Chapter 1

Sierra Perkins had always held herself to strict standards, and she expected the same from her future husband, Bradley Jaeger. When it came to work, she refused to let him slack off, forcing him to stay at the office until well past midnight every day. As for major projects, she never allowed him to let his guard down, ordering him to prepare hundreds of backup plans for every single one.

All of this made sense to Bradley. After all, Sierra held such a high position and had to lead by example. But now, with his mother, Kristey Schmidt, fighting for her life, she had refused to give him even ten minutes of leeway.

Bradley's thoughts were a complete mess. The moment the ten minutes were up, he hurried to the CEO's office.

However, her assistant, David Hall, looked troubled as he said, "Ms. Perkins has already left. Mr. Harvey Goldstein had a cough, and she was worried about him, so she took him to the hospital."

All the color instantly drained from Bradley's face. Sierra never left work early. Yet that day, she had abandoned her principles just because her best friend's younger brother had coughed a couple of times.

And those were principles she had never bent even slightly for him.

Because of the ten-minute delay, more people had lined up for cabs, and the traffic on the road had become even more jammed. Two hours later, Bradley finally arrived at the emergency room.

The doctor looked both sympathetic and frustrated. "What took you so long? The bleeding was too severe, and there was nothing we could do. We did everything we could, but the bleeding was too severe. She held on for an hour waiting for you, then passed away ten minutes ago."

At that instant, the world seemed to fall completely silent around Bradley. His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto a bench in the hallway. All he could hear was his own heavy, broken breathing.

Once again, it was those ten minutes. Because of those ten minutes, he had missed his last chance to see his mother.

Then Harvey's deep, smooth voice broke through the dead silence. "Sierra, thanks for coming to the doctor with me."

Bradley stiffly turned to look in that direction. Sierra, who usually wore a cold expression, let her gaze soften as she smiled.

She said, "Molly Goldstein got you this internship at my company and asked me to look out for you, so of course I couldn't let her down."

Harvey gave a low laugh, then looked a little confused. "Sierra, if you were planning to bring me to the hospital all along, then why did you agree to go with Bradley?"

At the mention of that name, Sierra's smile faded. "I just wanted to knock him down a peg. He's gotten way too comfortable using his status as the Perkins family's future son-in-law to get special treatment, and I won't let him get full of himself."

As she finished speaking, she happened to glance to the side, and her eyes met Bradley's. His face had gone completely pale.

Bradley slowly walked up to her, and every single word he spoke trembled. "Sierra, what special treatment have I ever gotten? Because I'm your fiancé, you reassigned my assistant, so I had to handle every little task myself. I was so exhausted that I ended up in the hospital nine times in one month.

"When I accidentally typed one extra space, you ordered me to say 'I was wrong, I'm sorry' a thousand times in front of the entire staff. But Sierra! Other than using that title to keep me in line at work, have you ever actually acknowledged me as your future husband? My mom was supposed to be your family too. How could you gamble with her life like that?"

The veins bulged on his arms as they hung at his sides, trembling with grief. Bradley was practically screaming.

Sierra's voice was icy, her tone utterly cold. "Stop being so unreasonable. Your mother died because she was unlucky. And you missed her because you chose to wait those ten extra minutes, so it has nothing to do with me."

"And one more thing, Bradley..." A faint hint of mockery filled Sierra's striking eyes. "You were the one who chased after me and confessed your feelings."

She continued, "You were dying to become my husband as soon as possible, so why are you acting as if you feel differently now? If you really have the guts, then go ahead and call off the wedding next month yourself."

With her pale, flawless skin and her chin raised slightly, Sierra was sure Bradley wouldn't dare. Then she left with Harvey at her side.

Bradley stood frozen in place as bitter self-mockery and regret swept over him like a merciless flood. It was true that he had followed Sierra around and confessed to her 99 times. He had also been foolish enough to be overjoyed when she finally said yes, so much so that he quit his position at a top investment bank and came to work at Perkins Group without a single complaint.

But later, he found out by chance that Sierra wasn't marrying him because she loved him. She just needed someone to take care of the household and share her workload. He simply happened to fit the role of a housekeeper and secretary, and that was all he was to her.

Inside the hearse, Bradley held Kristey's cold hand tightly and pressed it against his tear-streaked face. His voice shook as he choked out, "Mom, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I don't want to marry Sierra anymore, and you'd be okay with that, wouldn't you?"