chapter 1

On our engagement day, Isabella Sterling's new biker boyfriend crashed the party wearing his leather jacket. "Isabella, I'm here to steal you away. You brave enough to come with me?"

Isabella ignored my attempts to stop her and ran straight to him. "Why wouldn't I be brave enough?"

She shrugged at me. "Sorry James, you're just too boring. Life's short—might as well live it up!"

But later, she got tired of the wild life and came crawling back to me. "James, a quiet, simple life is what really matters."

I laughed bitterly. "But you're way too boring now!"

*****

Isabella grabbed the biker's hand and headed for the door, tossing our engagement ring at me. "James, this ring's worth a million dollars. Consider it compensation for your hurt feelings!"

I grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go. "With all these people watching, you're really going to leave with him?"

My stare was ice cold, but her biker boyfriend just laughed. "Mr. Caldwell, why make this harder than it has to be? Don't act like some desperate housewife—it's not a good look."

Isabella frowned at me. "Zachary's not as good as you are, so don't give him trouble. This is my choice!"

She pulled away from me and walked out. The motorcycle roared to life as they disappeared into the night.

Everyone stood there staring at each other in shock. My parents were furious. "The Sterling family has gone too far this time!

"The engagement is off! Our business partnership ends right here!"

Isabella's mother, Hannah Sterling, quickly tried to smooth things over. "Jamie, don't worry. She's just confused right now. When she comes back, I'll set her straight!"

Isabella's father, Christopher Sterling, glanced at me without showing any emotion. "Belly doesn't want to regret anything later. She's just playing around, so don't take it to heart."

I gripped the ring and sneered internally. If the Sterling family actually cared about me, this guy never would have made it through the door tonight.

They figured since it was just an engagement and I was the one involved, they could push me around.

I wasn't some pushover. The Caldwell family wouldn't get bullied by anyone!

I smiled sweetly at them. "I wouldn't mind some low-class trash, but people are talking too much. I think we should handle this privately.

"For both our families' reputations, the Caldwell family is taking that shipment from Quinton Port!"

I slid the contract across the table.

Christopher's face went through several different expressions before he finally gritted his teeth and signed. That was the end of whatever Isabella and I had.

When I left the hotel, I saw Isabella's Instagram post. "Today's a good day—I'd give up everything for you!" Her friends had all liked it.

I looked at the list and deleted everyone who'd liked it. Then I blocked Isabella too.

From now on, my life wouldn't include Isabella anymore.

When I got back to our apartment, everything I saw belonged to Isabella.

Motorcycle gear everywhere, along with fancy collectible figures. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was some kind of motorcycle fanatic.

She used to be this calm, quiet person. But at some point she became obsessed with this guy—loud, cocky, with bright red hair.

Isabella would stare at her phone all the time, completely mesmerized. "Look how hot he looks on his motorcycle! This is what living really means—so exciting!"

In the videos, Zachary wore tight leather from head to toe, his red hair flying in the wind as his bike roared down the road. Isabella couldn't get enough of it and quickly became his biggest fan.

They went from chatting online to meeting in person. Isabella spent less and less time with me. Our apartment filled up with motorcycle gear and posters. That was when I knew she was serious about this guy.

I just never expected her to humiliate me at our own engagement party for Zachary's sake.

After I packed up all of Isabella's stuff, I called a delivery service to send everything to her place. I made it cash on delivery. Less than an hour later, she called me from some random number.

"James, seriously? Just because we broke up, you had to kick me out this fast? And you made it cash on delivery—what the hell?"

"What did you expect? You're worth nothing to me now!"

I hung up and blocked the number. Then I calmly cleared out the entire apartment and put it up for sale. I didn't want anything that reminded me of her.