Yara remained in the hospital for a few days. Marcus never came to see her. His assistant sent a message on his behalf, telling her to rest well and return to work once she recovered.

Yara stopped pushing herself. She did not leave the hospital until her exhausted body had fully recovered.

The company group chat buzzed with gossip. Everyone was talking about Marcus and Quiana.

He booked an amusement park for a week to celebrate her birthday. Fireworks lit up the sky for three nights in a row.

He brought her to a family dinner and gave her the bracelet that was meant only for a future wife.

He bought a piece of land and planned to build a private ski resort. Even the name of the resort was connected to Quiana.

Yara read the messages quietly. Her heart felt nothing.

After she left the hospital, she went back to work as usual. She was careful and thorough with her work.

If anything required Marcus’ attention, she passed it to the other secretaries instead of handling it herself.

After a peaceful week, Marcus called her again.

She delivered the documents he needed and was about to leave when he stopped her.

“I have a meeting. Quiana doesn’t like eating alone. Stay here and keep her company.”

Her face stiffened. She wanted to refuse, but Quiana had already begun giving orders.

“I like steak. Cut it for me first.”

Marcus closed the door to the study. Yara swallowed her words and walked to the dining table.

After she finished cutting the steak, Quiana asked someone to bring over a large plate of walnuts and jackfruit.

“I want some fruit after the meal. There are no tools here. Use your hands.”

Yara looked at the hard walnut shells and the sharp spikes on the jackfruit. Her heart sank.

She knew Quiana was doing it on purpose.

But she could only obey.

After cracking the walnuts and opening the jackfruit, her hands were covered in small cuts.

Quiana still was not satisfied. She told Yara to go to the kitchen and bring the soup.

The soup had just come off the stove. It was so hot that her hands quickly turned red.

The pain became too much. Her grip slipped, and the boiling soup spilled onto her body.

Steam rose into the air. Within seconds, blisters formed on her hands.

The burning pain spread through her. She bit her lip hard to stop herself from crying out.

When Quiana saw Yara fall to the floor, she could barely hide her delight.

The next second, she saw the study door open. She quickly wiped the smile off her face and began to scold Yara.

“I heard from Marcus that you’re very capable. How could you not even carry a bowl of soup without spilling it? You even burned my hand.”

Marcus heard this and rushed over.

“Where did you get burned? Let me see. Does it hurt?”

Quiana raised the hand she had secretly pinched red and showed it to him. She forced a couple of tears.

“A few drops splashed on me. I don’t know if it’ll leave a scar.”

“How do you do your job? Quiana has been pampered since she was a child. She has never been hurt. She asked you to carry a bowl of soup, and you scalded her. Couldn’t you be more careful?”

Marcus’ face darkened. He could not help scolding Yara.

But when he saw the injuries on her body, he held back. He did not say anything harsher. He picked Quiana up and took her to treat the burn.

Before leaving, he saw Yara still standing there. His voice turned firm.

“Come to the hospital with us. Get your injuries treated.”

Yara endured the pain and followed them into the car.

Marcus drove very fast.

Quiana did not want him to realize she was pretending, so she cried out in pain from time to time.

He felt distressed when he heard her and kept turning to look at her.

His attention was so divided that he did not see the sports car speeding toward them.

There was a loud crash. The two cars collided.

The force of the impact threw Yara against the car door. It felt as if her organs had shifted. Sharp pain spread through her body.

Blood flowed out and turned her vision red.

Her body trembled. She forced her eyes open and saw Marcus carrying Quiana out of the car.

An ambulance siren grew louder in the distance. Through her fading awareness, she heard two urgent voices.

“Sir, this young woman only fainted from shock. The passenger in the back seat is bleeding heavily. If she is not taken to the hospital right away, her life could be in danger.”

“No! Quiana has to go to the hospital first! I can’t let anything happen to her! Nothing is more important than her safety!”

Marcus’ frantic shouts were the last thing Yara heard before she passed out.

Darkness closed in and swallowed her.

It felt like she had been trapped in a long nightmare.

When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Yelena standing beside the bed. Her eyes were teary.

“Yara, I just got back and heard you were in an accident. The doctor said you lost a lot of blood. They almost couldn’t save you. I was so scared.”

When Yara saw her, all the pain she had kept inside came rushing out.

Her eyes welled up. She could not hold back anymore and hugged her tightly.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

They held each other for a long time.

After a while, Yelena poured her a glass of water and helped her drink. She remembered the doctor’s advice and tried to talk about something lighter.

“Have you been happy these past few years? Has Marcus treated you badly? Didn’t you say you had a boyfriend? When will you introduce him to me? I need to see what kind of person he is. If he doesn’t treat you well, I won’t approve.”

Yara’s expression froze.

“Mr. Quinn keeps work and personal matters separate. He never mistreated me. As for my boyfriend, we already broke up.”

Yelena had not expected that. She was afraid Yara would feel sad, so she quickly tried to comfort her.

“It’s fine. If one doesn’t work out, there will be a better one. I know plenty of handsome guys. I’ll introduce them to you.”

Before she could finish, the door to the hospital room opened.

Marcus walked in with a grim look on his face.

“Introduce her to who? No. You’re not introducing her to anyone. Those playboys you know are not right for her.”

Yelena’s lips trembled as soon as he shut her down.

“Playboys? Marcus, stop talking like that. They have only had two or three girlfriends. Not everyone is like you. You’re so devoted that you’ve stayed hung up on Quiana all these years. Besides, I’m setting Yara up with someone. Why do you have to interfere?”

Anger flared in Marcus’ chest, and his voice turned cold.

“I said no, and that means no. You can’t force feelings. Stop playing matchmaker.”

He was right. Feelings could not be forced.

It took Yara four years to learn that.

She gave a faint smile and gently pulled on Yelena’s hand while looking at Marcus calmly.

“Yelena was only joking. Mr. Quinn, did you need something?”

Marcus relaxed a little when he saw she was fine.

He wanted to say he had come to see her, but he swallowed the words.

“It’s nothing. Yelena heard about your accident and came to the hospital right after she landed. I came to take her home. I also stopped by to check on you.”

“Alright, Marcus. I’ll go home tonight. You can head back first. Yara was seriously hurt. You’re not allowed to give her any more work.”

Yelena spoke while pushing him out of the room.

When the room was quiet again, she started defending him.

“He may look scary, but he treats you well. The nurse said you were close to dying yesterday. He had blood brought in from all over the city to save you.”

Yara paused when she heard that.

A moment later, she steadied herself.

Marcus had blood brought in from all over the city because he did not want her to die.

But between her and Quiana, if one of them had to die, she knew it would be her.

She stopped holding on to any fantasies about him.

During her last few days in Jadewood, she stayed in the hospital to recover.

When the nurses came in for their rounds, they would often talk about the VIP ward upstairs.

“I heard that the CEO of Quinn Corp reserved the entire floor. He even invited several retired professors from Jadewood to look after his girlfriend.”

“I’ve seen Mr. Quinn a few times. He brings her water and food, buys her expensive jewelry to make her happy, and stays by her bedside all night. He really dotes on her.”

Yara listened quietly and placed a hand over her chest.

There was no pain. Her heartbeat was just a little slow.

The wound in her heart had almost healed.

On the day she was discharged, Yelena planned to pick her up but got held up by family matters.

Yara reassured her and left the hospital alone. She went straight back to the company.

It was her last day there. She went through the paperwork as required.

While carrying a box, she was about to leave when she ran into Quiana near the elevators.

Quiana was holding a cup of coffee. She deliberately bumped into Yara. “Are you blind? You spilled coffee all over my dress. This keeps happening. Are you doing this on purpose?”

She staged the whole scene herself, then called the bodyguards over and ordered them to force Yara to kneel at the entrance of the headquarters as an apology.

Yara refused to bow her head. Quiana became even more vicious and threw the remaining half cup of coffee in her face.

“What are you looking at? Are you unhappy? Let me tell you something. Marcus only cares about me. No matter what I do, he’ll take my side. Punishing a secretary like you is nothing to him.”

After saying that, she walked away with a proud look on her face.

The bodyguards dragged Yara downstairs and forced her to kneel on the ground.

She kept struggling, but she could not break free. She could only try to reason with them.

“I’ve already resigned. I’m not Marcus’ secretary anymore. What right do you have to make me kneel?”

The bodyguard did not react at all. His voice was cold. “Mr. Quinn has given orders. Ms. Xanthe’s words are his words. Whatever she asks for, we do it. Ms. Summers, you can bring it up to Mr. Quinn.”

Those few sentences shut her up completely.

She knew they would not listen, so she stopped struggling.

Coworkers and passersby looked at her and whispered to each other. Some even took photos.

In the bitter winter cold, she knelt outside for seven full hours. The skin on her knees was worn raw.

Her face turned pale from the cold, and she kept shivering. She held on with sheer willpower.

As it got close to the end of the workday, her mind began to blur. At that moment, she heard someone calling her name.

She forced herself to lift her head and saw Yelena running toward her.

“Yara, you just got out of the hospital. Why are you kneeling here? Who is tormenting you on purpose?”

Yara’s throat felt dry. She answered without thinking.

“It was Quiana…”