9
“Serena, news from the branch office. Chloe and her fiancé broke up a month ago!”
“Mr. Payne is going to be spending a lot of time at headquarters lately. He won’t be leaving until the project is finished. They’re
bound to run into each other. What if they meet?”
My personal assistant, Clara, had been with Nicolai for years before he assigned her to me after our marriage. She knew all about
Nicolai’s college pursuit of Chloe, and she was more anxious about Chloe’s reappearance than I was. After a few years with me, a divorce would put her in a very awkward position.
Chapter 2
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I continued with my painting, not particularly concerned. Even if I was, what could I do? I couldn’t exactly forbid them from seeing
each other.
“The destructive power of a white moonlight… Serena, don’t you get it…?” Clara sighed.
My hand slipped, smudging a line. It wasn’t obvious, but the flaw was there.
“Even without Nicolai, I can still afford to keep you,” I said, trying to reassure her.
But she just looked even more defeated, as if she was certain that Chloe’s return would shatter my marriage. This poor girl. I told
her I could support her, and she still didn’t believe me.
Lately, Clara had been dropping hints that I should visit the main office. I was busy, but I finally carved out some time and went.
As I was passing the executive building, I saw a group of people waiting by the elevators.
A man stood in the center. I didn’t pay him any mind until that tall, imposing figure slowly turned around.
It was Nicolai.
He was wearing a light gray, impeccably tailored suit, his expression aloof as he tapped at his phone screen. He looked like he’d stepped right out of a magazine–cool, composed, and unapproachable.
I rarely saw this side of him.
“Serena,” Clara whispered, tugging on my sleeve and nodding toward a woman hiding behind a pillar. “Look over there. Isn’t that
Chloe?”
I followed her gaze.
Sure enough, a figure was half–hidden behind the pillar. It was Chloe.
She was wearing a long white dress, her company ID hanging from a lanyard around her slender neck. Her makeup was subtle, her hair styled in a soft, romantic half–updo, complete with a pink butterfly clip. She was trying to be inconspicuous, but her eyes were
fixed on Nicolai.
Her gaze was… I couldn’t quite describe it. It was dazed, yet complex, like she was looking at a long–lost love.
For some reason, I didn’t like that look. It was the instinctual feeling of someone eyeing something that belonged to me, and I wan-
ted to push her away.
