The year my family goes bankrupt, I cling to Ewan Rivera for one last night. When I wake up, I throw my final bit of money at him.

"You can go cozy up to some other sugar mommy now. You don't need to degrade yourself by serving an ugly woman like me."

I'm kicked out by the people liquidating our assets, and everyone points and laughs at the birthmark on my face.

Meanwhile, Ewan's friends are busy celebrating his fresh start.

"With a face like yours, tons of wealthy, gorgeous women are lining up for you. Why torture yourself with that ugly chick?"

"Now that she's bankrupt, she won't cling to you anymore, right?"

Five years later, Ewan has gone from being a broke campus heartthrob to a rising star in business.

In the interview room, he flips through my application and pauses on my photo. He asks coolly, "You're 28? You already have a child?"

I meet his probing gaze and introduce myself. "Yes. I'm Ingrid Landeau. I'm married with a daughter."

I've changed my name and removed the large birthmark on my face.

Ewan can't recognize me anymore.

I never imagined the résumé I submitted would end up in Ewan Rivera's hands, and that he would be the one interviewing me. The second I pushed the door open, my breath faltered.

He sat behind his desk, a pair of rimless glasses perched on his straight nose. He turned the pages of my résumé with his long fingers. His gaze moved from my photo to my face, a probing look in his eyes.

"Ingrid Landeau? You graduated from Walden College, and you're applying to be my personal assistant?" He tapped the desk and raised his eyes lazily.

He continued, "Do you know what it entails? To put it bluntly, you'll be like a housekeeper. I have a lot going on day to day, so there are countless details you'll need to pay attention to."

He was still talking, but my mind had drifted back to the night we parted years ago.

Back then, Ewan wore a shirt washed to the point of fading. I yanked his collar open, sending the buttons flying. I pinned him to the bed and kissed him without rhyme or reason.

At the same time, I spat the most vile words I could think of. "You must be the happiest of all to see me go bankrupt. Finally, you don't have to swallow your pride to wait on me.

"It must be disgusting to look at my face, isn't it? Well, even if I'm broke, I can still afford to buy one more night with you."

He said nothing. His gaze was dark and unfathomable; his hands found my waist with practiced ease. When it was over, I tossed him a card and bought out the first half of my ridiculous life.

"Are you sure about this?" Ewan drummed his fingers on the table. His voice was ice-cold, and his eyes calm and unreadable.

He didn't recognize me.

I instinctively touched my face. The broad swath of an ugly purple birthmark and rashes from layers of makeup were no longer there.

Now, I wore a thinner, plainer face that was bare and simple. It was impossible to connect me with the person I used to be. I'd even changed my name.

"I'm sure." I forced down the surge of emotion in my chest and found a brief, fake calm.

"Good. You can start now. Let Adam fill you in." Ewan flicked his hand to dismiss me and didn't spare me another glance.

I took the hint and stepped out. The moment the office door closed, the weight in my chest finally eased.

If I could help it, I didn't want to be entangled with Ewan anymore for the rest of my life. He was our faculty's unattainable star, while "dirty, mean, sharp, and ugly" were my labels instead.

I'd insisted on using money to buy him out, grinding his pride into dust. I'd also selfishly had his daughter. But the worst part of all of this was that my daughter, Louisa Landeau, had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor and needed surgery.

As if fate were a stream of water that wouldn't part when severed, I ended up in Ewan's company for Louisa's sake.

…

Over the next few days, I was out of it. Louisa's surgery was imminent, and there was too much I needed to prepare.

By the third time I asked Ewan for leave, his answer was merciless. "This is the final time. Don't bother coming to work anymore."

I could understand that. But still, it was Louisa's birthday, and she wanted so badly to go to the amusement park. With the surgery looming, I was terrified there wouldn't be another chance for this.

I took what I could get and brought her to the amusement park, where we stayed until the afternoon. On the way home, the sky opened up in a sudden downpour, and we huddled under a storefront eave.

I was pulling out my phone to call an Uber when Louisa suddenly slipped from my grasp, running unsteadily to a toy that had fallen. By the time I realized what had happened, she was already in the rain.

A car tore through the sheet of raindrops in the distance, and my heart leapt to my throat. I was about to scream when a hand reached out before I could and yanked Louisa back.

"Ingrid!"

A man's voice cut low and cold through the woven sheets of rain. I looked up, feeling like I was dreaming. Ewan stood in front of me, gripping Louisa's hand tightly.

He had no umbrella, so the water streamed off his hair, his cheeks, and his jaw, soaking his outrageously expensive suit. His eyes were as distant as ever, but there was a hard edge of anger in them now.

"Thank you, Mr. Rivera." Flustered, I pulled Louisa behind me. I didn't prompt her to say thanks as I always would.

Ewan shot us a glance, his tone making it clear that he was brooking no argument. "Get in the car."

The pressure was real when Ewan's expression turned cold. I guided Louisa into the car with my heart racing. My fingers subconsciously wrinkled the hem of my clothes.

Raindrops still clung to the short strands of hair at Ewan's forehead, but he grabbed a towel and handed it to me. "Don't let your girl catch a cold."

I was still taken aback when Louisa took the towel, thanking him politely.

Ewan's expression eased quite a bit. His gaze drifted to my dazed face, and he frowned again. "Did you take the day off just to get soaked in the rain?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized they sounded rather harsh. He rubbed his furrowed brows and asked, "Where are you headed?"

"Prime Hospital," Louisa said, rushing to defend me. "Mommy took me out for my birthday today. I've been in the hospital for so long; I haven't gone anywhere in ages."

Ewan paused, looking down at her, who clearly wasn't shy at all. Her face was thin and a little pale in a sickly way, making her eyes look even rounder and brighter. When she blinked up at him, something strange and indescribable stirred in his chest.

He had the odd feeling he'd seen her before. Almost against his will, he asked, "Where's her dad?"

"He died. A long time ago." I spoke quickly—my first words since getting in the car—then clumsily tried to change the subject.

"Thanks, Mr. Rivera. I've had a lot of things going on with my daughter lately. I won't let this happen again. I'll do my job properly."

At that, his eyes shifted from Louisa back to me. His face was austere, his eyes like deep pools that made my heart skip.

I flinched, avoiding his gaze on reflex. He didn't press for more. Leaning back, he closed his eyes and told the driver, "Take us to Prime Hospital."

We soon arrived. Ewan got out before me and grabbed a black umbrella from the car. He held it up, motioning for me to get out.

"Thanks, Mr. Rivera, but there's no need to walk us in. I'll return the umbrella tomorrow." My words came out in a rush. I just wanted to escape.

"I only have one umbrella." He stood in front of the door, almost blocking my view with his broad chest. His words came lightly from above me.

The implication was clear. If I took the umbrella, what would he use?

I gave up. I gathered Louisa close and squeezed under the umbrella with him.

We were close—close enough that he could smell the faint scent of detergent clinging to me. For some reason, it felt familiar, and his heartbeat became uneven.

He took a deep breath. To distract himself, he said, "You've been working for less than a month, yet you've taken so much time off. It was just a couple of hours off the first few times, but now you've taken the whole day. You're busier than I am."

Heat crawled up my neck as I burned with embarrassment. I lowered my eyes and said nothing.

Inside the hospital, I handed Louisa to the doctor so she could be checked. Then, when I glanced back, I saw Ewan still standing behind me, looking like he had no intention of leaving. I walked over to him and smiled awkwardly.

"Do you have anything else planned, Mr. Rivera? My family matters are dealt with, so I can go back to the office now."

Instead of answering, he asked, "What's your daughter's diagnosis?"

I wasn't sure what he was getting at, so I answered honestly. "She has a tumor and needs surgery."

"In that case, I suggest you change jobs."

I froze and looked up at him. His eyes and expression were as cool as ever. "Being my personal assistant is demanding. I don't need someone who's distracted and just hanging around for the sake of having a job."

The topic shift was abrupt, and his tone was lofty and blunt—so blunt it stung. My ears rang, and my eyes burned. I let out a short, cold laugh.

"I've only been employed for a week. On what basis do you think I'm just here to coast? I took time off for real reasons, and only after making sure my work was done. I don't see where I've failed."

He listened without missing a word, unusually quiet. He held my gaze, and for the first time, sensed something different in me.

From the first time he saw me, I'd struck him as strangely quiet—or rather, like I was hiding from something. I was like a mouse that couldn't stand the light.

But now, facing me head-on and seeing the way I kept averting my eyes, something about that felt familiar. He abruptly asked, "Have we met somewhere before?"

My blood seemed to freeze for a moment, and my clenched palms turned slick from my nerves.

"Are you changing the subject, Mr. Rivera? Is it because what I said was too on-point to refute?" I held my head high, trying to cut off Ewan's absurd line of thought with a sharp jab.

He was silent for a few seconds. Those few seconds stretched my heart taut.

"You're not wrong. I am." He let out a soft snort, sounding like he was mocking himself. With that, he turned and walked away.

The next day, everything at work ran as usual. When Ewan showed up, he didn't spare me a single look, as if nothing had happened.

Near the end of the day, his secretary, Adam Johnson, came out of his office, looking troubled. He muttered, "What's with Mr. Rivera? Why does he suddenly want me to look up a college classmate?"

The words "college classmate" drifted into my ears, making my heart surge like a tsunami.

I forced myself to speak. "Mr. Johnson, who's Mr. Rivera asking you to check on? Maybe I know them."

"Oh, right. You're all from Walden College. It's a woman whose name is Rowena Colson." He even helpfully flipped the printed photo over for me to see.

The young woman in the image wore a pale layer of powder, but a dark birthmark clung to her skin like a monstrous claw, impossible to ignore.

Ewan was looking for me! The thought lodged in my chest like a thorn, making me increasingly uneasy.

So, when I was called into Ewan's office the following noon, I was still a little out of it. While I made his coffee, I could feel the chill in his gaze, threaded with heavy scrutiny.

"Ingrid, you're from Walden College, too? Which school? I feel like you look familiar."

My whole body went rigid. I gripped the cup hard, my breath shaking slightly as I answered, "Journalism and communication. I did some volunteer events in college, so maybe we crossed paths then."

"Oh, yeah?" He took the cup, fixing his gaze on the rippling coffee. Then, he smiled with an unreadable edge. "Do you know Rowena Colson from the school of economics and management?"

"I think I've heard the name, but I don't have much of an impression of her." I forced a smile as I answered.

Luckily, Ewan didn't seem to care about the hedge in my words. He just gave a soft hum of acknowledgment.

I quickly dealt with the files on his desk and hurried out of the office. I didn't notice Ewan's gaze shift from my retreating back to his desk. He picked up the two photos lying there and tried to overlay them.

After work that day, my email—one I almost never logged into—randomly received a message. It was supposedly from my former advisor, saying my thesis was up for auditing and asking for my phone number so I could be contacted.

I was listening to the doctor list pre-op instructions for Louisa, so I didn't bother to verify anything. I quickly replied with my phone number and locked my phone, listening carefully.

After leaving the exam room, I walked down the hallway to Louisa's ward. Then, I stopped short at the sight ahead.

In the distance, Louisa was holding Ewan's hand and waving at me. My fingers locked tight around the door handle; my whole body tensed. I shut my eyes, took a deep breath, and hurried over.

Louisa's head was tilted up, and she was talking to Ewan. As I approached, her voice grew clearer. "I'm not afraid of pain. I'll be like Mommy. Mommy had a huge monster on her face that she had to fight, and she won. I'll definitely beat the demon inside my body."

Kids talked in loops; Ewan didn't seem to understand her and paused. Then, he asked her something. I broke out in a cold sweat and rushed over to cut Louisa off. "Lulu!"

A passing nurse greeted me and said, "Ingrid, Lulu looks just like her dad. She's almost a carbon copy of him."

"He's not. Her father passed away long ago."

No one could hear the panic pounding in my chest—the force of it almost shattered my eardrums. Even my voice came out dry and rough.

The young nurse slipped away, looking embarrassed.

Ewan nodded at me, his gaze calm and indifferent. He looked like he hadn't taken the nurse's words to heart. I let out a breath. I took Louisa's hand and thanked him.

…

It was less than two days until Louisa's surgery. I was struggling over how to ask Ewan for leave when Adam came out looking troubled.

When he met my gaze, he hesitated, sighed, and said, "Ingrid, be honest with me. Where did you do your undergrad? You can't fake something like this."

My hand trembled; sweat beaded at my temple in an instant. I could only feign confusion and smile. "What do you mean, Mr. Johnson? I graduated from Walden College, didn't I?"

"Mr. Rivera had me look into you. Walden College's school of journalism and communication doesn't have any graduates named Ingrid Landeau."

It felt like something exploded in my head. In that moment, my mind went blank.

"Think about how you're going to explain this to Mr. Rivera," Adam warned.

I froze in place, unable to move. A full minute later, my clogged brain finally sputtered back to life. I drafted a resignation letter at top speed, cleared my desk, and marched straight into Ewan's office.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rivera. I admit I didn't graduate from Walden College. I lied about my credentials and deceived you. Lulu's surgery is in two days.

"I can't do this job anymore, and I'm not shameless enough to continue. Thank you for your care this past month. I'll leave my resignation letter here."

I couldn't give Ewan the chance to keep digging. Otherwise, he would find out that five years ago, Ingrid Landeau was still called Rowena Colson.

I gritted my teeth, lowered my head, and stepped forward. I was ready to toss the resignation letter on his desk and bolt, but a large hand closed around my wrist.

I looked up and met a pair of eyes where a storm was gathering. When he spoke, his words were measured, and his tone was certain. He easily dragged me back to the past I least wanted to face.

"Rowena, how long are you going to keep playing me?"