Chapter 1 The Slap That Ended It All #2
Zoe’s family owned one of the most expensive fragrance companies in the world, Imperium Fragrances, catering to the wealthiest people with expensive shampoos, perfumes, and everything related to fragrances.
Basically, everyone knew about them, from the beginning of their business to the present day.
It wasn’t hard for people to know about them with such a huge business. Their family wasn’t exactly hidden from the public or the market. Being one of the richest families in the city meant that very little about them could remain private.
By the time the car came to a stop in front of the Aurelia Palace, Rose could already hear music flowing out from inside.
The entire palace was lit up, glowing beneath countless lights, while decorations made entirely of real flowers covered the entrance and stretched along the grounds. It was clear that a fortune had been spent decorating the palace just for the guests.
At the same time, there was strict security at the entrance.
Rose pushed open the car door and stepped out. Before she could even shut it herself, one of the security guards immediately jogged over and reached for the keys from her.
She handed them over without a second thought and headed toward the entrance.
When she showed them the VVIP gold invitation card Zoe had given her, the security immediately let her into the palace and personally escorted her inside before pointing her toward Zoe.
The moment Rose entered, she stopped briefly. The palace suddenly seemed even more stunning than she had expected.
She looked around, her eyes moving across the bright, extravagant room filled with people. There were so many of them that, for a moment, she simply stood there taking it all in.
And then she became painfully aware of what she was wearing.
Rose had come wearing just shorts and a white oversized T-shirt. Standing among guests dressed in fancy suits and elegant dresses, she looked very different from everyone else.
But it was the first time Rose didn’t fuss about her clothing or worry about dressing up.
Even though a burning sense of intimidation crawled through her as many people turned around to glance at her after she entered wearing casual clothes, she refused to let it bother her.
She simply roamed around the palace, looking in the direction the security guard had pointed her, searching for Zoe.
And then she spotted her.
Zoe was standing near one of the bar counters, drinking and laughing with someone beside her. Rose immediately headed toward her, picking up her pace as she crossed the room.
Just as Rose got closer, Zoe’s eyes lifted and landed on her.
Her entire expression changed instantly.
She straightened, a wide smile spreading across her face. But the moment she broke away from her friend and got a better look at Rose, a frown of confusion quickly replaced it. She set down her champagne glass and immediately hurried toward her.
Her small face, framed by short hair, was delicate and charming, but as she came closer to Rose, the smile slowly faded from her lips. The amusement disappeared completely, replaced by a deepening frown.
“What’s going on?” she asked, looking Rose over in confusion. “Why aren’t you dressed up?”
Her voice faltered as her eyes suddenly fell on Rose’s cheek.
She saw the handprint immediately.
Zoe went still as a rock, her mouth falling slightly open in shock. Her eyes flicked back to Rose’s face, and without another word, she reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled her away from the crowd.
She led Rose toward the side, behind the bar counter, where fewer people were gathered. Then she stepped closer and reached up to touch Rose’s face, her expression filled with confusion and growing alarm.
“What the hell happened? Who did this?”
Panic flashed in her eyes. She wasn’t shouting, but her voice was loud enough for Rose to hear the alarm trembling beneath it.
Rose answered immediately.
“Ivan. He slapped me because I accidentally broke Jessica’s gift.”
Zoe stared at her in disbelief.
“He hit you?” she repeated. “He slapped you in the face? Or—”
“Just one slap,” Rose interrupted.
Zoe’s eyes hardened even further.
Something about those three words seemed to make her anger burn hotter. She stared at Rose, her jaw tightening as fury flashed across her face.
“That asshole,” she snapped.
A few people standing nearby turned at the sudden outburst, but Zoe didn’t care enough to lower her voice.
“You’re breaking up with him, right?” she demanded. “Don’t tell me you’re going back to him.”
“I broke up with him,” Rose immediately assured her. “I walked out immediately.”
But her heart faltered as the pain she had been trying to suppress suddenly resurfaced in her eyes.
“He cares more about his ex-girlfriend’s gift than he cares about me.” Her voice tightened. “He hit me because I broke a gift that his ex-girlfriend had given him.”
Zoe’s anger hardened.
“Motherfucker.” She shook her head furiously. “He never learned his lesson, did he? Jessica walked out on him after sleeping with him for five years and then disappeared into the wild just because she found a nice opportunity.”
She lifted two fingers into the air, mimicking Jessica’s baby-pitched voice with an exaggerated expression.
“Everyone knows why she moved to France, don’t they? She got together with the owner of that company where she said she was going to work. She’d been sleeping with him and then moved to France to live with him. And then she gave Ivan the excuse that she wanted to further her own career.”
Her lips curled with disgust.
“All a load of bullcrap! She wanted to get ahead by sleeping with more men so she could marry one of the richest.”
Her mouth twisted as she spoke, her voice nearly shaking with rage.
Zoe put her hands on her waist. The black dress she was wearing flowed with the motion as she planted her hands firmly on her hips.
She then adjusted the strap of her dress that had fallen off her shoulder before turning back to Rose and snapping, “If it weren’t for you liking him for a year, I swear I would have never let you be with someone like him.
Do you remember what all his friends kept saying? All the things that we heard?”
Rose nodded as she stepped closer. Then she turned around, grabbed one of the martinis from the bar counter, and downed it before slamming the glass back onto the counter and turning toward Zoe.
“It’s not like I only heard it once. He got together with me because Jessica left him, but I didn’t mind at all because I always thought he was one of the men I admired.”
Zoe’s voice rose as she spat out, “That motherfucker! He got together with you just because he wanted to get over his ex and show her that he could get into a relationship with another woman, just as she had done. But I thought after he saw how much you liked him, he would change his ways and realize what garbage he had thrown away and what he had. But you cannot teach a monkey what the value of a diamond is.”
Zoe tucked her hair behind her ear.
Rose stumbled only slightly as she picked up another glass of martini and downed it.
She had liked Ivan for so long that it had started to feel like love. She hadn’t realized how much she was giving in to him while ignoring all the things she knew were wrong.
She looked at Zoe and admitted, “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with him right after his ex-girlfriend left. I knew it was wrong, but I still gave him a chance because he proposed to me. And I had never thought that a guy I liked would come forward and propose to me himself.”
Zoe immediately put both of her hands on her waist and said, “It’s not your fault.
Why are you blaming yourself? You were sincere with him from the very start.
You put in all the effort in the relationship because you thought that he had already forgotten about Jessica.
But it turns out that the man is still drowning in his ex-girlfriend’s love. ”
Rose frowned as she answered, “I didn’t realize that. It turned out that he still loves Jessica, and he just wanted her to see that he was living a perfect life even after she left him. And that’s why he proposed to me,” she murmured.
“I’m the one who fell in love—the one who liked him first. So it’s true that the one who falls first always loses. I really didn’t mean as much to Ivan as he meant to me. He cherished everything that Jessica had left behind for him.”
Rose said it as she looked at Zoe before continuing, her voice shaking only slightly as she reached over and grabbed another glass from the counter. She took a sip before continuing.