Chapter 1

I spent three years waiting for official status, but all I got from the man I loved was, “Take the blame for this first.”

The moment I hit send on my resignation email, I thought what I’d lost was love.

It wasn’t until I stood in the mountain wind of Los Angeles and heard someone say my name, clear as day, that I finally understood—what I truly needed to take back was never Ethan Hayes’s heart. It was the version of myself they had trampled into the mud.

I left New York behind for Los Angeles. Once a project manager forced to take others’ heat, I’d grown into a respected lead planner. I’d let go of my quiet unrequited love, the undeserved mercy I’d handed out, and the mask I’d worn—the girl who could take anything.

When the old lights came back on, when my name was no longer erased, I finally dared to say: some roads don’t require waiting for someone to walk with you. Walk them alone, and the sky still won’t fall.

Lydia Lane pov

I had just clicked send on my resignation email when Ethan Hayes called me backstage at the press conference and tried to force me to admit I was a thief.

Just beyond a curtain, the room was packed with media.

On the big screen, the key visual for the Titanic Ruins Restoration played on a loop. Every detail was the result of half a month of my sleepless effort.

But at the very top of the list of lead creators, three words were written in bold: Nora Wells.

Wrapped in a shawl, Nora Wells’s eyes were red in just the right way. “Ethan, I really didn’t know she’d written a similar proposal too. She’s been with you for so many years. I can understand her wanting to use my work to prove herself. But there are so many reporters out there. I can’t afford to be humiliated like this.”

I looked at that hypocritical face, my fingers slowly clenching tight.

I had once been the inconspicuous foil beside Nora Wells.

After Nora went abroad, I became the woman Ethan Hayes kept hidden from the light.

For three years, I drank in his place, worked overtime with him, and even let him take whatever he wanted in bed.

I thought I might eventually earn official status, but on the very first day Nora returned, my hard work became an offering for her.

Ethan looked at me, his tone an unquestionable order. “Lydia, take responsibility for this first.”

“That proposal is mine.” My voice went cold.

“I know.”

Ethan frowned and said as if it were only natural, “That’s all I’m asking—just take the blame temporarily. Nora’s only just gotten back; she can’t have a plagiarism stain on her name.”

“She can’t, but I can?”

Nora bit her lower lip and kept arguing. “Lydia, I know you blame me. You like Ethan. You finally waited until I left, so of course you’re unwilling to accept this. But feelings aren’t something you can steal by sleeping with someone.”

My face went pale.

But Ethan did not refute Nora’s humiliation. He only warned me with a dark expression.

“What happened between you and me was an accident to begin with. Now that she’s back, everything should go back to where it belongs.”

Nora shoved an apology statement into my hand. “Lydia, just help me one last time. Aren’t you the best at enduring things?”

On the paper was written: Due to my eagerness to prove myself, I referenced Ms. Nora Wells’s old draft.

I stared at that line and suddenly laughed.

That was right. I was far too good at enduring.

So good that Ethan thought I had no backbone. So good that Nora thought I had been born to be a stepping stone.

I casually threw the apology statement into the trash can beside me.

“I won’t admit it.”

Ethan’s eyes darkened. “Lydia Lane, stop making a scene!”

“Mr. Hayes, I’m not making a scene.” I pulled the work badge from around my neck and slapped it onto the table. “My resignation email has already been sent to HR. In thirty days, I will leave Hayes Group.”

Ethan’s brow twitched sharply.

Nora was the first to laugh. “Resigning? Can you bear to?”

I didn’t even spare her a glance. I stared into Ethan’s eyes. “Whether the press conference goes on is your business. Whether my name gets erased is also your business. But from today onward, I will not take the blame for any of you ever again.”

I turned to leave, but Ethan’s hand clamped tightly around my wrist.

He was like a beast whose tail had been stepped on. “You think sending one email means you can cut ties with me?”

I pulled my hand back inch by inch with all my strength. My voice was dead in a way it had never been before.

“I’m not cutting ties. This ends here.”