Ficorpio
Chapter 1
The heir to Sterling Enterprises kept an influencer on the side and spoiled her until she became arrogant and demanding.
Just as I began making arrangements to end our engagement, a stream of impossible comments appeared before my eyes.
[Ethan didn’t do anything wrong. He’s only trying to get your attention.]
[Chloe, don’t end the engagement! Shed a few tears and he’ll lay everything he has at your feet.]
I turned toward the cafe window.
Outside, the woman on Ethan Sterling’s arm wore custom jewelry and a radiant smile. Ethan lowered his gaze to her with his usual lazy air, the careless indulgence in his expression almost convincing.
I smiled and replied to my lawyer’s message.
[Keep drafting the Engagement Dissolution Agreement.]
The instant I sent it, the comments erupted.
[Chloe, how can you be so heartless? Poor Ethan is going to drink himself senseless at a bar…]
[Seriously, he’s just proud and bad at admitting his feelings. Now he’s going to lose the woman he loves.]
[It’s fine. Ethan can bankrupt her family. Then she’ll have no choice but to crawl back and beg him for help.]
[And once that happens, Chloe will spend every day fighting off other women for him. Ethan will love it!]
I stared at the comments and laughed coldly.
When I glanced outside again, my eyes met Ethan’s.
He raised one eyebrow. The woman remained wrapped around his arm, and he showed no trace of guilt at being caught. If anything, when he noticed my expression, the corner of his mouth curved higher.
The woman Ethan kept was a minor influencer. Together, they made a striking couple, handsome and glamorous enough to draw a crowd of people taking photos.
The cafe’s windows were transparent. I had no idea whether anyone had caught me in the background.
I cursed under my breath, picked up my bag, and called my driver. I would wait somewhere else for him to collect me.
But the moment I stepped outside, I came face-to-face with Ethan.
I stared at him. “Weren’t you walking the other way?”
“Were you watching me that closely?” His eyes curved with lazy amusement.
The woman beside him regarded me warily, though she apparently knew better than to speak without understanding who I was.
Remembering the comments only made my irritation worse. I moved to walk around them, but Ethan caught my wrist.
I looked back.
“Upset?” he asked quietly.
My gaze traveled over him and the woman at his side. “Not at all. I hope the two of you have a long and happy life together.”
Even then, he refused to release me.
Chapter 2
The woman rolled her eyes. “Who even are you? Can’t you see you’re interrupting our shopping?”
She gave her expensive bracelet a little shake, then looked coyly at Ethan. “Are you jealous because no one buys you things like this?”
I remained calm. “Do you know he has a fiancee?”
She froze for a moment before giving a dismissive hum. “It’s only a strategic marriage alliance between two families. There aren’t any real feelings involved. If Ethan actually liked her, would he be with me?”
Ethan let out a quiet scoff.
Then he lowered his eyelids and fixed his dark eyes squarely on me.
My expression didn’t change. I nodded, then glanced at the well-defined hand still locked around my wrist.
“Let go.”
Ethan didn’t move. “Find someone else to escort you to the banquet the day after tomorrow.”
The woman looked startled. After studying me for several seconds, she broke into a smug smile.
“Oh, so you’re his fiancee. And? Ethan will be taking me to the banquet.”
By my calculations, the dissolution agreement should reach the Sterling family tomorrow.
“Fine,” I said. “Will you let go now?”
Ethan went still, his face darkening. “Who are you taking?”
Several young men came to mind, all from respectable families and blessed with excellent looks and physiques.
I answered honestly, “I haven’t decided yet, but I’m sure I’ll find someone suitable once I go home and consider my options.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Around us, shoppers cast occasional glances our way.
Then the comments appeared again.
[Oh my God, Ethan is furious.]
[Ethan: Would it kill you to tear up and give in? Do you have to make me angry?]
[Chloe, act cute! Cry! Don’t waste that beautiful face or Ethan’s love for you!]
[Seriously, stop being so stubborn. Who knows what Ethan will do if he snaps? He could bankrupt the Bennetts and lock Chloe away. Then she’d finally behave.]
“Chloe Bennett. Well done.” Ethan ground out my name, his voice cold enough to freeze the air.
At last, he released me.
I stepped forward, my gaze falling on the necklace around the woman’s throat before returning to Ethan.
“You told me you were going to give me that necklace.”
Then I turned and walked away.
Ethan followed. “You remember that?”
His tone gave nothing away.
“I don’t need it anymore.”
“She knows how to coax me,” he said in a low voice. “She stays close to me every day… and she calls me her husband.”
Was that why he had given her the necklace he’d promised me?
Nausea surged through my throat and stomach.
The comments went wild at his words.
[He’s dropping a hint!]
[Ethan finally couldn’t hold back. Chloe, just call him your husband once and he’d give you his life.]
Chapter 3
[Ethan dreams about Chloe calling him her husband. When he wakes up, he even has to change the sheets…]
I stopped and met Ethan’s eyes. I enunciated every word.
“That’s right. From now on, I’ll coax another man. I’ll call another man my husband, and he’ll give me whatever I ask for.”
“Say that again.” Ethan’s voice held a chill I had never heard before.
His hand clamped around my shoulder, his grip so brutal it felt as though he meant to crush the bone.
The woman had followed us. Now she spoke timidly from behind him.
“Ethan, what’s wrong?”
He didn’t even look at her. His gaze remained locked on mine.
She pouted, then glared at me. “Did you make Ethan angry? He’s never unhappy when he’s with me.”
My disgust deepened.
I turned my head away. I had nothing more to say.
After a long moment, Ethan’s hand dropped. He closed his eyes in frustration, his entire body shrouded in menace.
“At least she knows better than to make me angry, Chloe.”
Leaving those icy words behind, he turned and walked away.
The woman hurried after him, soothing him in a sweet, coaxing voice.
From behind, they looked like a perfect match.
The comments piled up once more.
[Chloe refuses to give in. She’s pushing away the man who loves her with her own hands.]
[Would it have killed her to say a few nice things to Ethan? Now that fake innocent has the perfect opportunity to steal him.]
[Forget that. Look at the trending topics! A bystander uploaded the photos and videos!]
Once I was in the back of the car, I pulled out my phone.
Several friends had already messaged me.
[Oh my God, why are you trending? That woman with your fiancé is an influencer. Did you know?]
[Are you okay, babe? Someone just sent me the pictures. Who the hell does Ethan Sterling think he is, parading his mistress in front of you? What a bastard!]
[That influencer with your fiancé is always talking on her livestreams about some man who adores her and buys her everything… So she was talking about Ethan.]
[I can’t believe this. Ethan never so much as looked at another woman before. We all thought he was completely devoted to you. Why did he suddenly start keeping some little influencer on the side?]
I chose my words carefully and replied to each of them before opening the trending page.
The photos and videos were painfully clear. Every second of the struggle between Ethan and me had been captured.
The comments beneath them were almost unanimous, all rushing to defend Vivian.
[Does this woman have a problem with Vivian or something? Imagine trying to seduce someone else’s boyfriend.]