"Hubby, kiss me. I miss you so much. When are you coming home?"

Out of nowhere, I received a text. The sender was the cold, untouchable CEO who was currently scolding us in a meeting, Veronica Starling.

What shocked me even more was the timestamp on the message.

It was sent five years in the future.

"Hubby, kiss me. I miss you so much. When are you coming home?"

Out of nowhere, I received a text. The sender was none other than Veronica Starling, our cold, untouchable CEO, the same woman who was currently berating us in a meeting.

What stunned me even more was the time stamp on the message.

It was sent five years in the future.

…

In the company conference room, Veronica stood at the front in a tailored business suit, her hair pulled into a high ponytail. She looked aloof and restrained as she spoke, using the meeting to "educate" us.

Her ruthlessness was legendary within the company. Anyone who dared disobey her orders usually had only one outcome: pack up and leave immediately.

The conference room was dead silent.

Right in the middle of that silence, my phone chimed.

"Hubby, kiss me. I miss you so much. When are you coming home?"

The instant I saw the message, my mind went completely blank. That was because the contact name on my phone for the CEO, Veronica Starling, was saved as "Evil CEO".

In my day-to-day work, she targeted me more than enough. She constantly assigned me the toughest, most thankless tasks. If I failed to do them well, what followed was a merciless round of criticism.

I immediately raised a hand and rubbed my eyes. My head felt as if it had been hollowed out in an instant.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

I had to be seeing things.

At that very moment, Veronica was assigning this year's targets and distributing KPIs to each department. She looked every bit like someone standing high above everyone else, commanding the room and pointing out the direction of the battlefield.

There was no way she would send me a message like that.

Being criticized by Veronica already had me in a foul mood. This had to be some kind of prank.

Then another message came in.

"Both the baby and I miss you. Can you come home early tonight to keep us company? I made roast chicken for you."

That message instantly ignited my anger.

Sitting through this kind of meeting was irritating enough. Now someone was deliberately messing with me on top of that.

I could not swallow this at all. I was just about to fire back a reply and curse at whoever this was when I suddenly noticed something off.

The timestamp on the messages looked wrong.

The time displayed was "March 3, 2030."

I quickly switched back to my home screen and opened the calendar. The date clearly showed March 3, 2025.

This message was sent from 2030? That meant it came from five years in the future.

No. Something was not right. This had to be a hallucination caused by too much work stress lately.

I took a deep breath and opened the message thread again.

The timestamp still read March 3, 2030.

Five years.

Was this really a message sent from five years later? And the sender was still our company's cold, untouchable CEO, Veronica Starling? Could my phone be broken?

I immediately restarted it. After it powered back on, another message came through from her.

"Dear hubby, why are you not replying to me…"

I looked at the message. Then I looked at the time again. It still showed March 3, 2030.

My heart started racing uncontrollably. I quickly replied, "You… who are you?"

Even though the contact name clearly said Evil CEO, I could not stop myself from asking.

"Hubby, you finally replied. Are you playing some kind of game with me, asking that?

"Dear Andy, I am your wife, Veronica Starling. You always call me your dear Ronnie…"

When I saw that, my entire worldview collapsed.

Five years from now, I had married the evil CEO, Veronica Starling? We even had a child?

This was way too unbelievable.

How could I possibly end up marrying Veronica?

I could not help lifting my head and looking toward the stage. She stood there with a cold expression; Veronica in the flesh.

This meeting was focused on the company’s performance from the previous quarter. She was extremely dissatisfied with the results.

As I looked over at her, my gaze was caught midair. When she noticed, I hurriedly looked away. Even so, that small movement immediately drew her attention.

"Andrew Cole, if I remember correctly, your team’s performance last quarter was near the bottom again, wasn’t it? Is this how you lead a team?" She launched straight into criticizing me.

I lowered my head and said nothing, but the dissatisfaction in my chest was already overflowing.

Our team’s performance last quarter was actually decent. Her standards were simply too high. She nitpicked every little thing.

I cursed silently to myself. Whoever ended up with a boss like this was truly unlucky.

Inside, I was wailing.

I glanced down at my phone. If I ever married a woman like this, I would have to be out of my mind, or have suffered serious brain damage. Otherwise, who would willingly sign up for this kind of torment?

How could this cold, arrogant, evil CEO possibly send messages like that, calling me "dear" and "hubby" and all that?

Just looking at those messages, then comparing them to Veronica’s face right now, made everything feel unreal.

I even shivered before I quickly sent a reply. "There is a limit to a person’s patience. How could you possibly be Veronica Starling?"

"Hubby, how do you want me to prove it to you?

"Hubby, come back soon. I want to play the lifting-you-up game with you…"

Her messages came one after another.

I shook my head helplessly as I read them.

Then I asked her something extremely private. There was one time when I had accompanied Veronica to meet a client. She drank too much that night, and I was the one who had taken her home.

That night, she sang all kinds of strange songs. She even insisted on carrying an elderly woman who had just crossed the street back across it again, chanting nonstop, "Grandma, I’ll carry you across the road."

In the end, the old woman had no choice. A traffic officer nearby had to step in and repeatedly explain and persuade Veronica before she finally gave up.

After sobering up, Veronica clearly remembered the incident and warned me not to tell anyone about it. So this was something only she and I knew.

I asked about it cautiously.

A reply came almost immediately. "Hubby, don’t bring that up. It’s really embarrassing. That night I insisted on carrying the old woman across the road…"

She briefly described what happened. It matched what had occurred that night almost exactly.

At that point, I was certain that the person messaging me really was Veronica from the future. That realization was absurd beyond belief.

"Hubby, this is our secret. You’re not allowed to tell anyone else."

Just as I was about to reply, Veronica’s voice suddenly rang out right beside my ear. "Andrew, come up here now and tell everyone what your plan for next quarter looks like."

I quickly put my phone away.

Carrying the PowerPoint deck I had prepared in advance, I walked up to the stage. As I did, I glanced at Veronica.

She was dressed in a sharp, professional suit, her hair tied into a high ponytail. Her whole presence felt cutting and intense.

There was no denying it. Her features were stunning—the kind of beauty that stood out at first glance. She also had naturally fair, cool-toned skin.

It was just that I had never really seen her in casual clothes, so she always came off as cold and unapproachable, the kind of person you instinctively knew not to mess with.

Back then, there had been people foolish enough to try to pursue Veronica. A beauty like her attracting attention was hardly surprising, but none of the people who chased after her ended well. Every single one of them was fired.

After that, almost no one dared to make a move on her again.

Faced with an evil CEO like her, I naturally kept my distance. I would never even think about living together with someone like that.

Once on stage, I quickly projected my proposal onto the screen. It was a plan centered on developing and improving the company’s products, along with some of my own ideas. I also briefly outlined my promotional and sales strategy for the next quarter.

The whole presentation took about half an hour.

During that time, Veronica’s gaze occasionally landed on me, openly sizing me up.

Watching her stand there, aloof and arrogant, I truly could not imagine that she would privately say things like—

"Hubby, I want you to lift me up…

"Hubby, I want kisses…"

It was completely unbelievable. I suddenly thought of the saying that people really are not what they seem.

'Veronica, you really are something.'

After I finished speaking, no one reacted. It was not until Veronica started clapping that everyone else followed suit.

"I hope you can achieve the targets you just mentioned next quarter. Otherwise, you can really pack up and get out."

I smiled awkwardly. "You can count on me to get it done."

Just as I returned to my seat, a few more messages came in.

"Dear hubby, tonight I’ll wear stockings for you to appreciate. Do you like black or white? I even bought some new lingerie in all kinds of styles… tonight’s going to be just for us."

Holy hell.

What kind of unfiltered nonsense was this?

'Veronica, I never would’ve guessed you were this bold.'

I really never would have imagined it. Truly, you never knew a person beyond their surface.

"Are you sure you can keep up with all that?" I could not help replying.

"Stop it, hubby. Isn't this your favorite? I’m just catering to your preferences."

Struck speechless, I was completely shaken. Was I really this wild with Veronica five years in the future?

I could not help lifting my head and sneaking another look at her. She shot me a look sharp enough to kill. I immediately looked away and joined the others in applauding.

By the time the meeting finally ended, I felt like my entire body had fallen apart.

Walking out of the conference room, even the air outside felt lighter. My whole body relaxed.

I checked the time. It was already late. I had thought about leaving work early. Back in the office, I quickly packed up my things and prepared to head home.

The other colleagues did the same. Once they escaped the conference room, they rushed out like refugees. Everyone was afraid that Veronica would hold them back for overtime.

I moved just as fast, quickly grabbing my things and heading out.

However, after only a few steps, I ran straight into Veronica, who had just exited the conference room.

We looked at each other.

I forced a smile. "Ms. Starling, I’ll be heading home now."

She looked at me expressionlessly. "Wait."