Sasha had promised Aidan to handle the shipment for the company, so despite the lingering effects of the abortion, she pushed herself to visit Brian in the hospital early the next morning.

As soon as she reached the door of his ward, a cup of water came flying toward her before she could step inside.

"Get out, you bitch! I'm telling you. Even if you beg me on your knees today, I won't give Ridgeco Corporation any more business!"

Sasha rubbed her forehead where the cup had struck.

Noticing there was no hope of reconciliation, she turned around and left.

When she arrived at the office, Heidi approached her. "Sasha, did you meet Mr. Conley? Did he hit you on the forehead?"

Sasha didn't respond to Heidi's question. Instead, she calmly instructed, "Bring me the shipment list from the factory and contact all the business teams for a meeting at 10:00 am. We probably can't smooth things over with Mr. Conley for now, so let's focus on finding other distributors for the factory's goods."

As she spoke, she walked toward her office.

As soon as she entered the office and shut the door, Natalie walked in without even knocking.

She shot Sasha a disdainful look before placing a fine in front of her.

"Please sign this penalty notice, Ms. Barlow. Aidan said you abandoned your post yesterday, which caused the company huge losses. You'll be docked a quarter of your bonus as punishment."

Before Sasha could respond, Heidi, standing beside her, snapped.

"Why should Sasha take the blame for your mess? If you'd kept your mouth shut last night, Mr. Conley wouldn't have been angry!"

Natalie sneered at Heidi's words and mocked, "You think I'm as shameless as you? You still smiled at Mr. Conley when he touched your leg. Let me tell you. I'm a respectable person, not like you, who will do anything to land a deal.

"Also, I'm Aidan's girlfriend. I'm basically the boss. You work for Aidan, so you better do whatever I tell you."

Heidi turned red with anger.

Meanwhile, Sasha's lips curved into a faint smile.

When Natalie had first come to the company, Sasha had no idea she was Aidan's girlfriend. Back then, she'd thought Natalie was just an ordinary intern.

Once, Natalie accidentally sent everyone's salary details to the company group, so Sasha called her into her office.

She'd just planned to lecture her a little, but before she could get a word in, Natalie had snapped back, "Who are you to lecture me? Don't think I don't know. You only got to where you are by seducing Aidan.

"Listen carefully. Aidan's mine. He's been in love with me for ten years. All this time, he's only been with you because he wasn't good enough to marry me yet. If you had any sense, you'd leave the company now."

It was then that she learned Natalie was Aidan's first love, the one he had been harboring feelings for all these years. He was working hard to make enough money to eventually marry her.

At that time, Sasha still had expectations for Aidan. Filled with an overwhelming sense of jealousy, she immediately went to HR, wanting to get Natalie fired.

But just as she had spoken to HR, Aidan came in right after.

"Are you bullying Natalie because she's my girlfriend? Sasha, this is not a place for your jealousy. If you intentionally make things difficult for Natalie again, I'll have you kicked out of the company.

"And remember your place. All these years, I've only seen you as a bed partner, an employee, and a subordinate. I've never liked you, and I never thought of having any feelings for you. The only person I've ever loved is Natalie."

Sasha finally realized how naive she was.

She remembered overhearing Aidan and his friends speaking about her with disgust, but she hadn't given up on her feelings for him.

She remembered the countless times Aidan had hinted that she needed to please their clients, but she still had done as he wished.

She'd always known Aidan loved someone else and couldn't give her the love she wanted, but he shouldn't have broken the one principle she had clung to.

Because long ago, she had told Aidan that he didn't have to love her, but if he found another girlfriend, he had to let her leave with dignity.

This was because Sasha had grown up as the daughter of a mistress.

The one thing she loathed more than anything else in the world was being called a mistress.

This insistence might seem laughable for someone like her, who had been through countless experiences with men. It was just like how she had once refused to sleep with anyone at the club.

In the seven years she fought alongside Aidan, she had been flirtatious and touched the line with clients, but she had never crossed that line.

Yet now, Aidan had forgotten her principle.

The day Aidan declared Natalie his first love, Sasha had steeled herself, still hoping against hope, and looked into his eyes.

"What if I told you I'm pregnant with your child?"

Aidan paused for two seconds and replied, "If you're pregnant, keep it. I'll give you money, even raise it, but I won't marry you."

After receiving the answer she had expected, Sasha accepted it calmly.

That day, without even taking a leave, she grabbed her handbag and walked out of the company.

Her heart ached terribly, but she endured the pain and went straight to the hospital to terminate the pregnancy.

As she thought about the lost child, her hand instinctively rested on her abdomen, and a sharp pain echoed in her heart.

Standing up, Sasha took a pen and signed the penalty notice.

Heidi was immediately frantic. "Why are you signing this, Sasha? Why should you?"

Why? Because her place had never been rightful.

Because after seven years, she hadn't been able to make Aidan forget Natalie.

Aside from helping Aidan find new distributors for the factory's goods, Sasha had begun passing her workload onto Heidi.

Leaving was a decision she made after she had the abortion and left the hospital.

For seven years, she had sacrificed too much and endured too much hurt in the name of love for Aidan.

Aidan thought she was invincible. Little did he know, behind the flirtations with clients and socializing at the negotiation table, she was swallowing handfuls of sleeping pills and frantically washing her body with cold water.

She had used these seven years to repay the favor Aidan did for her back at the club.

After the fifth time she rejected Aidan's invitation to meet with new clients, Aidan finally realized something was wrong and showed up at her house.

At that moment, she was packing her things.

When she saw Aidan, she didn't approach him and hug him like she always had.

Aidan had been single back then. Even though she knew he didn't love her, as long as he was still infatuated with her body, she would present herself in various seductive poses for him.

At least, that was a form of love.

But now that Aidan had found his first love, it was time for her and him to sever all ties.

But when Aidan showed up at her door, he seemed frustrated.

Ever since he had scolded Sasha in front of everyone for Natalie, Sasha had become a completely different person.

Aidan felt like he hadn't done anything wrong.

Natalie was the woman he had loved for ten years. She was pure-hearted and from a good family background. Natalie clearly instigated the confrontation with Sasha that day.

Aidan had scolded her in front of everyone just to set her straight and remind her of her place.

After all, no matter how many times he and Sasha had slept together, Natalie would always be his future wife.

But since that day, things had changed.

No one had bought him breakfast, and no one had ordered his lunch. Even at the dinner table, no one would drink on his behalf anymore.

Aidan really couldn't get used to it.

Especially now, he had to humble himself to try to coax Sasha. But Sasha was solely focused on packing her things.

Trying to change the subject, Aidan casually loosened his tie and moved closer to her with a smirk.

"Come on. Let me kiss you. I haven't been intimate with you in ages. I've been hanging out with Natalie all day, watching movies and going shopping. I've been going crazy!"

He grabbed Sasha's chin, about to kiss her.

In the past, without Natalie in the picture, Sasha would have eagerly met his lips. But now, she just coldly turned to the side.

"Aidan, so you can respect Natalie and not touch her for three months of dating, but I'm just so cheap that you think you can have me whenever you want?"

Aidan's kiss fell into thin air, but he wasn't angry.

He stood up, began unbuttoning his shirt, and casually said, "How could you compare to Natalie? She's from a respectable family. Her parents are teachers. Sure, she's a little spoiled, but which young lady isn't?

"Unlike you, the first time we did it, you were already experienced. Since we've gone through it, why stop now?"

Sasha felt like her heart had been pierced a thousand times.

Of course, how could she compare to Natalie?

Since she and Aidan had gotten together, he had never given her any respect.

For years, whenever he wanted her, he would force himself on her, even in the car or with the driver present.

Even in the office, he would make his move if no one was around.

Sasha suppressed the pain in her heart and looked at him seriously for the first time. "That was my first time, Aidan."

To her surprise, Aidan burst out laughing.

"Well, it really did feel like your first time. By the way, where did you get it fixed? You should go for a few more sessions. I'll cover the cost for you."

As Sasha looked at the sneer on Aidan's face, she couldn't help but show her own mocking smile. "I don't need your reimbursement. After all, you won't be the one to enjoy it anymore."

Aidan laughed out of anger at Sasha's words.

In the past, she had been throwing herself at him. But now, she was acting like a virtuous woman.

He threw off his shirt and lunged toward Sasha.

"Come on. Stop pretending. No matter how angry you are, I'll take care of it in bed."

As he said that, he grinned like a beast in heat and went for her lips.

Feeling the stickiness on her cheek, Sasha struggled to hold back her tears. Like a waterfall finally breaking, they couldn't be stopped and slid down her face.

"Aidan, if you don't want me to hate you, get off me and leave my house."

Aidan froze for a moment.

He had known Sasha for seven years, ever since she worked at the club. But in all this time, he had never seen her cry—not even two years ago when Ella passed away, and Aidan helped her with the funeral.

But now, Sasha was crying.

For reasons he couldn't explain, seeing the tears on her face caused a sharp pain to surge in his heart. He even found himself wanting to wipe them away.

Realizing how strange he felt, Aidan hastily dressed and left without even buttoning his shirt properly.

He muttered, "Since you're in a bad mood, I'll leave for now."

With that, he rushed out of her apartment like a coward.

Once he was downstairs, he shakily took out a lighter and lit a cigarette. As he watched the glowing ember in the night, a bitter smile curled on his lips.

He had actually thought that he had developed feelings for Sasha.

How could that even be possible?

Forget about her wild days at the club. Even now, she would easily drop her pride in front of clients and flirt with them just for the sake of a business deal.

There was no way he could ever fall for someone like her.

He could sleep with Sasha, but there was no way he would ever have feelings for her.

Shaking off the strange thoughts, he pulled out his phone and called Natalie.

"Hey babe, are you asleep? I miss you so much."