Chapter 2

I stayed up all night packing up everything in the house, but the physical exhaustion did nothing to quiet my thoughts. Memories of the past continued to race through my mind.

I couldn't even remember when I'd become so calm and restrained. Perhaps, just like loving Jared, it had quietly seeped into my being.

Jared's assistant, Michael Roarke, arrived very early. The baby-faced young lad looked unusually troubled.

"Gab—" he began, the word twisting on his tongue before he finally settled on "Ms. Armstrong."

"Mr. Sheppard asked me to give these to you. He said once you sign these papers, you should forget about everything that happened over the past few years. This is your compensation."

Michael opened the suitcase. Inside, stacks of cash were neatly bundled, and on the very top lay a document.

Jared had transferred the subsidiary company I'd been managing to my name.

"Mr. Sheppard said you should go to the subsidiary…"

His words trailed off, but I understood.

Jared was making me step aside for Rachel. He was afraid that a scheming, calculating woman like me would bully his innocent fiancee.

My fingers brushed over the documents, and a soft chuckle escaped me. I'd devoted ten years to him, even risking my life more than once. In the end, it was only worth this much.

As it turned out, I was barely worth anything to Jared.

"Take these back," I said calmly. "And pass along a message for me. Tell Mr. Sheppard that we'll just pretend nothing ever happened over these past few years. I'm done messing around, too."

Jared was right.

I was 19 years old when I first met him. Now, I was 29.

At 19, I'd panicked and run away from a love that burned too hot. But now, at 29, I suddenly wanted to go back and see if that person was still waiting for me.

"No, Gabrielle, I'm going with you!" Michael blurted, eyes reddening. "You saved my life. We've all discussed it. We'll only follow you—no one else! If the boss marries someone else, we'll all jump ship and go with you!"

I had indeed saved their lives. Back when we had nothing, they all saw me as their big sister, holding out empty bowls and staring at me hopefully.

I dragged them out of all kinds of hell and put them to work for Jared. I never expected them to remember it all these years later.

"Don't be impulsive," I said gently, trying to persuade him.

But Michael broke down, sobbing uncontrollably—until Jared walked in. In front of outsiders, Jared was always a man of few words. And just one cold, menacing glance from him was enough to silence Michael's sobs.

Finally, Jared's gaze landed on me. It was icy, as if he were looking at an enemy.

"Gabrielle, don't think you can stay by using such a tactic. Don't make me hate you. Whatever you want, I can give it to you."

I scoffed, arching my eyebrow at him. "I want your life. Can you give me that?"

We locked eyes, and his face flushed red.

I didn't know whether he recalled that it was me who had knelt and begged before the hospital director. I was the one who had gotten him a chance at surgery.

This life of his had been given by me.

Now, he was using that very life to betray me.

"So this is what they mean by turning someone's goodwill against them," a voice chimed in before its owner even appeared.

That pampered, smug tone was enough for me to picture the woman immediately.

Rachel stepped out from behind the door, draped in jewelry, shining brighter than the sun.

"I know you, Gabrielle Armstrong. Old-fashioned women like you, trying to secure a position just because you've spent ten years with someone… Don't you think that's putting people in a difficult spot?"

She looked me up and down with open disdain.

I looked back at her. She really did resemble me from ten years ago, looking like a person who would braid diamonds in their hair if they could.

Everything about her screamed exquisite refinement. And there was an air of recklessness and fearlessness about her, too, tinged with a faint trace of stupidity.

"Jared, she probably doesn't even know whether to kiss you first or take off her clothes and get into bed, does she? She's basically a kid. How could you even bring yourself to be with her?"

Before I could finish, Jared had already covered Rachel's ears and pulled her into his arms protectively. His face darkened, and his voice turned even colder.

"She's not like you. She's not someone who's messed around. I'd never touch her before we get married."

Jared had once said that I was different, too. That kind of hands-on favoritism used to belong to me and me alone.

Now, it had become the knife stabbing into me.

I had never truly understood what it meant for a heart to shatter in just one second. But at this moment, I felt it. All emotion faded into nothingness, and not even a ripple remained. A dull, numbing ache spread from the depths of my heart to the rest of my body, inch by inch, until every part of me was in pain.

I stared at Jared for a long moment before pushing up the gold-rimmed glasses perched on my nose. This ten-year-long habit allowed me to force out a faint smile even at the peak of the pain.

"You're right, Mr. Sheppard. But I have no interest in any of these things. When I came here, I came alone and with nothing. And now that I'm leaving, I can leave empty-handed, too. I don't want anything. Let's just pretend all of this was just a game."

I grabbed my suitcase and walked past him.

Jared suddenly grabbed my hand. "Don't be upset with me."

But before I could say anything, Rachel, who'd been standing there the whole time, let out a petulant huff. She stomped her foot and turned around, pouting. She didn't even need to say a word before the hand that had been gripping mine loosened gradually.

Jared lowered himself to cajole her, not even caring about his pride in front of his friends.

Years of experience made me keenly aware that someone had investigated Jared, but I no longer had any reason to warn him.

Michael ran after me to see me out, still cursing Jared under his breath.

Two sharp honks cut him off.

"Princess, I'm here to take you home."

My hand suddenly felt light. Someone had taken my suitcase from my grasp.

Knox Ferris nodded at me, then flashed a beaming smile, his teeth bright and white. Submission and wildness clashed violently within him. Beneath the restraint of his suit, a forced civility caged something feral—wild, surging, alive.

That devastatingly beautiful, almost androgynous face turned both burning and docile the moment he saw me.

And in his eyes, I saw hostility.

"Mr. Sheppard," he said calmly. "One more step, and you'll be crossing the line."

He slowly straightened his spine, enveloping me in his shadow.

I followed his gaze, only then noticing that Jared had rushed after me.

The two men locked eyes. It felt as if in the next second, primal instinct would take over, and they'd tear each other apart.