Chloe's POV

In the early hours of the morning, my sugar daddy, Julian Vance, called and told me to deliver ultra-thin condoms to him.

Staring at my rain-soaked clothes, his voice was hoarse.

"Fuck, who told you to be this obedient?"

I handed the bag to Julian, who was leaning against the door.

"The 0.01mm ones you asked for."

As he reached out to take it, he deliberately brushed his slightly calloused thumb over my knuckles, a seductive smile swimming in his eyes.

"She isn't here yet. Why don't we use them first?"

While I stood there in a daze, he let out a chuckle.

"Just teasing you!

"I've arranged a blind date for you next Wednesday. You've been with me for so many years, and I don't want to do you wrong.

"You'll go, right?"

＊＊＊

Julian sounded like he was asking, but his eyes carried a hint of careless intimidation.

This wasn't about not wanting to do me wrong.

He was clearly afraid that his first love would find out about our relationship after she returned to the country, so he wanted to dispose of me before then.

My curled fingertips suddenly tightened.

I forced myself to stay calm and looked up.

"Just send me the address."

He frowned imperceptibly, but only for a fleeting second.

Rainwater dripped from the ends of my hair onto my collarbone, so cold it made me shiver.

"It's getting late, I should get going." I spoke with a tremble.

"Wait!"

Julian walked into the living room, and when he came back out, he had a Burberry shawl in his hands.

He wrapped me up tightly, leaving only my misty eyes exposed.

In my fluster, I looked up to thank him, only to crash into his suddenly darkened gaze.

"Don't leave tonight?" He said suddenly.

I froze for a moment.

"Isn't someone else coming..."

"You actually fucking believed that?"

He pressed his knuckles against the top of my head, his tone laced with a hint of impatient irritation.

"Do you think I'm some fucking promiscuous scumbag?

"All these years, who else has been by my side besides you?"

I was carried to the bed by Julian.

In the midst of our passion, he leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"This is our last time.

"Serena is coming back.

"I don't want her to suspect our relationship, so be a good girl and go on that blind date."

He finally told the truth.

Resentfully, I bit down hard on his shoulder.

...

Julian's stamina was simply astonishing.

It wasn't until the morning mist seeping through the gap in the curtains turned white.

That he finally ended this battle and walked toward the bathroom.

As the pattering sound of water echoed, I picked up my clothes from the floor and went to the guest bedroom.

This was our unspoken habit.

Julian was a light sleeper and didn't like having anyone beside him.

So, for the past five years, no matter how exhausted and sleepy he made me.

After it was over, I would always force myself to use my last ounce of strength to crawl to the guest bedroom.

The next day, I woke up to find it was already past nine.

When I finished washing up and rushed downstairs, I happened to see Julian just returning from his workout.

He was wearing a white tank top, the muscle lines on his shoulders and back smooth and powerful.

"I had leave some breakfast for you."

"I'm going to be late for work, I still need to catch the subway."

I quickly waved my hands.

Julian slightly raised an eyebrow.

"I'll drive you."

"No!"

Putting on my shoes at the entryway, I blurted out subconsciously.

"The results for my promotion are coming out today. If my colleagues see me getting out of the boss's car, there's no way I could explain my way out of it."

Julian paused, his hand still on the cap of his water bottle.

The air suddenly fell silent for a fleeting moment.

A moment later, he let out a soft scoff.

"Suit yourself, then."

Before I left, Julian called out to me and handed over a business card.

"Your blind date for next week."

A sudden ringing echoed in my ears, dragging me back to reality.

A night of lingering intimacy had almost made me forget.

The only reason I agreed to bring him ultra-thin condoms last night was to finally end our five-year illicit affair.

I was afraid he'd think I still wanted to cling to him.

I reached out to take the business card, its sharp plastic edges digging painfully into the web of my hand.

My nose stung slightly.

"I'll go."

Chloe's POV

Over the years, I would stay at Julian's house every weekend.

At first, I always lugged around bags of all sizes, stuffed with clothes and endless bottles of skincare products.

He found it too troublesome for me to move things back and forth like that, so he simply had someone build a vanity table just for my belongings.

When I left that day, I took all those things with me.

Along with the pink slippers I usually wore at the entryway, and that nightgown in the closet.

While I did all this, Julian leaned quietly against the doorframe watching me, the emotions in his eyes dark and unreadable.

Until I finished packing and said my goodbyes to him.

"From now on, we're strictly boss and subordinate."

Seeing through my concerns, Julian gave a soft scoff.

"Relax, I won't subject you to workplace retaliation."

Sprinting all the way, I finally made it to company before ten o'clock.

My colleague Harper Davis was uncharacteristically generous and bought me a cup of coffee.

"Chloe, congratulations in advance! When you become the department director, don't forget our trench comradeship."

"The results aren't out yet," I smiled shyly.

"Why are you being so modest? Among the colleagues competing with you, you've been with the company the longest and completed the most major projects.

"Besides, everyone has seen how you've worked your fingers to the bone for the company all these years.

"You becoming the director is what everyone expects."

"If I get it, I'll treat everyone to a big feast!" I stopped being polite and said with a smile to the whole team,

The office erupted in cheers.

With three minutes left until ten, I clicked open my company email countless times.

I even ran to the restroom three times out of sheer nervousness.

Until the email opened, and that striking line of bold text jumped out at me.

"We regret to inform you that your promotion this time was unsuccessful..."

With a sudden crash, my mind went completely blank.

My team members scrambled over to look, and upon seeing the results on the screen, the once-bustling office instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Until the HR director walked in smiling, leading someone inside, her voice breaking the dead silence.

"Let me introduce everyone. This is Serena Waldorf, a PhD graduate, and the new Planning Department Director personally appointed by Mr. Julian Vance."

The moment I looked up, my breath hitched sharply—

Serena was wearing a sharply tailored white suit, her long hair loosely pinned at the back of her head, revealing a slender and pale neck.

She looked exactly like the person in the photo I had once seen tucked in the hidden compartment of Julian's wallet.

Chloe's POV

It felt like I had caught a severe cold; my nose was completely stuffed, and my mind was a total blank.

I moved forward mechanically, as if pushed by some heavy, invisible force.

The walk to Julian's office wasn't long, yet I had to constantly wipe away tears with the back of my hand.

Many passersby stared at me, but I couldn't care less about the humiliation.

I knocked on the office door, and Julian's usual aloof voice rang out.

"Come in."

I stood there with red eyes, tears spilling over the moment I opened my mouth.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

He didn't even look up, his fingertips still tracing over the documents.

"With so many positions in the company, why did you have to let Serena take the spot meant for my promotion?" I raised my voice, unable to suppress the grievance in my tone.

"She wanted to join the planning department."

Only then did Julian look up from his pile of documents, his tone as flat as if he were discussing something entirely trivial.

"Just because she wanted to, you can so easily strip away my five years of hard work?"

It wasn't like he didn't know.

To secure this promotion, I had taken the overseas assignment in Africa that no one else wanted.

I even contracted malaria there and almost didn't make it back alive.

Julian stood up, walked over, and looked down at me, his gaze so icy it lacked even a trace of warmth.

"Chloe, this is reality. Because I sit in this position, I get to decide everything."

"I just want fairness. Is that so hard?" My voice trembled uncontrollably.

As if I had struck a nerve of amusement, Julian let out a low chuckle.

"Fairness?

"You're talking to me about fairness?

"Chloe, get one thing straight first…"

He leaned in a step closer, the chill of his breath practically brushing against my face.

"If you hadn't slept with me.

"With your mediocre college degree, you wouldn't have even passed the initial resume screening at Vance Group.

"Why don't you go ask those top-tier university graduates who interviewed in the same batch as you back then if they wanted fairness?

"You kept your mouth shut when you were enjoying the perks of my power, and now you have the nerve to demand fairness from me?"

Julian's words landed like a stinging slap across my face.

My cheeks burned hot, and even breathing began to hurt.

Suddenly, I understood.

Despite working tirelessly over the past five years to prove myself, never once intending to use my relationship with Julian for career shortcuts.

I still couldn't change the fact that I had relied on him to get into Vance Group in the first place.

I truly had no right to speak of fairness!

So, I'm ready to resign!

Chloe's POV

Come to think of it, my first encounter with Julian was incredibly cliché.

That year, fresh out of college, I had just arrived in New York when I caught my ex-boyfriend cheating.

Under the crushing weight of survival and mental stress, I chose to go to a bar with a close friend to get drunk.

It was the first time in my life I had drunk so much.

I drank until I completely blacked out.

I, someone who usually didn't even dare speak an extra word to strangers, actually had the nerve to hit on a handsome guy at the bar.

That handsome guy was Julian.

That day, he was sitting alone at the bar, his aura aloof and striking.

He was so fucking handsome, like a male star straight off a fashion magazine cover.

I watched him coldly brush off the eighth girl who came up to hit on him.

Yet, as if possessed, I went over and sat down.

"Are you coming home with me?" I blurted out, completely out of nowhere.

Julian looked down and took a sip of his drink, a chuckle escaping his throat.

"I've never seen anyone as bold as you."

That night, in my cramped rented apartment, we had our first intense, fiery night together.

Before then, I had never experienced anything so mind-blowing.

It was so addictive that one taste left me craving more.

After that night, I thought our paths would never cross again.

Until the next day, when I brought my resume to interview at Vance Group, only to look up and see Julian sitting in the center seat, dressed in a sharp suit.

At that moment, my heart almost leaped out of my chest.

After recognizing Julian, I forced myself to stay calm and got through my self-introduction.

After the interview ended, he stood up, said a word to the HR managers, and left.

Not long after, I received an offer from Vance Group in my inbox.

On the day I joined, the company held a welcome party, and Julian gave a speech on stage as a top executive.

After the party, he cornered me in the elevator lobby.

"Your name is Chloe, right?

"Can you accept a relationship that's strictly sex, no romance?"

I was never an open person; you could even say I was on the conservative side.

But that day, lost in his deep, dark gaze, my mouth made the decision before my brain could.

"I can... accept that."

The moment I heard my own voice,

I knew I was doomed.

I had fallen fucking hopelessly in love with Julian.

From then on, our relationship was split right down the middle.

By day, we were strictly superior and subordinate; by night, we shed all identities and became the most physically compatible partners.

After every intimate night, Julian would always give me a generous sum of money, along with countless designer bags and jewelry.

Of course, what he gave me went far beyond that—

Under his personal guidance, I went from a workplace rookie who couldn't even read a spreadsheet to someone making a real mark in the company.

Every step of my growth bore his mark.

Gradually, I developed an unwarranted hope.

Fantasizing that, perhaps one day, there would be a bit more love in his eyes when he looked at me.

Until today, when I finally woke up from the dream.

It turns out the ending of a fairy tale isn't just about putting on a glass slipper and becoming a princess.

When I was kicked to the curb like an absolute fool, I finally realized I was wrong!

What didn't belong to me would never be mine in the end!