I stayed by my girlfriend’s side as she went from having nothing to owning a multi-million dollar company.
But on the day her company went public, she announced her engagement to someone else.
Alex, he’s different from you. He’s from a truly established family, and we’re a perfect social match.
“I have to think about my own future. I can’t keep messing around with you anymore.”
I didn’t argue.
This ‘messing around’ had to end.
After all, I still had family waiting. People who had called me ‘Young Master’ since I was a child.
I snatched the cigarette from Chloe’s hand and took a deep drag.
It was a gesture we’d shared countless times over ten years.
Chaos stretched from the kitchen all the way to beneath the bed. I always used to call Chloe my ultimate temptress. She looked so quiet and reserved, but once things got going, she was an absolute firecracker.
Slowly exhaling a smoke ring, I offered Chloe the remaining half of the cigarette, but she refused it.
“Alex, I’ve had enough of playing around. Tomorrow, I’m getting engaged.”
I flipped over, straddling Chloe, a smile I couldn’t suppress playing on my lips.
“Ten years, and you’re finally going to marry me?”
“Let’s do it now. No need for anything formal. I’ll definitely say yes…”
“Not you. He’s different from you.”
Our voices clashed, speaking at the same time.
The air fell terrifyingly silent.
Chloe lifted her phone, holding it up to me. On the screen was a guy, smiling openly and recklessly. His clothes had no visible labels, but you could tell at a glance they cost a fortune.
“He’s the young heir of a family our company partners with. Isn’t he handsome? He’s not like you; he couldn’t just give everything up and fool around with me.”
“His family background is excellent, and he’s so innocent. He’s been fighting with his family for me for a long time. I owe him an explanation.”
Chloe took her phone back, carefully wiping the screen.
She cherished this guy, so much that I could barely stand to look at him twice.
A sharp pain instantly pierced my chest.
That boy was indeed different from me. I was calm, brooding, always three steps ahead, every glance calculated. I helped her build her company from nothing to a billion-dollar empire.
He, on the other hand, was bright and spontaneous, seemingly never thinking about what he’d do next.
But I’d been with Chloe for ten whole years.
From the moment she had nothing, I was there for the late-night drinks, the business deals, the reckless risks, the hardships, the scheming. More than just a partner, more than just an assistant – I was her everything, doing every dirty job and then some.
I always thought she’d marry me, but now she was telling me it was all just “fooling around.”
My fingers, pressed against her chest, slowly tightened.
The composure honed over so many years finally crumbled before her.
“Chloe, what about me then?”
She didn’t speak, just grabbed my neck.
I didn’t speak either, just grabbed hers.
I squeezed harder, and her face went from pale to flushed. Her cool, clear eyes narrowed slightly, showing a rare hint of desire.
In all these years, this was the first time I’d refused her.
She didn’t care at all, smiling nonchalantly, a playful, almost mocking glint in her eyes: “Alex, you’re not actually in love with me, are you?”
“You know I hate trouble.”
“I’ll compensate you. Don’t make a scene.”
“Be a good boy. This is your last chance to call me Chloe. If you don’t, starting tomorrow, you’ll only be able to call me Ms. Chloe.”
She was so sure I couldn’t go through with it. She touched my earlobe.
Seeing I remained silent, she ruffled my hair, put on her dress, adjusted her scarf, and transformed back into the composed, professional woman.
It was as if the only things left in the chaotic room were the mess, and me.
“Pack your things. Leave the key in the flowerpot by the door. You won’t need to come back anymore, Assistant Alex.”
Her voice was cool and detached, and she left just as swiftly.
The sound of the door closing was heavier than usual.
I turned on my phone. The screen displayed a photo of Chloe and me.
We were both in suits, smiling perfectly, gold-rimmed glasses perched on our noses, looking like the ‘Employee of the Month’ pictures hung in a company hallway.
Chloe was right; we really were alike.
The last time I wore a suit was ten years ago. In those ten years, I felt like I truly had become Chloe’s shadow.
Looking around, I suddenly grew tired of the suffocating darkness. *WHOOSH!* I yanked open the curtains.
The evening sun poured in.
I raised my hand. My skin, so pale it was almost transparent, looked like a vampire’s in the sunlight.
Leaning against the window, I lit another cigarette. Through the drifting smoke, I seemed to see the me from ten years ago.
Back then, I wore white t-shirts, my youthful energy more dazzling than the sun itself, looking like a good-for-nothing punk.
And Chloe was a critically ill patient clinging to life.
We ate together, worked part-time jobs together.
In a hospital room reeking of disinfectant, we had the most absurd romance.
She always said I was too loud, yet before her last surgery, she pressed her last ten dollars into my hand.
That composed, self-possessed woman, held me, crying in the most desperate way.
“Alex, if I make it off this operating table, I’ll confess my love to you. I’ll love only you, for my entire life.”
That day, she went into the operating room without waiting for my answer.
I stood outside, crying and laughing, never imagining that someone as strong and unyielding as her could also be afraid.
Later, she came out of surgery. With the first money she earned, she bought a watch and confessed her love to me.
I laughed at her then: “Girls don’t propose! That’s supposed to be my job…”
We held our gifts, our stomachs rumbling with hunger.
During that time, our love was like a stubborn seed, taking root and sprouting in hunger, carrying the scent of earth.
She told me countless times, with firm conviction: “Alex, once I make it big, the first thing I’ll do is marry you, and then we’ll have two adorable babies.”
Now, her company was about to go public.
She’d made it big, but she was going to wear someone else’s wedding dress.
I stayed in the villa all night, cleaning it thoroughly.
The physical exertion did nothing to quiet my mind.
All the past memories whirred endlessly in my head.
I couldn’t even recall when I had become so calm and self-possessed.
Perhaps, like my love for Chloe, it had subtly, silently, integrated itself into my life.
Chloe’s assistant, Daisy, arrived very early.
Her baby face was, unusually, clouded with worry.
“Sir…”
The word ‘Sir’ lingered on her tongue, twisting and turning, before finally settling on: “Mr. Alex.”
“Ms. Chloe asked me to give you these things. She said to sign them and forget everything from these past years. This is your compensation.”
Daisy opened a box, neatly stacked with cash.
On top was a document.
Chloe had transferred the branch company I managed into my name.
“Ms. Chloe said to go to the branch company…”
She didn’t finish her sentence, but I understood.
Chloe was telling me to make way for her fiancé, afraid that I, a calculating old hand, would bully her ‘innocent’ fiancé.
My fingertips traced over the documents, and I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
Ten years of dedication, several times almost costing me my life.
And in the end, it was all worth so little. It turned out I was so cheap in Chloe’s eyes.
“Take these things back. And please, tell Ms. Chloe for me: let’s just pretend nothing ever happened all these years. I’m ready to settle down and stop playing games.”
Chloe was right.
I was nineteen when I met her, and now I was twenty-nine.
The nineteen-year-old me would have been scared away by such intense love.
But the twenty-nine-year-old me suddenly wanted to go back and see if she was still waiting for me.
“Alex, no, I’m coming with you! You saved my life!”
Daisy’s eyes suddenly reddened. “We all agreed; we only recognize you, not anyone else!”
“If Ms. Chloe ends up with someone else, we’ll all collectively quit and follow you!”
I had indeed saved their lives. In our poorest year, they all called me ‘Big Bro,’ staring at me with hungry eyes, bowls in hand.
I dragged them out of various miserable situations and had them help Chloe.
I never expected them to remember it until now.
“Don’t be so impulsive.”
I still spoke in a gentle, slow voice, trying to persuade her.
But Daisy was sobbing uncontrollably.
It wasn’t until Chloe walked in from outside. In front of outsiders, she rarely spoke much; just her gloomy, icy stare was enough to stop Daisy’s crying.
Finally, her gaze landed on me.
It was as cold as if she were looking at an enemy.
“Alex, don’t try to use these tactics to stay. Don’t make me despise you. Whatever you want, I can give you.”
I scoffed, raising an eyebrow at her. “I want my life. Can you give me that?”
We stared at each other, Chloe’s face flushed.
I wondered if she remembered how I had knelt before the director, begging, just to get her a chance at surgery.
Her life? I gave it to her.
And now she was using that very life to betray me.
“I guess this is what they call demanding payment for past kindness, isn’t it?”
Before the person even arrived, his arrogant and boisterous voice already allowed me to almost picture him.
He emerged from behind the door, in head-to-toe designer labels, dazzling brighter than the sun.
“I know about you, Alex. Someone as calculating as you, using ten years of companionship to secure a position – don’t you think you’re being unreasonable?”
He scrutinized me up and down, his eyes filled with disdain.
I looked at him too. He was so much like the nineteen-year-old me, looking as if every strand of his hair was studded with tiny diamonds.
Every inch of him exuded a polished refinement.
A fearless, devil-may-care vibe, but it came with a faint air of naive foolishness.
“Chloe, he probably doesn’t even know whether to kiss your lips first or rip off your clothes and get in bed, does he? How can you even go for someone so young?”
Before I even finished, Chloe’s eyes commanded me to shut up, and she pulled him behind her.
Her face darkened, and her voice became even colder: “He’s not like you, not someone who’s just been messing around. Before we’re married, I won’t cross any lines with him.”
Chloe used to say I was different from others, too.
That kind of physical favoritism, the undeniable preference she used to show, it was once mine alone.
Now, it was a thorn piercing me.
I once didn’t understand what it meant for your heart to turn to ashes in an instant.
But in that moment, I could feel all emotions extinguishing, leaving not even a ripple.
A dull ache spread from my heart, inch by inch, until every part of my body throbbed.
I stared at Chloe for a long moment, then adjusted my gold-rimmed glasses.
The habit of ten years, even in extreme pain, still made me manage a faint smile.
“Ms. Chloe, you’re right. But I don’t care for these things of yours.”
“I arrived alone, and I can leave alone. I don’t want anything. Let’s just consider it all a game.”
I pulled my suitcase, walking past her.
Chloe suddenly grabbed my hand: “Don’t be petty with me.”
Before I could speak, Leo, who had been standing there, let out a huff.
He turned away, pouting, without a word. The hand that had just been holding mine released me, little by little.
Chloe quickly started coaxing him, even disregarding her image in front of her subordinates.
My years of experience made me keenly aware that someone had investigated Chloe.
But I no longer had any reason to warn her.
Daisy ran after me, sending me off, grumbling and cursing Chloe under her breath.
It wasn’t until two honks interrupted her voice.
“Young Master, I’m here to pick you up and take you home.”
The suitcase was snatched from my hand, making it feel lighter.
She bowed deeply to me, then looked up, flashing a row of white teeth, smiling brightly.
Obedience and wildness clashed fiercely within her.
Beneath the restraint of her suit, there was a fierce, untamed energy, a raw power barely suppressed.
Her delicate, almost fierce face, which was usually so intense, melted into something warm and submissive when she looked at me.
And in her eyes, I saw hostility.
“Ms. Chloe, any further, and you’ll be crossing the line.”
She slowly straightened up, enveloping me in her shadow.
Following her gaze, I noticed Chloe, who had rushed out the door.
The two women stared at each other, as if, in the next second, they would be consumed by primal urges, tearing each other apart.
Raven and I got into the car.
In the rearview mirror, Chloe stood rigidly, engulfed by our car’s exhaust.
Raven always drove fast, but when she drove for me, she was always incredibly steady.
She turned down the music, glancing at the rearview mirror repeatedly.
“Young Master, this time, you won’t leave me again, will you?”
I didn’t answer her, just turned my head to study her.
Ten years hadn’t changed her hair; it was still medium-length, a bit wild, and her sharp, intense eyes, now blinking, looked almost cute.
I couldn’t even connect her to the little girl who used to cry and beg me not to leave.
Raven had been sent to my family’s home when she was little.
I’d climb trees for birds, she’d hold the ladder. I’d curse, she’d hand me a knife. I’d skip school, she’d take the scolding for me…
We grew up together, played together. The day I was told I had to marry her, I completely lost it.
Who could accept marrying their childhood playmate, someone who knew all their embarrassing secrets?
You don’t date your best friend, right? It’s practically dating your sibling!
Without a second thought, I ran to find her. I thought she’d be on my side, like always.
But it turned out she was a shameless little bunny.
Her bedroom, which she never let me into, was plastered with my photos.
And she just stood there, staring at those pictures, her face flushed with a drunken haze.
“Raven!”
I only called her name once, and she shivered, her legs going weak.
I looked her up and down.
I was nineteen then, a shy and awkward age.
But she was like she’d been wild for decades, with even more experience in being crazy.
For every meal, she’d madly wag her tail at me.
Finally, I couldn’t take her intensity anymore. I grabbed my suitcase and fled in a panic.
From the north to the south.
For ten whole years, I knew she was secretly watching me.
But this wildcat never made a sound.
Raven turned the steering wheel, pulling into a villa.
I was surprised for a moment. I hadn’t realized she lived so close to me.
“Young Master, this is all the territory I’ve claimed for you.”
Raven parked the car, her handsome face leaning closer, her eyes sparkling as she looked at me.
Her face practically screamed, *as long as the territory is big enough, Young Master will stay by my side.*
I really couldn’t stand her silly antics, so I stepped out of the car, though a smile involuntarily tugged at my lips.
Inside the house, Raven followed me, chattering incessantly about what she’d done over the past ten years.
I couldn’t stand her constant chatter, so I grabbed her collar and pushed her onto the bed.
But she, like a small leopard, flipped over, pinning me beneath her.
Through the thin fabric, her body heat scorched every inch of my skin.
She remained perfectly still, but her intense eyes grew brighter and brighter.
When she finally spoke, her voice was hoarse.
“Young Master, please, just this once, can you give yourself to me? Just once.”
“Young Master, please, please don’t hate me…”
Her wild boldness and restrained submission clashed intensely.
In her upturned, beautiful eyes, a wronged, pleading look was suppressed.
↓ ↓ Download the Novel Master app, Search 【 286859 】reads the whole book. ↓ ↓
NovelShort
