From His Stepping Stone to Queen

I looked up at him, my eyes shining. "I'm not scared."

"Good. I swear, Camila. If I ever betray you, I deserve to lose everything."

His vow, back then, felt sincere.

And the days that followed were brutal.

We crammed into a tiny garage apartment, surviving on instant ramen and free snacks scrounged from startup events. The winter nights were so cold we had to huddle together just to stay warm.

Rhys would give me the only hot slice of pizza and use his own body to warm my freezing feet.

We fought desperately for a better life.

Rhys was smart and fearless, recruiting other talented engineers and slowly building his team.

I shed my naivete and remade myself from a sheltered rich girl into his sharp, capable co-founder.

We moved from that rundown garage to a real office, and eventually to our own corporate campus.

At the celebration for our company's Series B funding, he knelt on one knee before all our colleagues and proposed. The entire company erupted in cheers.

I thought that was our happy ending, that we would be together forever.

Until that young, up-and-coming influencer appeared. She was so young, and she looked at him with the same adoring gaze I once had.

Rhys fell for her.

We argued, we threw things, and our fights escalated into business attacks and betrayals.

We went from soulmates to sworn enemies.

The apartment door was thrown open. An eighteen-year-old Rhys walked in. But when his eyes met mine, the boyish adoration was gone. In its place was something that made my stomach drop—the same complex, dark exhaustion and resentment from years of fighting.

In a single glance, I understood.

He had been reborn, too.

And he knew that I knew.

Standing in this shabby apartment, once filled with sweet memories, the air was thick with our unspoken history. My heart hammered against my ribs.

"About the sailboat," Rhys cleared his throat, his voice hoarse. "I was out of my mind. I wasn't thinking straight... I wasn't myself."

I stared at him, the absurdity of it all hitting me at once.

Years ago, in this very room, he had held me and whispered, "My Camila, I'm so sorry you have to suffer like this. I promise, when my company goes public, I will give you the grandest wedding."

Back then, I believed he was sincere.

Just as I'd believed he was sincere when he humiliated me on the sailboat.