Daniel stared at me as if I had just said something impossible.

—You loved me?

I smiled faintly.

Past tense.

That was apparently the part he couldn’t accept.

—Yes.

His eyes reddened.

—Then why didn’t you tell me?

I almost laughed.

—Would it have changed anything?

—Yes.

—You married Selena three days after I resigned.

He opened his mouth, but I raised my hand.

—Daniel, I’m tired. Go home to your wife.

I turned toward the elevator.

His next words stopped me.

—Selena isn’t my wife.

I slowly looked back.

—Excuse me?

Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.

—The marriage certificate is real. But the marriage isn’t what you think.

—That’s usually how marriage certificates work.

—It was an agreement.

Of course.

A business marriage.

For four years, I had written enough contracts for Daniel to recognize the language before he explained it.

Dingsheng needed access to Moore International’s overseas distribution network.

The Moores wanted shares.

Daniel needed their support for the Blue Harbor project.

Selena needed a husband to satisfy a condition in her grandfather’s inheritance.

Perfect.

Efficient.

Loveless.

And completely irrelevant.

—Congratulations on your successful merger.

I pressed the elevator button.

Daniel caught my wrist.

I immediately looked down.

He released me.

—Sorry.

The elevator doors opened.

I stepped inside.

Daniel followed.

—Don’t.

He stopped between the doors.

—Just answer one question.

I waited.

—If I hadn’t married Selena, would you have stayed?

My throat tightened.

But I answered honestly.

—No.

That hurt him more than anything else.

Because Selena wasn’t why I left.

She was simply the last page of a story that had ended long before Daniel realized he was reading it.

For four years, I had built his career while postponing mine.

Three months earlier, an international investment firm had offered me a position.

Double my salary.

My own team.

My own projects.

Daniel had seen the offer accidentally on my desk.

He hadn’t congratulated me.

He had laughed.

“Nina, you wouldn’t survive three months without me.”

That sentence killed something inside me.

So I accepted the offer.

My first day was Monday.

I stepped into the elevator.

Daniel suddenly asked:

—Where are you going?

—Forward.

The doors closed.

I thought that would be the end.

It wasn’t.

At eight the next morning, Emma sent me thirty-seven screenshots.

Dingsheng was exploding.

The Blue Harbor negotiations had been suspended.

Two foreign investors were demanding revised financial projections.

Three department heads were arguing over contract clauses I had previously handled personally.

And someone had leaked that Daniel Lu’s assistant had resigned days before his sudden marriage to Selena Moore.

Rumors spread immediately.

That I had been fired.

That Selena had forced me out.

That I had been Daniel’s secret lover.

Then came the photograph.

Someone had taken it in my building lobby.

Daniel standing in front of me.

The caption read:

“CEO abandons newlywed wife to chase former assistant.”

By noon, Selena Moore herself called me.

—Miss Su, we need to meet.

—I don’t think we do.

—You will after you hear why Daniel married me.

I almost hung up.

Then she added:

—And why he called you 328 times.

Twenty minutes later, we met at a café.

Selena looked nothing like the smiling bride from the photograph.

She pushed a folder toward me.

—Our marriage ends in six months.

I didn’t touch it.

—That’s between you and Daniel.

—No. Because Daniel added a condition yesterday morning.

That caught my attention.

Selena continued:

—He wants to terminate the agreement immediately.

I frowned.

—Then terminate it.

She laughed bitterly.

—Doing that costs him thirty percent of Dingsheng.

I finally looked at her.

—What?

—That’s why everyone is panicking.

She leaned forward.

—Daniel is prepared to surrender controlling power over the company.

—Why?

Selena stared at me.

—You know why.

I stood.

—I didn’t ask him to.

—I know.

Her next words stopped me.

—That’s what scares his family.

Before I could respond, my phone rang.

Emma.

I answered.

Her voice was frantic.

—Nina, where are you?

—Why?

—Daniel’s father just arrived at Dingsheng with the board.

I froze.

—And?

—They’re removing Daniel as CEO.

Selena stood immediately.

But Emma wasn’t finished.

—There’s something else.

I heard papers moving.

—Remember the Blue Harbor project?

Of course I remembered.

I had spent eighteen months building it.

—The investors rejected Dingsheng’s revised proposal.

My heart sank despite myself.

Then Emma said something I wasn’t expecting.

—They didn’t cancel the project.

—What do you mean?

—They transferred negotiations to another firm.

Silence.

—Which firm?

Emma said the name.

The company I was joining Monday.

Selena slowly sat down.

I couldn’t speak.

Then another call appeared.

An international number.

I answered.

—Miss Su?

A man’s voice spoke in English.

—This is Adrian Keller, chairman of Keller Global.

My future employer.

—I’m sorry to contact you before your official start date, but circumstances have changed.

I glanced at Selena.

—What circumstances?

—Blue Harbor.

He paused.

—The investors agreed to continue under one condition.

My fingers tightened around the phone.

—What condition?

—You lead the negotiations personally.

I closed my eyes.

For four years, Daniel had stood at the front of conference rooms while I prepared everything behind him.

Now the biggest project of his career had followed me out the door.

But Keller wasn’t finished.

—There’s one complication.

—What?

—Daniel Lu requested an emergency meeting.

I frowned.

—With whom?

—With you.

I almost refused immediately.

Then Keller added:

—He says he has evidence that someone inside Dingsheng deliberately arranged his marriage to Miss Moore to force you out of the company.

Selena’s face changed.

—Put it on speaker.

I did.

Keller continued:

—And according to the documents he sent us, the person behind it wasn’t Daniel’s father.

A cold feeling moved through me.

—Then who?

There was a knock against the café window.

Selena looked outside.

Her face instantly went white.

A black sedan had stopped at the curb.

An older woman stepped out.

I recognized her.

Daniel’s mother.

But she wasn’t looking at Selena.

She was staring directly at me.

Then my phone received a message from Daniel.

One photograph.

An old contract.

My signature appeared at the bottom.

Except I had never signed it.

Underneath, Daniel had written:

“Nina, my marriage wasn’t the trap. You were.”