The Strength to Start Over

Noise came from the entryway.

Amanda Carroll walked in with Donovan White.

He had thrown on an expensive silk shirt, the kind Amanda wore when she went out. The first three buttons hung open, exposing the hard line of his chest.

I sat on the sofa and watched him notice me.

He did not even pretend to tidy himself up. He leaned against the foyer wall as if he owned the place with a lazy smile.

"Cedric," he said. "My luggage got lost at the airport. Manda was worried I'd catch a chill, so she let me wear one of her shirts. You're a man. You're not going to mind, right?"

He spoke as he walked over, as though my answer did not matter.

With every step, the collar gaped wider. Faint red marks flashed along his collarbone and climbed the side of his neck. There were too many of them, and they were too deliberately placed to be accidental.

In my previous life, that sight had set me off. I had exploded and made a scene. I had called Donovan shameless to his face.

Amanda had shattered a glass and sneered that my mind was filthy, so I saw filth everywhere. Then she had led him into the guest room in front of me. Neither of them had come out all night.

This time, I only flicked my eyes over him.

"If your luggage is lost, buy new clothes," I said. "Amanda doesn't lack money."

I let the silence sharpen, then added, "But Mr. White, you're a grown man. You can't even put your clothes on properly. Someone who doesn't know you might think you just crawled out of some club, smiling for tips."

Donovan's face dropped at once. He let out a cold snort.

Amanda's temper flared. "Cedric, don't say that."

I saw it rise in her shoulders, ready to snap at me. Then something shifted behind her eyes, as if she remembered a line she preferred better.

Her voice softened into weary patience. "Ced, say less. Don worked alone overseas and has suffered a lot. He finally came back, and you cannot be a little more generous?"

She walked over and reached for my arm.

I shifted away.

Her hand hung in the air for a beat. Then she pulled it back awkwardly and continued as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, right. Don ran into trouble this time. He tried to do business abroad and someone set him up. His cash flow collapsed, and he owes a lot of debt now. The collectors are vicious. If he can't pay, they will cripple him." Her tone stayed calm and practical, as if she were describing a supply issue.

"Ced, you have that patent project," she said. "A few pharma companies have contacted you lately, right? Transfer it, sell it, and use the money to help Don cover the hole first."

She spoke with complete confidence, as if it belonged to her. As if it were not something I had dragged out of countless sleepless nights.

My nails pressed into my palm. I forced my breathing to stay steady.

In my previous life, I had refused. She had hated me for it, calling me cold-blooded. In the end, she arranged the crash that killed me.

Now I looked into her eyes, full of calculation and certainty, and I smiled.

"Fine." I kept my voice clear and simple, with no argument for her to latch onto. "I'm organizing the patent materials anyway. I was still debating whether to sell. If Mr. White needs cash that badly, I'll sell it."

I glanced at him. "If the transfer goes smoothly, it should cover part of what he owes."

Amanda froze. She clearly had not expected me to fold. Then joy flooded her face so quickly it almost looked obscene. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders without asking, her voice turning soft and sweet.

"Ced, I knew you were the most reasonable.

"Don't worry. Once Don's situation is settled, we'll go to Irisal, the place you always wanted.

"I'll set the company aside for a while. We'll try for a baby properly. I'll give you a child. The three of us will live well."

I pulled my mouth into a smile. "Sure. I also want to go somewhere nobody knows us and start over."

In my head, I finished, "Start over, alone."

Amanda did not catch it. She grabbed Donovan's bag and headed toward the bedroom. "Ced, Don just got back. He's still adjusting to the time zone. I've known him since we were kids, so I'll stay in the master bedroom tonight and talk business with him. You can sleep in the guest room."

Donovan shot me a look of pure challenge, then swaggered after her into my bedroom as if it had always been his.

At the same moment, my phone vibrated. The screen lit with a text alert from an overseas bank.

[Your account ending in 8888 received USD 20,000,000.00 at 20:30 today.]

My senior's 20,000,000 dollars had arrived.

I opened the online contract and signed it on the spot.