Humiliated by His Fiancée, He Begged Me to Stay

Chapter 9

Coerced by the CEO's words, I had no choice but to bow to fate.

I followed the lovey-dovey couple into the basement garage.

To my surprise, Chloe didn't take the front seat. Instead, she sat in the back and looked at me with wide-eyed innocence.

"Iris, I'm so sorry. Adrian had already prepared gifts for everyone at the company, so you're stuck carrying all those bags."

What could I do when the boss's girlfriend apologized to me?

I just lowered my head even further.

"It's fine, Ms. Bennett. Carrying a few things is nothing. I'm the one taking up your and Mr. Graves's valuable time and making you squeeze in back with me." I glanced at the empty passenger seat and blurted out, "Ms. Bennett, why don't you sit up front?"

Chloe froze, then explained hastily, "It's because I've always liked sitting in the back since I was little."

She added stubbornly, "But if I wanted to, I could sit there. Right, Adrian?"

The car fell silent.

Chloe's face darkened.

By the time we reached the company, they were still arguing. Chloe cried and said she wouldn't work there after all. Adrian patiently coaxed her, claiming he was too focused on driving to hear, then offered to buy her a car. Did she like Mini Coopers?

I grabbed my things and fled the scene.

After I distributed all my gifts, Chloe walked in beaming, followed by several department heads. Each carried seven or eight bags and began handing out presents.

Compared to the small souvenirs I brought from Germland, theirs were gift boxes containing lipstick, handbags, perfume, and even the latest tablet.

My colleagues, who had just been praising me, swarmed around her. Everyone seemed to find the right words, their compliments growing sweeter by the minute. When they later discovered this undergraduate was their new boss, no one complained.

I sat there feeling hollow. Vanessa muttered, "I always wondered why the CEO showed up to your welcome party. Now I get it!"

She glanced at Chloe and whispered, "It was really for the future Mrs. Graves."

I nodded in agreement.

Back in college, Adrian had thrown me a similar celebration, though on a much smaller scale. That time, I had won a national scholarship and placed first in an English speech competition.

Adrian gathered people from both our dorms to celebrate. We went to a street food stall, and he covered the tab for over a dozen people with money he earned from part-time jobs.

That night, everyone teased us. Under the moonlight, he kissed me for the first time and wanted to shout to the world that I was his one and only, that he would love me forever.

Too bad that feeling only lasted five years before he pulled Chloe into his arms.

And I was just a five-year footnote.

"Iris, I prepared something special for you." Chloe approached me after half an hour of being showered with compliments. She pulled a handwritten invitation from her bag.

"In four months, I'll graduate. Adrian said he'll propose to me right after." Her cheeks flushed pink, but she pushed through. "Iris, I really, truly admire you. I'm your fan."

Chloe held out the invitation.

"Will you come to my engagement party?"