Chapter 1

I didn't know how long I had been asleep. I woke up because I was thirsty.

Just then, I heard the fingerprint lock click open, but I didn't turn around.

Eason Caldwell changed into his slippers and walked in. He stopped a short distance behind me.

"How are you feeling? Why didn't you reply when you woke up?"

I didn't answer.

He came closer and reached out to touch my forehead.

When I caught the faint scent of perfume on him, I turned my face away. It was the perfume his secretary, Queenie Easton, always wore.

His hand froze in midair for a moment before he lowered it.

He said coldly, "Right. Your numbers look fine, anyway."

He looked at my face, then, as usual, his eyes went to the top of my head.

My voice was painfully hoarse as I asked, "Can't you turn off those numbers and just look at me for once?"

I remembered him saying that the feature could be turned off.

Eason was silent for a few seconds. Then he simply put the bag in his hand on the table. "These should help bring your fever down. Take them."

I was silent for a moment before walking over to the table and crouching down.

With slightly shaking hands, I tugged at the knot on the bag several times.

"Queenie got these for you. She heard you weren't feeling well, so she bought them for you on her way here."

I kept opening the bag.

If this had been the old me, I would have pushed the bag back and told him I could buy them myself.

But I felt so awful today that even untying the bag seemed like a struggle.

He stood beside me for a while. When he saw that I wasn't saying anything, he reminded me again, "Try to be nicer to her. She's just a simple girl who hasn't been working for very long. She's not as sharp as you are."

When I finally opened the bag, I found a box of ibuprofen, a box of cold medicine, a pack of cooling fever patches, and two pieces of paper.

One was the receipt from the drugstore.

The other was a receipt for a luxury-brand necklace. The payment had been made at 4:24 p.m., and the amount was huge.

I stared at the receipt for a while before quietly putting it back at the bottom of the bag.

I tore open the fever patch and stuck one to my forehead.

The cool feeling eased the pain in my head.

I stood up and walked toward the bedroom. "I'm tired today. You can sleep in the guest room."

I didn't wait for his answer. I closed the door and lay back down in bed.

The house fell silent again.

I don't know how much time passed before I heard the phone in the living room ring.

Eason answered in a low voice. I heard him laugh a few times, and then his voice slowly faded away.

A moment later, I heard the door open.

I turned over to face the wall and pulled the blanket over my head.

Then the phone under my pillow vibrated once, but I didn't check it.