The night before our engagement party, Adrian Cole personally sent an email titled “Mr. Cole’s Secondhand Goods” to all 327 guests.
The email contained old photos of me with my former fiancé. Someone had labeled me “Returned once. Still in decent condition.” At the bottom of the page, there was even a poll: “Would you marry a woman another man didn’t want? “
His childhood friend, Sloane Pierce, sat beside him, phone in hand, waiting to capture my reaction when I saw it.
On the ballroom’s giant screen, the open count ticked up in real time.
Board members from the bank, company employees, business partners, and two financial reporters were all on the recipient list.
Adrian called it a pre-engagement joke and blamed me for not having a sense of humor.
But you can’t unsend an email. Screenshots had already leaked to the media, and as a result, the Harbor Dock project I was managing was suspended by the investment committee.
I took off my ring, called off the engagement, and exported the backend logs.
Only later did Adrian finally understand that what everyone was laughing at that night was never just my past.
Tit For Tat Chapter 20 “Do you really not love Adrian anymore?” I looked at her. There was resentment in her eyes, but also genuine confusion. As if she couldn’t understand why the man she had fought so hard for was someone I could so easily walk away from. “Sloane,” I said, “just because you’re
Tit For Tat Chapter 19 Cole Capital later released the results of its internal investigation. The statement confirmed that the engagement website had used a client event system provided by the company, that Sloane had extracted the guest list and materials using her consultant permissions, and that Adrian had approved the send from the primary
Tit For Tat Chapter 18 I had loved him so much once. No matter how late he came home from business dinners, I would leave a light on for him. When his stomach hurt, I could tell from a single furrow of his brow whether it was from alcohol or from skipping a meal. The
Tit For Tat Chapter 17 So I answered for him. “Because in that moment, you enjoyed proving to your friends that you weren’t afraid of me.” “You thought that no matter what you did, I would stay, all because of that night in the rain three years ago.” “You loved me, but you also loved
Tit For Tat Chapter 16 Only Adrian and I remained in the office. He stood there for a long time before quietly saying my name. “Evelyn.” His voice was tired and hoarse, edged with a rare helplessness. I didn’t look up. “Is there something else, Mr. Cole?” “I shouldn’t have logged into the backend that
Tit For Tat Chapter 15 Sloane was still crying. “You thought it was funny too. Why are you putting all the blame on me now?” Adrian suddenly looked up. “I never told you to edit videos and spread lies!” “But you made me believe that no matter what I did to her, you would protect
Tit For Tat Chapter 14 Sloane cried, “I just couldn’t stand seeing her treat you like that!” “You turned everyone against you for her, and then she immediately turned around and started working with Noah. People were going to speculate anyway. I just helped them see things more clearly.” Adrian let out a sudden, cold
Tit For Tat Chapter 13 Sloane didn’t knock. Her makeup was a mess, her eyes red and swollen, and she was clutching her phone in a death grip. “Adrian, why won’t you answer my calls?” Then she saw me, and the resentment on her face was no longer hidden. “Evelyn, are you satisfied now?” “Cole
Tit For Tat Chapter 12 The next day, Cole Capital froze two consultant payments for Harbor Dock that had already been approved. The contract was clear. Those payments were not tied to any engagement, nor did they come with a condition that I avoid Noah. Adrian was trying to force me back to the table
Tit For Tat Chapter 11 Employees passing through the lobby froze. I pulled my arm free. “Mr. Cole, this is a place of business.” He gave a cold laugh. “Now you want to talk about propriety?” “That picture of you and Noah is everywhere. It hasn’t even been a week since we called off the