Chapter 2

Eloise scrambled over, clutching the hem of my dress, her voice raw with desperation. "Miss Winters, I'm begging you. Please, let him go!"

She pleaded, "You have status and privilege. You could have any man you want, but Oliver is all Tyson and I have!"

Tyson ran over, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Please, Miss Winters. I don't want to be a kid without a dad. Please give me my dad back!"

I gave a faint smile and gently freed my dress from her grip. "And what if I just won't?"

Their wailing was giving me a headache. Oliver's gaze lingered on Eloise and Tyson, so lost in the moment he didn't even realize tears had welled up in his eyes.

I wiped at my eyes. They were such a pain, always messing up my clothes.

This time, Oliver set up the wedding place, a riverside penthouse, and the deed had only my name on it.

But when I got there, the code kept flashing 'incorrect' over and over.

The housekeeper opened the door but stood right in the doorway, stammering, refusing to let me in.

She said, "M-Miss Winters, Mr. Carter had everything packed up and sent to the Winters family... Hey! Miss Winters, you're not allowed inside!"

The whole apartment had been completely transformed, tacky little decorations everywhere, and right in the most obvious spot, a photo of Eloise, Tyson, and Oliver together...

Every single detail was like a punch to my nerves, driving me up the wall. 'Are they trying to rub it in my face?' I thought, feeling my sanity slipping.

The housekeeper panicked, calling out, "Miss Winters! What's wrong with you?"

I threw up until the world spun around me, but the sick feeling in my gut just kept churning, refusing to go away.

Oliver's polished leather shoes stopped right in front of me. His eyes were conflicted as he reached out his hand.

"Oliver! How could you do this to me?" I yelled.

I shoved his hand away, grabbed him by the collar, and pushed him down onto the couch. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

He didn't fight back, just stared at me, letting me vent.

Once again, my dignity was trampled beneath him, the price I paid to hurt myself.

"Noelle, Eloise's had a tough time these past four years. She was struggling to find work while raising Tyson, and her own parents nearly forced her to be sold off to some remote mountain village," Oliver said.

"But she never once told me how hard things were. The only thing she ever asked for was to live here," he continued.

"Why?" I blurted out, flashes of memory running through my mind. Suddenly, all those old questions finally made sense. "It's because she lived here four years ago, isn't it?"

Oliver didn't say a word. His silence was all the answer I needed.

I clutched my chest and took two steps back, feeling like the man I once saw as my savior had become the executioner slowly destroying me.

I grabbed a vase, raised it high, and smashed it down with all my strength.

Again and again, I smashed it down.

Just like I did four years ago, I smashed up the room.

The pain in my chest kept getting worse, and in the middle of all the wreckage, I met his gaze, my eyes rimmed with red.

Maybe it was because he'd finally reunited with his lover, but for once, he wasn't frowning at me. Even now, with everything in ruins, he looked strangely at ease.

His eyes drifted down, pausing on the glass cuts on my leg, then finally settling on the broken pieces by my feet.

He lowered his head. "Those were custom matching mugs for her and Tyson. She'd been waiting ages for them."

Oliver knew me inside out, and he was cruel enough to know just how to push me over the edge.

Dudley only had one son, but Joseph had more than one grandson.

Oliver's actions were a direct slap in the face to the Winters family. There was no way the two families could keep working together after this.

For a moment, the scales that had once tipped in his favor shifted again, but it didn't seem to bother him at all.

The couple, reunited after years apart, couldn't keep their hands off each other. Oliver started bringing Eloise to work with him every single day.

People at the company even overheard the famously cold and distant Oliver with Eloise. He had her pressed up against his desk, murmuring intimately in her ear.

"If I don't keep you by my side, what if you leave me again?" Oliver whispered.

"Once Tyson's a bit older, how about we give him a little sister?" Oliver teased.

The change was so dramatic, it was like he'd turned into someone else entirely.

While everyone was sighing over how Oliver had finally found his soulmate, our whole messy story got dragged into the spotlight for everyone to see.

Honestly, my clinginess toward him was no secret in Fruumsa City.

But this time, the backlash was brutal. There were even rumors flying around that I'd kidnapped Eloise and Tyson and dumped them in some remote mountain village.

The day I tried to barge into Oliver's office with a voice recorder, his secretary, Miley Bender, stopped me right at the door.

"I'm sorry, Miss Winters, but Mr. Carter said absolutely no one gets into his office without his say-so," Miley said, blocking my way.

I let out a small laugh, nodded, and turned to my crew.

"Smash it," I ordered.

"Miss Winters?" Miley gaped at me in shock.

I said, "What, is there a problem? I paid for the whole office design and renovation, and even the sofa in there was shipped over from Merland by me. Why can't I wreck it if I want?

"Miley, you're just working here. I'm not gonna give you a hard time. Just stay out of this."

With a bang, I burst through the door, only to catch Oliver with lipstick still smudged across his mouth.

He saw me and, flustered, hurriedly wiped at his lips.

Eloise bit her lip and blocked my path, arm outstretched to stop me.

"This is Oliver's office, Miss Winters. Should you really be here?" Eloise said.