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."

The moment I heard that, my mind was instantly filled with a stampede of utter chaos.

I knew it. I had no idea how she did it, but she always managed to find more work for me.

"This is a market research report I organized recently. It should be useful to you. Take a look when you have time." Veronica handed me a document.

I froze for a few seconds. My brain failed to process it right away. I never would have expected Veronica to proactively help me.

"Isn't this what you want?"

"I do, I do, I do…" Free benefits like this were not something I would ever refuse.

I took the document, thanked Veronica, and left the office.

On the way, the future Veronica sent another message.

"Hubby, I miss you…"

Just reading it gave off an overwhelmingly sweet, almost cloying feeling.

I pulled my thoughts back and could not help asking, "Do you remember that time my performance was bad, you criticized me in public, and afterward you gave me a very detailed market research report? Why did you help me then?"

I asked because Veronica had never helped any other colleague like that. From her perspective, everyone handled their own problems.

Everyone was an adult at work, not a three-year-old child. The workplace was a battlefield, and everything depended on yourself. With that mindset, there was no reason for her to help me.

I walked while staring at my phone screen.

After more than a minute, future Veronica finally replied, "Because… because I already liked you back then. I felt you were different from the other people at the office."

That message shattered me completely.

She already liked me back then?

Shock.

I could feel my eyes widen in disbelief.

Different from the other colleagues?

"Hubby, why are you asking this? It is really embarrassing to answer…" Future Veronica sent another message.

My brain shut down entirely.

After a few seconds of blankness, I typed, "You really liked me back then?"

I could not believe it, no matter how I thought about it. Liking me, yet targeting me everywhere?

"Of course. Otherwise, how would I have given birth to our baby, Iris Cole?" Her reply was absolute and without hesitation.

After a short pause, future Veronica sent another message. "Hubby, something is wrong with my phone. The time looks strange. The messages you sent are showing as 2025."

The moment I saw that, I knew she had discovered the time discrepancy on her end as well. We were talking across five years.

"The timestamp isn't wrong. I am Andrew from 2025. It looks like we are communicating across time."

Even as I sent that message, I felt a little unhinged. It all felt unreal.

Future Veronica immediately sent several large question marks.

"???!" She was clearly just as stunned.

After that, we talked things through and more or less accepted this reality.

I had originally thought Veronica would react cautiously. Instead, she became even more excited.

"Wow, I never thought I would get to talk to my past husband. This is so interesting, hubby…"

She kept sending messages, calling me "hubby" over and over.

I stared at the word on my screen. At the same time, the image of Veronica’s cold, distant face surfaced in my mind. It all felt unreal, like a hallucination.

"Hubby, I just heard the door open. Are you home already?"

She quickly corrected herself. "No, it's the 2030 version of you who just got home. I am going to greet him. Let's talk later."

I put my phone away and returned home in a complete daze.

After taking a hot shower, my head finally cleared up a little. Even though I was still shaken by everything that had happened today, reality was reality. I still had to get next quarter’s work done properly.

I opened the file Veronica had given me. It was a market research report that contained extremely thorough data. The presentation was also very polished.

I read through it several times, then stayed up late refining my own plan.

The next morning, I woke up, yawned, and quickly headed to the office.

This period marked the beginning of a new quarter, and I was also leading a small team. Overall, things were pretty busy.

During this time, Veronica kept finding me to assign new tasks. My workload pressure kept increasing.

My head was buzzing. Was this what it looked like when she supposedly liked me?

"Andrew, there's a meeting this morning."

"Andrew, a client is coming in from out of town this afternoon. Go pick them up."

…

"Andrew, come with me this afternoon to meet a client."

I felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion. I truly could not imagine how, in this state, I had ended up marrying Veronica.

During a brief lull, I could not help but message the future Veronica.

The Veronica beside me noticed me on my phone and said, "You seem really busy lately, yet whenever you have a moment, you are chatting with someone. Are you seeing someone?"

The way she said it made me immediately put my phone away. To my surprise, I caught a hint of jealousy in her expression.

"Ms. Starling, I am swamped every day. I do not even have time to sleep. How would I have time to date?"

When she heard that, her expression visibly relaxed.

Seeing her reaction, I almost blurted out the question of whether she actually liked me. The words reached my lips, then I swallowed them back down.

That afternoon, we went to meet a client.

He also ran a company and seemed to know Veronica. From the moment we met, he kept calling her "Ronnie" this and "Ronnie" that.

From a man’s perspective, it was obvious he liked her. His name was Ryan Carter. He looked decent enough.

Veronica, however, was clearly not interested in him. Aside from discussing the partnership, she barely responded to anything else.

After we finally wrapped up the deal, Ryan offered to drive Veronica back. She rejected him outright and even reached out to grab my arm.

"He can take me back."

I quickly stepped closer to Veronica. "Mr. Carter, you are incredibly busy. I can take Ms. Starling back instead."

Only then did Ryan turn his attention to me, his gaze clearly carrying a trace of hostility. His tone turned unpleasant.

"That works too. Just make sure nothing happens to Ronnie, or I will hold you responsible."

I was speechless. What a disgusting jerk.

Veronica’s expression stiffened as well.

"Then we will be leaving first, Mr. Carter," I said.

When I started walking forward, Veronica hurried to follow. The two of us got into the car. Almost at the same time, we told the driver to leave quickly.

Right then, my phone notification went off. It was a message from my future wife, Veronica.

"Hubby, what is wrong?

"Are you okay, hubby?

"Please don't let anything happen to you. Hang in there."

The moment I read those messages, my entire body tensed up.

I did not hesitate at all and immediately replied, "What happened? Did something happen to the future me? Don't tell me I am about to die?"