiancée,
Sophia Redford.
Marie is asked to find a stand-in. Someone who fits Sophia's profile.
And in Marie's world… I am the perfect match.
The money involved could solve everything, Sam's schooling,
Mom's treatments, and my debts.
So when she calls me, frantic and urgent, I answer.
"Girl, where are you?"
Marie demands the moment the video loads.
"I'm coming there. We need to talk."
I'm in Raventon, the city just outside Santa Catalina.
I stop by a café after picking up Mom's medicines,
slipping into a quiet corner seat.
"Marie… you're flying here? I don't know if…"
"No turning me down," she cuts in.
"This isn't just money, Amelie. It's your way out."
I groan. "Pretending to be someone else?
Marrying a stranger? That's your idea of fun?"
"Yes!" She grins. "Let me convince you in person. Trust me."
"Fine…" I mutter. "See you."
The call ends just as a barista approaches. I look up …
And my whole world tilts.
Because standing behind the counter…
is a man I know.
A man whose presence slams into me like a memory
I wasn't prepared to confront.
Dylan.
My breath catches.
My pulse stutters.
And in that instant …
everything I thought was broken
begins to shift.
My life…
is about to change forever.