Chapter 1

Below the podium, the crowd roared, and everyone was praising the new boxing champion for his impressive style.

But no one knew that I was the real champion.

I heard the girl beside me cover her cheeks and gush, “He wore a mask the whole time during the match, so I thought he must be too ugly to show his face, but I never expected him to be this handsome!”

“I didn’t expect Adrian to look so gentle either, but when he boxes, he’s insanely charming!”

I stood frozen in place, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over me.

Ten minutes ago, Claire had asked me to go outside the venue to pick up red wine, saying we were going to celebrate my championship.

But when I came back, I watched helplessly as she hung the gold medal that should have belonged to me around Adrian’s neck.

Because I had always worn a mask when competing before, the public had no idea what I looked like.

And Adrian had a build similar to mine, so no one would have thought something as absurd as someone falsely claiming a gold medal could happen.

At that moment, Claire turned around with a smile and met my gaze.

My fists clenched instantly, and I had the urge to rush onto the stage and question her.

But in the next second, she looked away and smiled as she led the crowd into applause.

“Let’s give a warm round of applause to congratulate Adrian on becoming a shining new star in the boxing world!”

Hearing her excited voice made my heart ache so badly.

For this boxing match, I had prepared for five whole years.

On those nights no one knew about, I gave more blood and sweat than anyone could imagine.

Even in the finals, I fought my opponent with everything I had, and I nearly caused muscle atrophy from pushing myself too hard.

But Claire, as my girlfriend and also the award presenter for this tournament, had openly rigged everything behind the scenes.

The more I thought about it, the more unbearable it became.

The rage in my chest was almost impossible to suppress.

But Claire was celebrating Adrian’s “championship” with a face full of joy.

She took a small brown box out of her pocket, and inside it was a custom watch.

I remembered that a week ago, there had been a charge from a handmade watch shop on my credit card.

Back then, Claire said she was preparing a surprise for me for winning the championship, so I had waited until today full of anticipation.

This really was a championship surprise, but it was not for me.

I could no longer hold back, and amid the gasps of the crowd, I strode onto the podium.

Seeing this, Claire frowned slightly, her eyes warning me not to cause trouble.

“What are you doing up here? Whatever you have to say, we’ll talk later.”

I avoided the hand she reached toward me and asked coldly,

“Don’t you have anything to explain?”

“Why is the championship medal that originally belonged to me now being given to Adrian?”

As soon as I said that, the noisy venue fell silent, and everyone’s eyes focused on me.

Claire’s expression darkened, and she walked over with a guilty look.

“This is a live broadcast, so stop making a scene, and I’ll explain it to you later!”

Explain?

The facts were right in front of me, and she had been lying to me from beginning to end, so what was there left to explain?

I directly took the microphone from her hand and spoke to the restless fans below.

“I am reporting under my real name that Adrian never signed up for this competition at all, and Claire, as the presenter, rigged the awards behind the scenes to let him take my championship title.”