Letitia clutched her cheek, first staring at me in disbelief, then throwing herself into Sebastian's arms with her eyes red.

"Sebastian, she hit me. She actually dared to hit me!"

Sebastian patted her back gently to soothe her.

"I'll make her apologize to you right now."

One hand pressed against the door handle, he snapped at me, his face cold.

"Maud Henson, how did I never notice this? When did you turn so crude and vicious?"

"Letitia is the company's new vice president. Apologize to her this instant—"

"And if I don't?"

I cut him off and threw it right back at him.

"Want to bet I go to the press? That you drove out one of your company's founding veterans for the sake of your precious first love?"

"Sebastian, let me tell you something. This company didn't get where it is because of you alone."

I didn't spell it out too plainly.

The company had always resold bank products, and its core competitive edge was the sales team.

Put simply, this company could survive without a boss, but it could never survive without sales.

"That's really funny. Don't tell me you think you're the core of this company?"

Letitia was still there fanning the flames, though Sebastian wasn't entirely without a brain.

"I know you've contributed a great deal to the company, but Letitia is an industry professional I hired at a high salary too."

"And rules matter most in a company. If you don't apologize to her today, I promise you won't see a single cent of your pay."

That was the brainless thing he actually said.

I took a step forward and lifted his hand off the handle.

"Sebastian, when you handed that apartment to Letitia as a reward, did you spare a thought for the rules?"

I pushed the door open slowly, not a shred of expectation for him left in my heart.

"On the business side, you're the one who broke the contract first!"

"And on the personal side, what that apartment means to me… you know perfectly well."

"As for that meager salary of mine, you don't have to pay it. Just be ready to face the consequences."

My sophomore year, a fire tore through my family's old apartment complex. My parents died in it, and I was left an orphan.

Back then I drifted through the days in a daze, with no will left to keep living.

Then Sebastian, all sunshine and warmth, burst into my life.

He pulled me out of the darkness and let me see light again.

At the time, I believed he would be the faith and the anchor of my whole life.

"Maud Henson, if you leave, don't ever think about coming back!"

Humiliated into a rage, Sebastian shouted at me from behind.

I didn't turn my head. I just waved a hand.

Under everyone's stunned stares, I walked out of the company alone.

For four straight years before this one, I'd been the top sales champion, and by then I'd wanted to take a break.

But right after the New Year, Sebastian had come to find me.

"I bought an apartment at Haven Residences as this year's reward for the sales champion. What do you think?"

I'd looked at him, suddenly overjoyed.

"Then this year's champion is definitely going to be me."

The fire had paid out compensation back then, and the old complex, riddled with too many problems, was torn down and rebuilt.

It became what was now Haven Residences.

I'd thought this was a surprise Sebastian was giving me, because the title was mine and no one else's.

But that one scene at the company party finally drove the two of us onto separate roads.

Facing the cold wind, I wiped away tears I hadn't noticed falling.

Goodbye, Sebastian.

I took a cab back to my rented place, packed my things simply, and checked out.

The landlord smiled and asked me where I was off to make my fortune.

I thought about it, then told him.

"I'm going home. Back to my own home."

On the way to the sales office, I transferred five hundred thousand from my brokerage account into my debit card. That left a little over five hundred thousand in it.

The sales manager took me through Haven Residences. Back at the office, I placed the order without hesitation.

When it came time to pay, the manager hesitated, but he made himself say it.

"There's something I have to be upfront with you about. Years ago, there was a fire here—"

I cut him off with a smile.

"I know. Just run the card."

The things everyone else shied away from, I missed every waking moment.

Old Mr. Wang, Old Mrs. Zhang.

And my mom and dad.

Haven Residences, Unit 208.

I directed the movers, guiding each piece of furniture and every appliance into place.

Lying on the bed, looking across the room at my parents' memorial, I felt a peace I couldn't measure.

A little past seven that night, I went out to buy groceries.

I'd barely reached the bottom of the building when I ran into Sebastian and Letitia, arms linked, deep in conversation.

As I passed them, Letitia's face lit with that told-you-so look.

"See, Sebastian? Wasn't I right?"

I stopped, puzzled, and caught the venom in her voice.

"Our sales director keeps her distance from you in public, but behind the scenes? I'm sure she just can't stop chasing after you."

"Enough."

Sebastian cut her off, annoyed, then turned to me, his voice serious.

"Maud, if you regret this, come find me at the company. Don't follow me around in private."

"You haven't sunk so low you've lost all sense of decency, have you?"

I looked at the two of them, almost amused.

One, a man drunk on his own success, sure of everything.

The other, a pretty vase, all polish outside and rot within.

"Sebastian, I'm not part of the company anymore. I go where I please, and you have no right to ask."

I dropped the line and started to walk off.

"Stay right there!"

Sebastian came after me and grabbed my arm, hard.

"There's a limit to how far a joke can go. I expect to see you at the company tomorrow morning. Otherwise you know exactly what happens!"

His grip hurt. I wrenched free and looked at him coldly.

"After all these years, have you ever once seen me backtrack?"

"Right now I honestly feel sorry for you, and for myself. You're not the man you used to be, and there's no way I'm ever going back!"

"Well said!" Letitia came over, clapping.

She planted herself between me and Sebastian, contempt in her eyes.

"But please stop saying things like that out in public. People might get the wrong idea, like there was actually something between you and Sebastian."

I stared at Letitia's wrist and, for a moment, went blank.

She was still lecturing me.

"Without the platform Sebastian built, without his family's business connections, what does it matter how good a saleswoman you are?"

"The one thing a person needs is to know their own place. Don't let your desires go to your head and do something you'll regret for the rest of your life."

By the end, the threat in Letitia's words was impossible to miss.

But I wasn't listening.

The next moment I seized her wrist and, like something had snapped in me, wrenched that jade bracelet off her arm.

By the time she came to her senses, I was cradling the bracelet in my hands, shaking as I looked at Sebastian.

"Why? Why is the only thing my mother left me on her wrist?"

"Sebastian! You tell me why!"

Sebastian stood there, too ashamed to speak.

Letitia's hand shot toward me. I stepped back, but too late.

The next second the bracelet hit the ground and broke into pieces.

Letitia scrambled behind Sebastian, panic all over her face.

"Sebastian, I didn't mean to."