Chapter 1

Less than two minutes after I left the message, Maverick Lloyd called.

"Ophelia, who are you trying to disgust with that nonsense? If you hadn''t deliberately jumped off the balcony at the bar and offended Emma''s guest, would they have given her a hard time?"

His voice carried an authoritative tone as he ordered, "Hurry up and apologize to Emma!"

Holding my mother''s ashes in my hands, I was filled with overwhelming grief. I replied coldly, "I won''t apologize."

His voice immediately rose in anger. "Ophelia, if you don''t apologize, then forget about our wedding!"

I nodded in agreement. "Then let''s call off the wedding."

Silence fell on the other end of the line. He couldn''t believe I had actually agreed to call off the wedding.

Then, Emma Clayton''s soft, delicate voice came through the phone. "Maverick, Ophelia must be saying that on purpose because she wants you to coax her. I''m fine now. Go find her."

His voice turned cold. "Ophelia, that whole ''playing hard to get'' act won''t work on me! Don''t come crying to me later!"

I had no interest in listening to his nonsense, so I hung up directly.

Days passed, and he never called again. He was waiting for me to cave and apologize. But this time, he was in for disappointment.

I had put up with him for so long because of my mother, Layla Watson. Mom had been terminally ill; before she''d passed, she''d wanted to see me married. She''d wanted to rest assured that I had someone to rely on in the future. Only then could she rest in peace.

But now, she was gone, and I hadn''t even gotten to see her one last time.

Thinking about how she''d died with her eyes still open, unable to rest, I felt an unbearable pain weighing on my heart.

Just then, I heard the sound of movements from the entryway.

Maverick pushed the door open and walked in with a small cake in his hands before offering it to me. "This is your favorite—strawberry cake."

I glanced at it. What was once a beautifully decorated cake was now covered in uneven spoon marks.

Just half an hour ago, Emma had posted a picture of her enjoying a perfectly untouched strawberry cake on her social media.

I withdrew my gaze and said coldly, "Get out. You''re not welcome here."

His face darkened instantly. "Ophelia, how long are you planning to keep this up? It was my oversight to have you work as a bar girl at Emma''s bar, but that doesn''t mean you should have jumped off the balcony just to ruin her business.

"Emma''s kind. She even defended you afterward and asked me to apologize to you. What more do you want?"

"Apologize?" I sneered. "Maverick, does this look like an apology to you? Who brings leftovers as an apology?"

His voice faltered for a moment before he said, "Haven''t you always been frugal?"