Claire had not expected that on only her third day back home, her father would corner her outside her apartment.

Victor left no room for argument. "Mr. Brooks just lost his wife, and he's very interested in you. This marriage alliance will decide whether the Sterling Group gets the port project."

Claire did not want to go, but with one order from Victor, the bodyguards dragged her straight to the private room.

All she could do was pray he would not like her. But the moment Harold saw her, his eyes lit up.

"Ms. Sterling, you're even prettier than your photo." He gave her a greasy smile and reached for her hand. "I heard you studied journalism overseas. Why don't you come work as my personal assistant? I'll pay you five hundred thousand dollars a month."

Five hundred thousand dollars a month?

That was not a job offer. He was looking for a mistress.

Claire jerked her hand back at once. "Sorry, I'm not the right person for that job."

"Come on, don't be in such a hurry." Harold grabbed her wrist with a grip brutal enough to hurt. "Your dad already agreed, so what are you acting all high and mighty for?"

She struggled against him. "Let go of me!"

Just as she was about to cry out for help.

The private room door was kicked open.

Ethan strode in. His gaze swept over Harold's hand clamped around her wrist, and all warmth vanished from his eyes.

The next second, he seized Harold's wrist with such force it felt like he might crush the bone. The moment Claire broke free, she moved behind Ethan without thinking.

Ethan glanced at the way Claire had hidden behind him and gave a faint smile. "Mr. Brooks, sorry, but she's with me."

Harold froze for a second, then flew into a rage. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Ethan slowly turned his head, a cold smile tugging at his lips. "I'm her fiancé."

Claire went still and looked up at his back.

Her fiancé?

Harold had been ready to curse him out, but the instant he recognized who it was, all the color drained from his face. His knees nearly gave out beneath him.

Ethan ignored him. He took out his phone, dialed a number, and said in an icy voice, "Suspend all cooperation with Brooks Group."

At that moment, Victor and Monica hurried over, clearly having rushed there after hearing what happened.

Victor forced out a smile. "Mr. Quinn, this is a misunderstanding. It was just a normal blind date..."

Ethan cut him off, murder in his eyes. "You're forcing her to marry an old man who just lost his wife, and you call that a normal blind date?"

He advanced one step at a time, the force of his presence driving Victor backward. "If anyone so much as lays a finger on her again, I won't mind wiping the Sterling Group out of this country for good."

Monica clapped a hand over her mouth in fright. Victor's face turned deathly ashen, and he did not dare say another word.

Ethan was no longer the nobody he had been five years ago. Now, Quinn Group could crush Sterling Group as easily as stepping on an ant.

Ethan turned, took hold of Claire's wrist, and though his grip was not harsh, it carried a resolve she could not break free from. "Come with me."

Silence filled the car.

At last, Claire could not hold back anymore. Her voice was so soft it was almost impossible to hear. "Why did you help me?"

Ethan's grip on the steering wheel tightened sharply, the tendons standing out across the back of his hand.

He did not look at her. His voice came out hoarse, as if forced from somewhere deep in his throat. "You may be cold and heartless, but I'm not like you. We're not the same. At least I still know how to care."

Claire could not understand it. He was the one who had abandoned her back then, so why did he look at her now as if he hated her to the bone?

Bitterness welled up inside her, and she could not stop herself from shooting back, "If you're really so loyal and so full of feeling, then why were you the one who, five years ago..."

Before she could finish, the passenger-side door was suddenly pulled open.

Sophie climbed in, clutching a stack of documents, panic written all over her face. "Ethan! Emergency meeting! There's a problem with the acquisition!"

The second she spotted Claire in the back seat, jealousy and spite flashed through her eyes.

Ethan frowned. "Push the meeting back."

"No!" Sophie grabbed his arm anxiously, leaning so close she was nearly pressed against him. "They're already here, just waiting for your signature. This deal is everything you've worked for over the past five years!"

She looked up at him, her eyes rimmed red. "You can't ruin yourself over one woman."

From the back seat, Claire watched Sophie's hand clutching Ethan's sleeve, and watched him not shake her off right away.

Little by little, her heart sank.

So the one who had stayed by his side these past five years was Sophie.

So he had already moved on with someone else.

She quietly wiped away her tears and said in a low voice, "I can get back on my own."

Ethan turned to her. "Claire..."

"No." She cut him off, her voice calm in a way that was almost frightening. "Thank you for helping me today. But from now on, stay out of my life."

She pushed open the door and got out. Rain was already pouring down outside, but even without an umbrella, she walked away without a second thought.

Ethan moved to go after her, but Sophie clung desperately to his arm. "Ethan! If you leave now, the acquisition is finished! Five years of work will go down the drain!"

Claire walked in the rain for a full hour before she finally made it back to her apartment.

The moment she got inside, her strength gave out and she collapsed.

But early the next morning, she still showed up at the office on time. That evening, the Sterling family and Quinn Group were holding a joint annual gala, and every employee was required to attend.

Claire wore the plainest little black dress she could find and kept to the corner, trying to stay unnoticed.

But with a face like hers, blending in was never really an option.

"Look, the Sterling daughter who ran from her marriage is back."

"I heard she dumped Mr. Quinn and ran. And now she's back?"

Claire lowered her eyes and took a sip of champagne, trying to steady herself.

"Shut up."

A cold voice cut through the whispers. The people gossiping fell silent at once, terrified Ethan might turn his eyes on them next.

A faint ache tightened in Claire's chest. When she looked over, Ethan was already walking toward his business partners with a glass in hand, as if the one who had stepped in for her a second ago had never been him at all.

"Claire!"

A syrupy voice rang out.

Sophie walked over holding two glasses of wine, smiling brightly. "Here's to your return."

Claire instinctively wanted to refuse, but with so many eyes turning toward them, she could not afford to make a scene.

"Thanks." She took the glass.

Something flickered in Sophie's eyes. Her fingertip brushed lightly over the rim of the glass, where a colorless, tasteless powder had already dissolved into the wine.

"Cheers." Sophie tipped back her own drink in one go, smiling all the while.

Claire took a sip as well.

Seconds later, the room began to spin.

She caught herself on the edge of the table, her vision blurring. Through the haze, she heard Sophie murmur to two men in suits, "Take her to the side room. Mr. Brooks is waiting."

She tried to resist, but her whole body had gone weak.

The two men hoisted her up and dragged her toward the far end of the corridor.

"Let... go of me..." she murmured, before her consciousness slipped into darkness.

In the side room, Harold rubbed his hands together as he walked closer. "This is her? Ethan's woman?"

"That's right," Sophie said over the phone. "Take a few intimate photos and send them to Ethan. Let him see just how cheap the woman he keeps protecting really is."

Harold hung up and moved closer to Claire with a filthy grin. "Don't worry. I'll make sure she cooperates."

He reached for the buttons of Claire's dress.

Then the door slammed open.

Ethan stood in the doorway like death itself, his eyes bloodshot. "Who the hell touched her?"

Harold stumbled back in fright. "M-Mr. Quinn! This is a misunderstanding!"

Ethan did not waste a word. He drove his fist straight into Harold's nose.

The crack of breaking bone was sickeningly clear.

He strode to Claire, took off his suit jacket, wrapped it around her, and swept her into his arms.

Curled against his chest, she blinked her eyes open in a daze, tears slipping down her face. "You promised me... Why didn't you come for me? I waited at the old harbor until dawn..."

Ethan's whole body stiffened. He had not caught her words clearly. "What did you say? Where were you?"

Claire was too dazed to notice anything else. All she could do was pour out the hurt she had carried for years.

She sobbed, her voice broken. "But you didn't come... You left me behind."

Listening to her slurred whispers, Ethan felt panic claw at his chest. He wanted nothing more than to shake the woman in his arms awake and force the truth into the open right then and there.

"Claire!" Sophie rushed in with two maids behind her, her face painted with concern. "You've had too much to drink. I'll take you to a guest room so you can rest."

She turned to Ethan and forced a smile. "Ethan, she's not in her right mind right now. You can't take what she says seriously. You should go. I'll handle things here."

Ethan sensed something was off. "Who handed her that drink tonight?"

Sophie's expression tightened. She could not let Ethan learn the truth. If he did, her dream of marrying him would be shattered for good.

"If you don't let me take her away, tomorrow the whole internet will be full of stories about Claire getting drunk and throwing herself at you. Your career will be ruined by this woman."

Ethan was not afraid of what might happen to him. But Claire was still tied to the Sterling family, and he could not ignore that.

The Sterling family controlled the largest media network in the city. If they leaked even the slightest rumor, the career Claire had fought so hard to rebuild could be wiped out overnight.

"Claire," he called softly.

She looked at him through blurred eyes, tears shimmering within them. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Sophie cut in at once. "She's exhausted. Take her to rest, now."

The maids half-supported and half-dragged Claire out of the room.

Once Claire was gone, Sophie seized the moment and threw herself into Ethan's arms, clinging to him tightly. "Ethan, I'm the one who's been by your side these past five years... I've treated you better than Claire ever did. She gave up on you a long time ago. I'm the only one who's always loved you."

Ethan's eyes darkened. He pushed her away with controlled force. "Don't touch me."

He turned and walked away. Sophie remained where she was, her nails digging into her palm, the hatred in her eyes impossible to hide.

From the shadowed end of the hallway, a man dressed in black stepped out and handed her a memory card. "The photos are done."

Sophie let out a cold laugh. "Send them to Claire."

Claire woke in the hotel room with her head splitting apart in pain.

She thought of Ethan's expression before she blacked out, the way he had seemed to want to say something, and the confusion in his face that had not looked fake at all.

A bold thought rose in her heart. Maybe Ethan had never received her messages back then. Or maybe something had happened to him on the way.

Maybe he had his reasons. Maybe he had not abandoned her on purpose.

At the thought, her chest tightened with sudden hope. She wanted nothing more than to find him that instant and clear everything up.

Then her phone vibrated.

It was an anonymous picture message. In the photo, Ethan was looking down at Sophie in his arms. Their foreheads were pressed together, their lips less than an inch apart.

And the timestamp on the photo was unmistakable. It had been taken five years ago.

Claire stared at the photo, her fingers trembling.

So it wasn't that he never got her messages. It wasn't that he had a reason.

He had already given his heart to someone else.

She thought of how he hadn't come after her in the rain, of the way he had said he had no interest in her, of how he had stood by while she was dragged away…

Now everything made sense.

Had the pain she endured for five years meant nothing to him at all?

She had to get answers from Ethan.

Claire rushed out of the room and headed straight for the Quinn estate.

She had just reached the main building when two maids came out from a side entrance carrying a black garment bag, whispering to each other.

"Did you hear? Mr. Quinn's getting engaged."

"Yeah. Sophie said this is the engagement outfit. Mr. Quinn is trying it on today."

Claire froze as if struck by lightning, her feet rooted to the ground.

Ethan was getting engaged?

To Sophie?

All her courage drained away in an instant. She no longer wanted to face him.

She turned to leave, but footsteps sounded behind her.

"Claire?" Ethan's voice was low, with a trace of restrained urgency. "What are you doing here? Did you come to see me?"

Claire turned slowly.

He stood in the morning light, his shirt slightly open, his expression unreadable.

She stared at him, her voice shaking. "That outfit just now… is it yours?"

He frowned. "Which one?"

"The one the maids were carrying." Her voice almost broke into a shout. "Is it yours or not?"

Ethan paused for a second, then let out a cold laugh. "If it's not mine, whose would it be, yours? Do I need your permission to have an outfit made now?"

The words cut into Claire like a blade.

Five years ago, they were supposed to run away together, and he vanished without a trace.

For five years, ninety-nine emails, all unanswered.

And now, five years later, all he gave her was mockery and humiliation.

Everything inside her snapped at once. Her eyes burned red as she raised her hand.

A sharp slap landed across his face.

Ethan froze. One side of his face burned, but he did not move.

Claire's eyes were red as her voice shook. "I must've been blind to fall for someone like you five years ago!"

With that, she turned to leave.

Ethan stood there, his cheek still burning, yet something in his chest loosened unexpectedly.

She had just said she loved him five years ago?

For a moment, he felt the slap had been worth it.

But when he saw the finality in her back, panic set in.

He caught up, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into his arms. "You're still the same spoiled rich girl. Slapping me without even asking what really happened?"

Claire had never seen anyone this shameless. Yet the more she struggled, the tighter his hold became.

Feeling the familiar warmth she had not known for five years, the steady beat of his heart beneath his chest, she suddenly broke down. "Ethan..."

Ethan felt dampness spreading against his chest. Panic flickered through him. Without thinking, like he had done countless times before, he reached up and gently wiped her tears. "Claire, don't cry..."

Before he could finish, Sophie rushed out from the corridor.

The moment she saw the mark on Ethan's face and Claire in his arms, she let out a sharp scream and lunged at Claire.

"You dared to hit him?"

Claire had no time to react before Sophie's hand was already raised.

Ethan reacted instantly, grabbing Sophie's wrist with enough force to make her cry out.

"What do you think you're doing?" he snapped coldly.

But in Claire's eyes, he was protecting Sophie, afraid she might get hurt.

Claire broke free from his arms and walked away without looking back.

Ethan moved to follow, but Sophie wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, crying out, "I'm the only one who deserves you! She'll only hurt you!"

Claire's figure disappeared beyond the gates of the estate.

Ethan's expression darkened. He shoved Sophie away hard, his voice ice-cold. "If you try anything like that again, you're out."

Sophie collapsed to the ground, staring at him in disbelief, before scrambling up and running off in tears.

Ethan stood in the middle of the garden, the morning wind ruffling his hair.

His assistant hurried over. "Mr. Quinn, the outfit for tomorrow night's dinner with the four major families is ready. As for your face..."

"I know." He cut him off, touching his still-burning cheek. A faint smile curved his lips. "It's nothing."

The assistant was stunned. He had just been slapped by Claire, and he was… smiling?

Ethan looked toward the gate, his gaze deep. "As long as she can still get angry because of me, it means she still cares. I can forgive her for leaving without a word five years ago, as long as she's willing to speak now, willing to stay by my side. I can forgive her anything."