“Ninian, I’m talking to you. Didn’t you hear me?”

He grabbed her hand, and his eyes were burning with rage.

But Ninian remained calm. “I had some business to attend to. You could have gone back if you didn’t want to wait for me.”

“What’s with you? You’ve been acting strange all day.”

“It’s nothing.”

Ninian moved past him and wanted to go upstairs.

But the anger Conan had been keeping in check for so long finally exploded. “Ninian, remember your place. No one has ever made me wait for so long. Don’t you forget, you’re just my—”

“Your what?” she interrupted him. “Friend with benefits?”

Conan was stunned. “You heard what I told them that night?”

Conan finally understood why Ninian was acting so strangely. “I was just running my mouth off. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then, who am I to you?” Ninian stared at him.

Conan fell silent. He found himself unable to say anything.

“I’m tired. Go back.”

For the first time, she rejected his advances. Ninian just went back to her room, took a hot shower, changed into her pajamas, and got ready for bed.

Downstairs, Conan leaned against his car and smoked, but he did not leave even after a long time had passed.

Ninian ignored him. She drew the curtains, turned the lights off, and soon fell asleep.

The next day, before Ninian even woke up, her phone rang.

“Ninian, check the news! Conan canceled the engagement his grandmother set for him! Is it because of you?”

Ninian shot out of bed and turned on the TV.

Conan was indeed telling the reporters that he was going to cancel the engagement because there was someone even more important to him.

Her heart skipped a beat. As Ninian stared at Conan’s firm gaze, she felt a little excited.

“Congratulations, Ninian. You’ve finally won over Conan’s heart.”

After she hung up, Ninian found herself unable to calm down even after a long time had passed.

She wanted to call Conan and ask him what he meant. Did he really cancel his engagement for her?

But before she could even call him, she received a message from Conan.

[Come to Morre Hotel at 8 p.m. tonight. You’re attending a banquet with me. Dress up nicely.]

When she saw the message, Ninian finally smiled.

Conan seldom asked her to attend banquets. In the past, no matter what functions he went to, he seldom brought her along.

But this time, he actually asked her to attend a banquet with him.

She sent a message to her best friend, Robin Underwood, who got excited for her.

[Is Conan going to propose to you? Ninian, all that waiting has come to fruition!]

Ninian pursed her lips, and she started to look forward to this.

She told herself that this was the last chance she was going to give her relationship with Conan.

Since Ninian seldom attended banquets, she did not have many gowns.

She went to the shopping mall and bought a gorgeous gown worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Then, she hired a makeup artist and stylist to make herself pretty before she arrived on time at the entrance of Morre Hotel.

She had heard some things about the banquet tonight. It was an auction meets banquet for the upper-class society, and all the people who attended were celebrities.

As she stood at the entrance, Ninian sucked in a deep breath before she walked into the lobby.

When she arrived at the majestic banquet hall, she found plenty of people inside. It was full of life.

Despite the swarm of people, Ninian immediately saw the man who had been occupying her thoughts.

Delight rose in her heart, and she walked over, only to hear someone say something.

“To think that Mr. Stone would bring a plus one this time.”

“I heard that the woman he loves the most has finally returned to the country.”

“I see. That’s why he told the press this morning that he’s canceling his engagement with Jennifer Jones. So, his crush has returned.”

Ninian’s smile froze. His crush? What crush?

Then, Conan turned around, along with the woman beside him.

Ninian saw a woman with a face strikingly similar to hers, and she was smiling while she held Conan’s hand.

At that moment, Ninian felt her blood freeze.

Who was she? Conan’s crush?

Ninian had been with Conan for seven years. Why did she never know that he had a crush?!

Her heart spasmed in pain. She wanted to leave, but Conan called out to her. “You’ve arrived, Ninian.”

“Ninian Springs? Conan Stone’s secretary?”

“She looks so similar to Rose Charlemagne!”

“Don’t you know? She’s just a replacement. I heard that during the years Rose wasn’t around, Conan Stone got a replacement. It must have been Ninian Springs!”

Everyone stared at her while they talked about her.

Those words kept pouring into her ears, and Ninian felt as if someone had seized her throat. She could not breathe.

“Hello, Miss Springs.” Rose went over to Ninian and sized her up. “I’m sorry, I heard from Conan that you don’t like such banquets, but I really wanted to see you, so I asked him to invite you over.”

She saw the provocation in Rose’s eyes, and Ninian clenched her fists.

“You wanted to see me?”

So, Conan did not cancel the engagement for her. It was because his crush came back.

He wanted Ninian to doll herself up for the banquet because he wanted his crush to see what her replacement looked like.

She felt as if someone had driven a knife into her heart, and Ninian felt her legs giving out. She was about to collapse.

“I heard from someone that you look like me. Conan, do you think we look alike?” Rose raised her head and asked Conan sweetly.

Conan smiled and said nonchalantly, “It’s just a coincidence. She can’t compare to you.”

At his words, Ninian’s heart hurt so much that she staggered backward.

She turned around and wanted to leave, but Rose stopped her.

“Miss Springs, I haven’t toasted you for taking care of Conan in my place for so long. He’s really picky, so you must have had a hard time with him.”

She gave off such a high-and-mighty air because she was the one Conan truly liked, while Ninian was just the side hoe.

People’s gazes fell on her, and they looked at her as if she was a joke.

Ninian forced a smile. “That’s my job. I was being paid for it, so it’s not hard for me.”

“You must have done plenty of other things besides work, right?” Rose raised her voice and chuckled in a magnanimous fashion. “But I’m back now. You don’t need to do certain things in my place anymore.”

Ninian looked at Conan, who stood expressionlessly in place and did not even spare her a single glance.

It was as if all that was happening had nothing to do with him.

Ninian nodded in disappointment. “Alright. I understand.”

She turned around to leave but ended up knocking into an attendant who was holding flutes of red wine.

Red wine spilled on her and ruined her expensive gown.

Rose was shocked. “Are you okay, Miss Springs? Your gown is ruined! I’ll have an attendant bring you a new one. We can talk once you change.”

“There’s no need.”

Compared to the kind and generous Rose, Ninian felt as pathetic as a loser.

When Conan saw that Ninian’s gown was dirty and that she nearly fell, he wanted to help her, but Rose had grabbed his hand before he could do it.

“Conan, since Miss Springs doesn’t need my help and the auction is about to start, let’s head in.”

Conan nodded and retracted his hand. He just gave Ninian a look. “Go back and change. Don’t catch a cold.”

They then left without sparing her another glance.

The people around her left as well, but Ninian remained rooted to the spot. She did not move even after a long time had passed.

At that moment, she was completely disappointed in Conan.

Ninian never knew that she was just a replacement. But when she met Rose, plenty of the things that had puzzled her in the past finally made sense.

Conan liked it when she wore white dresses because Rose loved white dresses.

Conan liked it when she wore her hair long because Rose had long hair.

Conan refused to let her dye her hair because Rose’s hair was black.

Even the handbags he gave her were in the styles that Rose liked.

Ninian knew very well that the handbag Rose carried tonight was the one in the same series as the handbags Conan had given her duplicates of.

Ninian looked down, and she teared up.

When she returned to her place, Ninian curled up on the floor while still in her ruined gown. She looked outside at the moon and let her mind wander.

She remembered the first time she met Conan seven years ago. They had met in a bar.

At that time, she needed money, so she worked at a bar and met him.

She immediately caught his fancy and got her to work as his secretary.

As time passed, she grew to like Conan and became his lover.

At that time, he never made their relationship public, and she thought that it was only a matter of time before he would do it.

But at this very moment, she knew that no matter how long she waited, she would never become his girlfriend or his wife.

At that, she finally decided to leave.

The next morning, she got up early in order to hand in her resignation letter.

When she went downstairs, she saw Conan.

He had arrived early in the morning. Knowing that she was still sleeping, he did not bother her.

He knew that she loved the buns from South Street, so he bought some this morning.

Ninian did not have too much of a reaction when she saw him.

“You’re awake?” But Conan was really enthusiastic. “I bought the buns you love. I queued up for a long time for them. Have some.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Ninian bent down, changed into her shoes, and intended to leave.

When Conan saw her attitude, he got mad. “Why are you throwing a tantrum? Do you have any idea how much time I had to waste to get these?”

“Mr. Stone, I never asked you to do those things. I’m leaving now and have no time to argue with you.”

He grabbed her arm. “Are you mad because of Rose?”

Ninian pursed her lips and said nothing.

Conan sneered. “I’m never going to marry you, no matter what. Does it really matter whether you’re a replacement or not?”

Those words hurt.

Ninian nodded. “It doesn’t matter, alright. It’s late now, Mr. Stone. I still have to go to work. Please let me go.”

Before she went to the company, she went to a hairdresser and cut the long hair Conan had asked her to keep for seven years.

She always preferred her hair to be at shoulder-length, so she cut it short.

Once she cut her hair, she felt lighter.

When she arrived at the company, she was already late, but she did not care.

Once her colleagues saw her, they gasped, “Ninian, you cut your hair? You look even prettier now!”

“Yes! Short hair suits you more! You look neat and professional!”

Ninian smiled. “I know, right? I like it too.”

She returned to her table, turned on her computer immediately, and typed out her resignation letter.

After she printed it out, she wanted to hand it to Conan.

He was not in his office. However, his driver was around to pick some things up for him.

She handed her resignation letter to his driver. “Please hand this to Conan.”

…

When Conan got her resignation letter, he was shocked. But once he recovered, he smiled. “Where can she go after leaving my side? She can’t survive without me. She’s just throwing a tantrum because Rose is back. She’ll calm down very soon. Ignore her.”

…

After she resigned, Ninian felt as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

She hailed a cab to go home, only to suddenly realize that her home was not actually hers.

Conan had given her the place, or rather, it was the place he used to keep his mistress, which was her.

Since Ninian had decided to cut all ties with him, she did not want the house anymore.

When she opened the door, Ninian smelled perfume.

It was the perfume Conan had given her. He had said that there was only one in the world, and it was made for her.

She seldom used it, because she could not bear to use it all.

She only used it when Conan came over.

She made her way to the hall, only to see the woman sitting on the couch.