11
A strange silence fell over the elevator. The air felt thick enough to cut.
The colleague who’d read the message realized her mistake and quickly shut her mouth.
As for Chloe, the color drained from her face, as if she’d been publicly flayed. A wave of mortified red washed over her cheeks befo-
re fading to a bloodless gray.
“…If I had known it would come to this, I never would have rejected Nicolai back in college,” she whispered. It was a murmur to
herself, but also a reflexive, defensive lash–out from the sudden humiliation.
I glanced at her.
She had mentioned Nicolai.
Clara gasped, her eyes wide with alarm as she looked at me.
Chloe’s two colleagues exchanged a look, their expressions quickly shifting from shock to ravenous gossip.
“Wait, seriously? You and Mr. Payne used to have a thing?”
7
Chloe took a breath and nodded lightly, a hint of shy pride in her gesture. “It’s true. You can look it up on the university forums. He
bought me over nine thousand roses once. The post is probably still there.”
“And nine thousand roses couldn’t win you over?”
Chloe’s smile faltered for a second. Her eyelashes fluttered down, as if a nerve had been painfully plucked.
One colleague immediately pulled out her phone and started searching. Sure enough, she found the sensational old post. The pho- tos were broken, but the replies confirmed that Nicolai had pursued Chloe.
TYCOON SPENDS A FORTUNE, 9000 ROSES FOR CAMPUS BEAUTY CHLOE VANCE!
I was there, it was insane. I just wish it was me.
+1, but so what if he’s rich? The campus beauty wasn’t interested. She rejected him and gave the roses to all the girls in the dorm.
Quietly asking, why was he chasing the ‘department beauty‘ and not the ‘campus belle‘? Aren’t they roommates?
The colleague scrolled through a few pages and quietly put her phone away. Something felt off. “Wait a minute… I heard Mr. Payne‘
s wife is also a graduate from our university.”
Chloe listened, her nails digging so deep into her palms that they turned white. The pain finally brought her back to her senses. “He‘
‘s married?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
Chapter 2
2010
“For ages. You started here late so you wouldn’t know, but everyone in the company got a $999 bonus when they got married! It
was from Mr. Payne personally, to wish them a long and happy life together.”
“The company group chat exploded. There were over a hundred thousand messages of congratulations. It was epic.”
“I’ve even seen his wife’s Instagram. She flies in a private helicopter. He drives a Rolls–Royce Phantom, she drives a Dawn. A total
high–society life…”
“And I heard she’s a total knockout, like campus belle level…”
I raised an eyebrow. I guess I needed to be more low–key on Instagram.
By now, Chloe’s eyes were terrifyingly red, her knuckles white from clenching her fists. From the look on her face, she must have already guessed who Nicolai had married.
Me–Serena.
