Chapter 2

The second round of financing was finally done. I had just landed when my assistant, Chloe, called.

“Ms. Stone, Mr. Hayes fired me. He said I was incompetent.”

I was stunned.

Chloe had been my assistant for three years, always my right hand.

Julian, as the company’s co-founder and my fiancé, knew this better than anyone.

Why would he suddenly make such a decision?

“Chloe, don’t panic. Tell me clearly, what exactly happened?”

On the other end, Chloe’s sobbing choked, and her voice became unusually hesitant. “Ms. Stone, you should see this first.”

Before she finished speaking, a notification chimed:

An unfamiliar social media account, with a small line of text: “Ms. Stone, you’ll understand once you see it.”

The moment the avatar popped up, my heart pounded a few frantic beats.

That avatar, adorned with a KITTY cat sticker, I had seen it before.

Late one night, before my business trip, she had FaceTimed Julian.

He hadn’t answered, merely saying dismissively, “I don’t really know this person, must be a wrong number.”

As he spoke, he showed me his SnapChat history; it was completely clean, totally blank.

I didn’t think much of it. Ten years of shared history, that much trust was a given.

But how could this avatar be connected to Chloe getting fired?

With a tremor I could barely detect, I tapped into the account.

The first pinned post was like an icy needle, piercing directly into my eyes:

**[Office Day 1 Check-in!]**

**[Making coffee for the CEO, I secretly swapped it for a kiddie drink! (nervous.jpg)]**

**[He didn’t even get mad! He even smiled and said I was like a child. He told me to buy two bottles every day from now on, so we can drink them together!]**

**[Wuwuwu, another day pampered by the CEO, go go working girl!]**

**[Image: A bottle of kiddie drink with a cute straw, sitting on Julian Hayes’ expensive mahogany desk.]**

*Boom!* Something exploded in my mind.

Kiddie drink? Julian?

After ten years together, I knew better than anyone how much he avoided sugar.

His family had a severe history of diabetes; his father had passed away early because of it.

For years, I hadn’t even dared to buy high-sugar fruits, terrified he might accidentally eat them.

He was disciplined to the point of being harsh; candy, cake, and all sugary drinks were strictly forbidden.

He always said, “I need to live a long time, to be with you.”

But now, he not only agreed to drink a sugary drink with someone else,

He even… used that indulgent tone, calling her “a child”?

My chest felt squeezed by an invisible hand. I picked up my phone and dialed Julian’s number directly.

The long busy signal in the receiver felt like a dull knife sawing at my flesh. Just when I thought it would automatically hang up, it connected.

“Hello?” A sickly sweet voice, so saccharine it could make you cringe, answered. “Who are you looking for?”

My blood instantly rushed to my head.

“Where’s Julian?”

“Who are *you*? Didn’t your mother teach you not to call people by their full names? So rude!”

*“Click!”* The phone was hung up directly.

I gasped for air, my fingertips icy, my palms slick with sweat.

Ten years.

The awkward teenager who carried me across campus in the pouring rain, the confident man who crammed into a tiny rental with me, eating instant noodles while talking grand ambitions, the steadfast figure who stood in front of me when competitors maliciously attacked us…

One image after another, all the trust and warmth I thought were unshakeable, were now thoroughly doused by that phone call and that ridiculous children’s drink.

I took deep breaths, trying to convince myself there must be some misunderstanding.

After a long while, my trembling body finally calmed, and I hailed a cab to the company.

As I stepped out of the executive elevator, I heard a fierce argument.