Brian's eyes filled with tears as he looked at Valeria and apologized pitifully.

"Ms. Brooks, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about the company’s image..."

Valeria immediately pulled him to her side and shot me a sharp glare.

"Andy, do you think this is funny? Just because you’re a vice president, does that give you the right to act arrogant all the time?"

"When it comes to contributions to the company, Brian has done far more than you ever have."

"And let me remind you—you’ve already been fired. You’re no longer a senior executive. Now apologize to Brian immediately!"

Contributions? I had no idea what so-called 'contributions' Brian had made.

But what I did know was this: in less than three months of his employment, the company's policies—unchanged since its founding three years ago—had already been revised several times because of him.

And the company-wide no-smoking rule? It was created because of him.

He had rhinitis and was allergic to cigarette smoke. That alone was enough for the entire company to change.

I watched as Valeria took Brian by the hand, gently seated him in the boss’s chair, then pulled out a bottle of essential oil to give him a personal massage—right there in the office.

In that moment, everything felt meaningless.

I ripped off my ID badge and slammed it onto the desk. Then I walked out without looking back.

On the other end of the phone, Lucy was still waiting for my reply. When nothing came, she finally sent a single question mark.

Then her voice came through the speaker.

"Wait—you actually broke up?"

"Can I get in line? Andy, you do know I’ve liked you for a long time."

I ignored her teasing.

"Cut the nonsense. I’m in a bad mood. Book me a ticket to Paris. I need a long vacation."

After settling everything, I returned home to pack my things.

But when I got there, the door lock wouldn’t open.

The password had been changed.

I called Valeria dozens of times. Not a single call was answered.

Just as I was about to leave, I noticed the lights inside flicker on.

On the bedroom curtains, two shadows appeared—a man and a woman—clinging to each other in an intimate embrace.

I dialed Brian’s number.

The moment I did, a familiar ringtone came from upstairs.

What more was there to understand?

I let out a short laugh and called the smart lock’s manufacturer.

"I need to go on a trip, but my smart lock is broken. I can’t lock it manually. Can you lock it remotely for me?"

Once that was done, I booked a hotel, turned off my phone and slept until dawn.

The next morning, just as expected, my phone was flooded with calls and messages—over a hundred of them—all from Valeria.

The most recent one had come just three minutes ago.

I tried to block her number, but accidentally tapped "call back" instead.

She picked up immediately and her furious voice blasted through the line.

"Andy! Are you insane? Why the hell did you lock the door like that? Do you know what happened to me and Brian last night—"

"Oh?" I interrupted. "What did happen?"

Realizing she had nearly exposed herself, Valeria quickly changed her tone.

"We were locked outside all night!"

"Andy, I’m already exhausted from working at the company every day. Can you stop being so childish?"

I nodded to myself, voice calm.

"Right. Massaging your assistant in the office during the day wasn’t enough, huh? You had to bring him home at night too? Even professional therapists don’t work that hard. No wonder you’re so tired."

Her voice instantly rose, like I’d hit a nerve.

"You were spying on me?"

"Andy! Have you no shame? You were the one who violated company policy first!"

"And there’s nothing between me and Brian! I was just working late and he offered to drive me home. Why are you being so petty?"

Valeria was so sure of herself, she must have forgotten—our home had surveillance cameras.

I immediately copied the footage from last night and sent it to her.

Her reaction was even more hysterical than before.

"Andy! You're even more disgusting than I thought! Installing surveillance cameras at home—what kind of sick game are you playing?"

"I’m giving you thirty minutes to delete all of it and come apologize to both me and Brian!"

My head throbbed from the sheer nonsense.

I hung up on her and added her number to my block list.

Lucy had already booked my flight to Paris.

Just as I was grabbing my bags and calling a taxi, another call came in—this time from Brian.

I didn’t even hesitate. Blocked.

Suddenly, the company group chat started blowing up.

Everyone began tagging me at once.

"Mr. Gerrin! You should head to the hospital! Ms. Brooks’s been in an accident!"

I wasn’t planning to respond.

But someone sent a blurry photo of the crash.

It was quickly deleted, but not before I saw clearly—the bloodied figure lying on the ground was Valeria.

Despite everything, I hesitated for only a second before telling the driver to turn around and take me straight to the hospital.

When I arrived, there was someone lying in the hospital bed—but it wasn’t Valeria.

It was Brian.

His leg was in a cast and Valeria was sitting at his side, gently blowing on a spoonful of chicken soup before feeding it to him.

In the ten years I’d been with Valeria, she had never once done anything remotely like that for me.

Not even ordered me takeout.

Just as I turned to leave, she suddenly stood up and grabbed my arm.

Without explanation, she shoved a set of car keys into my hand and said sharply,

"If anyone asks later, just say you were the one driving today."

Everything clicked into place.

"You want me to take the blame for Brian?"

Valeria scoffed and waved her hand.

"Why do you make it sound so dramatic? It’s not taking the blame. It’s just a small favor."

I yanked my arm from her grip.

"I'm sorry, I can’t help you with this."

Her face turned ice cold.

"Andy! You’re my fiancé! If you can’t even help me with this, how do you expect me to trust you enough to marry you?"

"Then let’s cancel the engagement." The moment the words left my mouth, her eyes flew open in shock.

Before she could respond, my phone rang again.

“Mr. Gerrin? This is the traffic police. A vehicle registered in your name was involved in a collision on McCross Road. We suspect a hit-and-run. I’d like to confirm—were you the one driving the car this morning?”

Before I could say a word, Valeria snatched the phone from my hand.

“Yes, it was him.”

“I’m his fiancée. I was in the passenger seat when the accident happened.”

“Sorry for the trouble. I’ll convince him to turn himself in right away.”

She ended the call before I even had the chance to breathe, let alone speak.

Then she did something she had never done before—she clung to my arm with desperation.

“Andy, I know there’ve been a lot of misunderstandings between us lately. So once you help Brian with this one small favor, we’ll get married. Okay?”

How could she say something so shameless with a straight face?

It was one thing to flirt with Brian at the office.

But now she wanted me to take the fall for him—go to prison for him?

I ripped my arm away from her and looked her dead in the eye.

“I won’t agree to something that insane. Don’t even bother asking again.”

"Also, the engagement is off."

With that, I turned and walked out of the hospital without looking back.

But I had severely underestimated just how far Valeria would go to protect Brian.

Just as I was about to exit the ward, she grabbed the ashtray from the bedside table and smashed it against the back of my head.

When I regained consciousness, I found my hands and feet bound.

Valeria was right beside me and several police officers stood nearby.

She covered her face, sobbing as she spoke to them.

"After the accident, I begged him to turn himself in... but he said he’s the Deputy General Manager of a major company—how could he go to jail?"

“He said even if the truth got out, he could just pay off the victims' families. A few bucks would shut them up and he could walk free.”

Her words made the officers look at me with disgust and scorn.

By then, the victims' families had also arrived.

When they heard what she said, rage consumed them.

Several of them began punching and kicking me where I lay helplessly on the hospital bed.

“So what if you're rich? You think having money gives you a free pass to do anything?”

“I hate people like you the most! You do all kinds of evil and still sleep soundly at night. You're soulless!”

“My son is still lying in a hospital bed! I don’t care if you offer us a mountain of cash—I’ll make sure you rot in jail!”

I tried to speak—tried to explain—but no words came out.

Valeria knelt beside me and gently stroked my hair.

Her voice dropped to a whisper only I could hear.

"Don’t be scared. It’s just a temporary drug. It’ll keep you from talking for a while."

"Once you confess at the police station and take the blame, I’ll give you the antidote."

I could hardly believe it.

Valeria had actually drugged me for Brian.

I tried to struggle, to scream, to defend myself, but it was all useless.

I could only watch as the police dragged me away like a criminal.

At the station, I still couldn’t speak.

All I could do was repeatedly scribble that I was innocent—that I was being framed.

The officer sneered, tossing a flash drive across the table.

“Mr. Gerrin, you’re really going to deny everything until the very end, huh?”

“The car belongs to you. Your fiancée says you were the driver. And now, we even have dashcam footage of the scene. What more proof do you need?”

I recognized immediately that the footage had been doctored.

But no one cared. No one would listen.

Just as I was about to be transferred to the detention center, a voice cut through the tension.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?!”

It was Lucy. She had arrived just in time and rushed to stand protectively in front of me.

After hearing what I was being accused of, she immediately snapped back.

“That’s impossible! Andy wasn’t anywhere near that road when the accident happened! He didn’t hit anyone!”

“I want a lawyer—now!”

Lucy wasted no time.

Within hours, she’d cleared me of suspicion, exposed the falsified evidence and even managed to track down the antidote that returned my ability to speak.

Though I could talk again, my voice remained hoarse.

Lucy looked at me with clear anger and worry.

“Valeria and Brian are monsters. I’ll sue them both and make sure they rot in prison!”

But I gently caught her wrist and whispered through my damaged throat.

“How many days until the DeWalt project bid results are announced?”

“Tomorrow,” she replied, eyes narrowing in curiosity. “Why?”

A slow, cold smile formed on my lips.

“Then there’s no rush. Let’s wait until the winning company is announced.”

Lucy understood instantly.

With a knowing grin, she pulled two plane tickets out of her bag as if by magic.

“So, shall we go to Paris now?”

I gave a firm nod.

The next day, Valeria, brimming with confidence, attended the public bidding ceremony for the DeWalt project. She arrived in her most elegant outfit, carrying a congratulatory letter, her every step oozing pride.

With a wine glass in hand, she soaked in the compliments from the crowd around her.

“I heard the company led by Andy won the bid again. Congratulations, Ms. Brooks!”

“Ms. Brooks is incredibly lucky. With Andy, doing business must be effortless!”

But Valeria clearly disliked the mention of my name. Her smile vanished and her voice turned frosty.

“I secured this project entirely through my own efforts—and those of my assistant, Brian. Andy has nothing to do with it.”

“The person who deserves the most credit is Brian. He worked around the clock, leading the team without rest for 24 hours. Without him, we never would’ve secured this project.”

“I’ve already bought you that million-dollar luxury car you’ve been eyeing. After this, I’ll take you to pick it up.”

Brian’s voice trembled with emotion.

“Ms. Brooks, you’re far too generous. I don’t even know how to repay your kindness!”

“From now on, I’ll double my efforts to grow the company and take it to new heights!”

They were so wrapped up in their own little moment that they didn’t notice the shifting atmosphere around them—until the host on stage made the official announcement.

“The winning company for the DeWalt project is… Russell Group!”