The Kept Woman's Diary Chapter 2

Arthur's hand froze right as he was poking the straw into the cup.

Instantly, his expression returned to normal. He smiled, pressing the bubble tea into my hand.

He affectionately ruffled my hair.

His tone was helpless but full of adoration:

"Chloe, have you been watching those 'test your boyfriend' TikToks again? Those are all scripted for views."

"Besides, how could I ever hide anything from you..."

Before he could finish, his phone buzzed.

He glanced at it, immediately pressing the lock button to darken the screen.

"You go ahead and eat the fish before it gets cold and gross. I need to take a quick call."

He spoke a little faster than usual, turning and walking into the home office.

I looked down at the iced matcha green tea latte in my hand.

Condensation from the cup slid onto the back of my hand. It was freezing cold.

I am deathly allergic to matcha.

He had never, ever forgotten that before.

It's just that right now, he had much more important things on his mind.

A short while later, he walked out of the office, wearing that familiar, apologetic look.

It was the exact same look he wore every time he needed to leave for "business."

"Chloe—" he started.

"Is there an emergency at the company?"

I didn't wait for him to weave a lie; I just cut him off.

He froze for a second, then quickly nodded:

"Yeah, there's an incredibly urgent project that needs my signature right now."

I looked him dead in the eye.

"Can you just not go?"

The expression on his face hardened for a fraction of a second.

"Chloe, don't be unreasonable."

"You know how hard I work, how much I hustle—it's all for our future."

"I have to prove to my mother that I can succeed without the family's help. I can give you the absolute best life possible."

Arthur’s mother had never liked me.

The reason was simple.

My background was far too ordinary, even a little broken. I wasn't "worthy" of the Sterling family's elite status.

Arthur was a true trust-fund heir, born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Before he met me, his family had paved every road for him, even picking out his future wife for a strategic corporate merger.

But he defied his entire family's arrangements just for me.

He insisted on being with me.

In a fit of rage, his mother cut off all his trust funds and essentially exiled him.

She swore that if he could build a successful business entirely on his own, without a single cent of family money, within five years...

She would accept me. She would accept our relationship.

So for the past five years, Arthur hadn't rested for a single second.

And I had worked just as desperately, constantly trying to improve myself, terrified of slacking off.

Terrified of becoming a burden to him.

Terrified that his mother's words—"What can she possibly do besides drag you down?"—would become a reality.

His mother never stopped trying to make me back off, either.

From an initial offer of half a million dollars, up to a million.

And then, just a month ago, she slid a seemingly weightless check across the table to me.

Ten million dollars.

The condition remained exactly the same: Leave my son.

I never took the money.

Because I loved Arthur Sterling.

And I fiercely believed that he loved me.

I stubbornly believed that true love could conquer all obstacles, erase prejudice, and bridge the gap between social classes.

Until this exact moment.

The unwavering faith I had held onto began to crack and shatter, inch by inch.

His phone buzzed again.

He glanced at it, not even bothering to invent another excuse.

"Chloe, I have to go. Make sure you eat."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and strode out the door.

I grabbed my phone and followed him out.

Down in the underground parking garage.

I saw them.