I sat in my best friend, Tara Lane's, car. I was still traumatized by the airport incident.

Tara shoved a water bottle into my hand and enthusiastically exclaimed, "Oh my god, Ivan really went all out for you!

"Look! The drones are spelling out your name in the sky!"

I choked on the water and coughed as I stared at the flashing lights outside.

In my opinion, it looked less like a romantic display and more like the red dots of surveillance cameras.

"What kind of spell did you cast on Ivan back then? He takes the main seat at every reunion, and the moment he gets drunk, he starts shouting your name.

"His current girlfriend looks strikingly like you too. You should see how her face clouds over whenever he calls your name!"

I caught an important detail from her words. "Wait. Reunion? You mean he was in my class?"

Tara slammed on the brakes at a red light and turned to look at me, her expression somewhere between confusion and disbelief. "Does Classroom 7 from senior year ring a bell? Ivan sat just behind you, a little off to the side. He was such a quiet kid then.

"I never realized you were so sharp at spotting potential! You didn't even tell me you two had been dating all that time!

"And now look at him—a big shot. He even showed off your token of love at the school anniversary. It was a physics notebook, and the first page had your signatures with little red hearts doodled all around."

Her teasing sounded far too specific to be made up. A scowl crept on my forehead as I racked my head.

Suddenly, I remembered my notebook that had gone missing before a physics competition during senior year. I had searched everywhere and panicked to the point that it nearly cost me the championship.

"I was searching for that notebook for a long time because I needed it for a competition," my voice came out hoarse.

Tara's eyes widened as the memories struck her too. "That was the same notebook? I remember you were in tears looking for it!

"Hold on, are you telling me you really don't remember Ivan?"

I helplessly nodded. "I've told you a hundred times already! If I'd had a boyfriend in high school, don't you think someone would've noticed?"

As the light turned green, Tara stepped on the accelerator, and the car slowly moved forward. "So, you really don't remember him, huh? But why did the people in our class group chat…" She paused and hesitated before continuing, "They said you dumped him before you went abroad."

"What?" I shouted.

Tara nearly jumped out of her seat at my loud voice.

"What a classic tale! The brilliant beauty leaves behind the poor nobody, telling him not to wait while she goes abroad. The rejection drives him forward, and heartbreak becomes his fuel.

"In the end, he rises to become the CEO of Olsen Group, with a girlfriend eerily similar to the woman who once broke his heart."

She continued to ramble, but I lost focus on what she was saying.

News of Ivan's pursuit of his true love was so widely reported that even my parents knew about it.

The moment I walked through the door, I overheard them talking about how cruel I was to have dumped him back then. Not to mention, they were worried about what he might do now that he was powerful.

But after the day's events, I could barely explain anything to them. I merely said, "Mom, Dad, all you need to know is that I would never dump anyone casually like that. But there are things I need confirmation of."

Once in my room, I quickly searched for Ivan's interviews, and a flood of results instantly popped up. Almost every headline included my name.

I clicked one at random, and a handsome man appeared on the screen. His expression carried a hint of longing.

"In my hardest times, thoughts of her kept me going."

The camera cut to the host's moved expression after hearing his words.

The video ended with Ivan sighing and saying, "Even though she once told me we could never be together."

At the end of the video, the top liked comment glared back at me. "His true love must regret leaving him now. I can't wait to see her crawl back to him!"

When I was done watching the video, I dug out my old graduation photobook from the corner of the house. I flipped it over and checked the names one by one.

At the very edge of the picture, I finally found Ivan. He stood in the corner, almost swallowed by shadows.

His overgrown bangs hid his eyes, making his face hard to see, and his uniform collar was crooked and loose. He stood out starkly against his classmates, who were smiling brightly.

He looked nothing like the confident man who now spoke eloquently on financial news.

Yet, no matter how many times I replayed his words from those interviews, I still had no memory of him.

…

I hadn't anticipated how unsettling Ivan's fixation would become. My apartment rent had mysteriously been covered for three years, and every time I tried to work in a café, a piece of cake would show up at my table without me ordering it.

The whole thing made me feel a fear I had never known before. It was like I was being watched. But in addition to the fear was fury.

I had come home to spend time with my family and contribute my knowledge to the country. I didn't come back for romance.

After sending in a job application, I received a notice to attend the interview. But the moment I handed my résumé to the receptionist, her eyes widened. "Are you Mr. Olsen's…"

My heart skipped a beat, and I cut her off sharply, "I'm Jennifer Palmer, and I'm here to apply for the Principal Investigator position."

The interview went unbelievably smoothly, and the questions were comically easy.

At the end of the interview, the HR manager adjusted his glasses with a sheepish smile, saying, "To be honest, Ms. Palmer, you didn't need to go through the interview process. Olsen Group is our major partner, and Mr. Olsen has told me about you."

I could feel my hands trembling with anger at the mention of Ivan.

"I graduated from one of the world's top three universities, and I have four first-author papers published in top-tier journals and two patent projects under my name. You're telling me none of that compares to some ridiculous connection?" I stressed each syllable as fury boiled inside of me.

In an instant, the conference room went dead silent.

The HR manager's round face turned stiff and awkward. "That's not what I meant. It's just that Mr. Olsen has instructed…"

I stood up before he could finish his sentence and emphasized, saying, "Please tell Mr. Olsen that his intervention has already affected my life. If he tries to interfere with my career choices again, I'll file a report with the authorities for workplace discrimination and abuse of power.

"Besides, your behavior has made me doubt whether or not I'd have room to grow here. Hence, I don't think I would fit your company's culture, so please hire someone else."

When I walked out of the building, I immediately called Tara. "Are there any class reunions happening soon?"

"I was just about to tell you that Ivan booked out Paramount Restaurant for the day after tomorrow…"

"I'll be there," I cut her off. "I want to ask him why he's spreading those lies about me."

Perhaps Tara sensed I was upset, so she quickly hung up after muttering a few words.

I arrived early on the day of the reunion, but I'd underestimated how eager some people were.

Aside from a few close friends, almost everyone's attention was on the rumors about me and Ivan.

"Does Mr. Olsen know you're here?"

"I've never seen a man so devoted! Ivan used to be completely invisible at school. Who knew he and our star student had such a heartbreaking story?"

"Please invite me to the wedding if you two get back together!"

"You should get rid of Ivan's girlfriend. I've hated her from the start. Ivan's with her only because she looks like you."

With a loud thud, I slammed the glass of water Tara handed me onto the table. "I have never spoken to Ivan in my entire life. Apart from being former classmates, there's nothing between us. Stop spreading baseless rumors. That's defamation," I warned.

The room fell into silence.

Just then, the music changed, and an unknown crooner started wailing about lost love and second chances.

It got on my nerves.

"Why are you acting all high and mighty?" someone sneered in their corner.

But their words were quickly drowned out by the chorus of phone notifications buzzing around us.

I knew messages were pouring into the class group chat at this moment.

Suddenly, the private room door burst open.

Ivan made his entrance in full style with his arm draped around a woman.

The woman wore a dress almost identical to the one I always wore in high school. Her smile and movements were deliberate imitations of mine as well.

"Sorry we're late. I had to stop and buy Ashley her favorite chestnut cake." Ivan's gaze swept the room but pointedly avoided mine with such precision that it seemed scripted.

Ashley kept her head down as her ears burned red. But when we met eyes, I caught tears shimmering in hers.

"Wow! Aren't you going to introduce her to us, Mr. Olsen?" Someone broke the silence.

"This is Ashley Carpenter, my fiancée." Ivan then turned to me, as if noticing me for the first time, and a smirk crept on his face. "Some people are not worth waiting for. Now, I've found my true love."

In an instant, my expression turned cold as I stared at him.

He stared right back, waiting for a reaction. When he found none, he tightened his grip on Ashley's hand.

She let out a tiny gasp, but he didn't notice.

Fortunately, some people in the room steered the conversation elsewhere after noticing the tense atmosphere, and the place became lively once again.

After three rounds of drinks, Ivan sat in the main seat with Ashley clinging to his side like an accessory.

Whenever someone tried to talk with me, he would roar about his "multi-billion" projects while giving me sidelong glances.

At one point, a drunken classmate staggered up to give a speech. "I'm telling you, some women are just ungrateful and look down on the poor. Just look at how devoted Ivan is. Any other woman would've been moved to tears a long time ago!

"Don't tell me Jennifer's back because she failed to make it abroad, so she decided to crawl back for Ivan's money!"

The sound of my utensils hitting the table sliced through his words.

I rose to my feet. "Is that so? Then let me ask Mr. Olsen a question.

"If I'm so ungrateful, why did your company's partner go out of their way to ensure I got the job? Why did I see billboards with my name plastered across the airport?

"Why was the rent on my six-month lease suddenly paid up for three years? Why do desserts I never ordered keep appearing on my table? I have proof of all of it. Would you like me to show you now?"

The whispers died down immediately, and even Ivan froze in place.

A flicker of panic flashed in his eyes, but it vanished quickly and was replaced by his practiced calm. "I was just looking out for an old classmate. Besides, I already have Ashley."

I openly exposed his lies and countered, "Since you've been so eager to claim we were together, please answer a few questions for me, Mr. Olsen.

"First of all, when did we get together? If your devotion is real, you should know the date. Second, when did we have a real conversation, and where are our photos? Surely, we'd have at least one picture after all those supposed years.

"Third, if you were so devoted, why didn't you buy a plane ticket to see me since you're a billionaire? I was just overseas, not dead."

Right then, Ashley broke into a fit of violent coughing, as if she had choked. Ivan leaned over with a dark expression and whispered something that left her pale and motionless.