Chapter 2

I stared out at the dark.

Rosalind was afraid of the dark. She couldn't sleep alone.

For her, I'd rushed home the second work ended, every single day.

I skipped the company dinners, ducked out of the boss's networking rounds, turned down any overnight travel and came back the same day.

Coworkers got promoted. I didn't.

Project opportunities came around. I missed them.

Tiansheng Group kept getting bigger, and me, the chairman's own nephew, was content to bury myself in a peripheral branch as a small-time manager.

I didn't care.

I thought home mattered more than work, and she mattered more than money.

Looking back now, I was just a world-class idiot.

Fine. If she looked down on me for being poor, I'd stop pretending.

Starting the next day, I threw everything back into work.

Out the door at seven in the morning, home at eleven at night.

Sometimes I didn't go home at all. I just slept in the lounge at group headquarters.

In three days I flew to two cities and signed three contracts worth hundreds of millions.

In one week I ran thirty-two internal meetings and cleaned up every rotten account on Tiansheng Group's books.

Rosalind couldn't adjust to the change in me.

"What time are you coming home? I'm here all by myself!" she complained over the phone.

"No idea."

"I haven't even eaten!"

"Order takeout."

"Milton! You didn't used to be like this!"

"That was then," I said coldly.

The next day she called again. "What exactly are you so busy with? Are you giving me the silent treatment on purpose?"

"Work."

"You're a small-time manager at a branch office! How much can you possibly have to do?"

"Milton! Did being nice to you for a couple of days make you forget who's in charge here?"

"You don't actually think you're that important, do you?"

I hung up and blocked her number.

By the third day, Rosalind stopped calling me.

Because Julian came over to see her every night.

The times I stopped home to grab documents, the two of them would be glued together on the couch.

The late-night snacks and bubble tea Julian had bought sat on the table.

They'd watch TV, laughing loudly at everything, over the top.

As if the moment I walked in, they had to put their romance on display for me on purpose.

I didn't even change out of my shoes. I grabbed the documents and left.

I acted like none of it was there.

……

Near the end of the month, the landlord came by.

When he knocked, Rosalind and Julian were feeding each other by hand.

"Rent for next quarter is thirty thousand. Time to pay up," the landlord said.

I walked over. "Terry, I'm here till the end of the month. I won't be renewing."

"All right, then start packing early. I'll get an agent to find someone else."

The landlord turned to go.

"What do you mean, not renewing?"

Rosalind came rushing over, shrieking, her face all disbelief.

"Milton! If you're giving up the place, where am I supposed to put all my clothes and luggage?"

"Starting next month I'm moving into company housing. What you do is none of my business," I said, expressionless.

The landlord looked at Rosalind. "The young man's out. You renting or not?"

Rosalind's eyes shot straight to Julian, pleading for help.

Julian looked a little awkward. "All my money's tied up in the funding round. I've got no cash on me right now."

"Rosalind, once the money from Pinnacle comes through, I'll buy you a big house outright!"

"But what do we do right now? I maxed out my credit card recently." Rosalind was panicking.

Julian waved a hand, his eyes darting.

"Relax. I've got a way."

He took Rosalind's phone and smoothly installed three payday loan apps.

A few taps later, he'd pulled out thirty thousand total.

The landlord took the money, shook his head, and left.

Julian patted Rosalind's shoulder. "Don't worry, Rosalind. Once my funding comes through, a little interest like this is nothing!"

"This round's a hundred million!"

"My salary's ten million a year! The good days are still ahead of us!"

With that, Julian shot me a contemptuous glance.

I looked at the sky-high interest popping up on Rosalind's phone, and inside I sneered.

Good days? Your final days are just getting started.