His Convenient Girlfriend, Her Billionaire Fiancé

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01

In our third year together, Ezra Henson and I finished our studies and came home to the States together.

Among the buddies throwing him a welcome-home dinner, there was a woman.

From the second we walked in, she wore a cold face with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

Weren't you supposed to come back with some foreign girl? You go all the way abroad and drag home a local. Aren't you embarrassed?

He only smiled, easy about it, and introduced me.

"Davina, this is Kathleen Delgado. I told you about her."

That was how I found out the friend Ezra had called every single week while we were overseas

was a woman.

I smiled politely.

"Hi, I'm Davina Mason."

"That thing you just saidwere you insulting me, or yourself?"

01

The smile on her face thinned in an instant.

"Oh, your girlfriend's got a mouth on her."

But beside me, Ezra suddenly laughed.

"Three years apart and our Miss Delgado's temper has only gotten worse."

"You mad? Fine, I'll own it, I apologize. You're the bigger person, you'll let it slide, right?"

His whole face was soft with a tender, lingering smile.

A humbleness I'd never once seen from him.

Kathleen ate it up.

She lazily lifted the glass in her hand to Ezra's lips.

"Blue Label on the rocks, your favorite. Call it your apology. You're getting off cheap."

Under the bright lights, the smudge of lipstick on the rim of the glass looked like some silent dare.

My nails dug into my palm. I kept my voice as level as I could.

"He doesn't drink."

Kathleen looked like she'd just heard something hilarious.

"Doesn't drink? Since when, young Mr. Henson?"

"Or am I misremembering? Wasn't it you who used to haul me out of bed at three in the morning to go drinking?"

He explained with a light laugh.

"Bars overseas are too loud, and I wasn't in the mood. It really has been a long time."

"But back home it's different. For you, I'll drink myself under the table if I have to."

"This one's on me."

And with that he reached for the glass, tipped his head back, and downed it in one go.

And meI froze completely.

Three years with Ezra, and in front of me he'd always thought half a can of beer was too much.

He'd kept a cool, careful distance from alcohol the whole time.

Overseas there was no drinking-toast culture, but people loved their drinking games.

Someone teased him for hiding behind a glass of juice, saying he couldn't hang, and I'd gritted my teeth and taken round after round in his place.

I drank until I flushed red all over, and only then did anyone realize I was allergic to alcohol.

That was the first time I ever saw Ezra lose his temper.

He pointed at that pack of blond, blue-eyed classmates and cursed them out ugly, then pulled me against him and waited, frantic, for the ambulance.

They pumped my stomach afterward. I couldn't stomach food for a week.

He was heartbroken and scolding me at once for not taking better care of myself.

The one thing he never told me,

was that he actually could drink. Could drink a lot.

Watching him toss it back like that, something smug crept into the way Kathleen looked at me.

"Davina, was it? Looks like you don't know Ezra all that well."

When I didn't answer, she only warmed up.

"Honestly, I've been curious. When this lush isn't drinking, how do you two even connect? Or is it just the bedroom stuff?"

Around the private room, a pack of men snickered, none of it clean.

Ezra pressed his fingers to his brow, helpless but indulgent.

"Kathleen, that's enough."

"What, I can't even ask?"

"Besides, that little bit you're packingwhich of us hasn't seen it?"

A roar of laughter went up, loud enough to lift the roof.

And in all that noise, I nearly forgot how to breathe.

Meeting my eyes, Kathleen seemed to remember something and started to explain.

"Don't read into it. One Valentine's Day he got wasted at my place, couldn't even stand. This dog wouldn't let me just walk him to the bathroomno, he had to undo his own zipper and make me hold it steady for him so he wouldn't wet his pants."

She finished, and the room erupted again.

A few unnatural flushes rose on Ezra's usually cool face.

"I'm begging you, my ancestor, can we please drop it? I told you, I don't remember any of it"

"How's that fair? Here I am, a perfectly innocent woman, defiled by you, and now you want to deny the whole thing?"

The man shook his head, helpless; the woman was flush with triumph.

And I, who had stayed silent through all of it, suddenly let out a cold laugh.

That one laugh made the whole room go quiet.

In a blink Kathleen swung the point back at me.

"Right, Ezra says you're brilliant at school. Scholarship every year."

"You know, I've heard girls like yourough background, a bit of lookshalf kill yourselves getting a degree abroad just to land a man like him. Made it this far, so you must feel pretty pleased with yourself, hm?"

I looked at her coldly, the way you'd look at a fool.

If my very wealthy parents had heard that, they'd probably have coughed up blood.

Seeing my face darken, she assumed she'd hit a nerve and pressed on:

"Ezra and I go back almost ten years. I've known every girlfriend he's had since high school."

"You're the first one who's dared to face me down."

My voice stayed even.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

That choked her for a second, and then she couldn't hold backher voice climbed.

"Whatever. I'm putting the ugly truth out there first,"

"From now on you can dislike me all you want, but if you ever mistreat Ezra, I won't let you off."

Her words landed with weight.

A thin scatter of applause went around the room,

someone praising Kathleen for her loyalty, someone envying Ezra his luck.

Only I lifted my eyelids a fraction, glanced once at Ezra, then once at Kathleen.

Then my lips parted, faintly smiling.

"So by what standing are you speaking to me right now?"

"As Ezra Henson's main wife?"

02

The room went quiet. A few seconds later, someone let out a low laugh.

Kathleen's face flushed, then paled, the composure she'd been faking cracking apart right in front of everyone.

"Davina, what is this nonsense?"

Ezra's sharp tone made my smile fade.

It wasn't that I'd never seen him angry.

In lectures, he'd shot back at professors who shirked their duties; at parties, he'd coldly called out people with bad intentions.

But this was the first time he'd turned that anger on me.

And over another woman, no less.

I breathed in to hide the sting at the bridge of my nose, and slipped into my usual coaxing tone with him.

"She's been putting me in my place all night, and I said one thing back. How is that me making trouble?"

But his voice came out cold.

"Kathleen said all of it for my sake. You shouldn't talk to her like that."

If a moment ago I'd still felt a flicker of hurt, hearing him say that froze my heart through.

"I see I had it wrong. She's not the wife. She's your mother."

I'd goaded him. His voice shot up.

"Enough, Davina!"

"Apologize to Kathleen."

I stared at him, hard, tears gathering fast in my eyes.

My voice was very soft.

"Never."

The crowd that had been enjoying the show finally stepped in to smooth things over.

"All right, all right, Ezra, don't be angry. Today's the day you came home. You should be happy."

"Don't take it to heart either. If Kathleen hadn't talked Ezra into going abroad to build his rsum back then, you wouldn't even be in the picture."

"Right. Honestly, landing the spot of Ezra's girlfriend, you've got Kathleen to thank for that too."

They talked over each other, but I only watched the man beside me.

He set his glass down lightly on the table. It made a clean little click.

Like a matter settled for good.

"Kathleen is my friend. If you can't show her even basic respect the one time you meet her"

"Then let's cancel you coming home with me to the old house tomorrow."

Everything in me went stiff.

Before we came back, Ezra had said he wanted to take me home to meet his parents.

Had said that because of me, for the first time he'd started thinking about settling down.

That same day, I'd called my mother, full of certainty, telling her Ezra was every bit as good as the men on those arranged-marriage contracts.

Telling her to prepare a party to welcome her future son-in-law.

Reminding her not to go too grand, so we wouldn't scare him off.

But looking at the cold line of his profile now, with those words still ringing in my ears,

everything I'd done before made me look like a fool.

"You're sure?"

His long fingers slid along the rim of the glass, careless.

"You know me. I never say things I'm not sure of."

Whistles broke out from the corners of the room. "That's our Ezra." "Ezra's the man." The words came from every side.

Each one scraped across my face until it stung.

There was nothing left to say. Every extra second I stayed was an insult to myself.

So I grabbed my bag, stood, and strode out.

Only once I was outside the door did I realize that at some point my face had gone wet with tears.

Three years together. Of course it hurt.

Behind me came a sudden rush of footsteps.

Just as I was about to wipe my eyes, a hand caught my arm.

Ezra took in the state of my face, froze for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

"Come on. I'll drive you."

He pulled the car door open and looked at me.

"We can talk on the way."

Heartbroken as I was, my sense hadn't left me.

Walking out felt satisfying, but it didn't solve anything.

And even if we broke up, there should at least be a clear cause of death.

I was about to get in.

"Ugh, Ezra, I think my period just started"

Kathleen, who'd followed us out at some point, suddenly crouched a little way off, clutching her stomach.

The second the words left her mouth, the car door he'd just opened slammed shut again.

He crossed to her, tense, his voice both scolding and helpless.

"Why is it early? You've been staying up late again, haven't you?"

Then he stripped off his jacket in one quick motion and tied it around Kathleen's waist.

"Wait here."

He tossed off the words and headed for the convenience store across the street.

Not once did he look back at me, still standing where he'd left me.

"See that clearly?"

Kathleen spoke up behind me.

"Even after three years abroad, he still puts my needs first."

She straightened slowly, her face full of mockery.

"Want to bet he comes back with more than one thing in his hands?"

"Besides the brand of pads I use, there'll be a new thermos filled with hot cocoa."

"There's a pharmacy next door. He'll buy me imported painkillers, exactly enough to last the three days before my period."

"And in case I get cold, he'll pick up a pack of heat patches and a plug-in hand warmer while he's at it."

Seeing me stunned, she suddenly laughed, delighted.

"He did all of this for you at the start of the month, didn't he?"

"Trying to keep two women's cycles straight in his head gets confusing, so the app on his phone tracking your period? I'm the one who recommended it."

She paced slowly until she was right in front of me.

"Everything that made your heart flutter is just the leftover perks I got tired of."

"No one can do what I do for him, and no one can take my place in his heart."

"So be smart. Don't push this until you've got nowhere left to stand."

Our eyes met, and when I saw the hunger buried in hers,

I suddenly laughed.

"If the two of you are so perfectly in sync, why is he dating someone else?"

"You say you know him better than anyone. Then you must know exactly how he sees you."

"Or how about we find out. If you confessed to him, would he even spare you a second glance?"

03

The early-autumn night wind drifted in.

I looked at the dark storm on Kathleen's face and felt no satisfaction at all.

What a ridiculous scene.

Me, raised from childhood on the finest elite education, now trading claws with another woman over a man.

All at once it felt utterly pointless.

I was about to turn and go when she spoke again.

"What would you know?"

"If I hadn't told him to pursue you back then, do you really think you'd ever have caught his eye?"

My steps stopped. I whipped my head around to look at her.

She stood with her arms crossed, watching me.

"When he said he was lonely abroad, I was the one who told him to date someone."

"When he said he had a bit of a thing for you, I played strategist and fed him the ideas."

"Your first date, when he suddenly kissed you on the Ferris wheel? I told him to do that."

"The restaurant where he took you out for Christmas dinner? I scouted it beforehand and sent it to him."

"Even your anniversary gift, he just picked from the backup options I gave him."

"You thought his feelings for you ran deep. Really, I was the one pushing it all along."

She studied my expression, savoring it, her smile stretched wide.

"Oh, and do you know why I told him to go abroad?"

"Because I knew what would make him take another look at what we had was never time. It was distance."

"When he lost me and got me back, that's when he'd finally understand I'm irreplaceable in his life."

I looked at her without a word.

The grief pressing on my chest was suddenly replaced by a wave of relief that I'd escaped something

I had actually imagined spending the rest of my life with Ezra Henson.

How absurd.

Three years ago, the marriage proposals piled up in front of me like a mountain, and I never spared them a glance.

Only because I'd never lacked for anything from childhood, and I knew my own worth completely.

I believed I deserved to marry for love.

So when I went abroad to study, I turned down every shortcut my parents arranged for me.

I told them with a smile that this time I wanted to prove myself.

Besides finishing my degree honestly, maybe I'd also find a love that was truly mine.

And then Ezra Henson appeared, matching every fantasy I'd had of a future partner.

He wasn't the one who chased me hardest among all those men, but he was the one who moved my heart most.

Steady, capable, driven, and respectful of women.

For the first time in my twenty-some years, I truly fell in love.

I just never imagined there was someone else in that river with me.

"Before I decide to actually make a move, you'd better know your place."

"After all, he kept you abroad for three years. You've squeezed plenty out of him already."

Hearing that, I actually laughed.

"He kept me?"

"What else? Four days a week you were over at his apartment mooching meals. You love tennis, so you sweet-talked him into paying three years of your club dues. You love the whole grand-gesture thing, so you had him buy you expensive gifts for every single holiday"

Listening to her lay it out, item by item.

A surge of absurdity rose in my chest.

Who would ever have guessed that the daughter of the Mason family would one day become, in someone else's mouth, an irredeemable gold-digger?

Suddenly I wanted to ask Ezra Henson to his face,

hadn't I paid all of that back to him, several times over?

Getting quietly burned in love, I could chalk up as a life lesson.

But slandering me over money, as the daughter of a business magnate, forgive me if I refuse to let it go.

I drew a deep breath and was about to speak.

A long black car suddenly pulled up at the curb.

The window came down, and a familiar handsome face appeared in view.

"Miss Mason. So this is where you've been hiding."

I blanked for a few seconds, then quickly recognized him.

Harrison Simmons. The only son of the Simmons Group chairman.

If his family hadn't moved across the ocean to settle there the year we finished middle school, given the bond of growing up together we'd carried all this way

we'd probably count as childhood sweethearts.

Even though we'd stayed in touch over the years, seeing him show up out of nowhere still caught me off guard.

"What are you doing here?"

His smile carried a few layers underneath it.

"Cutting in to steal you, obviously."

Then his gaze roamed the space around me.

"Where's that man you brought back? I've got the lines and the thirty million ready, just waiting for him to nod and say it's over."

I stalled a second, caught between laughing and crying.

Beside me, Kathleen's eyes had gone red at some point.

She stared hard at the car and at Harrison's face and started in with her sneering tone.

"No wonder you're so calm. Turns out there's plenty of fish in your pond."

Then she gave Harrison an ingratiating little smile.

"Buddy, you look like a smart guy, so let me give you a heads-up"

Crack

A sharp slap rang out across the whole street.

Harrison whistled at once, then clapped while remarking in an appreciative tone,

"Nice. Though isn't your technique a little rusty?"

I ignored him and just looked at the stunned Kathleen.

"Did you really think I was a soft persimmon you could squeeze?"

Kathleen cupped her cheek.

"You dare hit me?"

Harrison stuck his hands in his pockets and sauntered a step forward.

"I did. So what?"

Suddenly a voice came from across the road.

"Davina Mason!"

I looked up to see Ezra Henson standing on the far side of the street, a bag of things in his hand, his eyes on me both shocked and furious.

And right on cue, Kathleen started to sob.

I used every ounce of my upbringing to hold back the urge to roll my eyes.

I turned, pulled the car door open, and got in.

Harrison didn't move. He sized up Ezra Henson with obvious interest, his tone playful:

"That's him?"

I answered without patience.

"Are you going or not?"

"What's the rush? Afraid he really will break up with you for the money? Isn't this the perfect chance to see him for what he is?"

He said it and then gave a meaningful glance at the man hurrying toward us.

"Want to bet I won't even have to name a price, and he'll let you leave with me? Might even bring up the breakup himself."

I drew a deep breath.

"No need to name it. We're already done."

Harrison raised an eyebrow. "When?"

"Now."

04

As the car pulled away, Ezra, always so composed, actually ran a few steps after it.

His face was as dark as I'd ever seen it, and he was saying something.

But the car was too well insulated, and I heard none of it.

The whole way home, Harrison wanted to pop a bottle to celebrate, put on that cheerful kids' song we'd loved when we were little, and threw in a ridiculous dance.

Thanks to all his clowning, I didn't even feel that sad.

Not until the car turned in through the gate I knew so well, and I saw my parents sitting in the courtyard, smiling as they came toward me.

Only then did my eyes finally blur over.

When they heard Ezra and I had broken up, the two of them were surprised, but they took it in stride.

They'd both weathered plenty in their lives, and they knew I wouldn't let myself get stuck in it.

I just needed a little time, that was all.

While my mother and I were talking, Harrison mysteriously dragged my father off to the study for a word.

On his way out, he even winked at me.

I thought it was a little odd, but I didn't dwell on it.

That night, I went to bed early.

Knowing Ezra as I did, he wouldn't reach out anytime soon.

But the moment my phone rang, my heart still skipped a beat despite myself.

Only after I saw it was a friend back home did I open it.

"Davina, is this person you?"

Then she sent a screenshot of a social media post.

I opened it and looked, and couldn't help thinking what a small world it was. The person who'd posted it turned out to be Kathleen.

Of the nine-photo grid, three were selfies of her, three were flirty shots of her and Ezra.

The remaining three were all of my back.

From that long, rambling wall of text, I caught the gist.

"...Do gold-diggers really put on this much of an act these days? Carrying a knockoff bag, playing the heiress, hating on other women, stringing along a rich boy while she's already got a boyfriend. What a piece of work..."

"I just feel for my buddy, three years wasted before he finally saw through her. Still, if me taking a slap is what it took to snap him out of it, I'd call it worth it."

People really do laugh when they're pushed past speechless.

I stared at the screen for a long while, then finally typed.

"That's me. She's a female friend of my ex-boyfriend's. How do you know her?"

Right away, a string of messages came firing back.

It turned out Kathleen used to be a clerk at a luxury boutique.

She'd been let go after she slandered some rich boy's girlfriend as an escort, and when he found out and confronted her to her face, she got fired over it.

The whole thing had blown up in those circles at the time, and I'd caught wind of it.

I never imagined the star of the story was right here beside me.

My friend said she'd get even for me, though honestly I wasn't all that angry.

But then I thought about it, and since the woman had come hopping right up to my doorstep, there was no need to hold anyone back.

What caught me off guard was that the next afternoon, Ezra got in touch.

First he sent over a report about Kathleen's firing, then he fired off several screenshots of customer complaint reviews.

Then came the interrogation, dumped straight on my head.

"Was this your doing?"

"Just because Kathleen's my buddy, you go after her, you take revenge, you wreck someone's whole life. What do you even get out of that..."

A forty-five-second voice message. That was as far as I listened before I hit stop.

Then I typed, and sent.

"Did she delete the things she said about me in that post?"

The other end went quiet, only the "typing..." at the top blinking without pause.

I let out a scoff and dragged him into the blocked list.

Before bed, my parents called me into the study.

The moment I stepped in, I saw the betrothal proposals piled up like a little mountain on the desk.

I reached straight for the one on top and flipped it open.

Harrison's handsome face jumped out at me from the page.

Seeing me freeze, my father leaned his head over and suddenly broke into a laugh.

"That boy's got nerve. That day he came at me with the Simmons family's assets and this proposal and worked on me for a good half hour."

"His father even called today to apologize, said no matter what reckless thing Harrison had gone and done, I should cut him some slack."

My mother laughed too, a hand over her mouth.

"A marriage alliance is icing on the cake, but our Davina doesn't need to settle for anything."

"Your dad and I called you in just to talk it over. If none of them interest you, we'll find an occasion to turn them all down, and save the families who haven't sent proposals yet from getting their hopes up."

I ran my fingers over the antique gilt pattern on the proposal, then spoke up.

"Turn the rest down. Keep Harrison's."

The moment word got out that the Masons and the Simmonses were engaged, it practically set the whole circle ablaze.

That very day, Harrison not only set off fireworks all night down at the beach, he bought out every bar in Chicago and invited everyone to celebrate.

From that day on, he came grinning ear to ear to the Mason house every single day.

But apart from settling the wedding details, I hardly had the time to bother with him.

Attending banquets, running the company.

My life was busy and full.

One day, right after a TV station interview, on the way home my phone got a call from an unknown number.

I'd met plenty of new players in the industry these past few days, so after a moment's thought, I answered.

The aged voice that came through froze me on the spot.

"Hello? Is that my precious granddaughter-in-law? It's Grandma, dear. When are you coming to see me"

It wasn't until a slightly awkward man's voice came on the line that it came back to me.

Ezra had a grandmother with Alzheimer's, and to keep her happy, he'd once mentioned me to her.

She simply assumed we were already married.

I just didn't know how she'd gotten my number.

After some rustling, Ezra's voice came through, especially clear in the quiet.

"It's been so many days out of contact. Have you calmed down?"

I didn't answer. There was only the faint hum of static in the air.

He let out a heavy sigh, like a man who'd given up the fight.

"My grandmother's gravely ill. The doctor says she has only a few days left. She wants to see you."

"This weekend, let me take you to buy a few outfits first, then bring you home to see her, all right?"

By the end, he was almost coaxing.

I knew this was a rare concession for him.

But my eyes settled on the understated, luxurious invitation by my hand, and I suddenly smiled.

"Sorry, I'm getting married that day. I don't have time."