Chapter 3

Ivy and Evan's eyes met, and a flicker of emotion passed through Ivy's gaze for a brief moment before she clenched her jaw and turned to leave.

Evan grabbed her wrist. His teeth were practically clenched when he spoke. "Ivy, what are you doing here?"

She pressed her lips together and didn't answer. She stood in front of a man worth billions of dollars like a stubborn Cinderella, holding onto her dignity with everything she had.

Evan shook his head and turned to me. "Winnie, go ahead and start without me. Keep the client comfortable. I'll be right there once I deal with this."

I looked at him for a moment, then smiled.

I'd invested in this tech company and worked alongside Evan for six years. In all that time, his dedication to work bordered on obsession.

For a 2:00 am conference call with an overseas client, he'd be seated in the room half an hour early. Even when he was running a fever of 103 degrees, he'd sign contracts with an IV drip still in his arm.

If a flight was delayed, he always had a backup plan ready. Everyone in the business world knew it. Evan Hartley was simply never late.

But that day, for Ivy, he broke that rule for the first time.

I didn't say anything. I just nodded and walked away.

Evan pulled Ivy into his office. Even through the door, I could hear him barely keeping his anger in check.

"Why didn't you call my assistant? Why are you still delivering food?"

Ivy kept her head down, but her voice carried a stubborn edge. "Mr. Hartley, my life is none of your concern. I can take care of myself. I don't need your pity."

Evan's frown deepened, and something softer crossed his eyes. He cupped her face in his hands and finally asked the question he'd been holding in for six years. "Ivy, why did you leave me?"

She let out a laugh, though her eyes were already red-rimmed.

"Evan, I didn't leave because I stopped loving you. I left because I couldn't keep dragging you down.

"Back then, you were skipping meals just to pay off my debts. You were working yourself into the ground every night until your body could barely keep up.

"Watching you destroy yourself for me was worse than anything, so I left. Now you finally have everything you worked for, and I'm not going to come back and ruin that."

She swiped hard at her tears and turned to go.

Evan reached out and pulled her into his arms from behind, without a second of hesitation. It was like six years of missing her had finally broken through, all at once. He buried his face in her wet hair, his voice so rough that it was barely audible.

"Stop. Don't say any more.

"What happened back then wasn't your fault. It was mine. I wasn't good enough. I couldn't afford to give you the life you deserved, and that's why you had to disappear.

"If I'd just worked a little harder, made a little more money, you wouldn't have had to leave like that."

His arms tightened around her as if letting go meant losing her all over again.

"All those years you suffered, that's a debt I owe you. And from now on, I'm personally going to make it right."

I stood outside the door, perfectly still. The last bit of hope I'd been holding onto shattered.

Before long, Ivy became Evan's personal secretary. He walked her through the business himself, going over financial reports with her page by page.

"This column is cash flow. This one is the debt-to-asset ratio. Take your time, there's no rush."

His voice carried a patience I'd never once heard him use.