Chapter 2

Zoe Vance POV

Clara acted quickly, arranging a blind date for me in less than a week.

The other party was Adrian Carter, the son of one of Clara's friends. When I met Adrian in the café, I was slightly stunned. The man wore a well-tailored beige trench coat and a pair of glasses. His features were gentle, and his aura was elegant. Sitting there, he looked like a finely polished gem, radiating a comforting vibe.

"Hello, Ms. Vance," Adrian stood up and pulled out a chair for me, his voice deep and warm. "Mrs. Lennox praised you as if you were an elf. Seeing you today, I realize her description was actually quite conservative."

Amused by his well-timed humor, I relaxed slightly. "Mr. Carter, you're very humorous."

Our interaction afterward was unexpectedly harmonious. Adrian was considerate. He noticed that I preferred warm water, steered clear of the desserts that made me frown slightly, and kept his gaze focused on me as we talked, filled with unvarnished appreciation and respect. This feeling of being carefully cherished was something I had never experienced during my ten years with Julian.

With Julian, I was always the subordinate and servant who had to walk on eggshells, constantly ready to clean up his messes.

"Zoe, may I call you that?" Adrian leaned in slightly, looking at me with a warm and deep gaze.

"Of course," I nodded.

"Mrs. Lennox probably mentioned to you that the focus of my career isn't here." Adrian's slender fingers gently traced the rim of his coffee cup, his tone growing serious. "My home is in Seattle. It's a rainy but beautiful city. If... I mean, if we are fortunate enough to end up together, would you be willing to leave this place with me and live in Seattle?"

Leave this place. Leave this city filled with Julian's scent.

Julian's cold, mocking face flashed in my mind, along with his bone-chilling phrase, "a servant's daughter." Ten years of youth, exchanged for endless humiliation and degradation. Staying here would only mean being forever trapped in that humble cage.

"I would," I looked into Adrian's eyes without any hesitation, my voice so firm it surprised even me. "Mr. Carter, I am willing to go to Seattle. The sooner, the better."

A subtle flash of ecstasy crossed Adrian's eyes. He reached out and gently covered my hand on the table. "Zoe, trust me. I will definitely give you a home and never let you suffer."

The warmth on the back of my hand made me slightly uncomfortable, but I did not pull away. I told myself that this was my first step toward starting anew.

The next morning, carrying my printed resignation letter, I walked into the Lennox Group building. I went straight to the HR Department and submitted my resignation. The news spread through the Executive Suite like it had grown wings.

As I packed up my personal belongings from my desk and prepared to leave carrying a cardboard box, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out in the office area.

"Oh, isn't this Ms. Vance, Mr. Lennox's most loyal servant? What's going on here?"

Vanessa Shaw, the heiress of the Shaw family, strutted over, swaying her hips in four-inch heels. She had harbored a secret crush on Julian for years and utterly despised me for always being inseparable from his side. Now that she had caught an opportunity, she naturally wanted to step on me mercilessly.

"Ms. Shaw, please watch your mouth. I have already resigned," I said, staring at her expressionlessly with my back straight.

"Resigned? Hahaha, what a massive joke!" Vanessa laughed mockingly, drawing side-glances and whispers from the surrounding colleagues. "Who doesn't know your mother traded half her life for you to live in the Lennox house? Would you really give up this inheritable servant position? What is it? Did you fail to seduce Mr. Lennox and get kicked out, or are you trying to play hard to get to force him to keep you? Zoe Vance, why don't you look in the mirror? A lowly servant's daughter acting like this?"

A few muffled chuckles came from the crowd. The colleagues who usually greeted me with smiles were now sizing me up, waiting to see a show.

My fingers tightly gripped the edge of the cardboard box, my nails digging into the cardboard. I took a deep breath, and just as I was about to fire back, a bone-chilling voice suddenly drifted from behind the crowd.

"What are you all doing? Is this company a theater for you to watch a show?!"