Chapter 1

My sister’s school was holding a charity sale.

She came home clutching a love letter, holding it up like it was a priceless treasure she’d found. “Look, Summer!” she chirped, her eyes wide with excitement. “The name on this letter is just like yours!”

I stared at the eight-year-old love letter and fell into a daze.

The sender’s name at the bottom was Liam Scott.

Wasn’t that my ice-cold deskmate from high school? And now, my ice-cold boss?

I was about to ask Lexie for details when a call came through to our home phone.

A kid’s frantic sobs erupted from the other end. “My Uncle Alex is going to kill me! I’ll give you a hundred dollars, just please give that love letter back!”

Our entire team got chewed out because of an intern’s mistake.

As team lead, I bore the brunt of the scolding.

When I finally trudged out of the boss’s office, feeling completely deflated, my intern, Chloe, looked like she was about to burst into tears.

“Ms. Summer, I’m so sorry. I dragged you down with me.”

I saw the dark circles under her eyes. The workload had been intense lately, and our entire team had been working overtime. She hadn't gotten any rest either.

I waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. I’m used to getting yelled at. It barely stings anymore…”

“Is that so?”

A low, deep voice cut through the air.

Chloe flinched, startled.

My body tensed. I looked up to see Liam Scott pushing open his office door, his brow slightly furrowed as he watched me.

Ugh… a stone-cold, unreadable face. Just looking at him made my blood boil.

I forced a smile. “…No, it’s not.”

Liam stared at me for a few seconds, then closed his office door.

Later, when I stepped out to get some water,

I overheard a few interns whispering:

“The boss is so harsh on Director Summer.”

“Director Summer must have a strong heart. If it were me, I couldn’t handle it.”

“I heard Director Summer and the boss used to be high school classmates.”

“Really? No way! The boss curses out his old classmate without holding back at all. He’s a monster!”

I shrugged.

Tell me about it.

Liam Scott was, indeed, a monster.

And he wasn’t just any high school classmate. We’d been deskmates for three whole years!

Yet he still showed me zero mercy.

I was about to leave when their conversation took a turn.

“Oh, right, I heard the boss is engaged.”

“I saw his fiancée drop him off at the company a while ago!”

“What? The ice-cold Mr. Scott has a fiancée?”

My steps faltered. My fingers, gripping my water cup, curled involuntarily.

I looked towards the office at the end of the hallway. For some reason, my chest felt heavy and tight.