All Chapters of No to Marriage? Goodbye, Then: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

At my office, I booked flight tickets for me and my daughter for tomorrow evening and forwarded the itinerary along with my onboarding paperwork to the new company.They replied almost instantly."Ms. Fields, we'll have someone waiting at the airport to receive you. We're looking forward to having you join us. See you."I closed my laptop after reading the email.Just then, my colleague, Maeve Brooks, walked over and placed a small plush cat on my desk."Ms. Fields, I heard it's your daughter's birthday today. This is just a little something for her," she said.I gave her a warm smile. "Thank you. That's really thoughtful."Maeve waved it off casually. "Don't mention it. Being a single mom can't be easy. Just don't carry it all on your own. Remember to ask her father for child support."No one at the office knew that the CEO, Graham Ashford, was the father of my child. He never wanted anyone to know about us, never wanted the relationship public.We had a daughter together, bu

"Graham," Emily said through sobs, "if I divorced Dean, would you marry me?"Graham looked at her for a long second. "If that's what you want, I'd marry you anytime."His words exploded in my mind like a thunderclap.Years ago, when I first found out I was pregnant, I had hopefully asked him, "Should we get married? It'll make things easier for the baby, especially with paperwork."He had frowned and told me, "Nora, marriage feels like a burden to me. The baby can have your name or mine, it doesn't matter. I don't need a marriage license to give you both a good life."He gave me everything I asked for for five years, except commitment.I had truly believed he didn't believe in marriage. But now, I knew the truth. It wasn't about marriage. It was about who he wanted to marry.I let out a bitter laugh, turned to head back inside, and walked downstairs with the resignation letter in my hands.Dean's car had already pulled away from the curb.Emily was still crying in Graham's arm

Graham's brows pulled into a frown. "She resigned and left Eastmoore? Where could she possibly go?"We had been together for five years, and our daughter was already four. He didn't believe for a second that I would just pack up and run.Besides, he didn't have the time to chase me back.On the other end of the line, Adeline hesitated before saying, "Ms. Fields didn't leave alone. She took her daughter with her."The moment those words hit Graham's ears, a sinking feeling settled in his chest. He opened his mouth to ask more, but a pair of slender arms slipped around him from behind.Emily leaned in on her tiptoes, her breath warm against his ear. "Graham, stay with me tonight, will you?"His entire body stiffened."Mr. Ashford, are you still there?" Adeline's voice came through the phone again. "Mr. Ashford, hello?"Graham forced his voice into calm. "That's all. Thanks."With that, he ended the call.Emily gave a coy smile. "Graham, were you serious when you said you'd marr

I had memorized every part of Graham's daily routine. I even tracked his meal times down to the minute, making sure everything ran like clockwork.Some days, I was so busy I didn't even have time for lunch, rushing back home after work just to prepare his dinner.But Graham's mind was always elsewhere, focused only on work or Emily.He never once acknowledged the effort I poured into him.After chatting a little more with Rachel, I ended the call....Inside the conference room, Graham slammed a report on the table. "Can't HR find a decent secretary? The one you hired can't even sort files properly."The HR team exchanged awkward looks. Finally, the department lead, Julia Marks, couldn't hold back anymore and snapped, "Mr. Ashford, she has no trouble sorting files. You just never gave her clear instructions!"Graham's expression darkened, but the HR lead didn't flinch. She continued, "This is the best secretary we've been able to recruit. If she's not good enough for you, there