Over the next few days, I barely left work on time.

Daniel had managed to dump every task that was not particularly important but troublesome enough squarely onto my shoulders.

Even materials that were not my responsibility kept landing in my inbox, one email after another.

Just then, my phone vibrated.

I thought it was another work message, but when I looked down, my fingers stilled.

My mother's name, Margaret Parker, was on the screen.

I stared at the incoming call for a few seconds before finally answering it.

"Hello."

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Margaret's voice came through. "Have you been... all right these past few days?"

"What do you need?" I asked.

She seemed to sigh, her voice softening. "Come have dinner with us this weekend. I've already made a reservation. It'll just be the family. We can sit down and talk properly."

I said nothing.

If she had truly cared about me, she would not have helped my father, Richard Parker, push me into the Cooper family back then.

Into that bottomless pit.

"It has hurt me all this time, seeing things turn out like this between you and the family." She paused, then added, "Your father has been thinking about you these past few days too."

After a few seconds of silence, I relented. "Send me the time and address."

She was clearly relieved.

A few seconds after the call ended, the address came through.

I glanced at it, turned my phone face down on the desk, and returned to the data on my computer.

......

The clock on the wall had already struck twelve.

I rubbed the stiffness from the back of my neck and closed my laptop, my throat dry and hoarse.

Looking around the empty office, I could not help muttering under my breath, "Petty capitalist."

"Done cursing me?"

A low voice suddenly came from somewhere nearby.

My whole body tensed, and the documents in my hands nearly slipped straight to the floor.

I snapped my head up.

The light at the end of the hallway was still on. Daniel stood there with his suit jacket draped over one arm, the top button of his shirt undone, watching me with a cool expression.

Guilt flickered through me, but I kept my face calm. "You misheard me, Mr. Carter."

He walked over slowly and stopped beside my desk.

"Did I?" he asked evenly. "Because I heard you very clearly."

I stuffed the documents into my bag. "Then you must be overworked."

Daniel's lips seemed to twitch slightly.

"You still have the energy to curse people. Looks like your workload isn't full enough."

I almost laughed from sheer irritation and looked up at him. "Are you still here this late just to hear me curse you, Mr. Carter?"

He did not answer. He only glanced at me and said, "Let's go."

I froze. "What?"

"You're getting off work." He added, "It's already this late. Were you planning to spend the night here?"

I frowned. "No need. I can get home by myself."

"Don't read too much into it." Daniel turned and walked toward the elevator. "I just don't want to hear anyone cursing me behind my back again tomorrow."

I stood there for two seconds before picking up my bag and following him.

The elevator doors slid shut, and our reflections appeared side by side in the mirrored walls.

After five years, this was the first time we had stood so close.

But our hearts had already drifted far apart.

Resentment and confusion once again crowded my mind.

Seeing him again seemed to make me hate him even more.

But feelings like that were difficult to put into words, so I chose silence instead.

Daniel kept looking at me, but in the end, he said nothing either.

"Get in." His tone was not harsh, but it left no room for argument.

I paused. "Really, there's no need. I can take a cab."

"Didn't you just call me a capitalist?" Daniel sounded impatient. "Now I'm saving you some money, and suddenly you're refusing?"

I was left speechless.

He gripped the steering wheel and stared at me without moving.

I knew his temper. After standing there for a few seconds, I opened the passenger door and got in.

As the car started, a receipt slipped out from beneath the center console.

It was from a luxury jewelry brand.

I had not meant to look at it.

But the words "custom women's jewelry set" were glaringly obvious, followed by an absurdly high price.

My fingertips stiffened. Almost instantly, I thought of the woman in that photograph.

It felt as if someone had seized my heart in a brutal grip.

So after all these years, he had not changed at all.

He could treat me with nothing but coldness, yet turn around and spend a fortune on another woman.

I looked away, unwilling to spare that receipt another glance.

Daniel did not notice anything unusual about me.

His hands stayed on the steering wheel as he asked flatly, "Address."

I opened my mouth, about to give him the familiar address.

Then I suddenly remembered that the place I lived in now was the apartment Daniel and I had rented before we broke up. My whole body stiffened.

I instinctively glanced at Daniel. Seeing that he had not noticed my reaction, I lowered my eyes and gave him a random address, feeling guilty for no reason.

"Just drop me off there."

After getting out of the car, I pretended to walk toward a nearby apartment complex.

Only after I saw Daniel's car disappear into the night from the corner of my eye did I finally let out a breath and call another cab home.

On the way back, my mind was in such chaos that I never noticed the black Maybach following at a steady distance behind me.

Outside the old apartment building, the Maybach did not start again until the sky had begun to turn pale.

The next morning, I walked into the office with dark circles under my eyes and had to drink two cups of coffee before I finally pulled myself together.

I had prepared myself to be targeted by Daniel again, but to my surprise, he stayed unusually quiet the entire morning.

When I submitted the file, he only skimmed through it, pointed out two minor issues, and spoke in the same cold tone as before, but there was no deliberate hostility in it.

During the project briefing, he remained strictly professional. He even looked at me far less often than he had the day before.

Sitting at my desk with the documents in my hands, I somehow felt oddly unsettled.

"Is Mr. Carter in a good mood today?" Lily leaned over quietly while no one was paying attention. "I went in earlier to get his signature and was fully prepared to be chewed out, but he didn't say a single unnecessary word."

I pressed my lips together and said nothing, though I found it strange too.

Even as the end of the workday approached, Daniel still had not made things difficult for me again.

I even began to wonder whether the tension over the past two days had only been in my head.

But the moment that thought surfaced, a new email popped into my inbox.

Sender, CEO, Daniel Carter.

My eyelid twitched. I clicked it open and saw only two short lines.

"Seven tonight. Attend a dinner event with me. Work requirement."

I stared at the screen, frowning slightly.

There were plenty of people in the company far more suitable than me, yet he had chosen me.

But no matter how unwilling I was, I could only reply with a proper, "Okay."

After work, I waited until everyone in the office had left one after another before resting my forehead in my hand and slowly letting out a breath.

A dinner event.

I looked down at the business suit I was wearing and felt my headache worsen.

When I left the Cooper family, they had been terrified I might take even one extra thing with me.

I had only taken my documents and daily necessities. Most of my clothes suitable for formal occasions were still there.

I could not possibly go back and endure their faces again just to attend a dinner event with Daniel.

The thought only made the weight in my chest heavier.

Just then, two people appeared at the office door, one carrying a garment bag and the other holding a jewelry box.

"Ms. Parker, Mr. Carter asked us to deliver these to you."

I watched them set the items down, and my heart suddenly began to beat unevenly.

I lifted the garment bag with my fingers, revealing the gown inside, then let my gaze fall on the open jewelry box beside it.

A diamond jewelry set shimmered brilliantly beneath the light.

My breath caught.

It was the same one, exactly the same set listed on the receipt from last night.

A mess of emotions surged up inside me all at once.

Last night, I had thought that jewelry set was something he had bought for another woman.

But now, it had been delivered to me.

My throat tightened. What was this supposed to mean?

Suddenly, familiar footsteps sounded at the door.

Daniel stood there, his gaze sweeping over the things on the desk. "What are you standing there for? Go try it on."

I did not move. I only stared at him. "What exactly is this, Mr. Carter?"

"Wear it to the dinner."

I closed the box. "It's too expensive. This isn't appropriate."

"Put it on."

"I'm only going there for work. I don't need to..."

"You're my date for the evening." He cut me off, his tone leaving no room for refusal. "Anyone I bring with me can't look shabby."

After a few seconds of stalemate, I picked up the gown and walked into the fitting room.

The gown fit me perfectly. It brought out the clean lines of my shoulders and neck, while the necklace at my collarbone caught the light in delicate fragments.

When I pushed the door open and stepped out, my pace slowed despite myself.

Daniel looked up.

The instant his gaze landed on me, he visibly froze.

Only for a brief moment.

But that fleeting lapse, too quick for him to hide, still did not escape my eyes.

The next second, he looked away, his expression returning to normal.

"Stay by my side tonight. Don't wander off."

The dinner event was held at a private club in the city center.

The moment we walked in, nearly every gaze in the room landed on Daniel.

A few people immediately approached with wine glasses in hand, smiling eagerly.

Daniel remained indifferent, replying only occasionally, yet even that was enough to leave the others visibly flattered.

Clearly, his status in this circle carried far more weight than I had imagined.

Standing beside him, I naturally became the subject of everyone's scrutiny as well.

I kept a polite smile on my face while silently cursing him several times in my head.

Just then, a middle-aged man hurried over and whispered something into his ear.

Daniel frowned slightly before turning to me. "Wait here for me for a bit."

Without thinking, I asked, "Will it take long?"

He glanced at me as though surprised by the question. After a brief pause, he answered, "Not long."

With that, he left with the man.

Just as I was about to sit down and rest for a moment, a sharp female voice sounded behind me.

"I thought I was seeing things. Turns out it really is you."

I turned around.

Ryan's sister, Grace Cooper, stood a short distance away with a wine glass in hand, the mockery in her eyes completely undisguised.

I looked at her calmly. "Do you need something?"

"Need something?" Grace repeated as if she had heard a joke, walking closer with her glass.

"My brother's only been dead a few days, and you're already clinging to another man." She sneered. "Claire, you really have no shame."

Her voice was loud enough that several nearby guests instinctively turned to look.

"Ms. Cooper," I replied without even lifting my eyes, "didn't the Cooper family already cut ties with me?"

Grace's expression stiffened slightly.

I looked straight at her and continued word by word, "Back then, your mother was so terrified I'd touch the Cooper family's inheritance that she could hardly wait to throw me out that very day. Since all of you were so eager to distance yourselves from me, who I spend time with now has nothing to do with you."

The smile on Grace's face began to crack.

"You..."

"You came here tonight just to watch me embarrass myself, didn't you?" I curled my lips faintly. "Too bad. You're going to leave disappointed."

Before she could say anything else, I noticed the hand holding her wine glass lift slightly.

So the instant the red wine came flying toward me, I had already stepped aside.

The wine only brushed past the edge of my dress before splashing all over Grace's own skirt and shoes instead.

Several startled gasps immediately broke out around us.

Grace looked down at the mess covering her clothes, her face turning bright red.

"What are you so smug about?" She glared at me viciously, hatred filling her eyes. "You're the one who killed my brother! You cheating little bitch!"

Seeing that I stayed silent, Grace seemed to regain some confidence and opened her mouth to continue.

A cold, low voice cut through the air.

"Are you done?"

Everyone turned toward the voice.

At some point, Daniel had returned.

He stood a few steps away, his expression terrifyingly cold.

His gaze swept over me from head to toe, and only then did his expression ease slightly.

Grace's face turned ashen slightly, but she still forced herself to speak. "Mr. Carter, this is a matter within the Cooper family. It has nothing to do with you."

Daniel cut her off, his eyes falling to the hem of my dress. "That glass of wine stained her gown. Pay for it."

The moment those words fell, the entire room went silent.

Grace glared at me as though she wanted to tear me apart on the spot.

Everyone knew that going against Daniel would only humiliate her further.

In the end, she gritted her teeth, pulled a card from her purse, and practically threw it into the waiter's hand. "I'll pay for it!"

After saying that, she turned and stormed away, fury radiating from her retreating figure.

For the rest of the evening, I could barely remember how I made it through the dinner at all.

The only thing echoing in my mind was Daniel's cold command from earlier. "Pay for it."

Was he standing up for me?

Why?

By the time we finally left the club, the cool night wind eased the heaviness in my chest a little.

Daniel opened the car door for me. "Get in."

I did not refuse this time and bent down to get into the car.

The car pulled away from the club as rows of city lights slid backward outside the window.

I originally thought he would drive me to the address I had given him the other day, so I closed my eyes to rest.

But when I opened my eyes again, I suddenly realized something was wrong.

The intersection ahead and the twenty-four-hour convenience store by the street were sights far too familiar to me.

My back instantly stiffened, and I sat upright.

"You..."

Daniel's expression did not change. His eyes remained on the road ahead. "What is it?"

"Why did you drive here?" My voice tightened immediately.

The car came to a smooth stop downstairs.

Daniel finally turned to look at me. "Claire."

My breathing faltered.

"Why?"