Chapter 1

Everyone knew I’d shamelessly chased after Ethan Foster for sixteen years.

The two of us grew up together in the orphanage, founded Boundary Tech together, and fought side by side.

Ethan had always kept me at arm’s length.

Until three days ago, when Ethan got drunk and spent one wild night with me.

I thought I’d finally waited long enough for the clouds to part and the moon to appear.

But I never expected Ethan to become a completely different person after that.

Not only did he decide I’d deliberately seduced him while he was drunk and kick me out of the company, he turned around and started dating Olivia Bennett.

Mia Reed POV

The second Ethan opened his front door, I rushed out from the shadows of the entryway and threw myself at him.

Ethan wasn’t prepared. I slammed into him so hard he staggered forward two steps, and we both tumbled through the doorway.

I pinned him down with all my strength, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him.

Ethan turned his head to dodge, so I chased after his lips.

My mouth brushed wildly over his cheek while my hands hurried to yank at his tie.

“Mia Reed! You’re drunk!”

“I’m not drunk!”

I mumbled back, dragging his tie off before starting on the buttons of his shirt.

“I know exactly what I’m doing!”

Ethan grabbed my wrist and tried to push me away.

I clung to him and refused to let go, desperately tugging his buttons open.

“Ethan Foster, don’t even think about shaking me off!”

“Get yourself sober before you talk!”

“I’m perfectly sober!”

I kept working at his shirt and pressed my hand to his chest.

“I just want to know what’s so great about Olivia Bennett! Great enough for you to take her to the beach in the middle of the night to freeze in the wind and look at the stars. And after that, you even put your jacket around her. Since when did you become so good at taking care of people?”

Ethan tore my hand away from his chest.

“Who I look at the stars with is my freedom. It’s none of your business!”

“None of my business?”

I lifted my head and glared at him, my eyes so red they looked ready to bleed.

“That night, you clearly knew it was me. You were the one who started it, and you still won’t admit it!”

I was talking about three days ago, the night of the partnership dinner between Boundary Tech and Bennett Group.

Ethan had too much to drink, so I helped him upstairs to my own room to rest.

I put him on the bed and had just turned to get him some water.

Then Ethan grabbed my hand and yanked me down onto the bed.

With an almost frantic urgency, he rolled over and pinned me beneath him, his kisses crashing down on me like a storm.

He kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. There was only one thought left in my head:

He was kissing me. Ethan Foster was kissing me.

The person I’d waited sixteen years for had finally responded to me.

That night, Ethan was rough in a way that felt strange. My clothes were torn open, and his movements weren’t gentle at all.

It was my first time. It hurt so much I bit my lip until it bled.

But I didn’t tell him to stop.

Sixteen years. From the orphanage to building a company together, I had chased him for sixteen years, and tonight he had finally responded.

No matter how much it hurt, I accepted it willingly.

We had just finished, our clothes still off, when a huge group of reporters broke down the door.

The sound of shutters exploded in a chaotic barrage.

Instinctively, I pulled the blanket up to cover myself.

Someone shoved a microphone right in front of me.

“Ms. Reed, someone tipped us off that you drugged Mr. Foster and seduced him. How do you respond?”

I froze, then turned to look at Ethan, waiting for him to clear things up.

But Ethan put on his clothes with a dark expression and walked out of the room in front of every camera, without looking back at me even once.

That afternoon, my ID badge was deactivated.

The two of us had started Boundary Tech from nothing, but Ethan kicked me out as if he were dealing with any other resigned employee.

That night, the media reported that Ethan was dating Ms. Bennett.

The next day, the media reported that Ethan had accompanied Olivia Bennett to an art exhibit.

Yesterday, the media said Ethan had watched the stars with her by the sea and draped his coat over her shoulders.

In those reports, Ethan was romantic and passionate—the kind of treatment I had never received in sixteen years.

Tonight, I downed half a bottle of whiskey and came to block his door.

At this moment, I simply dragged him down with all my strength, and the two of us fell onto the floor together.

Before Ethan could get up, I was already straddling him.

“You say I drugged you, fine! You say I’m scheming, fine! You kicked me out of the company, and I took it! But you turned around and chased Olivia Bennett? That is not fine!”

“Mia Reed!”

He grabbed my waist, trying to flip me off him, but I moved first. My hand went downward, straight for his zipper.

With a sharp zip, I yanked it open.

That part of him immediately sprang out, hard and forceful.

“If you’re not interested in me, then how do you explain this?”

“Mia Reed, do you have no shame?”

Even Ethan’s ears had turned red.

“I have no shame.”

I bent down and bit and kissed messily along his neck.

“I only want you!”

Ethan finally couldn’t take it anymore. A low, muffled groan was forced from his throat as he flipped us over and pinned me beneath him.

“You brought this on yourself!”

He bent down eagerly and kissed me.

The pressure hurt, but I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and locked my legs around his waist, refusing to let go.

“Even if you kick me out of the company a hundred times, I’ll still cling to you and refuse to leave!”

Ethan didn’t answer. He only sealed my mouth even harder.

After it was over, I curled up in Ethan’s arms as the alcohol and exhaustion swept over me at the same time.

In a daze, I felt his phone vibrating.

Ethan answered the call.

I couldn’t hear what the person on the other end said. I only heard Ethan say, “I’ll be right there,” before he started getting dressed.

I reached out to tug at his sleeve, but my fingers were too weak to hold on.

“Don’t go…”

Ethan lowered his head and looked at me. He hesitated for a split second, but in the end, he still pulled my hand away and left.

When I woke up, a breaking news notification popped up on my phone:

【Bennett heiress Olivia Bennett seeks medical treatment after spraining her ankle. Boundary Tech founder Ethan Foster appears at the hospital late at night and stays by her side the entire time.】

In the photo, Ethan was crouched outside the ER, tying Olivia Bennett’s shoelaces for her.

It was just a sprained ankle. Was that really worth leaving me behind and rushing over in the middle of the night?

My heart hurt so badly that my whole body shook.