Chapter 3

Ethan stood to the side, the corner of his mouth turned up.

"Vivian, you wrote it so clearly in your diary—you obviously still love me."

"Stop being stubborn and come home with me. I'll pretend the wedding thing never happened."

I ignored him, turned to the paper shredder, and without hesitation, fed the diary into it.

The diary that recorded all my memories with Ethan was instantly reduced to confetti.

Ethan's face turned livid as he rushed over to confront me.

"Vivian Sterling! What are you crazy for!"

My tone was cold. "Just disposing of some unnecessary garbage."

Mia suddenly grabbed Ethan's arm.

"Ethan, since Vivian doesn't want to deal with you, let me take over the core bidding project on the south side for her."

"I promise I'll do better than her."

The south side project—I had pulled three months of all-nighters and used the Sterling family connections to secure that bidding qualification for Ethan.

Ethan nodded without hesitation.

"Fine. Mia's so smart, she'll definitely handle it."

He turned to look at me, his tone commanding.

"Vivian, hand over all the core project materials to Mia."

"Since you want to make a scene, go home and reflect. You don't need to manage company affairs for now."

I looked at him and found it ridiculous. Without the Sterling family, Ethan was nothing.

"Fine. Since you want it so badly, take it."

I picked up the documents on the desk, signed them, and turned to leave.

That evening, I had just finished showering when Ethan sent me a text.

"Vivian, why didn't you come to the Hayes family dinner tonight?"

"My parents are already very unhappy about what you did. This dinner was meant for you to apologize to them."

I felt speechless and typed back.

"We've already called off the engagement. I have no obligation to attend your family dinners."

The moment I sent the message, Ethan called.

"Vivian, do you have to make things so difficult for me?"

"You're just throwing a tantrum like this to force me to send Mia away, aren't you?"

He sighed on the other end of the phone, his tone softening.

"You know the person I love is you, but Mia saved my life years ago."

"Without her, I would've died. I can't be ungrateful."

I couldn't help but laugh coldly.

"Ethan, if you want to repay her, go ahead. Give her your life if you want."

"Just stop harassing me."

I hung up directly and blocked his number and social media accounts.

But immediately after, I saw Mia had posted something on Snapchat.

She was wearing revealing sleepwear in what used to be my wedding house, with an imperial jade necklace around her neck.

"A gift from Ethan—worth millions."

The more I looked at that necklace, the more familiar it seemed. It was a relic my mother left me before she died.

I had left in such a rush when I moved out of the new house that I'd forgotten it.

Without a word, I immediately drove to Ethan's place.

When I arrived, Mia was sitting on the sofa, live-streaming on her phone.

She was wearing my mother's necklace around her neck, showing it off to the camera.

"Everyone, this is genuine imperial jade. My brother specially gave it to me."

I walked over to retrieve the necklace and accidentally knocked her phone out of her hand.

"Ah! Vivian, what are you doing!" Mia shrieked and jumped up.

"Give me back that necklace!" I pointed at it, my voice furious.

Ethan heard the commotion and immediately ran over to protect Mia.

"It's just a necklace. Mia just thought it looked pretty and wore it for a bit."