Chapter 2

Sebastian frowned, shielding Laura with one arm as he fixed me with a cold stare.

"Cindy, why are you taking your anger out on Laura? You knew how important this dinner was, and you still showed up late! If Laura hadn't stepped in for you, we could've lost the deal today!

"And look at you. All you ever do is hold us back! Find some time to hand your proposal over to Laura. She'll be handling it from now on. I'll feel better that way."

My heart sank.

First Sebastian let Laura take my place. Now he wanted me to give her the proposal I'd worked so hard on too?

When I didn't respond, his expression hardened.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Stop being so petty. This is what's best for the company!"

Everyone turned my way, clearly enjoying the drama.

A chill ran through me.

Was this really the Sebastian I knew?

Back then, he was broke, and I came from money. Mom and Dad were against us, but I cut ties with my family just to be with him.

When he wanted to start a company, I put my savings into it. In the early days, he couldn't hire enough people, so I gave up the chance to continue my studies abroad and stayed to build the company with him.

To land partnerships, I stayed up all night revising proposals and working on design sketches. Several times, I pushed myself so hard that I coughed up blood and passed out.

Without me, the company never would have gotten where it was.

Once the business took off, I started putting more of my time and energy into taking care of Sebastian.

I knew he had stomach problems, so I always carried his medication with me and reminded him to take it on time. I even ironed his clothes the day before every business dinner so he'd look his best.

Yet after all that, Sebastian still thought Laura was more capable than I was.

Had everything I'd done really meant less than a few business trips with her?

I was supposed to go on those trips, but Sebastian had deliberately sent me away so Laura could step in instead.

The more I thought about it, the more heartless he seemed. He'd hurt me again and again for Laura, and now he'd worn away every last bit of affection I had for him.

I nodded numbly. "Fine. We'll do it your way."

Laura looked pleased with herself, but she still put on a show of reluctance. "Sebastian, are you sure about this? I'm still new, and this is such an important proposal. I'm worried I'm not qualified to take it on."

"The business partners asked for you to take charge, and you graduated from a prestigious fashion school. You're more than qualified," Sebastian said.

Laura smiled bashfully at his praise.

I nearly laughed at that.

Laura had basically bought her degree, and it wasn't worth much. I'd told Sebastian about it before, but he refused to believe me. He accused me of being jealous and making up lies about Laura.

After praising Laura, Sebastian tore me down instead. "Cindy, you could learn a thing or two from Laura! Look at you. After all this time, you still have nothing to show for it!"

The company wouldn't be where it was today without me. But now that it was successful, Sebastian was tossing me aside and handing my place to Laura.

The man who had once loved me no longer existed.

I took a deep breath and walked toward Laura.

Sebastian immediately stepped in front of her. Our coworkers were already watching, eager to see what happened next.

I smiled, pulled my employee badge from my bag, and held it out to Laura. "It's just one proposal. You can have it. In fact, you can have my job as head designer too!"

Everyone stared at me like I'd lost my mind. They all knew how much work I'd poured into that proposal.

I had put together the first draft and spent day after day revising it. I had practically talked myself hoarse just getting the business partners to agree to meet with us.

I had worked so hard to get everything ready, and the proposal was almost finished. But at the last minute, Sebastian replaced me with Laura and let her take over.

He made a joke of all the time and effort I'd put in.