I stared at the message for several seconds.

【Madam, hurry to the company! There is a huge change!】

Before I could reply, another message arrived.

【Assistant Tham has been promoted.】

Then another.

【President Gu announced it himself.】

I laughed.

So that was it.

Less than twelve hours after I told Co Vong Nien we were finished, he had already found a way to reward the woman who had poured wine over me.

My mother noticed my expression.

“What happened?”

“Nothing important.”

I stood and picked up my bag.

“I just need to go back to the company once.”

My father frowned.

“Do you need me to come?”

“No.”

I smiled.

“This is something I should finish myself.”

When I arrived at Co Thi Group, the atmosphere was strange.

People whispered as I passed.

Some looked sympathetic.

Others quickly lowered their heads.

The elevator opened onto the executive floor.

And there she was.

Tham Kha Ngon.

She was standing beside my desk.

My desk.

A cardboard box sat on top of it.

Inside were my belongings.

She smiled when she saw me.

“Sister Tinh Yen, you’re finally here.”

I glanced at the box.

“What is this?”

Her smile became sweeter.

“President Gu thought you might need some time away from work.”

I looked toward his office.

“So he fired me?”

“Oh, no.”

She immediately waved her hands.

“Don’t misunderstand. President Gu only said you’ve been emotional recently and should rest.”

Emotional.

Interesting.

She stepped closer.

“Also, President Gu asked me to temporarily take over your projects.”

I almost admired her confidence.

Almost.

“You?”

Her face stiffened.

“I know I’m still learning, but President Gu trusts me.”

At that moment, his office door opened.

Co Vong Nien walked out.

His eyes immediately found me.

“You finally came.”

He walked toward me as though nothing had happened.

“Why did you block me?”

I didn’t answer.

His expression softened.

“Still angry about last night?”

“No.”

“Then unblock me.”

“No.”

The hallway became silent.

His brows drew together.

“Tinh Yen.”

I lifted my eyes.

“We broke up last night.”

He sighed impatiently.

“I told you not to say childish things when you’re upset.”

That sentence finally made me smile.

For years, every time we disagreed, he had assumed my anger would disappear because my love would remain.

Perhaps I had trained him too well.

“I came to resign.”

His expression froze.

Tham Kha Ngon looked delighted for half a second before quickly hiding it.

Co Vong Nien stared at me.

“Stop joking.”

I placed my employee card on the desk.

“I’ve already decided.”

“You worked here for three years.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re leaving because Kha Ngon spilled one glass of wine?”

“No.”

I looked directly at him.

“I’m leaving because I finally realized I don’t belong here.”

Something shifted in his eyes.

He reached for my wrist, but I stepped away.

“Don’t touch me.”

His hand remained suspended in the air.

Then Tham Kha Ngon spoke softly.

“Sister Tinh Yen, please don’t blame President Gu. If my promotion bothers you, I can refuse it.”

I turned toward her.

“Why would your promotion bother me?”

She blinked.

“You’re taking over my unfinished projects.”

Her confidence returned.

“Yes.”

“Good luck.”

I picked up the cardboard box.

She frowned, clearly disappointed that I wasn’t fighting.

Co Vong Nien followed me into the elevator.

The doors closed.

“Tinh Yen, enough.”

I pressed the lobby button.

“Go back.”

“Last night I stayed because Kha Ngon was emotionally unstable.”

“That’s your problem.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Also your problem.”

His jaw tightened.

“Then what exactly do you want?”

The elevator stopped.

I looked at him.

“Nothing from you.”

For the first time, he had no answer.

The doors opened.

I walked away.

Three days later, I signed the documents to join my family’s Shanghai branch.

My father didn’t give me a ceremonial position.

At my request, I became executive director responsible for expansion.

If I was returning, I wanted responsibility, not decoration.

For the first time in years, my days weren’t organized around Co Vong Nien.

I stopped checking my phone for him.

Stopped wondering whether he had eaten.

Stopped changing my schedule because he might suddenly have free time.

Meanwhile, his messages began arriving from unfamiliar numbers.

【Tinh Yen, let’s talk.】

【I know you’re angry.】

【Where are you?】

Then:

【Your colleagues said you resigned. Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?】

I deleted everything.

A week later, Tham Kha Ngon posted another photograph.

She was sitting in Co Vong Nien’s office chair.

Caption:

【Someone says I’m improving quickly. I must work harder~】

I blocked her too.

One month passed.

Shanghai became busy enough that I almost forgot them.

Until my father entered my office one morning and placed a contract in front of me.

“Take a look.”

I opened it.

The acquiring company was ours.

The target company made my fingers stop.

Co Thi Group — Eastern Technology Division.

I looked at my father.

“We’re acquiring their division?”

“They need capital.”

“How badly?”

“Badly enough to accept our terms.”

He sat opposite me.

“Their largest overseas partner withdrew last week. Their expansion project is frozen.”

I read further.

Then I saw the name of the project director.

Tham Kha Ngon.

I nearly laughed.

She had inherited one of my unfinished projects.

Apparently she had also inherited the consequences of not understanding it.

My father tapped the contract.

“I want you to lead the acquisition.”

“Why me?”

“Because you know their operations better than anyone on our team.”

He paused.

“Can you separate business from personal feelings?”

I closed the document.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

He smiled.

“Then tomorrow, you’ll negotiate with President Gu.”

The meeting took place at ten the next morning.

I entered the conference room with my legal and finance teams behind me.

Co Vong Nien was already there.

He stood the moment he saw me.

For once, the confident expression vanished from his face.

“Tinh Yen?”

I took my seat opposite him.

“President Gu.”

He looked at the executives beside me.

Then at the company logo projected behind my chair.

Understanding slowly appeared in his eyes.

“You work for them now?”

My deputy frowned.

“Work for?”

Before I could answer, my father’s assistant smiled politely.

“Allow me to introduce our executive director.”

She gestured toward me.

“Miss Tinh Yen, daughter of Chairman Tinh and designated head of our Shanghai operations.”

Co Vong Nien stopped breathing for a moment.

He had known my adoptive parents were comfortable financially.

I had simply never told him exactly how comfortable.

Because I wanted him to love Tinh Yen.

Not Chairman Tinh’s daughter.

The conference-room door suddenly opened.

Tham Kha Ngon rushed inside.

“President Gu, I found the missing—”

She stopped.

Her eyes landed on me.

Then on the seat I occupied at the head of the opposing negotiation team.

“What is she doing here?”

My lawyer looked up.

“Assistant Tham, please address Executive Director Tinh appropriately.”

Her face turned white.

Co Vong Nien stared at me.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

I calmly opened the acquisition documents.

“You never asked.”

“Tinh Yen—”

“President Gu.”

My voice stopped him.

“We’re here for business.”

I pushed the contract across the table.

His eyes fell on the acquisition price.

His expression immediately darkened.

“This valuation is impossible.”

“No.”

I looked at Tham Kha Ngon.

“It was perfectly reasonable before your Eastern Division lost its largest client because someone changed the pricing structure without understanding the original agreement.”

Kha Ngon’s lips parted.

“I—I followed President Gu’s instructions.”

Everyone looked at Co Vong Nien.

He closed his eyes briefly.

That was when I understood.

He had promoted her to prove something.

Perhaps to me.

Perhaps to himself.

And now his company was paying for it.

I stood.

“You have forty-eight hours to decide.”

As my team began gathering the documents, Co Vong Nien suddenly said:

“Wait.”

I stopped.

He walked toward me.

His voice dropped.

“If I remove Kha Ngon, will you come back?”

Tham Kha Ngon’s face became bloodless.

I stared at the man I had loved for years.

Then I smiled.

“President Gu, you still don’t understand.”

He looked at me silently.

“I didn’t leave because she appeared.”

I picked up the acquisition agreement.

“I left because when she appeared, I finally saw you clearly.”

Then I walked out.

That evening, my father called me into his office.

There was another document waiting on his desk.

Not an acquisition agreement.

A marriage proposal.

Corporate, not romantic.

Two major families wanted to combine their overseas operations through a strategic alliance, and the heir of the other family had personally requested a meeting with me.

I laughed.

“Dad, I’m not interested.”

“I know.”

He pushed the photograph toward me anyway.

“That’s why I already rejected them.”

I looked down casually.

Then froze.

I knew the man in the photograph.

And apparently, he knew me too.

Because on the back, written by hand, was one sentence:

Tell Tinh Yen she still owes me the answer to the question I asked her ten years ago.

Before I could ask my father what it meant, my phone lit up.

Co Vong Nien.

This time, it wasn’t a message asking me to come back.

It was only four words.

【I know who he is.】

And for the first time since our breakup, Co Vong Nien wasn’t angry.

He was afraid.