Sienna found Lance utterly ridiculous and unreasonable. Completely disillusioned, she no longer wished to say a single word and turned to leave, but Lance grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing? I will never apologize!" Sienna spat as she turned around. Her voice was trembling uncontrollably, but her eyes remained resolute.

Lance stared into her unrepentant eyes with a look of pained righteousness. "Enna, you're already 18. When you commit a crime, you must learn to take responsibility and accept the consequences. Otherwise, you won't go far in the future. So… I called the police."

His words struck her like a bolt of lightning, leaving her frozen in place.

Before long, the police arrived. After hearing about the situation, and with Lance as the eyewitness, they detained Sienna for intentional harm to another person and sentenced her to three days in custody.

The small, dark cell triggered her claustrophobia. Her breathing grew rapid, and cold sweat streamed down her back. She felt as if the walls themselves were closing in.

The combined torment on both her body and mind pushed her to the edge of collapse.

Three days later, pale and walking unsteadily, she finally stepped out of the police station.

Lance was waiting outside. Seeing her wan and frail condition, he felt his heart go out to her. "You're finally out, Enna. I've been thinking these past few days that maybe my approach was wrong, but I only…"

Sienna wrenched her hand free and stared at him with eyes devoid of emotion, as if she were staring at a stranger.

Feeling bad from her hollow stare, Lance tried to explain himself. "I know the conditions inside were awful, and you suffered. I just wanted you to know what you've done wrong…"

Sienna was tired of listening to him. She didn't feel like saying anything. So, she silently got into a cab and gave her home address. Lance hurried in after her, apologizing and trying to make it up to her nonstop.

When the car reached the villa, they found a moving truck parked outside. Workers were carrying out packed boxes.

Lance seemed taken aback for a moment before following Sienna out of the car. "Enna, are your parents immigrating this soon?"

"Yes," Sienna replied.

Realization dawned on him. He quickly smiled at her approaching parents. "Safe travels, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman. I'll take Enna to visit you in Eglurn when I have time."

Bobby and Fiona exchanged surprised glances. "Lance, aren't you—"

Before they could finish, Sienna cut them off and dismissed Lance coldly. "I'm home. You can leave now. I want to rest."

Assuming she was still angry over the arrest, Lance sighed and said, "Alright, rest well. The day after tomorrow is the first day of college. I'll pick you up, and we'll go together."

Sienna gave no reply and turned to walk into the villa.

Watching her retreating back, a faint unease rose in his chest. But he reassured himself that once she cooled down, everything would return to normal. He believed that she couldn't live without him.

When the door closed, Fiona immediately asked, "Enna, didn't you tell Lance that you're leaving for Eglurn with us tonight?"

Sienna shook her head, weary. "There's no need. Once I'm gone, he'll know."

That night, Sienna boarded a flight to Linton with her parents. Before switching off her phone, she blocked and deleted Lance on her phone and all forms of social media, like WhatsApp and Snapchat. She severed every tie to the past.

…

On the day of the college orientation, Lance packed his luggage and prepared to pick Sienna up.

After getting in the car, the driver automatically headed toward Sienna's house.

But Lance suddenly said, "Go pick up Ashley first. She can't manage on her own. We'll give her a ride."

The driver hesitated and said, "Mr. Xenakis, perhaps you should check on Ms. Coleman. She is your girlfriend, after all. I feel she's been growing distant with you lately…"

Lance's face darkened. "Mind your own business."

The driver fell silent and sighed softly. He first drove to Ashley's house as instructed.

When Ashley got into the car, she smiled radiantly and leaned close to Lance. She chattered nonstop and tried to get more intimate with him.

Lance responded to her advances distractedly, unsettled by what his driver had said earlier.

As they neared Sienna's home, Lance began imagining how she would greet him. Would she pull a long face, or would she have forgiven him already? How should he make it up to her this time?

After a moment, he thought it didn't matter. Sienna loved him so much that a few sweet words from him would no doubt win her back.

When they arrived, he told Ashley to wait in the car and strode toward the familiar door. He pressed the doorbell, but no one answered. Frowning, he used the code Sienna had once given him to unlock the door.

The moment it opened, he was stunned. The living room was empty, and every piece of furniture was draped in pieces of white cloth. The house seemed to have been vacant for days.

"Enna?"

Panic struck as Lance rushed into her room. The wardrobe stood open with not a single piece of clothing inside, and the desk was spotless.

Every trace of her was gone.

Cold terror gripped him. A chill ran down his spine, and his limbs felt numb.

He bolted outside, just as Sienna's neighbor stepped out with the trash.

Lance ran over to her like she was his last hope. He asked in a trembling voice, "Ma'am, why is the Colemans' house empty?"

The lady looked at him in surprise. "Don't you know they all immigrated to Eglurn? They left the day before yesterday. They told me they're settling there for good and never coming back."

As Julian Chapman's secretary, Stella Atkinson had to immediately respond to each of his requests, no matter how outrageous they were.

That included sleeping with him.

Even though they'd be having a meeting in less than an hour, Stella didn't hesitate to take off her skirt under Julian's burning gaze.

Flames of lust had already engulfed him whole by then. As soon as he tugged off his tie, he began binding Stella's wrists together with it. Then, he pinned her down on his desk and got ready to screw her senseless.

But Stella quickly flipped over before saying coolly, "I charge extra if you want to include BDSM."

Julian was so close to sliding into her. It only took him a moment's hesitation before he agreed to Stella's request.

"I'll throw in 50 thousand dollars. It'll be included in your salary," he rasped out.

But Stella refused to cooperate at all. Obviously, she wasn't satisfied with the offered price.

Despite the dissatisfaction welling in his heart, Julian's primal urges forced him to loosen his tongue. "100 thousand dollars."

Stella finally spread her legs, giving Julian the chance to thrust into her eagerly. Despite having had sex on the desk, on the couch, and finally against the floor-to-ceiling window, Julian showed no signs of stopping.

Her cheeks extremely flushed, Stella kept glancing at the wall clock from the corner of her eye. At the same time, she secretly did a countdown on the time that was left.

When the time was up, she placed her hands on Julian's chest to resist his actions, which were getting rougher by the second.

"The meeting's about to start. This meeting is extremely crucial because it concerns the chances of our company getting listed."

As Julian panted heavily, he frowned at Stella's words. After using what little time was left to achieve his climax, he finally withdrew from Stella reluctantly.

"Wait for my return."

He didn't undo the tie binding Stella's wrists. In fact, he just left Stella lying on the couch while maintaining her current position. Soon, he left the office hurriedly after closing the door on her.

Stella ached everywhere and felt completely drained. She managed to free herself by biting the knot out of the tie. With trembling legs, she slipped on her skirt.

The atmosphere in the office was silent. Soon, Stella printed out the resignation letter that she had already prepared in advance before putting her signature on it.

100 thousand dollars…

As long as she received this month's salary, she'd be able to clear the entire debt. That also meant she could leave Julian's side, too.

Over the past three years, everyone viewed Stella as Julian's favorite side chick. The only reason why she couldn't marry into the Chapman family was due to her lowly social standing.

But the truth was, they never loved each other at all. The only things tying them together were a pair of eyes and a contract.

Julian's lover was his childhood sweetheart, Ariana Fairwood. Unfortunately, she could no longer get pregnant after surviving a car crash. Because of that, Julian's parents forbade them from dating each other.

As for Stella, her fiancé, Ethan Lane, had been afflicted with a terminal illness a long time ago. He ended up passing away even after Stella racked up a huge debt trying to treat his illness.

That day, the gangsters who were in charge of collecting the debt came knocking on Stella's door. They had forced her to sell her body in order to clear the debt. Julian was the one who had shown up at the critical juncture and chased the gangsters away. Right after that, he handed her a contract that would make her his private secretary.

Upon reading the clause that claimed that Julian would pay her 50 thousand dollars every time he slept with her, Stella didn't hesitate to sign the contract right away.

But when Julian was asked about why he'd give Stella this opportunity, he merely pointed at his own eyes. It turned out that he had received a corneal transplant from none other than Ethan.

Whenever Stella was pinned beneath Julian's frame, he often loved forcing her to stare right into his eyes. The more she was tortured by her sense of morality and guilt, the more satisfied he became.

Thankfully, Stella finally saved enough money to clear the debt once and for all. She'd be able to break off the contract and leave Julian's side.

Soon, she got ready to continue working. Her initial plan was that she'd get Julian to sign her resignation letter after the meeting was over.

But the next thing she knew, she saw Julian entering the office before rushing toward his desk. There, he pulled open a drawer and dug out an intricate-looking jewelry box. Then, he moved to leave the office.

After snapping out of her trance, Stella quickly grabbed Julian by the arm. She questioned anxiously, "The meeting is still underway! Where are you heading to?"

Julian's first instinct was to shake her hand off, but he stopped as soon as his gaze fell on Stella's beautiful face.

"My parents finally agreed to let Aria and me continue seeing each other. I want to propose to her, so I've canceled the meeting."

The moment Julian's parents gave him the green light, he was already this eager to propose to Ariana. Just how much did he love her?

Stella knew very well that she was just a subordinate to Julian. She had no right to interfere with Julian's plans for Ariana.

After all, Ariana was his actual lover.

Since the meeting regarding the company's enlistment was canceled, Stella knew that she had a lot more work to deal with. She didn't mind that at all. All she wanted was to get away from Julian as soon as possible.

"Mr. Chapman, I need you to sign a document—"

Before Stella could finish speaking, Julian's phone rang abruptly. He glanced at the caller ID before picking up the video call.

On the screen, Ariana could be seen wearing a set of thin silk pajamas. She purposely placed the camera right before her chest while speaking in a soft and cutesy tone.

"Jules, didn't I tell you that I'll be waiting for you? I've been waiting for you for so long, but why aren't you here yet?"

Ariana acted as though she had never spotted Stella, who stood right behind Julian. Instead, she began swaying her hips around seductively.

Julian comforted Ariana in a gentle tone, telling her that he'd be there soon. After that, he ended the video call.

"I can always trust the documents that you've dealt with. Just hand the document over, and I'll sign it."

Stella handed her resignation letter over silently. As expected, Julian signed the letter without even scanning the details before rushing out of the office impatiently.

The door was slammed shut loudly. Once again, the atmosphere in the office fell silent.

A while later, Stella passed the resignation letter over to Peter Sanders, the HR manager. Since he knew what her actual relationship with Julian was like, he decided to ask cautiously, "Does Mr. Chapman know that you're leaving?"

Stella replied coolly, "He's about to marry Ariana. Do you really think it's necessary for me to inform him of my resignation?"

Peter understood the situation immediately. As expected, Julian had only taken Stella in as his mistress on a whim. She would never be able to get married to him, no matter what.

Instead of asking more questions, Peter stamped the resignation letter. He made sure to drop Stella a reminder, though.

"The offboarding process will last for seven days. Your resignation will be effective next Monday. You should focus on conducting the handover process properly during this timeframe."

Stella nodded in response. After leaving the HR department eagerly, she started a video call with Anthony Lane, Ethan's younger brother.

Soon, the video call went through. Anthony's face, which was extremely similar to Ethan's, popped up on Stella's phone screen.

He let out a few light coughs while clutching his chest, though he made sure to force out a smile.

"Stella, when are you going to visit me? Ethan's heart is throbbing in pain again…"

Stella could feel her nose tingling with emotions. At the same time, her heart began throbbing as well when she saw how pained Anthony looked.

Still, she smiled tenderly while comforting him, "Seven days. Just wait for another seven days, and I'll head over to look after you."

Ethan and Anthony's mother, Roxanne Miller, had divorced their father. After that, she and Anthony formed a new family with a rich businessman.

When Anthony got into a car crash, his heart ended up getting impaled by a steel pole. It so happened that Ethan was on the brink of death at that time, so he chose to donate his own heart to Anthony.

At first, Roxanne intended to help Stella with the debt, but her husband was quick to stop her. After all, who in this world would spend that much money on someone who didn't share any blood relations and family ties with them?

Stella didn't mind the refusal. In fact, she still kept in touch with Anthony all the time and asked about his well-being. But for some reason, Anthony's heart kept throbbing in pain these days. At night, he'd often dream of Stella, too.

Since Ethan's heart continued to beat in Anthony's chest, Stella had the urge to stay by his side and take care of him.

Stella didn't realize it, but she ended up staying on the video call with Anthony for a long time. There were times when she even giggled at his jokes. Her sour mood was instantly uplifted thanks to Anthony's antics.

In seven days, she'd be able to stay by Anthony's side while listening to Ethan's heartbeat. She no longer had to go along with Julian's demands.

To her, the next seven days would undoubtedly be the darkest times before she got to welcome her sweet freedom. She couldn't wait to embrace freedom with her own arms.

Since the meeting had been canceled, Stella ended up staying in the company till late at night, dealing with the mess Julian had left behind. Only then did she get to return to Chapman Manor.

Unexpectedly, she bumped into Ariana in her own room.

At that time, Ariana had just finished taking a shower. She was wearing nothing but a towel wrapped snugly around her body. Her soft skin was dotted with red bite marks.

Stella's clothes and belongings, on the other hand, were strewn all over the floor. Ariana was currently standing on a few of Stella's garments, barefoot.

She shot Stella a provoking look as she said, "Where on earth did you hang out till this ungodly hour, Ms. Atkinson? Because of you, I moved into your room right away without the means to inform you of the news in advance. I don't want to be viewed as a rude woman, you know."

Julian, who was clad in a bathrobe, walked out of the bathroom as soon as he heard Ariana's voice. He laced his fingers with Ariana's intimately right away. Both of them exchanged affectionate looks, which painted a picture of true love before Stella's eyes.

Then, Julian turned to look at the exhausted-looking Stella as well as her clothes, which were scattered across the floor. In an apologetic tone, he said, "Aria adores this room. You can spend the night on the couch for the time being. I'll have the maids clean the guest room for you tomorrow."

As soon as he was done speaking, he dug out his phone and punched in a string of numbers. The next moment, Stella tapped on her buzzing phone.

It turned out that Julian had just transferred her another 50 thousand dollars.

Julian explained softly, "This is your overtime pay. You must have worked hard after I canceled the meeting this evening. Rest well."

To his surprise, Stella chose not to accept this transaction.

She merely smiled faintly at him. "You're being too courteous, Mr. Chapman. This is my job as your secretary. I'll just spend the night in a hotel."

Julian was stunned, to say the least. He didn't expect that Stella would turn his money down.

Weren't they supposed to be in a transactional relationship? This was the sole reason why Stella had allowed him to do whatever he wanted to her in the past three years!

Why did she suddenly reject his money?

Did she no longer need the money? Or was she mad at him?

Julian frowned, feeling an inexplicable sense of frustration. "Stop kicking up a fuss. It's already this late, yet you still want to spend the night—"

But Ariana quickly hugged his arm and began acting all cute and coquettish before he could finish his sentence.

"Jules, someone must be waiting for Ms. Atkinson in a hotel room as we speak. Stop meddling with her business, alright? Let's go to bed already! I'm already tired!"

After that, Ariana kicked Stella's clothes out of the room. She continued to hug Julian's arm as she closed the door on the spot.

Stella bent down to toss her clothes into her suitcase one by one. Then, she left Chapman Manor with her luggage in tow.

Three years ago, when Stella first became Julian's private secretary, Ariana had barged into Chapman Manor just to kick up a fuss about the whole thing.

She had yanked Stella by the hair and smashed her head into the wall while screaming at her for being the third wheel who had ruined her relationship with Julian. Not only that, but she had also attempted to drown Stella by dunking her head into the pool.

In the end, Julian showed up just in time to stop Ariana. But that was the only thing he'd done.

He still showered Ariana with love and care. She was gifted with jewelry and high-end clothes, but she was never acknowledged as Julian's girlfriend.

If she demanded a star to be presented to her, Julian wouldn't hesitate to pick it for her.

Stella knew very well why Julian wanted her by his side. He wished to repay Ethan for his benevolent decision to donate his corneas to him, after all.

As for his way of paying Ethan back, it was to sleep with Ethan's beloved fiancée and watch how humiliated she looked beneath him.

Perhaps this was one of those mean pranks rich people pulled for fun.

By the time Stella reached the hotel she was staying in, it was already in the wee hours of the morning. She was so exhausted that she went straight to bed after washing up in the bathroom.

Suddenly, the hidden figure in the bed flipped Stella over and pinned her down. Having trapped her in his arms, he began peppering her face with kisses.

Frightened, Stella began resisting the man's advances. She managed to bite the man in the chaos.

The man let out a low grunt, which sounded very familiar to Stella. As soon as the bedside lamp was turned on, she was surprised to see the naked Julian lying on the same bed with her.

Julian inhaled sharply before hooking her chin with his fingers.

"Our 100-thousand-dollar session was rudely interrupted earlier. Don't you think we should continue the second half of the session?"