Chapter 2

Julian's face darkened instantly. He looked down, his thumb nervously rubbing against his index finger.

That was his tell whenever he panicked. My words actually made him nervous?

A few seconds later, he looked up with a derisive snort, his voice colder than ice. "Can you even afford the buyout fee?"

"That's none of your concern, Mr. Zhou."

"Julian," Lydia chimed in, having drifted over to the floor-to-ceiling window at some point. "It looks like Chloe already found herself a new sponsor. If you force her to stay, you'll only keep an empty shell."

Julian followed her gaze down to the street.

A sleek black Mercedes was idling by the side entrance.

Julian's expression twisted into an ugly scowl. "Chloe Jiang, you're sleeping around behind my back? You've degraded yourself to guys who drive basic rides like that?"

Julian Shea was the one who drove me, under strict orders from his mother.

Earlier, I had stared at his custom Maybach—the only one in the entire city—and pleaded with a sigh: "Young Master, have mercy. I don't want to blow up the trending feeds."

In the end, the billionaire heir humbled himself and took the family driver's modest Mercedes just to drop me off safely.

Seeing my silence, Julian took it as a confession.

He stepped closer, forcefully catching my chin and yanking my face upward. His voice cracked with a frantic edge:

"Chloe, make me happy today, and I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

"My next project—I'll make you the lead."

I froze for a split second.

I had waited ten agonizing years to hear those words.

And yet, he was offering them right in front of Lydia Lan.

Instinctively, I glanced at Lydia. The smug, triumphant smile had completely vanished from her face.

Snapping back to reality as Julian leaned down toward me, disgust hit me like a bucket of ice water. I shoved him away with everything I had.

"Mr. Zhou, I'm married. Have some respect."

Julian’s face went pale with disbelief, instantly overtaken by pure fury. "Married? Who the hell did you marry?!"

"Can't a boss just congratulate an employee on tying the knot?" I offered a cool, detached smile. "Though I should probably congratulate you on your engagement first."

His mother had personally delivered the news of his impending engagement to Lydia.

Julian stared at me, dumbfounded. "Who told you I was getting engaged?"

Did it even matter? Whether he was getting married or not had nothing to do with me anymore.

I pulled out the signed buyout agreement along with a cashier's check and laid them flat on his desk. "Julian Zhou, after today, our slate is wiped clean."

I turned on my heel to walk out.

Suddenly, Julian snatched the heavy crystal ashtray off his desk and hurled it straight at my head.

I dodged to the side just in time. The ashtray shattered violently against the wall.

A rogue shard of glass flew across the room and sliced the top of my foot. Blood welled up instantly, staining my skin.

"Chloe Jiang, you think you can survive in this town without me?!"

"Wiped clean?! You owe me your damn life! You'll never pay that back!"

Yes, Julian Zhou had once saved my life. He had protected my fragile dignity back when I had nothing.

But when he crossed the wrong people, I had shielded him with my own body, taking a blow from a rebar pipe that shattered my wrist into pieces.

When his startup was desperate for cash, I threw away all my shame, playing the clown at sleazy banquet tables just to secure his funding.

Whenever he was broken and defeated, I was the first one by his side, even when his heart longed for someone else.

He was wrong.

Every debt of gratitude I owed him had been paid in full, long ago.