Chapter 1

With my money and industry connections, I poured everything into making my girlfriend a rising star.

Yet on our six-year anniversary, she went behind my back and went public with a new romance.

She posted that he was the purest, cleanest boy she had ever met.

I was furious, but my very first instinct was still to worry about her career.

I never expected her to turn around and threaten me:

"You don't understand anything! All you care about is profit and status. What's wrong with me wanting to be with someone pure?"

"Don't forget, I'm the only star in your agency. The moment I leave, you have nothing!"

Chloe hung up the phone without hesitation.

I gripped my cell tightly, holding back with everything I had just to keep from smashing it against the wall.

The conference room fell dead silent.

After a long pause, someone finally asked in a cautious whisper:

"Chase, how are we going to issue a statement to clear this up?"

Clear it up? I let out a cold laugh.

"Is there any point in issuing a statement now?" I asked mockingly.

Chloe had just laid down an ultimatum over the phone.

She said if I dared to delete her Instagram post, for every one I took down, she would post another.

The staff member hesitated for a second before saying nervously:

"If we don't clear the air, her fan meet in two days is going to be a disaster."

"Her career is on the rise right now. The fans really expect..."

Before he could finish, I cut him off: "Then cancel it!"

With that, I turned around, left the room, and walked back into my private office.

The next second, my phone rang. It was my mother.

When I answered, her voice was choked with tears:

"Chase, you need to come home right now. Your grandfather's health is failing, and your father is completely useless. Everyone in the family is circling like vultures, eyeing the chairman's seat without showing your grandfather an ounce of respect."

"I know you have your own dreams, but the family really needs you right now..."

Hearing that, I looked down.

A quiet decision formed in my mind, and I simply said, "Okay."

My mother seemed ready to beg further, but she froze when she heard me agree.

"What did you say?" she asked, disbelief in her voice. "You're actually willing to change your mind?"

I knew why she was so shocked.

I had always been sharper than my father. As soon as I turned eighteen, my grandfather took me to the company to learn the ropes so he could eventually hand the family empire over to me.

In the end, I let him down.

Just two years in, I fell in love.

Chloe's dream was to become an actress, but she got scammed by predatory agencies.

So, I launched a boutique agency just to make her dream come true.

To the outside world, I was her manager. In private, I was her boyfriend.

Over the years, I used my wealth and my family's clout to secure top-tier gigs for her.

I pushed her until she became one of the most sought-after rising starlets in the industry.

Chloe couldn't act, and she had no real talent to speak of.

Yet her innocent looks and cute, quirky persona won over millions of fans.

She had barely tasted real fame.

And on our sixth anniversary, she went behind my back to announce a relationship with another guy.

When the news broke, I was having dinner with an A-list director, trying to land her a lead role in an upcoming film.

My feelings were a mess.

More than the sting of betrayal, I had actually been worried about her career falling apart.

I never imagined she would say those things to me.

Suddenly, all my years of devotion felt like a complete joke.

Snapping back to reality, my resolve hardened.

I kept my voice calm and dismissive: "It's nothing. I've just had my fun out here, that's all."

My mother clearly didn't buy it, but she didn't push.

She just told me to wrap things up on my end before heading home.

After hanging up, I handled a few more matters in the office before heading home.

Aside from Chloe, the agency had a full team of employees.

I needed to figure out the best way to handle their severance.

Before that, though, I was going to kick Chloe out of my villa.

If we had parted on good terms, I wouldn't have minded gifting her the house.

Since she chose another man, I wasn't about to be that generous.

What I didn't expect was that not only had she announced him publicly, but she had also brought him straight into my home.

Rage flared inside me. I opened my mouth, ready to tell them to get the hell out.

Before I could speak, Chloe waved at me casually: "Good, you're back. I have something to tell you."