Chapter 2

I had just finished organizing the material I'd gathered when Russell walked back into the company.

He held his phone up in front of me, a notification on the screen.

"We didn't pay on time yesterday, so the venue got booked by someone else."

"Crystal and I will have to wait three more months."

I looked at the deposit that had already gone out.

"Didn't you say the freedom window was only three days?"

"Three months from now, you're still going to hold a wedding with her?"

Russell nodded firmly.

"I never said I'd extend the agreement. It's only the ceremony that's moved to three months from now."

"Relax, Eleanor. Our wedding is still on as planned."

"Once Crystal finishes this last wish of hers, she won't cling to me anymore."

Without waiting for my agreement, Russell led Crystal into the office again.

"Crystal's never had a stable job, and she has her parents to take care of."

"Since the wedding's pushed back three months, this is the perfect chance for her to do her internship at our company."

Crystal looked at me and put on her sensible act.

"Eleanor, if you don't like having me here, I can go find another job."

"I'm not trying to take your spot. Russell's the one who asked me to try out the secretary position."

Russell had always been picky. He'd gone through secretary after secretary, screening for people skills, screening for degrees.

Yet now he sat her down in the seat right beside his own.

"The venue got delayed because of you in the first place, Eleanor, so don't make a fuss over the trouble."

After he'd set up her workstation, he turned to me.

"Eleanor, I'm not a man without a sense of proportion. Work and the prenuptial agreement are two separate things."

"I'll honor my promise to you, but bringing Crystal on for this job is purely for the good of the company."

Russell signed her employment application himself, then took the company seal off my desk.

"She's an art student with no training. What can she possibly do for the company?"

Russell answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Anything she doesn't know, I can teach her. Since Crystal's going to be my secretary,"

"she needs to get more familiar with how I work and live."

"Eleanor, clear out your spot and let her use it for now. I'll have someone set up a different office for you."

The other offices were crammed with clutter and sat far from every department.

I gathered up my things and let the corner of my mouth curve.

"I'll go handle my work in the conference room. No need to trouble anyone to clean a room out. I'll be moving back sooner or later."

Russell frowned.

"What I mean is, Crystal will very likely stay at the company for good—"

"Never mind. Go get Miles for me. Have him take a photo of our new colleague."

As I left, Crystal hid behind him and shot me a smug little smile.

Less than half an hour later, the company account Russell managed put out a post.

But the photo attached wasn't the onboarding shot Miles took.

It was the couple's photo from their first day carrying out the agreement, taken back at the old amusement park.

People at the branch offices who didn't know me piled on the likes.

【So this is Mr. Simmons's fiancée?】

【From a campus romance to making it big together, so sweet, I'm obsessed!】

Russell even liked the replies.

A long while passed before the two of them came out to explain.

【We're just friends who share some good memories. Please don't misunderstand.】

I was staring at the IPO application documents when Crystal forwarded the post to me.

"Eleanor, don't read too much into it. Russell's already explained."

I didn't reply. Instead I forwarded it to several shareholders.

On the grounds that it could hurt the company's public listing, I demanded the photo be taken down.

The shareholders were already unhappy about him casually diverting project funds, and they took it straight to the CEO's office.

Less than ten minutes after the new post came down, Russell called me in.

He threw his phone at me and glared.

"Did you get the shareholders together and put them up to this, coming after me?"

"It's just one photo. You'd humiliate Crystal over that?"

I shrugged.

"You have to keep business and personal separate. The company was never a place for the two of you to play out a romance."

Crystal's face darkened, bit by bit.

"How did I never notice before how unreasonable you are."

"You're just jealous, so you go after her at every turn."

He pushed a suspension notice in front of me.

"Don't come to the company for a while. Get some proper rest."

"The wedding's coming up. This is a good time for you to go look after my mother."

"Otherwise Crystal will win my mother over and really take your place."

By chance, I caught sight of the share transfer agreement on Russell's computer.

He was transferring five percent of his shares to Crystal.

I'd walked beside him for seven years.

Now, of everything he'd promised, there wasn't a single thing I wanted anymore.