Chapter 2

The next morning, Samuel came back with breakfast in hand.

"Client didn't leave till dawn. I crashed near the office."

He opened the takeout container.

"Dumpling soup from Old Town. No cilantro, no chili."

He still remembered how I liked it.

When Prosper was just starting out, we'd been crammed into a basement office, and every day he'd bring me a bowl of that soup.

Once, a partner at a business dinner had deliberately kept refilling my glass, then cornered me in the hallway.

Samuel had pulled the security footage that same night and cut ties with them, even eating the penalty for breaking the contract.

Back then, his unquestionable strength had shielded me from a lot of trouble.

For a moment, I almost believed last night had only been a matter mishandled.

He pushed a floor plan across the table.

"Eat up, then we'll go see the place."

Master bedroom, living room, study, all marked out. He'd even thought about where my desk would go.

"Samuel, do you really want to move in there with me?"

"Of course. Why else would I be looking at apartments?"

"And the ring?"

His smile faded a little.

"Once the buzz around the project dies down, I'll deal with it."

His phone rang.

Finance had kicked back Elaine's review materials, and the investors wanted a new version by noon.

He listened, then put the floor plan away.

"We'll push the apartment to next week."

"You promised you'd spend today with me."

"I'm only changing the time. It's not like I'm calling off buying it."

He opened his laptop.

"It's Elaine's first solo delivery. She didn't build the financial model right."

"Go over it for her. For now, keep her name on it externally."

I didn't touch the laptop.

"The interview, the credit, and the ring all go to her, and now I fix the model too?"

"She can't do it, and the investors don't have time to wait."

"I can teach her. I won't hand it in for her."

"Then put the names down by actual contribution."

Samuel's face darkened.

"Don't bring personal feelings into work."

"Work is exactly what I'm talking about."

The floor plan still lay open on the table.

He'd mapped out a future for me, and yet he always slotted our life in behind this one hurdle.

"The apartment will still be there next week," he said. "Get through this first."

"I won't do it."

He stared at me for a few seconds, then shut the laptop.

"Fine. I won't trouble you."

The door slammed hard behind him.

Half an hour later, Elaine posted photos in the work group chat.

"Huge thanks to Mr. Weiss for coaching me in person over the weekend. The review's finally done."

In the photo, Samuel sat in the middle of the conference room.

Elaine stood beside him, wearing the pink diamond.

I switched off my phone and dumped the cold soup into the trash.

Then I dragged out my suitcase.

I didn't have much that was mine.

At the bottom of the jewelry box sat a pair of silver rings, the ones we'd bought at a night market when Prosper landed its first order.

The inner bands were engraved with HZ and LN, the edges already worn pale.

Later Samuel had said silver rings weren't right for formal occasions, and told me to stop wearing them.

I put the rings in the box by the entryway, then set the black card down beside them.

At nine that night, Samuel came home.

He saw the suitcase and paused.

"Business trip?"

"The East Coast."

"How many days?"

"Not sure yet."

He didn't press. He just held out the black card.

"Take it with you. Once the project wraps up, we'll make up for the fifth anniversary."

I put the card back.

"Is the archiving for the urban-development project settled?"

"Elaine's the public lead on it."

"And the contribution column?"

He was quiet for a moment.

"She just got made permanent. She needs one complete project."

"Then what about my name?"

"Your performance review won't be affected."

He reached out and smoothed my hair.

"This project, let her walk through the whole thing once."

I didn't ask anything more.

This was the last confirmation.

And he still thought I was fighting over some unimportant credit.