Chapter 1

At the company's annual gala, as soon as the CEO, Maeve Maddock, finished her speech, the audience broke into applause.

The next moment, the clapping grew even louder, mixed with cheers and catcalls.

I looked closer and saw Maeve's male assistant, Johnny Lavelle, hurrying onto the stage with a giant bouquet of red roses.

He dropped to one knee in front of her. At the center of the roses sat a red velvet ring box.

Johnny said, with deep feeling, "Maeve, when I joined the company three months ago, I didn't know anything. I couldn't do a thing. But you never looked down on me. You took care of me every step of the way and taught me the ropes.

"All those days and nights we spent together—I realized I've fallen deeply in love with you. I want to be with you. Will you marry me?"

I couldn't help but smirk, thinking Johnny was just deluding himself.

A coworker next to me suddenly nudged me with his elbow. When he saw my confused look, his face lit up with excitement, and he whispered, "How can you be so calm? Don't you think our CEO and Johnny make a perfect couple?"

I shook my head and said, "She won't say yes to Johnny's proposal."

Hearing that, the coworker gave me a puzzled stare. "Why not? Maeve's single, and Johnny's always by her side. They're just one step away from making it official."

I was about to tell him that Maeve was already married—and that her legal husband was me. But then, I remembered the day five years ago when Maeve and I had gotten our marriage license.

That day, she told me she wanted to wait until she had become someone everyone looked up to before announcing our marriage publicly.

She said that women in this world face so many constraints—marriage, children—and she didn't want to waste too much time on that now. Once she had made it big, she promised, she would throw us a grand wedding.

I'd always respected her wishes, so whatever she said, I went along with it.

Thinking back on that, I swallowed the words I was about to say. But when I looked up and saw the way Maeve was gazing at Johnny, the smile on my face vanished in an instant.

Maeve picked up the red velvet box. When she saw the sparkling diamond ring inside, her smile grew even warmer.

She gazed tenderly at Johnny, her eyes filled with nothing but love.

Everyone could feel the chemistry crackling between them, and the crowd's cheering swelled.

Amid the roar of the crowd, Maeve's eyes glistened with tears as she said to Johnny, "Yes. I will."

Hearing her answer, Johnny broke into a beaming smile and pulled her into his arms.