Chapter 3

I didn't care about my job anymore.

I immediately asked for emergency leave and called an Uber to the bank.

I told the teller I wanted to reject and reverse the incoming wire transfer. Following the bank staff’s advice, I tried calling Chloe again.

Unsurprisingly, she refused to pick up. But I insisted on returning the funds.

With the bank's assistance, the million dollars was finally reversed and sent back to the originating account.

Right after that, I had the banker close my account entirely.

During this process, my phone buzzed several times in my pocket.

I ignored it. It wasn't until I walked out of the bank that I pulled it out to check.

Sure enough, Chloe, who had been completely unreachable minutes ago, was now active.

She had spammed me with nearly ten missed calls.

I could practically feel her panic through the screen.

I let out a mocking laugh. When her phone call came in once more, I finally slid the screen to answer.

Instantly, Chloe’s hysterical voice screamed through the receiver.

"Ethan! What the hell did you do?! Why did you reject the wire?!"

"Why can't I send it back to you?! What are you doing?!"

She sounded furious, as if I was the one who had betrayed her.

"Ethan, send me another account number right now, or I swear I'm going to lose my mind!"

Faced with her rage, my heart was strangely calm.

"Chloe, where did this million dollars actually come from? Why are you so desperate to dump it in my account?"

In my past life, ever since I met Chloe, she had carefully crafted this persona of a wealthy, upper-class socialite.

So, I had always assumed her family was loaded.

When I received that million dollars back then, besides being thrilled, I hadn't suspected a thing.

Now, I realized I was just being set up as a scapegoat.

Probably not expecting me to ask such a blunt question, the line went dead silent.

Two seconds later, she snapped, her voice dripping with defensive anger.

"Ethan! I treat you so well, I literally give you a million dollars, and you're questioning where my money comes from?!"

"If that's how you're going to think of me, we might as well just break up!"

"Fine. Let's break up."

The moment the words left my mouth, I hung up.

I had been looking for the right moment to end things. Since she handed me the opportunity on a silver platter, I was going to take it.

I immediately blocked her number and all her social media accounts, including Snapchat and Instagram.

I had no idea how badly Chloe lost her mind after I hung up.

When she realized she was blocked everywhere, she probably smashed her phone in a rage.

As for me, I felt a massive weight lift off my shoulders.

I refused to believe that after doing all this, I would still end up with the same tragic fate as my past life.

But as it turned out, I celebrated too early.

The next day, my best friend, Tyler Thorne, invited me out for lunch.

I didn't have any plans, so I agreed immediately.

I was planning to vent to him about the whole Chloe situation.

I remembered when I first started dating Chloe, Tyler had warned me.

"Ethan, I'm not trying to ruin your happiness, but I get a bad vibe from Chloe."

"That girl is bad news. Don't fall too deep."

But back then, I was completely blinded by love.

I even got defensive and argued with him, refusing to let him say a bad word about her.

Since then, he had always kept his distance from Chloe.

I had rarely brought them together.

Who would have thought his gut instinct about people was so spot on?

However, when I walked into the private dining room with a relaxed smile, I froze.

Sitting in the booth next to Tyler was none other than Chloe.

Why on earth were they together?