Chapter 2

Mia Reed POV

I rushed to the hospital to confront Ethan.

But Ethan wasn’t there. Olivia Bennett was the only one in the hospital room.

She was leisurely scrolling through her phone, looking nothing like a patient.

When she saw me storm in, Olivia didn’t even lift her head.

“Ethan went to buy me breakfast. If you’re here for him, then take your time and wait.”

I stood in front of the hospital bed, breathing hard as I glared at her fiercely.

Only then did Olivia put down her phone. She looked me up and down, then smiled.

“You look like a lunatic. No wonder Ethan is sick of you.”

“Cut the crap. I’m here for Ethan. This has nothing to do with you!”

“How do you know it has nothing to do with me?”

Olivia leaned back against her pillow, her smile filled with meaning.

“Actually, you should’ve come to me. What happened at the hotel that night had nothing to do with Ethan. I arranged it.”

I froze.

“I put a little something in your wine.”

Olivia looked at me with disdain and reached up to smooth her hair.

“I even arranged for a man to be in the room next door. As long as you returned to your room, he would go satisfy you. Then, once the reporters broke in and took their photos, pictures of you with a strange man would be all over the internet the next day. After Ethan saw them, naturally, he wouldn’t keep you by his side anymore.”

My mind went blank in an instant. I’d thought that night had only happened because Ethan drank too much, that it was an accident. I never imagined Olivia had set it all up.

“Unfortunately, you were lucky. Ethan drank that glass for you. The person who got drugged became him, and you took him to your room.”

Olivia sounded rather unwilling to accept it.

“It actually gave you an opportunity instead!”

She was indignant.

“You really got a bargain out of it! Plans couldn’t keep up with the changes, so the reporters had no choice but to change their story at the last minute and say you drugged Ethan to seduce him.”

My anger was instantly ignited, almost impossible to suppress.

At the time, I couldn’t understand it. How had the reporters known the room number? Why had they arrived at such a perfect time? Why had all the accusations been aimed at me?

So Olivia had designed such a vicious scheme to push me straight into hell!

“But luckily, the goal was still achieved. Ethan believed it, kicked you out of the company, and was completely disappointed in you.”

Olivia smiled as she summed it up.

“Although you did get some benefits out of it, the result wasn’t bad.”

I couldn’t hold back anymore. I rushed forward and raised my hand to slap her.

But just as my hand was about to fall, someone grabbed my wrist from behind.

At some point, Ethan had returned. He was carrying an insulated bag, his face livid.

“Mia Reed, what kind of scene are you making now?”

He flung my hand away, then bent down to check Olivia’s ankle.

“Did she hurt you?”

His tone was so gentle it was like he was a different person.

Olivia took the opportunity to lean into his arms and gave me a smug smile.

He had thrown me back two steps, and my lower back slammed hard into the corner of the table. Pain shot through me, and cold sweat immediately broke out over my skin.

Ethan didn’t notice at all. All of his attention was on Olivia.

“Ethan Foster!”

I forced myself to stand straight through the pain.

“I wasn’t the one who drugged you that night! Olivia Bennett arranged it! That glass of wine was meant for me, and you drank it by mistake!”

Ethan didn’t even turn his head.

“Enough!”

My eyes turned red with panic.

“I’m not lying to you! Olivia admitted it herself just now!”

“I said enough!”

Ethan finally turned to look at me, his gaze cold to the extreme.

“You barged into the hospital to cause trouble, attacked a patient, and now you’re making up a story to smear someone else. Do you think I’m going to believe you?”

He picked up a document and walked over to me.

“Since you’re here, we’ll handle it now. The equity transfer agreement for Boundary Tech. Sign it, take the thirty-million check, and leave. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other.”

I stared at that document, my mind buzzing.

Kicking me out of the company wasn’t enough. He wanted to erase the last trace of me too?

Boundary Tech was built from scratch by Ethan and me.

When we were at our poorest, the two of us rented a single office together. I ran business development while he wrote code. Sixteen years of our blood, sweat, and tears were all in that company.

But right now, I knew very clearly that what made me refuse to let go wasn’t the equity at all.

Boundary Tech was the last reason I had to stay by Ethan’s side. If I signed this agreement, I wouldn’t even have an excuse to appear in front of him anymore.

“I won’t sign!”

“Thirty million isn’t a small amount, Mia. Don’t be ungrateful.”

“I said I won’t sign!”

I flung the agreement away, sending papers scattering all over the floor.

“You can take anything from me, but not this!”

Ethan looked at me coldly, then bent down and picked up the agreement.

“Don’t think that refusing to sign means you can stay by my side.”

I clenched my teeth and said nothing.

I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would start crying. I didn’t want to cry in front of Olivia Bennett.

Olivia leaned against her pillow, watching the show.

Seeing that I was stubbornly refusing to give in, Ethan trapped me in his arms and pressed me down against the tabletop. He spread the agreement out in front of me and shoved a pen into my hand.

“Sign!”

I twisted and struggled with all my strength, but I couldn’t break free no matter what.