Chapter 3

At 1:00 am, the rain had finally stopped, and the sky was clear again.

James Quisley, a tall, well-groomed man with short hair, stood silently in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows at Carlat International Airport.

"It's rare to see you finally take a break. Have a safe trip, almighty president of Ascentia Group!" Lance Darwin, James' friend, exclaimed jokingly.

James' dark eyes were calm as he responded, "Thanks."

James was an exceedingly handsome man and yet he had an air of aloofness, making it hard for others to get too close to him.

After joking around with James, Lance had gotten into his supercar. Still, before he sped off, he said again, "Mr. Quigley, I'll be here waiting for you to bring the future Mrs. Quigley home, alright?"

James ignored Lance's incessant teasing and simply waved to send him off.

Under the bright lights of the airport, James' sharp features paired with his all-black outfit made him look regal and refined.

The future Mrs. Quigley? That woman?

"Oh, Summer," he thought to himself, "I don't know if you'll like it, but that role belongs to you!"

At that thought, he smirked. It had been so many years. Now, it was finally time to go see that woman he hadn't been able to forget about!

When Summer finally opened her eyes again, she found herself in her own bedroom.

She squinted her eyes to get used to the brightness before sluggishly getting to her feet.

Her entire body felt like a deflated balloon, and she felt like a shell of who she used to be.

The rays of sunlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows were warm and inviting. Despite that, it felt like a big slap in the face to her right now.

Compared to the warm rays of the sun, it was more evident than ever that the rain from last night had been a wake-up call for her to pull herself together.

She sighed and went to the bathroom to freshen up. As she grabbed her toothbrush, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her reflection stared back at her with swollen, red-rimmed eyes. Summer despised the person staring back at her.

The person in the mirror was just a reminder that her four-year-long relationship with Hank had reached its end. Her determination to get married to him felt as if it had never existed.

"Summie, are you awake?" her father, Fred Charter's gentle voice came from outside her door.

Fred was the president of Charter Corporation. Although Charter Corporation had not been as profitable lately as it used to be, at least it was still doing well.

To Fred, who was now in his fifties, nothing was more important than having a happy family.

As such, Summer had tried her best to hide her forlorn expression when she opened the door to greet him.

"Dad, why are you home today?" she asked curiously with a forced smile, hoping that Fred wouldn't notice that anything was wrong.

"You spent so much time dressing up yesterday … don't you have any good news you want to tell me?" Fred joked as he took in her appearance.

"I stayed home today to await the good news …" Fred continued.

Summer had spent the past few months planning to finalize her marriage with Hank, so she had been in an exceptionally good mood every day.

Her improved mood did not go unnoticed by Fred, which was why he had been so excited to hear about what happened yesterday.

However, now, Summer's first instinct when she heard his words was to duck her head so he couldn't see her expression.

Summer's smile was forced as she said cheerily, "There's no good news. I'm quite busy today, I'll be heading out first!"

Summer then grabbed her bag and ran off before Fred could respond.

In her haste to leave, she missed Fred's knowing gaze. He was her father, so how could he possibly miss how hard she was trying to hide the forlorn expression on her face?

On top of that, just thinking about how Summer returned home drenched and out of it last night made Fred frown.

Summer went straight to the company after she left home and noticed that something was wrong the minute she stepped foot into the office.

Debbie Watson pulled the door open for her as she exclaimed, "Why are you only here now? I've been waiting for you to give me some insider information on what had just happened!"

Debbie, who was the assistant manager of the human resources department, was the biggest gossip in the administration building.

"What happened?" Summer asked as she pulled out her chair. She hadn't slept well last night, and she rubbed her forehead in exhaustion. With everything that had been going on in her life, she wasn't in the mood for company gossip.

Debbie rarely saw Summer looking so down and studied her before taking a seat as well.

"Are you alright? You don't look so good," Debbie said worriedly.

Debbie then pushed her face closer to Summer's to take a better look. She found that Summer had serious dark circles under her swollen eyes from crying.

Debbie raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Did you find out about what happened yesterday? Is that why you look so bad today?"

Summer had slumped on her desk tiredly, but Debbie's cryptic words made her sit back up again. She wondered if that bastard Hank had announced to everyone in the company that they had broken up.

No way! She was still the successor of Charter Corporation, so he wouldn't do something as shameless as that, right?

She then cast a glance at the employees sitting outside of her office from the glass door. She realized that their attention was all on her.

"Stop bothering me. I don’t want to talk about Hank or me right now," Summer exclaimed as she pushed Debbie's face away.

"Oh, so you do remember the surprise that Hank gave you yesterday," Debbie said with a sideways glance and a bittersweet smile. It was as if she were mocking her.

"Did you finally realize that the surprise he gave you was bigger than you'd expected?" Debbie continued cryptically.

An idea dawned on Summer. Debbie was a shrewd woman and must have found out that Hank cheated on her!

She hadn't been trying to keep the breakup from everyone. After all, it was just a relationship. She could still function perfectly well as a single woman.

However, Hank was undoubtedly one of the most talented employees in Charter Corporation. Now that their relationship was ruined by her own best friend, it was no wonder why everyone was shooting her sympathetic looks.

Summer's confused expression seemed to agitate Debbie even further and she exclaimed, "Don't tell me you still don't know about what happened!

"Judging from the dark circles under your eyes, you have to have known already, right?"

"Goodness, it's just a breakup. It's not like it's a big deal. Why is everyone overreacting?" Summer exclaimed in exasperation.