Chapter 1

At the company dinner, Lucas Bennett, the heiress from headquarters, accidentally spilled wine on Claire Ford's suit dress.

While Claire went to the restroom to clean up, everyone started guessing if she'd get angry.

"I bet three drinks, Ms. Ford is going to blow up. Last time, a young guy accidentally messed up her files, and he was fired the very next day!" someone said.

"I don't think so. Didn't you hear? Lucas was Ms. Ford's first love," someone gossiped.

The group all drew in a sharp breath.

The same person went on, "After graduation, Lucas went overseas, so they had to split up. But then Ms. Ford showed up at our company. Why do you think that is?

"Isn't it obvious? She's been waiting for Lucas to come back. I bet it won't be long before they rekindle their old flame."

Someone nudged my elbow. "Adam, you went to college with them, right? Were you rooting for their legendary romance too?

"Come on, spill it! Why did they break up?"

As someone who'd been secretly married to Claire for a year, I quietly slipped the ring off my ring finger.

*****

Everyone's attention shifted to me all at once.

They started urging me to spill the tea about the famous love story between the cool goddess Claire and the heir Lucas that everyone used to talk about.

I was tucked away in the farthest corner of the private room, keeping a low profile.

Suddenly, everyone's gaze landed on me, and I wasn't used to that kind of attention.

Just then, the door to the private room swung open.

Lucas strolled in with a grin, Claire's coat hooked casually over his arm.

Lucas said, "Claire told us not to wait for her."

He was still the same as he'd been back in college.

As soon as he walked in, all eyes were on him.

When the colleagues heard him call Claire by her first name, everyone looked like they were totally shipping them.

Claire Ford and Lucas Bennett.

Their names matched so perfectly that it was like they were destined to be the main couple in a romance novel.

Feeling bold after a few drinks, someone asked, "Lucas, come on, spill. Was there really something between you and Ms. Ford back in the day?"

Lucas grinned, totally unfazed by the gossip.

"That's ancient history. Claire told me not to talk about it," he said.

Everyone exchanged a knowing look and said, "Oh, okay."

He put on a mock-serious face. "Don't bring this up in front of Claire, okay? She's shy, and I don't want her giving me the cold shoulder."

The room erupted with even louder cheers and teasing.

Lucas hadn't really spilled anything, but somehow, it felt like he'd told us everything.

So when Claire came back after cleaning up the wine stain, nobody dared to bring up what they'd been gossiping about in front of her.

But they kept sneaking glances at Claire and Lucas.

Every now and then, someone would deliberately bring up topics like "youth", "first love", or "regrets", as if dropping hints.

The ring in my pocket kept poking me through the thin fabric, its sharp edge making it impossible to ignore.

My gaze automatically drifted to Claire's empty left ring finger.

The day we got our marriage license, Claire's mother bought us wedding rings, but Claire said she wasn't used to wearing jewelry.

Her wedding ring was still tucked away in the drawer of our study.

Honestly, I was starting to regret showing up at this company dinner.

Throughout the whole dinner, Claire kept to herself, cold and distant like an ice queen. No one dared get close.

It was only when Lucas got a little drunk that Claire finally spoke up, "Let's call it a night."

When the boss made the call, nobody dared to argue.

Everyone got up and headed out in small groups, sharing rides home.

Someone shoved Lucas closer to Claire. "Ms. Ford, Lucas is totally wasted. It's not safe for him to go home alone. Mind taking him back?"

Claire looked up at me, her gaze unreadable.

Right then, Lucas' legs gave out, and he practically collapsed into her arms, swaying unsteadily.

I practically bolted, turning away from the crowd as fast as I could.

Her voice drifted over from behind me. "Give me his address."

I slipped away from the crowd and caught a cab home by myself.

*****

Once I got home, I sank into the bathtub, letting the hot water swallow me up.

Surrounded by the steamy haze, I broke down. The tears I'd been holding back all night finally slipped down my cheeks.

How pathetic was I? What was I even upset about?

She was always the moon, way out of my reach. I was lucky enough to have her all to myself, even if it was for a little while.

Back in college, we almost never had anything to do with each other.

The only time we ever crossed paths was when she asked me to turn in her group project for her because she was busy bringing an umbrella to Lucas.

Somehow, after grad school, I ended up working as Claire's intern.

And then, to my surprise, I realized that my longtime friend, who happened to be way older than me, was actually her mother.

With her mother constantly playing matchmaker and pushing us to tie the knot, it was only a matter of time before we got together.

One afternoon, out of the blue, Claire asked me, "Adam, would you consider marrying me?"

Yeah, no dating, no proposal. We skipped straight to getting married.

It happened so quickly that it felt like she was negotiating a business deal. If it didn't work out, she wouldn't have cared.

We got our marriage certificate that afternoon, and the next day, both of us went to work as usual.

Except for living under the same roof, everything else between us stayed exactly the same.

Claire never breathed a word about our marriage to anyone, so even now, everyone at work still thought she was single.

Now that her first love had returned, it was finally time for me, the side character in this romance, to take my bow and fade out of the story.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, Claire had already gotten home.

She was sitting on the couch, reviewing some documents.

I mustered up the courage, walked over to her, hesitated for a moment, then finally started, "I..."

But before I could finish, her phone went off, cutting me off.

I couldn't catch what was said on the phone, but Claire's face grew tense as she hurriedly grabbed her coat.

"Sorry, something urgent came up. Let's talk when I get back, okay?" she said.

Claire had never gone out this late at night before. Tonight was the first time.

Half an hour later, Lucas posted on his social media.

[Big thanks to you for bringing me sobering soup in the middle of the night.]

In the photo, I could make out a woman's hand, almost like it slipped in by accident.

Colleagues flooded the comments, gossiping about whether something was brewing between them. No one could imagine that the ice queen could be so caring.

It felt like my moon was finally drifting back to the sky where she belonged.