Chapter 2

Ian's POV

After five years away, I finally returned home. Everything felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

Dad's company, Apex Group, was one of the country's leading business empires. But back then, I had willingly given up everything just for the sake of freedom.

Looking back now, my stubborn insistence seemed like nothing more than a childish joke.

Dad was surprised by my change of heart, but more than anything, he was relieved. He didn't press for details about what had happened between Vivian and me. Instead, he immediately assigned me to the company's core projects division.

He even handed me a challenging overseas merger and acquisition deal to cut my teeth on.

"If you can pull this deal off, you'll have established yourself within the company." Dad patted my shoulder, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

I nodded and threw myself entirely into my work. I had mountains of paperwork, video conferences across different time zones, and meticulous business negotiations. The demanding workload quickly took all my time and attention, leaving me with barely a moment to dwell on those unpleasant issues.

After dinner, I finally took a short break and casually scrolled through X.

Vivian's profile was at the top of my feed. She had posted her latest update just half an hour ago.

I tapped on it almost instinctively. The pictures showed breathtaking expanses of snow. To my surprise, Justin had taken her to see the snow.

She must be having a wonderful time. After all, snowy landscapes had always been her favorite thing to see.

Just as I exited X, I suddenly got a call from her. I hesitated for a moment, then answered.

I heard Vivian's voice on the phone, mixed with broken sobs. "Ian! Help me…"

I felt a pang in my chest, and my grip on my pen tightened instantly. I asked, "What happened?"

"Justin and I… O-Our car has broken down on the mountain. There's a heavy snowstorm, and the signal keeps coming and going… I'm so cold, Ian… I feel like I won't survive this…"

Her voice grew weaker, as if she might lose consciousness at any moment.

My first instinct was to think it was another one of her pranks. But then, the five years we had spent together crossed my mind. She was afraid of the dark and the cold. Whenever she fell ill, she would cling to me like a child.

What if she was telling the truth? What if I refused to go because I was still upset with her, and something really happened to her? Could I ever live with myself?

At the thought of her buried beneath the snow, her body growing cold in the darkness, every defense I had built up crumbled in an instant.

"Vivian, just hold on! I'll be right there!" I yelled.

I hung up, grabbed my car keys, and rushed out of the office without even bothering to close the project proposal. The mountain roads were slippery and treacherous at night, but I drove as fast as I could.

A few hours later, I finally arrived at a secluded mountain cabin deep in the snow-capped mountains at 4:00 am with only the vague directions she had given me.

But nothing resembled the emergency I had imagined. The fireplace blazed, and a group of men and women gathered around it, holding glasses of champagne and laughing merrily.

Meanwhile, Vivian was nestled against Justin on the couch in the middle of the room. The moment I pushed the door open, covered in snow and gasping for breath, the laughter in the room abruptly died away.