Chapter 1

“Did you hear? Quinton Zeller and some actress overdid it in the hot springs at Summit Ridge Ski Resort last night. They both ended up with hypothermia and almost didn’t make it.”

Nadia Lincoln had been hiding in the dressing room for a moment of peace. When she heard the voices outside, her hand froze on the door.

Quinton Zeller.

An actress.

Outdoor sex?

“Don’t talk nonsense. Their marriage is perfectly fine.”

Mrs. Wilson spoke up for Nadia, partly because the bouquet Nadia had brought today looked like one of Aster Grey’s designs.

Besides, she was the host of tonight’s dinner. She wasn’t some gossiping busybody like Mrs. Lucas.

“Nonsense? My cousin was right there! He caught it all on video. How could that be wrong?” Mrs. Lucas tapped a video on her phone. Knowing the footage was scandalous, she instinctively covered the speaker with her hand.

But the restroom was a confined space. No matter how tightly she muffled it, the sound bled through. The woman’s flirtatious laughter and the man’s low groans echoed through the empty room, slipping through the door and straight into Nadia’s ears.

“Quin, stop touching me there... ah...”

“Mm-hmm... come closer... You can’t handle it already?”

His low, muffled voice was mixed with the unmistakable sound of splashing water. Just hearing it was enough to make anyone blush.

She heard it clearly.

She knew that voice. How could she not recognize Quinton’s voice?

Her stomach turned violently.

She had come here today because Quinton had been working late every night to earn a seat on the board. He had been staying at the office for an entire month.

Just as her mother-in-law had said, Quinton treated her so well. She should do something for him too.

She knew Henry Wilson’s wife loved floral design. Even though Nadia hadn’t touched floral art in eight years, she still personally made a bouquet and brought it to Mrs. Wilson today.

She only wanted to help Quinton. She hoped Henry would vote for him at the board election.

She kept thinking about how good Quinton usually was to her. Even though she knew coming to this dinner meant facing those people’s sneers and mockery, she still came.

Because she wanted to be good to Quinton. She wanted to live a good life with him.

But it turned out that while she was cutting flowers and hurting her hands, while the stems pricked her fingers, Quinton was wrapped up with another woman.

She pressed one hand hard against her chest. The wound in her palm, where the scissors had pierced her skin, hurt so badly now that she could barely stay upright.

The laughter outside sounded distant and blurred, as if it had been muffled underwater. Nadia could only hear her own violent heartbeat, pounding again and again until her eardrums ached.

Mrs. Wilson clicked her tongue in disgust.

“What a mess. If Nadia finds out about this, who knows what kind of scene she’ll make?”

Mrs. Lucas closed the video and set it her phone casually on the sink, then touched up her makeup in the mirror.

“Nadia lives off the Zellers now. She doesn’t have the guts to make a scene. I bet she’d play blind and pretend she saw nothing even if she caught them in the act. After all, where else can she go? She certainly can’t go back to the Zimmers and watch her mother shamelessly serve that fake stepfather of hers.”

“Hahaha. Mrs. Lucas, that mouth of yours really is something...”

With a bang, the restroom door was pushed open.

The two women who had been gossiping so happily were startled by the sudden noise.

Nadia walked up to them with a perfectly calm expression and turned on the faucet.

She washed her hands slowly. Through the mirror, her quiet eyes fixed on the two women who had been talking behind her back.

“I thought you were still in Tagerland, Mrs. Lucas,” Nadia said coolly. “After all, the boys there are much younger than Mr. Lucas. I wonder when your husband will finally realize his wife has been cheating on him. Perhaps I should call him and ask.”

“You!”

Mrs. Lucas turned pale. She hadn’t expected Nadia to know about her escapades in Tagerland.

But she didn’t dare gamble on how much Nadia knew. In the end, she could only leave in embarrassment.

Mrs. Wilson smiled and stepped in to smooth things over.

“Now, now. We’re all friends here. There’s no need to let a small misunderstanding ruin the evening. By the way, Ms. Lincoln, that bouquet you brought today really is one of Aster Grey’s designs, isn’t it? Could you introduce me to her? I’d love to commission her to design the main floral arrangement for my son’s wedding.”

Eight years ago, Aster Grey had won the gold medal at the International Floral Design Competition, causing a major sensation in the industry.

Even the Queen of Eveland had reached out, hoping to hire Aster Grey as the royal family’s exclusive floral designer.

But what no one could understand was that after winning the award, Aster Grey had simply vanished.

Even now, the few pieces Aster Grey had left behind were still held up by Fleur Créatif as industry standards.

Countless people dreamed of owning one of Aster Grey’s works.

If Mrs. Wilson could invite Aster Grey to design her son’s wedding, then when the time came, no wedding in all of Harbor City would compare. No, not just Harbor City. Even on a global level, no one would be able to outdo it.

As Mrs. Wilson thought this, she seemed to have completely forgotten that only moments ago, she had been gossiping about Nadia alongside Mrs. Lucas.

A few minutes earlier, while Mrs. Wilson had been talking to Nadia about Aster Grey, Mrs. Lucas had felt too humiliated to stay. She left the restroom, but forgot to take her phone with her.

While Mrs. Wilson was busy chatting with her, Nadia calmly took her own phone out of her purse, made it look as if she was setting it by the sink, then slipped it back into her bag.

Mrs. Wilson was too focused on getting an introduction to Aster Grey to notice Nadia’s movements.

When Nadia picked up the phone, Mrs. Wilson simply assumed it was hers.

Nadia operated the phone with one hand and sent the video to her own phone.

Only after Mrs. Wilson finished speaking and looked at her expectantly did Nadia finally speak.

“You’ve misunderstood, Mrs. Wilson. That bouquet was made by an ordinary friend of mine. As for what I mentioned earlier about asking Mr. Wilson for help, please pretend I never said anything. After all, I’m taking the flowers back with me. Otherwise, if you kept something of mine for nothing, I’m afraid you might feel guilty.”

“Hey, Nadia Lincoln, what is that supposed to mean?”

Nadia only smiled and waved at Mrs. Wilson, leaving her words behind as she turned away.

The moment she turned around, the smile disappeared, leaving only her delicate, cold face.

Before she left, Nadia didn’t forget to take the bouquet with her.

She had designed it carefully and made it with her own hands. How could she possibly let it become Quinton’s stepping stone?

After so many years, she had almost forgotten that she had once been a top floral designer who had become famous at a young age.

She also hadn’t expected that the reason she picked up her old craft again would be to help his career, only to receive his betrayal in return.

Now, both she and this bouquet had become a joke.

She carried the bouquet and walked out of the hotel. The moment she stepped outside, a cold wind swept snowflakes into her face, making her shiver.

She took out her phone and opened the video.

When those disgusting images appeared before her eyes, Nadia’s stomach churned again.

She clutched her chest and braced herself against a pillar outside the hotel. In the end, she couldn’t hold it in and threw up.

Her eyes turned bloodshot.

The more she tried to forget those sickening images, the more they clung to her like ghosts, the images and sounds twisting in her mind until nausea rose again.

The freezing wind carried snowflakes onto the back of her neck. The icy sting brought her back to her senses inch by inch.

In her high heels, she stepped into the snow, one step at a time.

Summit Ridge Ski Resort, was it?

Since Quinton was there recovering, as his wife, she should at least go and check on him.