The day before Valentine’s, my fiancée—who feared water—announced she was taking swimming lessons.

I knew instantly: she’d fallen for the instructor downstairs.

I went to one class, then gave her an ultimatum: call off the wedding or cut ties with him.

Vivian stormed out and didn’t return all night.

The next day, she came back exhausted and aching, but swore I was the only one from then on.

At our wedding, as the officiant said, “You may kiss the bride,” she shoved me away.

“I can’t kiss someone I don’t love,” she choked out. “I can’t lie to my heart.”

In a flash of white silk, she ran from the altar straight into the weeping instructor’s arms in the crowd.

The room erupted. Cameras flashed like a supernova.

I became the city’s laughingstock overnight.

The top trending video was their passionate kiss at my wedding.

My heart turned to ash.

Since you chose to betray me again, don’t blame me for burning your world down.

…

Watching her run, the last ember of hope inside me died.

I swept my arm across the champagne tower, sending a cascade of crystal and glass shattering to the floor.

My voice was a blade of ice. “If you walk out that door right now, my family, the Blackwoods, and yours, the Crosses—from this day on, it's war.”

Vivian faltered, her eyes instantly welling with tears.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice carrying across the stunned silence. “But I can’t betray my heart. I’ll make it up to you someday.”

Within thirty minutes, the headlines were everywhere: Heiress Vivian Cross Abandons Wedding for True Love.

The internet comments were brutal.

【LOL, is this guy for real? Sounds like a villain from a cheap romance novel! Getting dumped is exactly what he deserves!】

【If he’s this arrogant in public, imagine what a monster he is in private. Someone should investigate the Blackwood family!】

【Go Vivian! Women shouldn’t be sacrificed for family alliances!】

In a flash, the Blackwood name became a joke. And Vivian, the architect of my humiliation, was hailed by the media as a modern heroine, bravely chasing her heart.

I scrolled through the screen, my face a mask of stone. Then I saw her latest post, an “apology statement.”

【While this decision has deeply hurt Donovan, I simply cannot accept a marriage without love, to spend the rest of my life in a numb stupor… The fault is all mine. I beg you all not to direct your anger at him.】

The accompanying photo was of her, eyes swollen from crying. What truly stung was the cheap silver ring on her finger. It wasn’t the one I’d given her.

Then, Dylan, the instructor, poured gasoline on the fire:

【Vivian feels terrible, she’s lost so much weight over this. You can’t force love. I hope we can all still be friends.】

A laugh, raw and furious, tore from my throat.

If she had been honest with me before the wedding, I would have let her go. I would have given her my blessing.

But she hadn't.

She chose this moment, in front of the whole city, to grind my family’s dignity into the dust.

And now she thought she could use public opinion to force my forgiveness?

Never.

“Get on the phone now,” I snapped to my assistant. “Pull all Blackwood investments from Cross Industries. Terminate every single partnership.”

“Then, use every resource we have to fund their direct competitors.”

“If the Cross family isn't bankrupt by the end of the year, I’ll change my name.”

Sweat beaded on my assistant’s forehead. “Mr. Blackwood,” he ventured cautiously, “the public opinion is catastrophic for us right now. If we make a move like this, it could backfire…”

“Backfire?” I cut him off, my voice sharp as broken glass. “A backstabbing parasite who repays kindness with betrayal doesn't deserve to be taught a lesson?”

“We’ll make an example of the Cross family. Let’s see who dares to challenge the Blackwoods after this.”

I rubbed my throbbing temples as memories assaulted me.

Years ago, when Vivian’s grandfather died suddenly, his illegitimate son had swooped in, poised to seize the family fortune. Vivian had knelt in a torrential downpour for a day and a night, begging for my help.

“Mr. Blackwood, if you save my family, I’ll do anything you ask for the rest of my life!”

In a moment of weakness, I had proposed a marriage alliance. She had agreed without hesitation.

After our engagement, I kept my promise. I not only helped her reclaim her company and sent the illegitimate son to prison, but I personally mentored her, transforming Cross Industries from a small local business into a corporate titan.

But slowly, things began to change. She started resisting my touch, rejecting my advice, yearning for some so-called “pure love.”

Then Dylan, the swimming instructor, appeared. And she poured every ounce of her passion and affection onto him.

I had given her one last chance, just two weeks ago.

“Vivian,” I’d warned her. “If you still want this wedding to happen, you need to remember your boundaries.”

She had just laughed it off. “We’re just a student and a teacher. You’re the one with the dirty mind, seeing filth everywhere.”

“Honestly, Donovan, are you so guilty about your own cheating that you have to project it onto me?”

My voice had dropped, turning cold. “If you cross the line, I will take back everything I’ve given you.”

She had flinched then, her tone finally softening. “You’ve misunderstood. There’s nothing between Dylan and me. I won’t see him again.”

For a moment, I actually believed her. I thought we could go back.

But in the end, she betrayed my final shred of trust.

And for that, there would be no mercy.

The next morning, Vivian burst into my office with a swarm of reporters.

The moment she was through the door, the waterworks began.

“Donovan,” she sobbed, “I’ve already apologized publicly… please, I’m begging you, let me go. Let my family go…”

She held out a document with a trembling hand. It was a termination of our engagement contract, but with one unbelievable clause: all Blackwood investments and partnerships were to remain in place.

She had trampled my family’s honor, dragged me through the mud with a media circus, and now she had the audacity to demand we continue funding her?

Did I really look that weak?

“Vivian,” I asked, my voice dangerously calm. “You humiliate my family, you play the victim online, and you still expect my money and resources after you walk away?”

“Do you take me for a fool?”

With a dramatic cry, she threw herself to the floor and began banging her head against the marble, her tears mixing with the blood trickling from her forehead.

“Donovan, it’s all my fault! Please don’t take it out on my parents…” she wailed. “You can hit me, you can scream at me, I won’t say a word!”

Dylan, the instructor, rushed forward and pulled her up, shielding her behind him. He leaned in close to me, his voice a low, venomous hiss.

“Don’t push it, Blackwood. I have a thousand ways I can make you get on your knees and beg Vivian to forgive you.”

“Some people, you just can’t afford to cross.”

I met his gaze, unblinking. “I’d like to see who dares to touch the Blackwood family.”

A muscle twitched in Dylan’s jaw. He raised his fist to strike, but Vivian suddenly lunged forward, grabbing my legs, smearing blood and tears on my custom-made shoes.

“Donovan, I couldn’t control my heart! I fell in love with Dylan!” she cried. “Do whatever you want to me, but please, don’t hurt an innocent man…”

My eyes lifted, scanning the flashing cameras. My heart felt like it was being pierced by a thousand needles.

Finally, one word escaped my lips, laced with utter contempt.

“Get. Out.”

Vivian stumbled backward as if I’d struck her. Dylan caught her, then spun around and slapped me hard across the face.

“You dare push her?!”

A searing sting erupted on my cheek. I licked the corner of my mouth and laughed, a sound devoid of all humor.

Dylan’s voice was as cold as a snake’s. “The Blackwood Corporation is finished.”

“All those years you forced her to run the company, to entertain clients, you made a fortune off her back! Her debt to you is paid!”

“She’s a human being, not your personal ATM!”

My gaze, sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cut to Vivian. “Mentoring you, bringing you into the world of business—in your eyes, that was just using you for money?”

“Putting your parents in the best care facility in the country—was that just a way to control you?”

“Vivian, where is your conscience?”

Her eyes were red, but she couldn't meet my gaze.

A bitter, broken laugh escaped me, tears burning my eyes. “Vivian, you don’t have a heart.”

She threw herself at my feet again. “Donovan, I’ll repay your kindness, I swear… Just please, let us be happy…”

Her hand trembled as she placed it on her flat stomach.

“The baby is innocent. He can’t grow up without a father…”

The words hit me like a physical blow. I staggered back, my legs threatening to give out.

They had a child. Of course, they had a child.

That night, Vivian went live online, “exposing” me to the world.

She cried so hard she could barely breathe. “For a business deal, he forced me to wear those kinds of clothes to please a client… When I refused, he… he burned me with a cigarette…”

Dylan held her protectively, his eyes blazing with fury. “Donovan Blackwood! Are you trying to kill her? Is that what you want?!”

Vivian frantically tried to cover his mouth. “Donovan, I’m sorry, Dylan is just upset, he didn’t mean to be disrespectful. But if you don’t end this engagement… I don’t think I can go on living…”

Dylan pushed her hand away, his voice cracking with emotion. “You won’t let her go because you’re afraid you’ll lose your cash cow, aren’t you? You’re nothing but a parasite, sucking the life out of a woman!”

Vivian then shoved him aside and, facing the camera, began slamming her head on the floor again. “Donovan, he’s just worried about me, please, don’t destroy us…”

The comment section was a waterfall of hatred.

【DONOVAN BLACKWOOD MUST DIE! SCUM! VAMPIRE!】

【RUN, VIVIAN! WE SUPPORT YOU!】

【So the great CEO is just a coward who hides behind a woman!】

Finally, Vivian announced through her sobs that she and Dylan would be getting married abroad next month. “I need to live for myself, just this once.”

The livestream ended, but the storm was just beginning.

Blackwood stock plummeted. Partners fled. I was public enemy number one.

I stared at the pathetic, tear-streaked face on the screen, a cold, absurd emptiness filling me. Hatred, like a thorny vine, wrapped itself around my heart and squeezed.

I pressed the intercom, my voice devoid of all warmth.

“Tell every executive to be in the main conference room. Immediately.”

The room was full. I threw a thick stack of documents onto the table.

“Vivian Cross is in severe breach of contract and has maliciously damaged the Blackwood reputation. File the lawsuit immediately.”

“At the same time, freeze all assets of the Cross family.”

When we’d formed our partnership, I had included ironclad penalty clauses. I could lift her to the heavens, and I could just as easily smash her back to earth.

“And release these bank statements to the press.”

For the past six months, Vivian had been embezzling funds, setting up shell companies, and evading taxes. The total was nearly thirty million dollars. And almost every cent of it had been funneled to Dylan.

Our CFO glanced at the first page and audibly gasped.

“Finally,” I said, my voice dropping. “Publish the termination agreement she tried to force on me. In full.”

If she had the gall to demand such terms, she could bear the consequences.

“I want everyone to see who the real parasite is.”