I Was A Cold‑Blooded Gold Digger, But I Pretended To Bow Out Gracefully Chapter 01

I Was A Cold‑Blooded Gold Digger, But I Pretended To Bow Out Gracefully Chapter 01

After growing up in a family where even the smallest expense caused a fight, I swore I’d never be poor again.

So after I latched onto the wealthy Felix Sterling, I used every trick in the book to drive away every woman around him.

Everyone assumed I would be the next Mrs. Sterling. At parties, people would tease,

“I heard Mr. Sterling paid a fortune at auction for a diamond ring.”

The next second, Felix slipped that ring onto my finger, its fire catching the light.

My heart pounded like thunder. Just as I thought I had finally gotten what I wanted, Felix spoke.

“A parting gift. Like it?”

I looked up, stunned. The door opened, and a girl I didn’t recognize walked in, timid and uncertain.

Felix set down his cigar. “I’m getting married, Sienna. Tell me what else you want. Let’s part on good terms.”

I studied the girl. White dress, shy smile, looking every bit like the innocent little sweetheart.

But the eyeliner hidden under her no-makeup look was drawn by a practiced hand.

So I swallowed my words about the villa, the sports car, and the pile of cash I had been planning to ask for.

I squeezed out one faint, barely-there tear and slid the ring off, setting it gently on the table.

“Only brides need diamonds. Give it to her.”

I caught the flicker of hesitation in his eyes and smiled. “Mr. Sterling, congratulations on your marriage.”

What’s more dangerous than a sweet, innocent flower?

A gold digger’s real heart.

*****

No one had expected that reaction. Everyone in the room froze.

Felix lit a cigarette, his tone strangely distant.

“Sienna, I thought money was all you cared about.”

Through the smoke, I remembered the year I first met him.

I had just left home, struggling to afford my tuition, and was sitting outside the university feeling completely lost.

He had been invited to give a speech. Passing by, he reached out and steadied me.

When I looked up, I met his smiling eyes.

I didn’t tell him about my broken family, my helpless mother, or my selfish brother.

Too clichéd.

I only said four words.

“I want money.”

He laughed, just like then. “All I can give you is money.”

A check slipped into my bag. At the same time, Felix beckoned to the girl at the door.

“Daisy, come sit beside me.”

I glanced at all those zeros, warmth blooming in my chest even as a sour ache crept in.

He always called me by my full name, but Daisy already had a nickname.

Seeing how clingy they were, the crowd started whooping.

“On a first meeting, shouldn’t we toast the future Mrs. Sterling?”

Daisy’s voice was very soft. “Mr. Sterling, I can’t drink…”

“I heard Sienna drinks well. Could she drink it for me?”

She handled the glass so awkwardly that, for a second, I wondered if I’d misjudged her.

But the moment she said that, all my doubts disappeared.

That kind of trick wasn’t even close to the best I’d seen among Felix’s women.

Felix didn’t answer. He just tilted his chin at me.

But he knew I hadn’t been feeling well lately.

In the hospital, Felix had sounded impatient, though his eyes were unusually gentle.

“Are you the only one who can drink? From now on, don’t take the drinks for me outside.”

I had thought that was his clumsy way of showing he cared.

Now I stared at the glass of liquor in front of me.

One glass wouldn’t matter, I told myself.

The silence stretched too long. Everyone thought I was about to embarrass Felix.

I smiled. “I’ll drink it for her, as thanks for all the care Mr. Sterling has shown me over the years.”

Then I picked up the glass and finished it before anyone could stop me.

By the time I came back to myself, Felix was frowning and snatching the bottle away.

His voice was urgent in a way I’d never heard. “Do you want to ruin your stomach? Go get some air. You’ll make yourself sick.”

“Sienna, would you really push yourself this far for a little money?”

I smiled and brushed his hand away.

I pulled the check out of my bag.

Rip. Rip.

The check worth millions tore into halves, then into quarters, then fell to the floor.

“Mr. Sterling, after all these years with you, I’ve already earned enough.”

“The reason I stayed wasn’t the money.”

If not money, then what?

The room went quiet. No one dared ask, and even Felix pressed his lips together.