Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
Tags: Angsty Romance, Wedding Turned Funeral, Dark Secrets Revealed, Grieving After Death
The day Ethan Vance boarded a flight out of the country, I willingly became Vincent Sterling’s eighteenth kept woman.
Over the next five years, Ethan rose to fame as Silicon Valley's hottest tech billionaire. Beside him was his picture-perfect fiancée, Sophia Reed.
At a high-profile charity gala, a reporter dared to bring up our past romance.
Ethan only offered a cold, mocking smirk.
"If Chloe Adams hadn’t ruined my family back then, I never would’ve fought my way back from rock bottom. I never would’ve found the love of my life, Sophia."
"A cheap woman who sold her dignity for money—let's not soil our breath talking about her."
Now, Ethan had returned, showing up as a guest at my wedding to Vincent. He came just to gloat.
To mock me for successfully crawling out from a crowd of eighteen mistresses and finally crowning myself Vincent's official wife.
He had even rehearsed his punchline, ready to look down at me and ask:
"Tell me, Chloe. Do you regret throwing me away?"
Too bad, Ethan. I can't answer you.
Because this wedding...
is my funeral.
"Ethan, how do you think I look in this dress for Chloe’s wedding?"
"Ethan?"
It was only when Sophia called his name a second time that Ethan snapped out of his daze.
He looked up and gave her a gentle smile.
"You look stunning. That color was made for you."
Sophia playfully rolled her eyes.
"Liar. You didn't even look. Are you still busy thinking up cruel things to say to Chloe?"
"I used to despise her too. But word is, she’s suffered terribly under Vincent Sterling these past few years. Go easy on her tomorrow, okay?"
Ethan reached out and stroked Sophia’s hair.
"I know how soft-hearted you are. For your sake, I won't humiliate her too badly."
"Besides, I said everything that needed to be said at the gala last week."
Sophia smiled and turned to look through the racks again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a boutique clerk switching out a wedding gown in the display case.
"Excuse me, that dress is gorgeous. Could I try it on?"
The clerk hesitated, looking uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, Miss Reed. That's a design from five years ago. It’s an old stock item that was marked down on clearance."
"Would you like to see something from our latest bridal collection instead?"
Sophia pouted, but she couldn't take her eyes off it.
"It really is beautiful, though."
"Look, Ethan. Isn't it breathtaking?"
Ethan followed Sophia's gaze.
He froze.
That gown was the exact one I had dragged him to see five years ago.
Back then, it was the trendiest cut in the window, with an astronomical price tag to match.
I remember lifting my chin arrogantly, giving him orders like a spoiled princess:
"You'd better work like crazy after graduation. If you can't afford this dress, I'm not marrying you!"
Ethan used to give in to every single one of my whims.
He had knelt down, smoothing out the hem of my dress, whispering softly:
"As you command, my lady. I promise I’ll never let you suffer a single hardship."
Remembering that, Ethan let out a bitter, self-deprecating scoff.
"It's decent. But nobody wears that trash anymore."
"You deserve something far better, Sophia."
Sophia blushed at his sweet words, tugging on his sleeve with a pout.
"Please, Ethan? I really like that one."
Ethan could never say no to her. He gestured to the clerk to bring it over.
Only then did the clerk stammer out the truth.
"I am truly sorry... that gown has already been sold."
Sophia looked surprised.
"Sold? For an outdated piece like that? Who bought it?"
"Mr. Vincent Sterling purchased it in person. He specifically stated it’s the gown his bride will wear tomorrow."
The light in Ethan’s eyes instantly vanished.
Sophia didn't notice the change in his expression. She just sighed and waved a hand.
"You know, Ethan... Chloe really is pathetic."
"Vincent is clearly humiliating her by forcing her to wear a clearance gown from years ago. Do you think she regrets throwing away her life as a billionaire heiress just to end up like this?"
Ethan stood silent for a few long seconds, lost in thought.
Finally, a sneer touched his lips.
"She brought it all on herself."
Hovering right beside him as a spirit, my first instinct was to reach out and yank on his sleeve.
Just like the old days, whenever I felt wronged, I would pout and snap at him:
"Ethan Vance! How dare you talk about me like that..."
The moment the words left my lips, I realized nobody could hear me.
I had forgotten.
I was already dead.
I died the night I watched that interview of him at the charity gala.
Tomorrow's wedding... is the seventh day since my death.The wedding day was both extravagantly opulent and chillingly bare.
Vincent had decked out the grand ballroom in pure luxury. Yet, there were no limousines parading the city, no joyous music, not even a single festive decoration.
When Ethan walked in with Sophia on his arm, his eyes darted through the crowd uncontrollably.
He was looking for me.
Sadly, no matter how many times my ghostly figure drifted before his face, he saw nothing.
It was only when Vincent's assistant stepped up to escort them to their table that Ethan finally pulled back his gaze.
Once seated, Ethan realized this table was filled with people from our college circle. Back when the Adams family went bankrupt and Ethan left the country, everyone had lost touch.
Now that Ethan had returned as a self-made titan, this lavish banquet awkwardly turned into an impromptu reunion.
Everyone at the table was sharp enough to know Ethan loathed my guts.
Nobody dared mention our history. They simply traded casual small talk about business and life.
Sophia couldn't hold back her curiosity. She looked around and whispered:
"This atmosphere is so bizarre. The music sounds like a dirge, and when we came in, I saw a group of men dressed in black robes chanting in the side hall."
"Is Mr. Sterling that obsessed with the occult?"
Ethan frowned, completely at a loss.
One of our former classmates across the table snorted and leaned in with the gossip:
"I heard they're performing a cleansing ritual! Vincent thinks marrying Chloe is a curse, so he's warding off evil spirits!"
"Didn't you notice? When the guests arrived, neither Vincent's family nor Chloe herself showed up. But hey, Vincent has humiliated Chloe in worse ways. This is nothing."
Another guest chimed in eagerly:
"So true! A couple of years ago, I ran into her in a mall restroom. She was wearing a janitor's uniform, scrubbing the tiles on her knees. When she saw me, she didn't even dare look up. Vincent’s bodyguards were watching the door, barking that she couldn't leave until every inch was spotless!"
"That’s nothing! At last year's corporate summit, Vincent dragged her along and made her crack walnuts and shell prawns with her bare hands for the table. Her fingers were dripping blood, and she wasn't even allowed to whimper. It was brutal!"
"Man, that's just what they do in public. Rumor has it Vincent has some really twisted bedroom habits. Chloe was rushed to the ER three times this year alone. Her body's probably completely ruined by now!"
Laughter broke out at the table.
They turned all my agony into cheap entertainment.
All to stomp on me, just to flatter the untouchable Ethan Vance.
I floated beside Ethan, watching him.
Maybe it was just the dim chandelier lighting, but his face remained a blank mask.
Only the corners of his downcast eyes were faintly red.
I let out a soft sigh.
Knowing he couldn't hear, I still tried to offer him comfort:
"Are you hurting for me?"
"Ethan... why are you still so soft-hearted? They're exaggerating. I wasn't really..."
The words caught in my throat. Not another sound came out.
These past five years had been suffocating.
So agonizing that even my detached soul trembled.
I wanted to say more. I wanted to tell him it wasn't that bad, that he shouldn't feel sad.
Then Sophia noticed Ethan’s strange demeanor and asked gently:
"Ethan, what's wrong?"
My voice died instantly.
Ethan was a thriving success now, with a gorgeous woman at his side.
Who was I—a dead girl—to offer him ridiculous comfort?
Besides, Ethan hated me.
How could he possibly hurt for me? I was flattering myself.
Ethan forced a thin smile at Sophia, his knuckles whitening as his hands clenched beneath the table.
"Nothing. I'm just sick of hearing her name."
He paused, his voice turning cold.
"It's annoying."With that, Ethan shoved his chair back and headed toward the restroom.
The guests fell dead silent, assuming their gossip had ruined his mood.
Sophia, however, watched his retreating back with a pensive look.
She leaned toward the woman next to her and asked softly:
"Ethan never told me much about his past."
"Do you know why he and Chloe actually broke up back then?"
Seeing Sophia ask, the woman didn't hold back.
The truth was, the story between Ethan and me sounded like a cheap, melodramatic soap opera.
A poor boy and a wealthy heiress fell in love, defied their families, and made it against all odds.
It was supposed to be a fairy-tale ending.
Until Vincent Sterling stepped into the picture.
"Your eyes look just like the woman I once loved."
Those were the first words Vincent ever said to me.
To me, this predatory man in his late thirties was nothing short of repulsive. I threw a glass of ice water straight into his face and walked away without looking back.
I never expected his retaliation to be so vicious.
Vincent framed my parents for smuggling contraband under the guise of a business deal.
My mom and dad were thrown into federal custody.
Not a single law firm in the city dared touch our case because Vincent pulled the strings.
I went to Vincent. I screamed at him, cursed him, and eventually... got down on my knees.
"Mr. Sterling, please. I'm begging you, let my parents go."
"You already swallowed up every cent my family owned. What else do you want?!"
Vincent merely crouched down, casually patting my cheek.
He smiled sickeningly.
"I want... you."
"Be my woman. My eighteenth kept girl. And I promise, your parents will live comfortably and safely for the rest of their days."
I grew up sheltered, treated like porcelain. I had rarely even heard anyone raise their voice at me, let alone endured such vile disgrace.
Vincent's words left me paralyzed with shame.
At that time, Ethan was on a closed research fellowship abroad. I couldn't bear to distract him.
I couldn't even let him hear me cry.
All I could do was choke down my tears on our video calls, whining playfully:
"It's nothing, really. I just miss you."
On the other side of the screen, Ethan believed me. He grinned excitedly:
"Chloe, my fellowship ends in six months. The second I get home, let's get married."
I bit my lip until it bled and whispered, "Okay."
I never imagined how monstrous Vincent could be.
He hired a truck to ram Ethan’s car, sending him straight to the ICU.
I bought a plane ticket with the very last dollars in my pocket. But when I arrived, I couldn't even afford a fraction of his medical bills.
Vincent showed up, grabbed my wrist, and slammed my face against the cold glass of the intensive care unit.
He forced me to look at Ethan, battered, broken, and hooked up to life-support machines.
Vincent whispered in my ear:
"Chloe, my patience has its limits."
"There is nothing in this world I want that I don't get. If you keep playing the pure, untouchable princess, next time that truck will roll right over his chest. I promise you, his death will be gruesome."
Tears washed over my face. I couldn't breathe.
All I could do was nod.
The day Ethan finally woke up and came home, I dumped him.
Ethan shattered.
He couldn't fathom how the girl who had sweetly whispered that she missed him could suddenly walk away.
How she could trade him in for cold hard cash, becoming the notorious mistress of a ruthless monster.
With bloodshot eyes, Ethan tried to hold me:
"Chloe, I know what happened to your family. I know you're terrified, but you have me!"
"My tech patent is about to get approved. I’ll make millions! I’ll hire the best lawyers to clear your parents. You will never suffer with me, I swear!"
Yet I stood firm, carving deep wounds into his soul with every word:
"Ethan Vance, you’re an orphan. You have zero power, zero leverage. How are you going to protect me?"
"I was just playing with you. Did you really think we were equals? Do you actually think you're worthy of being with me? With Vincent, I can have anything I want! Why on earth would I waste my youth waiting for a broke nobody to make it?"
I even stole Ethan’s life's work—his core research files.
Because Vincent had whispered:
"That boy has real talent. Pity he crossed me."
"Steal his patent files for me. Do that, and your parents walk free tomorrow."
Even after I did that, Ethan still wouldn't let go.
That afternoon, the rain poured like a waterfall. Ethan knelt in the dirty puddles, clutching the hem of my coat:
"Chloe, please don't. We don't have to end like this!"
"I love you! I'll give you everything I have. I'm begging you... please don't abandon me!"
Biting my tongue until I tasted copper, I shoved Ethan hard to the pavement.
Swallowing down the sheer nausea, I grabbed Vincent by the lapels and pressed my lips against his right in front of Ethan.
"Get lost, Ethan!"
"A pathetic loser like you doesn't deserve me!"
I opened the passenger door of Vincent's sports car and drove away into the storm.
Ethan knelt in the rain all night long.
The next morning, Ethan flew overseas. And I became Vincent's eighteenth mistress.
Before boarding, Ethan sent me two final text messages:
[Chloe Adams, you'd better pray to God that I stay a dirt-poor nobody for the rest of my life.]
[Because if I ever rise to the top, I will grind you into the dirt.]
Remembering that, I smiled bitterly.
Ethan... you don't have to waste your energy.
I'm already dead. I'll be beneath the dirt soon enough.
Later, my parents found out I had sold myself to Vincent to save them. The following year, they swallowed a lethal dose of pills together.
I had no family left. I was utterly alone.
My reputation was trashed.
Everyone branded me a gold-digging traitor who stole her boyfriend's patent to latch onto a billionaire.
A cheap whore.
Yet Vincent's leash never loosened.
In the dead of night, nightmares of Ethan tangled in hospital tubes would rip me awake.
Vincent would wrap his arms tightly around my chest, suffocating me from behind:
"Chloe, you'd better fall in love with me."
"That’s the only way your poor little boyfriend stays alive out there."After hearing the woman's brief, filtered version of the past, Sophia sat with her head down for a long time.
Finally, she gritted her teeth, stood up, and went to find Ethan by the restroom.
I drifted along behind her.
Ethan was leaning against the wall, smoking.
This was the first time I ever saw him smoke.
His movements were smooth and practiced; he must have smoked countless packs alone in those foreign cities.
Sophia was stunned as well.
Hearing footsteps, Ethan turned around. Seeing Sophia, he quickly stubbed the cigarette out on the nearby ash can.
He walked toward her with furrowed brows, looking as if he had made up his mind about something huge.
Yet, when he opened his mouth, he hesitated.
"Sophia, I..."
Sophia gave a faint, heartbroken smile, cutting him off before he could speak.
"I always thought you degraded Chloe because you despised her. Now I finally see it."
"Ethan... you're just in too much pain from still loving her."
I watched as Sophia tilted her head back, wiping away a stray tear.
"I'm not the kind of woman who begs for a man's pity."
"All these years, every time we talked about setting a wedding date, you changed the subject. I kept lying to myself, thinking you just wanted to build your empire first. But now..."
Her voice cracked.
"I know you're grateful to me for backing your startup. But if it isn't love, there's no point in us getting married."
"Come on. I'll walk with you to the bridal suite right now. Ask Chloe if she wants to leave with you!"
Sophia grabbed Ethan’s wrist, pulling him toward the hallway.
Ethan’s feet froze in place.
"Sophia... Chloe doesn't love me."
"Women like her only love money."
I shook my head frantically beside him, my ghostly form shivering with desperation.
I screamed with everything I had, trying to grab him:
"I love you, Ethan!"
"Chloe Adams has always, always loved Ethan Vance!"
My translucent fingers passed right through his chest. He heard nothing.
Sophia sighed, slowly letting go of his hand.
Just then, a venue coordinator rushed over, breathing heavily:
"Mr. Vance, Miss Reed, the ceremony is starting. Please take your seats!"
Ethan seemed to snap back to reality.
The vulnerable boy vanished, replaced once again by the ruthless, confident billionaire.
He looked at Sophia and said:
"You're mistaken, Sophia. There is no way on earth I still have feelings for someone like her. I want nothing more than to break her, to make her crawl on her knees and beg for my forgiveness."
"I'm going to look her in the eyes and ask if she regrets dumping me."
Sophia looked at him with rare disappointment.
"If you do that, Ethan... you will lose Chloe forever."
Ethan chuckled callously.
"Then let her be lost. If not Chloe, there will be an Emma, a Sarah, or someone else."
"She isn't that important."
Sophia said nothing more. They walked back into the ballroom side by side.
Suddenly, every light in the hall went out.
A single, stark white spotlight illuminated the center of the stage.
What filled the speakers wasn't a romantic wedding march, but a deep, mournful funeral hymn.
The guests exchanged bewildered glances, having no clue what twisted game Vincent was playing.
Until the center platform slowly lifted.
A black casket rose into view.
My casket.
Vincent, dressed entirely in black, stood beside it as my chief pallbearer.
Color drained from everyone's faces.
The officiant stepped up to the microphone, his voice echoing solemnly through the hall:
"The hour has arrived. Please rise for Mr. Vincent Sterling and the casket of his beloved wife, Mrs. Chloe Adams Sterling."
"Begin the burial procession—"
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
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