First one to finish gets to escape!

I was doing okay, but Lucas was struggling hilariously with his oatmeal and a fork.

He could barely get any food on it - just pushing it around uselessly.

It was like trying to eat soup with chopsticks - completely ridiculous.

After what seemed like an eternity of hesitation, I heard Lucas quietly ask the server if there were any spoons.

The cheerful server called back loudly, "There's a whole container of them right by that pretty lady's elbow - help yourself, handsome!"

"..."

"..."

Several seconds of dead silence fell over our table.

Should I pass him one?

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw him pick up his bowl with grim determination and chug the entire thing in one go.

What a madman!

While I sat there stunned, Lucas coolly wiped his burned, reddened lips.

Then he got up and bolted - like the devil himself was chasing him.

I made it to the office half an hour later, running like my life depended on it.

Surely I must have beaten that jerk Lucas here. He'd have to go home and change out of his sweats and slides first. By the time he showed up looking presentable, I'd be the picture of a sophisticated career woman, sipping my coffee.

But life had other plans.

As the elevator doors opened and I was about to stride out confidently, I nearly snapped my heel in shock at who I saw.

There stood Lucas in an immaculate suit, his hair perfectly styled, radiating cool professionalism with those sharp features of his.

Only his lips were still a bit red.

Gone was any trace of the desperate man chugging oatmeal this morning - replaced by the very image of corporate authority. It was like he'd been possessed.

Did he teleport here or something?!

He spotted me too.

Our eyes met again, just like our mortifying encounter at the diner half an hour ago.

"What a coincidence, Mr. Miller..." I forced a smile.

Lucas's lips curved into a casual smirk. "Not a coincidence. I was waiting for you."

?

So we're playing this acting game, are we?

I thought Lucas was going to use this chance to sabotage me, given how much he usually works me to the bone.

Instead, he just calmly pulled me in to discuss some loose ends from yesterday's project.

Huh?

Was Lucas actually being decent for once?

Just as I was silently celebrating keeping my perfect attendance this month, that jerk spoke up.

"Summarize the last case, and bring me a medium skinny latte with two sugars. Fifteen minutes."

I froze mid-rise.

Excuse me?

Two sugars? Does he want diabetes?

More importantly, I'm not his personal assistant!

"Mr. Miller, shouldn't Lisa handle that...?"

Lucas looked up at me coldly. "Who signs your paycheck?"

"..."

That's blackmail, straight-up blackmail.

I sighed internally. The iron fist of socialism clearly wasn't strong enough to protect us from capitalist exploitation.

As they say, never surrender to tyranny.

I stood up sharply, full of righteous anger, and then—

"I'll expense it, right, Mr. Miller?"

Lucas watched my shameless bootlicking with his hand covering his mouth, a hint of amusement flickering in those dark eyes.

"Of course."

Perfect.

I bowed out gracefully and scurried off to get his coffee.

With Lucas's promise to cover it, I happily bought myself a coffee too, to recover from this morning's shock.

As I left the coffee shop, I nearly ran into someone.

"Sorry—wait, James Peterson?”

What are the odds? Running into my awful ex while buying coffee.

Speaking of this ex, he was quite the piece of work.

Back in college, I was naive and dressed simply. When this seemingly perfect guy pursued me, I let my guard down and said yes.

The reason was simple - who would turn down someone who secretly brought you medicine when you were sick, anonymously ordered food when you were hungry, and quietly stayed by your side when you were crying?

He was the only one who'd ever pursued me.

For two years of dating, even though his attitude completely changed from when he was chasing me, he was decent enough. Just super cheap - our usual date was six-dollar tacos.

My love-struck brain convinced me he was just being frugal and down-to-earth.

Then right after graduation, this jerk lucked into a corporate job and started climbing the ladder.

As they say, the first thing you do after making it is dump your girlfriend.

So the day after he got his results, I got dumped.

This scumbag’s excuse? His boss's daughter could help his career more, and I was too poor.

I just smiled, pulled out the sports car keys I'd planned to give him.

While he stood there gaping, I slapped him across the face and drove off in my car like a boss.

I keep my spending low and don't flaunt my wealth or rely on family connections, but that doesn't mean we're not loaded.

My dad's the richest guy in the city - not that I tell people that.

Who needs someone who judges people by their wallet anyway?

Remembering all this, my apologetic look vanished. I rolled my eyes at him and snapped, "Move it, don't block my way."

James lit up when he saw me.

"Hannah, I've been looking everywhere for you! Did you move?"

I dodged his reaching hand with disgust. "What's your problem? Harassing people in public now?"

"No, no, I just wanted to find you, but you blocked me everywhere."

"Yeah, what else would I do - keep in touch to attend your funeral next year?"

Our argument was drawing curious looks from passersby.

James may be shameless, but he's self-conscious. His pale face turned red with embarrassment.

"Hannah, can we talk somewhere private?"

"Say what you need to say right here. Touch me again and I'll smack you!"

But James kept trying to pull me away, almost making me spill my coffee.

He was really asking for it.

I was about to knee him where it hurts when an icy voice came from behind me.

"Hannah Sanders. So this is why you've spent half an hour getting coffee."

When I heard that deadly voice, I froze, turning my neck like a rusty robot.

A few yards away stood Lucas, his handsome face dark with anger, jaw clenched, those perfect eyes looking at us with contempt.

!!

What's Lucas doing here?

Oh no - I got so caught up dealing with James that I forgot about his fifteen-minute deadline.

I quickly turned and kicked James in the leg with perfect form.

"Get lost! Go find your boss's daughter!"

But James was being weirdly persistent. He took the kick but kept his grip on me.

"Hannah, I miss you. Can't we get back together? I know you still love me! The boss's daughter isn't in the picture anymore."

"Hah."

Lucas let out a meaningful chuckle behind me that made my skin crawl.

How embarrassing to have my boss see this.

I kept my face cold and decided to end this quickly.

"A good ex should be like they're dead. James, back off nicely, or I'm calling the cops."

The threat of police seemed to work on this jerk.

He reluctantly started to let go, but couldn't help muttering, "You've obviously moved on. Is that guy your new boyfriend?"

James pointed at Lucas, who was watching this whole scene unfold.

I gave him my best 'are you kidding me' face.

Excuse me?

"Are you okay in the head? You dumped me for the boss's daughter, and now you're accusing me of moving on? Need me to buy you some brain cells, you idiot?"

I pushed him away, rolling my eyes as I tried to leave.

James didn't try to stop me this time, but his pale face twisted in a way that made my skin crawl.

!!

Jeez, has he turned into some kind of stalker in the past six months?

Just then, I caught a blur of movement in my peripheral vision.

Lucas stepped in front of me, his tall frame creating a barrier between me and James, his eyes razor-sharp. His cologne - something expensive and crisp - drifted over me.

Oddly enough, it made me feel safe.

James finally backed off, muttering that he'd be back.

What is he, a cartoon villain?

I gave him the finger with zero regrets.

No matter how tough he acts, he's just a chihuahua compared to the big bad wolf Lucas Miller.

"Enjoying the show?"

"Uh, thanks for that, Mr. Miller!"

I quickly thanked him, pretending to brush invisible lint off his designer suit, laying the gratitude on thick.

Maybe my workaholic boss isn't so bad - I'll complain about him less from now on.

Lucas gave me an odd look, his voice slightly rough. "Ex-boyfriend?"

I nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, he dumped me six months ago to climb the corporate ladder. No idea what his deal is today."

"Oh, I thought..."

A car horn blared, drowning out the rest of his words.

"Sorry, what?"

I looked at him confused, not having caught what he said.

But he just smiled softly, his eyes brightening. "Never mind. Let's head back - my coffee must be cold by now."

My attention snapped to the coffee in my hand, and I felt awful.

"Oh, Mr. Miller, let me go grab you a fresh one!"

"Don't worry about it. Let's get back to the office."

Lucas being this easy-going was weird. I couldn't help stealing glances at him.

What's he so happy about?

He's practically bouncing down the street.

After getting back to the office, Lucas suddenly got super busy, constantly on his phone.

He looked really stressed about something.

I watched him curiously for a while, confused.

What's the emergency - stock market crash or zombie apocalypse?

Still, I was happy he wasn't micromanaging me. When the clock hit five, I grabbed my bag and bolted.

Back at my condo, I noticed movers carrying expensive furniture upstairs. Looks like someone's moving into the unit above me. Good thing this building has great soundproofing - as long as they don't get too noisy.

I headed inside with my takeout, not thinking much of it.

I expected a night full of renovation noise, but everything went quiet pretty quickly.

Now that's what I call considerate neighbors!

My good mood lasted until bedtime, when I had this... inappropriate dream.

I woke up in a daze.

I actually dreamed about Lucas, and we...

I patted my burning cheeks, rolling around in bed.

It must be from all the overtime he's been making me do, plus that mess with James yesterday. That's why I'm having these shameless thoughts about my boss.

But man, what a dream!

I lay there staring at the ceiling, an outrageous idea popping into my head.

If only I could keep Lucas as my trophy husband - he'd keep my bed warm, make me look good in public, and satisfy me in… various ways.

The thought made me giddy.

After a quick shower, I hummed my way to the elevator.

Ding.

The elevator came down from upstairs, doors opening.

I looked up as I was about to step in and locked eyes with the handsome man inside.

I froze mid-step, my humming cut off abruptly, my ears burning as a thousand thoughts raced through my mind.