I knew the deal was ruined, and there would undoubtedly be serious consequences for me. With everything that had happened between Zach and me, getting him to sign the contract would be impossible.

However, it seemed like events did occur when you least expected them to because my phone rang loudly and continuously when I woke up in the morning.

"Hello..." I was not completely awake when I took the call. I had a long day yesterday and was also stressed because of the meeting with S&D.

"Good morning, little Ivy. Did you forget about our son again?"

With those words, my brain suddenly jumped awake. I looked at the time and found that it was 7:25 already.

"Oh, shit..."

I cursed in my head and jumped out of bed. I heard Tyler's wicked laugh on the other end of the phone. I became enraged as I remembered his mockery of me at the time, saying, "What are you laughing at? Has Caleb gotten up yet?"

"Our son is eating breakfast," he said after a brief pause. "How about you come over?"

"Oh, stop!"

As I washed my face and rinsed my mouth, I scolded him, "For the 1000th time, he is my son! Stop jerking around!"

"Oh, man! You are breaking my heart." Tyler Rivers sighed. "We should get married, little Ivy, don't you think? It's no different, after all. I've already considered Caleb as my son."

"Thank you for taking care of Caleb yesterday. My mom will be there and pick him up this afternoon. I've got to go, and I'm late for work. "I abruptly hung up the phone.

When I arrived at work, it was already 8:01. I was called into the office before I realized what had happened. Elliot had given me an ultimatum: I had to get the S&D contract no matter what. Otherwise, I would risk losing much more than just my annual bonus. I could also lose my position as the company's new business manager.

I didn't even have the chance to catch a breath, and I was almost always caught in chills since I realized that I had forgotten the briefcase with customer information and important documents at the hotel where I met S&D yesterday.

I contacted the hotel, but they were unable to locate it. So I called Alex, the S&D manager, and it turned out Zach had it. I was in no rush to find him. I felt that he'd come to find me if I didn't go find him.

Six years may have passed, but I knew Zach inside out. He always had a way. And no matter how indifferent he appeared on the surface, he would never let go of what happened easily. I was certain that he would haunt me in my dreams if he could.

My hunch was confirmed even before the evening. I received a phone call from an unknown phone number. No one was talking when I answered the phone, so I asked tentatively, "Zach?"

A sneer was heard. "If you want to sign the contract, come find me at the Lost Woods at eight tonight," the person said after a while.

Then he hung up before I could even decide.

I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I'd have to see him sooner or later. I had something I needed to say to him, and I had to say it whether he wanted to hear it or not.

At 7:50 p.m., I called Zach in the Lost Woods lobby and followed his instructions to the 16th floor. Looking around at the luxurious decor, I couldn't help but sigh that the Lost Woods was indeed powerful enough to become the city's number one nightclub.

Led by the light, I went to the designated place and opened the door. The huge suite was filled with deafening music that went straight to my brain. Under the dim light, I walked around in the huge space. Although I couldn't see well inside the room, my eyes still locked on Zach in the booth at a glance.

He noticed me at the same time. He snapped his fingers at me as he stretched out a hand from the hot chick in his arms.

He took my seat in the booth where he was after passing through the crowd of "dancing demons" on the dance floor.

"Drink up," he said as he pushed a glass of wine in front of me.

Because the location was far from the dance pool, it was relatively quiet. His voice was not loud, but it was cold and orderly.

He drank from the glass without saying anything. Zach's brow twitched as if he didn't think I'd actually drink it.

He wasn't really a drinker many years ago, and he didn't like me drinking because I couldn't handle too much alcohol. There was this one time that I got drunk after I had a fight with Zach. I was hugging the door frame while crying and laughing at the same time. He immediately banned me from any kind of alcoholic drink. He said that if I was hugging the door frame this time, who knows what would happen next time if I hugged a person?

It was unavoidable for me to drink after all these years of battling in the business world.

I strictly followed his rules at first, but when I stopped to think about it, I felt ridiculous. So I went from hurling after one drink to not feeling anything.

Why would I follow his rules when he left me?

The hot girl next to Zach filled his glass with whiskey. She also poured one into my glass, and since I never refused, I drank it in one gulp.

The whiskey had a high concentration of alcohol, and the aftereffect was unpleasant. I gritted my teeth at the warm and burning feeling in my throat as I stood there, thinking that if I could just get Zach to sign the contract, we could discuss everything else later.

Zach took over halfway through my seventh glass of wine. My throat was on fire, and my eyes were filled with tears. His eyes were filled with concern as he looked up at me.

He said, "Stop," in an almost gentle tone.

I was taken aback. He narrowed his eyes and mockingly raised his thin, cold lips.

"It's no fun drinking like this; how about we just drink it straight from the bottle?"

The waiter standing at the table quickly brought over a dozen of brandy and politely asked, "How many of them would you want me to open, Mr. Dempsy?"

Zach pulled out a cigarette and lit it up with his head crooked. He took a flirty glance at me and said, "Let's open them all. "

My heart was as cold as ice. I knew he wouldn't have any mercy on me. He knew how little my alcohol tolerance was. Was he planning to kill me through alcohol poisoning? That would be a good way to get rid of me immediately.

"Don't you like money, Ivy? Here, I'll give you $10,000 for every bottle you drink, and once they're all gone, I'll sign the contract."

I bit my lower lip, feeling as if someone had just ripped open my chest.

"How generous of Mr. Dempsy to pay for all these drinks and still pay me money," I said, squeezing out a smile and trying to sound confident. "I certainly have to drink them all, then."

The wine went right into my throat and burned all the way into my stomach. The anger ignited in his eyes, those deep blue eyes like a pond of water. Halfway through, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me close to him with all his strength.

Bottles fell and smashed on the ground. With my knees on the ground, I couldn't help but sigh.

Zach pinned me down in front of him, holding my wrist with one hand and my chin with the other.

"Do you really love money that much?"

Even when I gasped in pain, I was still stubborn. I wouldn't wave a white flag, even if I already knew I was done for.

"Who doesn't love money, Mr. Dempsy? I mean, unless you are stupid."

With rage on his face, Zach squeaked the words between his teeth, "Fine, and you want to be a bitch, I'll let you be."

Then he lifted me off the ground and walked away. I stumbled downstairs to follow him despite the excruciating pain in my knees and wrists. He drew me into a car. He slammed the door shut and accelerated to the road.

It was raining heavily outside, and the car was speeding on the road. We didn't say a word to each other the entire time until he drove out of the town and stopped at a house—a mansion—near a mountain. Then he told me to get off.

Because of the alcohol, I was drenched and shivering. I followed him into a house, where he pushed me onto the couch and smashed his lips on mine.

His mouth was filled with the kind of cruelty I hadn't felt in a long time. The kiss felt like a violent storm, but it wasn't like that anymore. Zach was acting more like a ferocious beast at the time, his big hands moving ruthlessly all over my body. And I was becoming tense by the second.

Obviously, I still love him. But at that moment, I unexpectedly felt hopeless, even terrified.

Lying on top of me with his lips still rubbing against my cheek, he mumbled, "Ivy, tell me you didn't take that money."

His voice sounded pleading. Like he was wishing that I didn't. That it would break his heart all over again if I confirmed I did.

I felt the lump in my chest tighten, tears instantly coming out of my eyes as it dawned on me that Zach still felt the pain in his heart. Even after so many years, he still couldn't let it go. But there was also something that stuck in my heart, and it was like a thorn that kept aching night after night.

"I took it."

He abruptly came to a halt. I could feel his fingertips burning as he lifted my face with his hand. I could see the lust in his eyes slowly fading away and replaced by disgust in the dim light.

Zach took out a cigarette and lit it. Under the light of the fire, his side face was blurry. He sat there, motionless.

After a while, he took my briefcase from the drawer and said, "Ivy Dikkens, there's nothing that can connect us from now on; you and I are strangers."

'Nothing linked us together, and we were strangers.'

My heart finally broke into pieces, and my ears kept buzzing at the sound of his painful words. All those words I had held in for six years were stuck in my mouth. I lost my last chance to tell him the truth.

I couldn't look at Zach even when I left, and I had no idea how I had left his place. For the first time, I burst out laughing in the pouring rain.

I had no idea Zach's wealthy family had such complicated relationships six years ago.

With the baby, I figured we'd be able to start our own family soon. But all I got was his predicament and his mother going out of her way to separate us.

I had never been a material person, but I still took the money from his mother in the end. It was only because my mom was seriously ill, and it would take our family forever to pay off that 50,0000 dollars fee for her treatment.

I loved him, but I also loved my family. So I had to choose. And no matter how painful the choice I made, I would be glad to do it again.

As I cried, the rain became heavier, and the alcohol became stronger. I stumbled to the main road, hoping to catch a taxi, but this was a suburb, and few cars were passing, let alone a taxi. I was lying on the side of the road, barely able to stand up, and let the rain pour on my spinning head.

The phone in my purse kept ringing. I wanted to respond, but my mind and body were already out of control. I had no idea how long that phone had been ringing before it stopped. I wasn't sure if it was because of the rain or if the phone had lost power.

I had no idea how long I had been lying there until my body was lifted from the ground by someone. In the haze, I heard someone calling my name anxiously, and then I closed my eyes and blacked out completely.

When I woke up again, I was in the hospital bed.

With a bit of hangover and an IV hooked on my hand, I glanced around and realized that I was in a VIP room.

There was no one around. I was about to ring the doorbell when it suddenly opened. Tyler leaned against the door, arms wrapped around his chest. He was staring at me intently, his jaw clenched as if trying to control himself from lashing out.

I tried to break the ice by asking, "What are you doing there? Do you have enough of being a boss and just decide to be the doorman?"

I couldn't stand how bad my voice sounded.

Tyler remained silent. He walked in, poured a glass of water, and handed it to me without saying anything. It took two gulps of water for the burning pain in my throat to go away.

His sharp eyes were fixed on me, and his brows were twisted and haughty.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You want a fight?" The hairs on the back of my neck sprang up due to his scrutiny. I turned my head stiffly.

"A high fever of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, knee damage, and alcohol abuse; I only averted my gaze from you for one day, and now look at what you've done to yourself, Ivy Dikkens!"

Tyler finally spoke up, but he didn't say anything. I had no idea how he found me last night, but I knew he had been through a lot.

He leaned his body close to me, and I could smell his perfume scent mixed with tobacco.

"What were you doing at the Lost Woods last night? And how did you end up with Zach Dempsy from S&D?" he asked angrily.

I could see the storm surging up at the bottom of his slanted eyes, which were sharp with a strong sense of pressure.

Tyler's property included The Lost Woods, so I couldn't keep what happened last night a secret from him. He had always been a jerk in front of me, and this was the first time I had seen him so enraged. I was taken aback by his sudden outburst and was at a loss for words for quite some time.

"You're not going to tell me? Really?" He continued as he gave me a death glare. I simply averted my gaze and fumbled with my fingers.

"Fine," Tyler said, raising the corners of his mouth. "I can still figure it out myself, anyway. Zach better didn't do anything to you last night, or else I would make sure he's out of this city before the weekends."

He smiled, his beautiful slanted eyes making him appear charming and innocent, but the cruelty in his eyes was terrifying. I knew he could do it, at least in this city.

"He did nothing to me; don't cause any trouble, Tyler." My brows knitted together as I looked at Tyler. "He's Caleb's father," I admitted.

Tyler remained silent, but I could see his tensed shoulders. His pupils constricted slightly.

After a while, he raised his head, an incomprehensible expression on his face, and asked, "What? Does he want to be back with you?"

I smiled bitterly. Thinking of what Zach said last night, how he said he wanted nothing to do with me ever. I still felt miserable, but I knew it would happen eventually.

"How is that possible? He hates me."

"And you?"

"What?"

"Do you still want to get back together with him?" His voice was demanding and angry as he spoke those sentences. It was as if Tyler didn't like the idea.

I shook my head. "How can we still be together when he broke my heart before? I'm not stupid."

I knew everything could be repaired nowadays, not people's hearts. My conversation with Zach proved that.

Trying to mend two hearts that already had too much pain was painful.

Tyler smiled and raised the corner of his mouth, looking arrogant as usual.

He suddenly bent down and kissed me on the forehead while rubbing his big hand on the top of my head. He moved so quickly that he avoided being slapped by the hand about to hit him.

"What the HELL is going on?"

"Don't be such a wuss. I lost sleep last night worrying about you. What? Don't I deserve a small prize?" Tyler smirked, his eyes back to its sparkly and bright aura. "Well, I will eventually be the only man in your heart for as long as it's still available."

Pretending to be tough, I glared at him. Looking at his red eyes, I felt warm in my heart.

Tyler may be possessive, but I knew he sincerely cared about my son and me.