I stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows and watched as the Rolls-Royce slowly left the hotel. I knew then that Vernon and I were over.

I wiped away the tears from my eyes. My phone then buzzed with an email from my lecturer, Dr. Jessica Flemington.

All the paperwork had already been settled. I would be joining the final batch of researchers and heading toward the Doctors without Borders Research Center in Litzerland at noon tomorrow.

I'd be there for the next ten years, and that would be when my new life would finally begin.

Dr. Flemington knew about my pregnancy and my secret relationship. So, she made sure to buy a business-class ticket for me, wanting me to feel comfortable during the entire journey.

I stared at the screen, my fingers shaking as they hovered above a countdown timer I'd set in my calendar app.

I would finally be leaving this city in exactly 18 hours.

I would finally be leaving him and all the dreams that never once belonged to me.

As soon as dawn broke, I hailed a cab and went over to Vernon's mansion. I still had some data sheets and my thesis there with him, and I needed to retrieve them.

It was 9:00 am, and he was sitting at the table eating breakfast.

I pushed the door open and walked in, catching him off guard. He was stunned.

Samara was seated next to him. She grinned widely at me and said, "Oh, you must be Vernon's personal assistant. You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Come here and try this tuna sandwich he made himself. His cooking skills have improved so much over the past five years."

I froze in place.

For the past five years, Vernon had not once made me a single meal. I was always the one busying myself in the kitchen, and he would also only eat a few bites of my cooking once in a blue moon.

But now, he was "improving his cooking skills" with her around.

So, those glimpses of his gentleness weren't really reserved for me after all.

I felt my eyes heating up and tearing up. Still, I had to pretend that I was fine.

"I won't be joining you for breakfast. I'm just here to pick up some documents for the meeting later," I said.

I went into the study, where my thick thesis and other research materials were lying neatly in a stack on my desk. I stuffed everything into a bag like I was picking up the last few shards of my dignity.

Just as I was about to leave, Samara suddenly pushed the door open with a coffee mug in her hands.

"Wow, you're taking so many documents with you? Vernon's so strict with you, isn't he? You're still so young, but he's making you work very hard."

She smiled innocently at me, but every word she said was dripping with sarcasm. She then continued, "When I was your age, all I had to worry about was shopping, traveling the world, and attending concerts wherever I wanted. I never had to go through any hardship like you."

She paused for a while and added nonchalantly, "Oh, he even wrote my graduating thesis for me. He's really good at it! Maybe you should get him to help you too!"

There was a condescending look in her eyes as she challenged me.

I inhaled deeply, wanting to leave, but that was when I saw something in the trash—another pregnancy test kit, with two clear red lines showing on the indicator.

My heart sank into my stomach.

Samara followed my line of sight and saw what I was looking at. Her smile froze for a brief second. However, she quickly recollected herself and pretended not to care. "Oh, how did that end up here? I should have thrown it in the bathroom trash instead."

She then grumbled lightly, "Vernon, that rascal…"

I felt as though someone had torn my chest wide open at that moment.

Tears gushed into my eyes, but I held them back and rushed down the stairs as quickly as I could.

"Why are you crying?"

Vernon stopped me at the door. He looked at me and frowned lightly, reaching up to try and wipe my tears away.

"How many times have I told you? You don't have to cry. You can just tell me if something's wrong, or if anyone did something terrible to you. I can solve everything for you, whether it's about money, power, or anything else. There's nothing I can't do in Duke City."

I hugged my bag tighter and shook my head. "Nothing. It's just about my thesis."

The look in Vernon's eyes turned deep, his gaze so sharp as if he could see right through me. I forced myself to calm down, not daring to show him even a hint of the uneasiness I was feeling inside.

If he knew that I was pregnant with his baby and planning to leave him, he would never let me go.

Just as the tension began escalating beyond my control, his secretary, Baxter Newton, walked up to him.

"Mr. Grayson, these are the wedding proposals from the wedding planners, and also the final draft of the wedding dress that you designed—"

Wedding? Wedding dress?

I felt my breathing slow to a stop.

"Shut up!" Vernon cut in coldly, giving me a cold glance, as if worried that I'd hear Baxter. However, when he saw that I didn't react in any way, he heaved a sigh of relief and waved Baxter away, dismissing him.

"Calista, I'll pick you up later after your last research experiment," he said firmly.

After taking two steps away, he stopped and added, "Actually, you don't have to work so hard, you know. The cert is just another piece of paper. I can get one for you easily, whether it's for a Master's, a PhD, a professor title… Nothing is too hard for me."

"I want to do it myself," I replied firmly and stubbornly. This was the only pride I had left in myself.

Vernon went quiet and didn't try to talk me into it again.

On the way back to campus, I finally couldn't stand it any longer and let the tears blur my vision completely while in the cab.

A wedding.

A wedding dress.

A baby.

They all belonged to Samara.

Meanwhile, I was just his dirty little secret.

Once again, I was reminded of how stupid and naive I had been to completely take off my armor back then.

It had simply been because the little girl who'd been abandoned by her parents when she was six years old had been craving for paternal love. That was the only reason I let myself drown in the love and care Vernon showered me with, ever since he saved me at 18.

But now, the countdown had already begun.

I would be gone in just 18 hours' time.

And this time, I wasn't looking back.

After getting back to my dorm, I took out my documents and stuffed them into my suitcase. I had fewer than seven hours left. With each document I put away, I kept reminding myself that time was ticking, and I had to leave at the end of the countdown.

I took the company keycard and boardroom access card to Grayson Group. As I stepped into the building for the final time, I could feel a huge weight on my chest.

Since I had made up my mind to leave, I had to make sure not to leave any traces.

Just as I'd reached the office, however, I heard a few hushed voices whispering to each other.

"Did you hear the news? Mr. Grayson is getting married, and his bride is his childhood best friend!"

"I always thought that Mr. Grayson had the hots for his assistant, Ms. Summers. After all, they always spend every waking hour together, whether it's lunchtime, working overtime, or going on business trips."

"Don't be dumb! Ms. Summers is an orphan. Mr. Grayson is way out of her league! The Graysons run the biggest mafia organization in the country, and every marriage must of course only be political!"

"Samara Horton comes from a family of financial tycoons from Waltz Street. If she marries into the Grayson family, the company will be brought to a whole new level altogether!"

I felt my heart being ripped out of my chest. I did my best to lift my head high and pretend that these gossips didn't get to me. Still, I couldn't stop the tears from gathering in my eyes. Although I'd never been formally introduced as Vernon's girlfriend, I still naively used to think that I was his one and only.

I passed my resignation letter to the Human Resources department. The department head, Joanna Dyson, looked at me in shock.

"Aren't you about to graduate from college? You'd be confirmed as an official employee once you're done with this internship. Why would you give up on such a wonderful opportunity like this?"

"I'm going overseas to further my studies," I answered calmly, as if I'd already thought it through for a long while.

Joanna stared at my resignation document and suddenly narrowed her eyes as she singled out a signature on it. That was because Vernon had also signed my document, confirming my resignation.

Of course, Joanna would never know that I'd tricked Vernon into signing it by pretending it was one of his business procurement documents. If he knew that he was signing my resignation letter, he would never have allowed it to happen at all.

The entire office descended into a loud hush. A few colleagues lowered their heads and remained silent for a while, while a few others looked at me with confusion in their eyes.

I could feel that they were just feeling sorry for me. Something told me that they all simultaneously guessed correctly that I was the third wheel in the relationship who'd now been discarded.

When I left, one of my colleagues whom I used to be closer to, Connie Belrug, ran out after me and grabbed my hand. Her eyes were a little red at the edges.

"You should have woken up sooner, Callista. Mr. Grayson is the most dangerous person in the entire Duke City. He's also the most sought-after bachelor in the country. His marriage can only be part of a political merger between powerful families. You… You never stood a chance."

She paused for a while, as if worried that I was going to crumble, then continued, "You should leave him. That's the only way to preserve yourself."

I smiled at her, neither disagreeing with her nor bothering to explain anything to her. I just bade her goodbye.

…

With only an hour left before my departure, I was already at the airport, waiting.

I dragged my suitcase with me and went into the nearest convenience store to buy a pack of lemon drops. After getting pregnant, I found out that I was craving this sour candy a lot. It also somewhat helped with suppressing the bitterness I felt in my chest.

Just at that moment, my phone screen lit up with a video message from an anonymous number.

Samara was featured in the video, wearing a beautiful wedding dress and smiling widely before the mirror. Meanwhile, Vernon was bent over next to her, patiently puffing out the train behind her and rearranging them nicely.

Vernon, the cold, aloof, calculated mafia boss who could make anyone in the underground organization or the business industry shake in their shoes, was now behaving so gently and lovingly with Samara like he was a prince from a fairytale.

"The groom is such a genius! He actually designed the wedding dress all by himself, and the design is even more stunning than anything our own designers can—"

The video ended right there, cutting the sales associate off mid-sentence.

I stared at the screen with my heart in my throat. I could feel a tight, stabbing pain in my chest. Obviously, this was a video that Samara had purposely sent to me.

She didn't even need to say a word to me. All that was needed was just the look in her eyes and this anonymous video to tell me that Vernon had always belonged to her.

My hands shook. Finally, I couldn't stop the tears from blurring my vision once more.

Soon, the airport announcer announced that it was time for us to board my flight, interrupting me mid-cry. I inhaled deeply and prepared to board the plane.

I gritted my teeth and smiled bitterly as I turned off my phone before throwing it away in the trash can.

Deep breaths.

The countdown was over. It was time to board my flight.

I didn't want to see Vernon Grayson again for the rest of my life.

The final boarding call was announced.

Just at that moment, a cold, icy hand suddenly wrapped itself around my wrist.

I immediately jerked backward to look and felt my heart stop.

It was him—the one person I dreaded seeing the most.