Caught in a flood of memories, Fiona kept her eyes glued to Mark's backup phone screen even after it darkened.

It was really hard to reach his heart—he never laughed, barely talked, and only sat in a quiet corner all day, reading books.

The first time she celebrated his birthday, he didn't even look surprised, instead knocked the cake she had baked off her hands and threw away her present.

"No one asked for it," he snorted, and left.

Even so, she stayed by the cake and cried for the longest time—not just because of Mark's cold rejection, but because she knew her father would get upset with Mark if she went home crying.

Still, after everyone went to bed very late into the night, Mark showed up again, quietly cheering her up with his little hand sewn dolls.

Putting up a puppet show, he told her indirectly that because his parents had died in an accident on the same day, he had never celebrated his birthday ever since.

Since then, Fiona learned that Mark wasn't cold—he just needed time to warm up to anyone.

She just had to take her time to slowly overcome those obstacles in his heart, convincing him to trust her and fall for her.

Never could she have expected that doing that would cost her everything.

-

Mark only found out that Fiona was starting work when he saw her at the office and was at once frowning.

"Do you think this is a playground?" He snorted, clearly convinced that she was just a pretty face when she clearly wasn't.

On the other hand, Fiona never looked at him at all, as her eyes remained fixed on his 'assistant'.

Eventually, Mark turned toward her as well, twitching uncomfortably but only for a brief second.

"A new employee?" Fiona eventually asked.

"She's just an intern. You can go home now if you have no other business here," Mark replied shortly.

Fiona snorted—he really couldn't wait to chase her away to protect the woman behind him.

Still, she asked, "Why should I leave? The Starr family owns this company."

Mark glowered right then, and Fiona knew she had hurt his swelling ego with her words.

Labels like 'sponsored suitors' or 'one of Fiona Starr's husband candidates' were always a sore spot for him—he had already accomplished his own achievements, but all of it remained eclipsed under the Starr family's fame.

However, hurting Mark was exactly what Fiona wanted to do, not to mention that wasn't even a fraction of how much he had hurt her in her past life!

As Fiona turned, seemingly leaving, Sue was already reaching out, ready to pat Mark on the back.

That was when Fiona turned around again, and Sue's hands were left hanging in the air.

Even so, Fiona kept staring at her calmly, leaving her instantly pale and flustered in guilt, until Mark passed her a document folder and said, "You can go."

Fiona felt as if a hand clenched around her heart.

Mark's tone was so tender that even he probably didn't notice—it just went to show how protective he was toward Sue.

Then why didn't he just reject Fiona for Sue, even going on to marry Fiona?

It definitely wasn't the Starr family's fault that Sue killed herself, but ironically, Mark blamed Fiona and her father anyway.

Soon after Sue left, Mark's phone jingled.

Fiona was going to leave too when she felt a vice-like grip around her waist abruptly and frowned.

When she turned, she cringed and shuddered when she saw Mark's sinister glare.

It was as if he had shed his skin and revealed his true malicious nature, just as he did in her past life!

Shoving his phone at her face, he growled, "Did you do this?"

Fiona couldn't free herself and eventually gave in and looked at the phone and saw that it was the photo of Sue being molested.

Seeing how calm she was, Mark immediately made up his mind that she was guilty, not bothered to listen to what she had to say.

His hand clenched so hard around Fiona's wrist. Her tears welled up in her eyes, while the corner of her eyes reddened, but she gritted her teeth and fought against the impulse to cry out.

Because she refused to cry for Mark ever again.

"It! Wasn't! Me!" She snarled every syllable through her teeth!

Fiona then snapped, " Let go of me!"

Mark released her, but she was left staring at her reddened wrist that felt so numb it was as if it wasn't hers.

At the same time, Mark growled coolly above her, "It was your college friend who took that photo… how many times does this make it? Are you so jealous that you can't even stand a female around me?!

"I told you—if you want me to marry you, leave me alone for two months, or dream on!"

With that, he heard Sue sobbing outside and promptly knocked Fiona out of the way, storming out without looking behind.

Fiona was wearing high heels and sprained her leg, and she turned to see the door opening.

Sue crouched in a corner and sobbed loudly while three men were hovering around her, comforting her.

The men were Noris, Boris, and Yannick, whose education and lifestyles were sponsored by her father.

But as soon as they saw Fiona, they immediately surrounded Sue protectively, leaving Fiona smirking in wry amusement at how they didn't hesitate to take Sue's side.

Considering how Mark quickly took control over everything, the trio must have helped a lot.

As the stalemate lasted for a while, Yannick strode up to make peace. "She's like a sister to us. Mark knows how hard life has been for her, so he bent the rules to get her a job here. Blame me if you want, but don't get upset with Mark."

"Sister?" Fiona smirked, refusing to play along. "Is Mark really that understanding?"

She started to leave but felt her swollen wrist being grabbed again.

She gasped in pain, and Mark eased his grip but still held on to her. "You haven't apologized."

Fiona felt her heart grow cold, but she ignored her pain and shook him off with full strength.

Straightening herself, she glared at everyone as she snapped, "Why should I apologize?! I never did a thing!"

Sue quickly whispered, "I-It's alright, Mark."

And with that, Fiona left unbothered this time, with Mark's eyes still glued to her.

When she was out of sight, Noris couldn't help snorting, "What is her problem? Woke up on the wrong side of bed? She's never snapped at Mark like that before!"

"Probably just some new tactic she read somewhere to get Mark's attention," Boris chuckled, walking up and clapping Mark on the shoulder. "Watch out. Don't fall for it now!"

Mark nodded in understanding, as he was puzzled for a moment too.

As he walked up and wrapped his arms around Sue's waist, Noris, Boris, and Yannick all tactfully left.

"Do you really have to marry her?" she asked, still sobbing.

It broke Mark's heart to see that, but he sighed. "I have no choice.

Fiona loved him, and he owed the Starr family and had to work for them for the rest of his life.

Sue sobbed even louder right then, as she refused to accept it—how could her beloved man marry someone else?!

"You don't even love her!" she wailed. "You're just hurting yourself being with her! They don't get to do anything they like just because they're rich!"

Mark never answered and quietly held her tighter as he kissed her hair. "Just wait for me!"

Neither of them noticed that Fiona was hidden in a corner, recording everything and sneering as she turned off the screen.

It went without saying what Mark was waiting for, but she refused to let him win in this life!

The company's annual general meeting was held a week after Fiona started work.

Noris, Boris, and Yannick were already there when she arrived, and they flocked around her when they saw her.

Noris, who had always lacked patience, immediately demanded, "Mark's already told you—just leave him alone for two weeks, and he'll marry you. Why do you have to keep following him around even in the office?"

Boris was frowning at her too. "You were never involved with office work, but you keep screwing with him at every turn now. But we all know you just want his attention, or am I wrong?"

Fiona scowled, not even looking at them as she retorted, "I'm not here because of him. And I'm not going to marry—"

"Oh, just give up already," Noris snorted, cutting her short. "Do you think we don't know you? You're so crazy about Mark that you're literally losing your mind!"

Fiona simply shrugged, pushed Noris out of the way, and strode off, not bothered to explain that she had already chosen a new fiance.

However, that meant she didn't see them sharing a look behind her.

-

The annual general meeting proceeded as planned, but just as Fiona was about to give the closing speech in her father's stead, the screen suddenly turned black for a couple of seconds.

When it lit up again, the hall was buzzing even before Fiona realized what was happening.

When she finally turned toward the screen, she felt a rush of blood to her brain, speechless even as she shook with rage—the slideshow that should have been on the screen was replaced by racy photos of her!

Fiona's assistant rushed on stage and snapped at the backstage workers, "Turn it off!"

However, the screen stayed on, playing ninety-nine photos in front of everyone in the company on loop.

Her lips trembling, Fiona turned toward Mark, who calmly returned her gaze from below the stage, in the middle of the buzzing crowd.

She then remembered the last message he had sent in that chat group used solely to insult her and her father.

[If it really was her, I'll make her suffer!]

And this was how he did just that…

-

In the last life, when Fiona learned that Mark preferred delicate maidens, she tried to make herself one.

Whenever they went out, she would wear stilettos that left her soles blistered, after which she would level her adorable puppy eyes at Mark, asking him to carry her.

He would refuse but eventually sigh and pick her up since she was really in pain.

Still, as she kept using the trick, he caught on and would bring sandals with flat soles along whenever they went out.

Fiona therefore had no choice but to play her trump card—those racy photos of herself which she had saved in his phone, in an album titled [For Mark's eyes only].

And yet, he would exploit what she did out of maidenly naivete just to humiliate her.

Her ears ringing, her knuckles clenched around her chair as she picked it up and smashed it against the LED screen repeatedly.

Crash!

After smashing it repeatedly, she finally left a deep hole in the screen as it completely darkened.

However, it was no different from a gruesome hole punched into her flesh, so deeply that one could see bone.

-

Still, no one commented about what happened at the annual general meeting on social media, while Mark bizarrely showed up in front of Fiona the next day.

Passing her a rose, he said, "Don't worry. No employee will breathe a word about what happened."

"Breathe a word to who? My father?" Fiona snorted.

He had basically destroyed her, and he was telling her not to worry?

Moreover, most of the employees in this building were under Mark's payroll.

Her father was busy working on a project abroad, not knowing that Mark was almost taking full control over his own company!

Mark glowered, looking Fiona straight in the eye as he growled, "You hurt Sue first. She's… a sister to me, and the most important person in my life. If you want to marry me, you have to behave and respect everyone around me."

"But I don't want to marry you," Fiona calmly replied, but he had already turned to leave.

It was not as if he would take her seriously if he had heard her anyway.