Adrian Calloway, the crown prince of Rongcheng, never imagined that one careless complaint about an arranged marriage would blow up this hard.

The girl who had secretly loved him for years, the fiancée who was basically already within reach, ditched the wedding and ran overseas.

She stayed gone for three whole years.

When they met again, he had his new girlfriend in his arms, thinking he could get a rise out of his ex.

Turns out, she didn’t even care.

That hit the great young master right in the feels, so hard his eyes went red.

He pinned her into a corner and asked in a low, rough voice, "Do I really have to be the one to admit defeat first? To say it’s always been you, and only you, before you’ll forgive me?"

Evelyn Hartwell and Adrian Calloway had grown up together. Childhood sweethearts. Also once engaged.

But even after the engagement, he still kept up his playboy ways, scandals everywhere, his name always tied to one rumor or another. So on the day they were supposed to get married, Evelyn stood him up and left the country.

She had thought that was it.

That from then on, they’d go their separate ways and never cross paths again.

But three years later, the second she returned home, fate still shoved him right back in front of her.

Just after she arrived at the airport, her best friend happened to call.

"Evelyn, you landed yet?"

The moment Evelyn switched her phone back on after touching down at Rongcheng Airport, Audrey Weston’s call came through.

"You seriously need to watch out. I heard Adrian Carrot is at the airport today picking up his girlfriend. Don’t let yourself run into them."

Evelyn lifted a hand and nudged up the sunglasses covering half her face. "No way it’s that coincidental. I haven’t been back in three years. Don’t tell me—"

Before she could finish, the crowd behind her suddenly got loud.

"Look, it’s Adrian Calloway!"

A luxury car pulled over by the curb. The man stepped out, and in an instant, all eyes landed on him.

He wore a black suit, crisp and sharp. His features were clean-cut and striking, carrying that cold, untouchable air of someone used to being in control. But his dark brows and those seemingly affectionate eyes added a dangerous, teasing edge, like he was half serious and half mocking the whole world.

Evelyn froze for two seconds.

Three years had passed, yet the man she had almost married looked exactly the same.

The assistant beside Adrian Calloway handed him a bouquet.

He took it lazily, all casual and unbothered, yet somehow his face was even more eye-catching than the flowers in his hands.

Evelyn Hartwell pulled her gaze back and said helplessly, "Audrey, seriously? Is your mouth blessed or what? You actually called it."

"Huh? Wait, what? What?"

Audrey Weston blurted out several stunned noises in a row, then sucked in a sharp breath. "You ran into Carrot Jiang?"

"Yeah. I’m gonna steer clear."

Evelyn forced down the stir in her chest, turned around, and walked off without another word.

Then someone suddenly shouted from nearby—

"Looks like Adrian Calloway is here to pick up Natalie Sinclair!"

"I heard this girlfriend has lasted three whole months without being replaced!"

"Oh my god, then how gorgeous is she? To stay by Adrian Calloway’s side that long?"

The crowd instantly surged forward like a wave.

Everyone in Rongcheng knew the Calloway heir, the man with a grip on the city’s economy, was ridiculously charming and just as notoriously fickle. No woman had ever managed to stay by his side for more than a month.

So now that someone had actually kept a relationship with Adrian Calloway going for three months, of course people were eating it up.

With a chance to finally see her face for themselves, nobody wanted to miss this drama.

The stream of people rushed straight toward Evelyn. She was moving against the crowd and nearly lost her footing.

"Wanwan, it’s so noisy over there. What happened? He didn’t see you, did he?" Audrey asked at once, her voice rising.

Evelyn got shoved so hard she had to press herself against a lamppost just to stay upright. "No. Someone just recognized him, that’s all."

She glanced at the people clogging the way ahead. There was nowhere left for her to go.

Running into an ex was bad enough, but being forced to stand there and watch him act all lovey-dovey with his new girl?

Seriously... what kind of human suffering was this.

"He’s at it again? Grossing people out in public with girlfriend number who-even-knows?" Audrey Weston spat into the phone, her voice full of disgust. "That shameless player, seriously, I could puke."

Evelyn Hartwell pressed her lips together for a second. "He’s always been like that. You know how he is."

Otherwise, she never would’ve ended up so heartbroken that she ran from her own wedding.

"Adrian!"

A bright, airy voice suddenly cut through the noise.

A girl in a pink mini dress came skipping over, light on her feet like a butterfly, then threw herself into Adrian Calloway’s arms right there in front of everyone, hugging his waist without a shred of hesitation.

Adrian lowered his eyes and ruffled her hair with that indulgent, almost doting ease of his, then passed the bouquet to her.

The girl bit her lip shyly. With the crowd around them teasing and cheering, her cheeks turned red in no time, and she leaned against him with a sweet, openly happy smile.

The whole place instantly buzzed.

"What? I thought she’d be some jaw-dropping goddess. She’s basically just pretty in a minor-celebrity kind of way."

"Did Mr. Calloway’s taste seriously downgrade?"

"Not really, though. She’s not stunning or anything, but she does look soft and cute."

Evelyn listened in silence. Behind her sunglasses, something complicated flickered in her beautiful eyes.

Soft. Cute.

Those four words had absolutely nothing to do with her.

So that was his type.

No wonder, back then, she had tried everything, burned through every last bit of feeling she had, and still couldn’t keep his heart.

Evelyn snapped herself out of the memory just in time to see Adrian slipping an arm around the girl as they got into the car.

The crowd slowly broke apart, and she bent down to pick up her luggage too.

"I’ve gotta go. I still need to make a stop at Starflare Group."

Audrey answered at once, fast and firm, "Right, right, you’ve got a real battle waiting for you. As for irrelevant people? Don’t waste your energy on them."

Evelyn Hartwell didn’t sound relaxed at all. "Yeah. I’m getting in the car now. Bye."

She ended the call, put her luggage into the trunk, then bent down and slid into the back seat.

The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

The woman was strikingly fair, bright and polished. Willow-slim brows, red lips, and even with oversized sunglasses covering most of her face, her whole vibe still stood out. She had that old-school movie-star kind of charm—elegant, soft, and low-key lethal.

Another rich young lady from some big family in Rongcheng, huh?

Without meaning to, the driver’s tone softened. "Miss, where to?"

"Fanxing Group, thank you." Evelyn’s voice was smooth and gentle, and she gave him a faint smile.

"Whoa."

The driver looked genuinely surprised. "Fanxing’s been a mess lately."

Evelyn lowered her eyes and smoothed out the hem of her dress, quietly tucking every trace of emotion away. "Mm. That’s exactly why I need to go."

The driver stepped on the gas, and the car rolled past Adrian Calloway’s vehicle.

Evelyn caught sight of the girl inside—holding a bouquet, sitting right next to Adrian, pressed close against him.

She was just about to look away when, out of nowhere, a loud bang exploded.

The whole car jolted hard twice before coming to a stop.

The driver yelped, "Seriously? Just my luck. A tire blew out!"

Evelyn’s body stiffened for a second.

Of all times, it had to be now. Of all places, it had to be here...

Adrian Calloway’s car was less than a meter away from hers.

Evelyn had just started to turn, wanting to angle herself away from that car, when the window beside him slowly rolled down.

The man lazily lifted his eyelids and cast a glance her way.