Chapter 3

The next few weeks passed simply. Celeste came to the office every day to flaunt their relationship. Dominic was still sulking. And this time, I wasn't going to be the one to fix it.

A month later, Celeste announced she was pregnant.

Dominic was over the moon. He wanted to tell the whole world. The wedding was moved up immediately. Everyone in the company was gossiping about the upcoming ceremony.

In this life, the one who got pregnant was the woman he actually loved. And I decided to let them have it.

As soon as my transfer paperwork was finalized, I booked a flight to Italy—scheduled for the same day as their wedding.

Dominic finally broke and came to find me. He waited until Celeste wasn't at the office, then pushed open my door. He pulled out his phone, opened an email from HR, and shoved it in my face.

"You applied for an overseas transfer? What, you're so devastated by my wedding that you're running away?"

My heart skipped. But his next words eased my tension a little.

When I didn't answer, his tone turned cold.

"Iris, are you done with this tantrum?"

"Ever since Celeste started coming to the office, you've been avoiding me."

"But I'm going to marry her eventually. So what, you're planning to keep avoiding me even after the wedding?"

I shook my head. "Dominic, I think you misunderstand. I only see you as the boss who mentored me. I'm grateful. That's all."

He laughed. Like I'd just told the funniest joke.

"Grateful? Iris, everyone in this company knows you're hopelessly in love with me. Who's going to believe you're just 'grateful'? Do you even believe that yourself?"

He glanced at the bookshelf in my office and smirked. "All these gifts I gave you over the years—you've kept them so carefully. And you're telling me you don't love me?"

He walked over and picked up the items one by one. A limited-edition pen. A brooch. A watch.

Then he said seriously:

"You should put all this stuff away. I'm about to marry Celeste. You need to stop holding onto these ridiculous fantasies. We're just boss and employee. I will never love you. And Celeste is pregnant now. If she sees these things, it might upset her. I can't have anything happen to my fiancée or my son."

"Mm," I said, and immediately started packing everything into a cardboard box. I was planning to get rid of it all before leaving the country anyway. Might as well do it now.

Seeing how calm I was, Dominic frowned and grabbed my wrist. "Iris, can't you be more careful? Look, you bent the nib on this pen!"

I glanced at the luxury pen in his hand. It was the first gift he ever gave me—the day I passed my probation and officially became his secretary. For years, I treasured it. I wouldn't let anyone else even touch it.

But now, I'd just tossed it carelessly into a box. And Dominic couldn't stand it.

"Iris, you're clearly devastated about me marrying Celeste. You're running away. But now you're pretending you don't love me anymore?" He exhaled sharply. "Fine. Maybe it's good for you to cool off overseas. Celeste is in a delicate stage of her pregnancy. It's better if you're not around anyway."

Dominic pulled out his phone and transferred $10,000 to me.

"Take this. Get yourself settled in Italy. After work, travel around a bit. Take a month to clear your head. By then, Celeste's pregnancy will be stable."

He looked at me meaningfully.

"Adjust your mindset while you're abroad. Don't miss me too much. I'm going to be a married man. You need to get used to it. Otherwise, working together later is going to be awkward."

Dominic gave me a few more instructions about the overseas assignment.

But he didn't know—I'd been reborn.

And this time, I was really leaving.

On Dominic's wedding day, both the hotel and the company headquarters were bustling early in the morning.

While everyone was focused on the ceremony, I quietly grabbed my suitcase, got in a cab, and headed straight to the airport.